Possible Celiac Disease?

[chrischan]

Hi, My dad has been sick for almost 5 months, and he also has high blood preassure, chronic headaches, fibromyalga and chronic fatigue syndrome which he has had for years. But for about 5 month my dad has been so sick to his stomach and has complained of his stomach being sore and tender to the touch, sweating, gas, loss of appetite, more tired than usual and increased heart rate. He has been to the hospital 3 times and nothing has been found, he finally got in to a gastrologist and they did an endoscopy and a biopsy showed H. Pylori. So, they put my dad on the medicines for that and he still is not better! Every now and than he feels a little better but my poor dad just goes back down hill. I told my dad to consider asking the gastrologist about testing for gluten intolerance and celiac and the doctor said that it was very unlikely since my dad doesn't have diarrhea, but I still think it should be tested. What do you think? Should my dad and I push for testing? Is it possible my dad has celiac?

[nvsmom]

TMI...

In hindsight, I've had celiac my entire life, and during that entire time I was constipated. If I had a quick trip to the bathroom, I was pleasantly surprised. Diarrhea happened maybe once or twice a year and was usually linked to a flu or food poisoning.

I had migraines 2-3 weeks a month, and now that I'm gluten-free I get them 2-3 days a month instead...

I would ask for the blood tests, they are quick and relatively inexpensive. Ttg IgA, EMA, and total IgA are the most common tests. Ask for a full celiac and it should include those as well as others like ttg IgG. I'm not that familiar with the other tests since they were unavailable to me.

And kudos to you for looking out for your dad like you are. I hope my kids grow up that compassionate and helpful. Good luck.

[chrischan]

TMI...

In hindsight, I've had celiac my entire life, and during that entire time I was constipated. If I had a quick trip to the bathroom, I was pleasantly surprised. Diarrhea happened maybe once or twice a year and was usually linked to a flu or food poisoning.

I had migraines 2-3 weeks a month, and now that I'm gluten-free I get them 2-3 days a month instead...

I would ask for the blood tests, they are quick and relatively inexpensive. Ttg IgA, EMA, and total IgA are the most common tests. Ask for a full celiac and it should include those as well as others like ttg IgG. I'm not that familiar with the other tests since they were unavailable to me.

And kudos to you for looking out for your dad like you are. I hope my kids grow up that compassionate and helpful. Good luck.

Thank you for such a quick reply I just want my dad to feel better, I hate it when he feels so sick and in pain.

[mommida]

How many rounds of medication has he been on for the H. Ploryi?

It might be helpful to take probiotics for getting his gut to a healthier "balance"

It is time to get tested for Celiac. There seems to be a connection between Celiac and H. Ployri. (I have read articles in the past, my daughter was through testing, and the symptoms of both are very similar)

[chrischan]

How many rounds of medication has he been on for the H. Ploryi?

It might be helpful to take probiotics for getting his gut to a healthier "balance"

It is time to get tested for Celiac. There seems to be a connection between Celiac and H. Ployri. (I have read articles in the past, my daughter was through testing, and the symptoms of both are very similar)

He went through a 2 week treatment of 3 differant medications. Is their any probiotic you might reccomend?

[GFinDC]

Hi,

C is definitely possible with celiac disease. Doctors don't live with it and know the symptoms like people on this board do.

For H.Pylori he can try mastic gum and DGL (deglysterinzed licorice). Those worked for me. Betaine HCL is also helpful.

Solgar and Vitamin Shoppe brands are ok for pro-biotics. Jarrow also makes some.

Digestive enzymes can help too.

[chrischan]

My dad called is gastro and he put my dad on somthing called donnatol(spelling?)for stomach spazms and told him if it doesn't work than thay might try celiac testing. Well i don't really like the word might, but at least he didn't flat out say no to testing it. But the thing is, even if the pills do help my dad I still would like him tested because of all the other things that no one has been able to properly diagnose for so many years. And if the pills work that doesn't tell us why his stomach got this way. I suggested to my dad that if they don't test for celiac (which I don't know why the doctor keeps putting off at least the blood test for it) or even if he's tested and it comes back negative and he's still sick, maybe he should try gluten-free for a while just to see what happens. I told him to continue eating gluten for now in case they do test him. If my dad does try gluten-free about how long would you think it would be until he feels better if it is anything to do with gluten? Sorry for the long post

[nvsmom]

Ah, you poor dad. He's having a rough go.

If he goes gluten-free, some symptoms could resolve in a matter days, and others might take months or years. Speaking from my own personal experience, my reactive stomachaches to gluten stopped when I stopped eating gluten, my stomach upset and bloat disappeared within the next week or so as did my migraines. My bloating went doen after a month or so and my hair started growing in again. My constipation resolved after 3 month when I also started treatment for hypothyroidism. I still have some issues but I have seen definite improvement.

There are home celiac tests you can buy if the doctors are not supporting your dad's requests for testing. I used the Antioch Biocard home celiac test and got a (faint) positive result with it (it tests ttg IgA). I took that positive test to my doctor as evidence that I needed a celiac test when I requested celiac testing. They cost $50-100. I bought mine at a store which had brought them in as a special promotion for celiac awareness month (in spring?) but you can order them on-line or through some drug stores.

Good luck.