jshelton999

Thanks guys.

As some of you know, I had a rough start to 2009 due to illness. By summer, it was determined that at the heart of my medical issues was Celiac. I started on a gluten-free diet and began a 12-week Body-for-LIFE challenge on August 24th, following the BFL fitness/weight-loss program and riding my bike like a mad man... I've attempted many BFL challenges in...

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I kind of expected that some people might get a little teary-eyed...especially if they had gone through many years of being sick, without an explanation, watching life pass them by... But I'd like to think that the video also had a triumphant feeling to it as well...

Thanks for your kind replies. I have a long way to go but I'm well on my way!

Hey gang! I used to ride my bike along the San Diego coastline all the time back in the 90s. My favorite starting point was Carlsbad. Since 1996, illness has greatly interfered with making it to Carlsbad. But yesterday, it was a symbolic victory to ride my bike along the San Diego coastline for the first time this year. Looks like my big comeback from...

Thanks bacon. I haven't got a diagnosis yet. I still need to find a dermatologist. I'm seeing a Celiac specialist, but not until October.

Thanks guys It's so great to find this forum with people who actually know how it feels to go through so many years of misdiagnosis and often being treated as if their medical condition was a character flaw...

Thanks for the quick replies! My instincts tell me there was intestinal damage and my doc just missed it. I didn't have a good feeling about him from day one. When I asked him before the endoscopy about looking for Celiac, he wouldn't discuss it, acting offended that I would suggest he look for it... But if malabsorption can only occur when it's Celiac...

Over the last 15yrs, I've made countless comebacks...from hypothyroidism...pituitary failure...sleep apnea...asthma/allergies... I started 2009 with a great deal of optimism. My pituitary disorder had been miraculously been reversed and I had finally withdrawn from the main steroid medication (Cortef) used to treat it...but then all hell broke loose...

Thanks for the great feedback! I have had dermatologists in past years look at this but they didn't even mention DH. Guess I need to find a new doc. My question to a doctor would be "If you don't think it's DH, then what is it? What other skin condition is bilateral and only occurs with gluten-ingestion?"

I had a strong positive result from Enterolab for gluten sensitivity: 124 (normal <10) and I've had confirmed malabsorption with very low Vit D, and problems with absorption of my thyroid med (Synthroid). So does this mean that there was intestinal damage even if the doc didn't see anything more than gastritis in the biopsy? BTW - I have little confidence...

Thanks for the feedback. If not DH, what else might it be? I get these rashes in response to gluten. No gluten - no rash. Can gluten trigger rashes other than DH?

I'm in the process of getting everything diagnosed/treated. My gluten antibody test from Enterolab was 124 (normal <10). I've had skin rashes for years that were diagnosed as eczema, stasis dermatitis, psoriasis, etc. but were never effectively treated by any of the prescribed creams/ointments. I've been mostly gluten-free the last couple of months but...

For me Enterolabs was a godsend! My blood tests came back negative as well as my endoscopy/colonoscopy - although frankly I had little confidence in my gastroenterologist. He doesn't talk and acted indifferent to me being very seriously ill for months. I couldn;t even get him on the phone and finally talked to his nurse who said "Well, I guess you could try...

Thanks for your kind replies. Just curious, but might my test result have been much higher if I hadn't already been on the gluten-free diet for several weeks at the time of testing?