Looking For Answers...

[MrsSprinkles]

Hello!

Hopefully I am posting this in the right place...I am a 26yo female desperate to figure out what is going on inside my body and my personal research and medical experience has lead me to question whether or not I may be suffering symptoms of celiac disease...I will try to keep this short and to the point...

Symptoms include

[nvsmom]

You've had a tough time. (hugs)

Your symptoms could be celiac, but as you know they could also be linked to other autimmune diseases like Hashimotos, UCTD, and Lupus. I had many of your symptoms... actually all of them except for the vitamin deficiencies and the eyelash (that sounds allergy related to me), plus a few others. I too gave up on nail polish because my out nails just peel off with the polish.

Celiac is an autoimmune disease so you would want to go to your doctor for blood tests. To get an accurate test, you need to be eating gluten though so don't cut breads and flours out of your diet if you want to get tested. The gluten is what triggers our antibodies to start attacking our intestines.

The full celiac test panel is considered to be:

• Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA
  
• Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG
  
• Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA
  
• Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) IgA
  
• Deamidated Gliadin Peptide (DGP) IgA and IgG
  
• Total Serum IgA
  

EMA and ttg IgA are considered to be the most specific blood tests for celiacs.

Many doctors will also use a endoscopic biopsy of the upper small intestine to look for (villi) damage. It is recommended that at least 6 samples should be taken because the damage is not uniform and can be missed. A biopsy is not always needed though. Many doctors will skip the biopsy if the blood tests and symptoms are positive. I never had a biopsy myself.

After your testing is done, and if it ends up being negative, you might want to try going gluten-free anyways; you could be gluten sensitive or even have been one of the unlucky ones who has false negative tests (not that uncommon). You'll need to go gluten-free for longer than 2 weeks though; you'll need a few months to see any benefits. In my first two weeks, my stomach aches were less frequent but my energy, mood, and migraines was much worse; a bit of withdrawl apparently. When I did accidently gluten myself, I was shocked at how badly it made me feel and it helped me want to avoid feeling that again.

After 3 months, I started to notice my hair growing in again.

Anyways, good luck. And I hope you feel better soon!

[MrsSprinkles]

Thanks for the reply...I have taken all of the other autoimmune issues into consideration as har my doctors...they have tested me for all of it...blood work has been unremarkable...I figured something somewhere would show up if I was having an issues such as hashimottos or lupus...autoimmune is in my family (my mom is hypothyroid) so that was my #1 suspect but none of my blood work has changed so they aren't really considering it anymore.

[vtphd]

Ensure you TSH level really is below 3.0 (most people start to feel symptoms at around 2.5). And many doctors don't realize you treat a thyroid once it gets to 3.0 (around 95% still rely on the old 4.5 or 5 as being 'hypo' when that all changed back in 2003).

[MrsSprinkles]

TSH had been below 2.5 and when symptom started TSH was like 1.9

[MrsSprinkles]

Continuing the symptoms...gluten free for two weeks caved when I went to a BBQ...stomach has been active but no abnormal BMs but mouth is continuing to break out in canker sores and now have horrible heart burn...need to test but quite honestly if gluten is causing these symptoms I really just want to avoid it!!!