countrysnow

I am looking for help. I am currently active duty military and have had chronic constipation with bloating and gas for years now. I was told I had IBS but the meds did nothing. After two pregnancies and the chronic constipation I now have rectal prolapse.

About 6 months ago I came across a diet program in one of my fitness magazines and decided to try it. After 1 week all my symptoms were gone. Including constipation, headaches, burping, gas, ankle knee and elbow pain, the feeling of hungover upon waking, and most of all my energy level was amazing.

I started researching and found out the diet was gluten free. It was recommended to only stay on this diet for 21 days since it was also calorie restriction. Within a few days all my symptoms were back. I decided to go gluten-free again and made an appointment with a GI doctor.

I am not sure the doctor believed me since I am not underweight and "sickly" looking.

He did blood work on me even though I was already gluten-free and told me it would be fine. The test came back negative. Then he told me to stay gluten-free and see how I felt for 6-8 weeks. I scheduled a followup and told him that I still felt amazing and he said he would do a two week gluten challenge and a biopsy.

During the two weeks all of my symptoms of gas, bloating, weight gain, constipation and mouth sores returned. I also was so fatigued I slept for an entire weekend. When I would start eating I would become very dizzy and nauseous, a few times throwing up my food.

The biopsy results were negative and now my doc has pretty much said he doesn't know and I feel as though he has dismissed me.

I guess my question is should I seek a second opinion? Shouldn't blood work have been repeated after the gluten challenge?

Could I still have celiac disease?

Please Please help if you can with a response. I am just trying to get better.

I had a biopsy on monday. I also had the burning sensation around that area and they found duodenal ulcers. Maybe you can look into that.

  Sandi* said:

I am wondering whether the stool test done by enterolab could show antibodies that were missed by the regular blood test. I've had tests for celiac before - blood test at the GI's office, home blood test (Biocard), upper GI endoscopy, coloscopy, and finally the camera pill. All was negative for celiac disease. The only thing that was found was an inflammation of the colon (which my doc didn't even tell me, I only found out yesterday when I was reviewing my file, at least he did write it down).

Anyways, the curious thing about the blood test was that my IgA levels were very low (10 whereas the normal range is 70-400). I know this can affect the acuracy of the results. I'm thinking about doing the Enterolab stool test. My question is, though, would my low IgA cause a false negative? I don't want to waste $$$ on a test that may not be valid for me.

I'm also undergoing a gene panel testing, hopefully I will get the results soon. However, I'm really scared that all the tests will be negative. I would love to have some proof that it's not just in my head and I should stick to the diet. Also, it would help me decide if I need to avoid just wheat or actually gluten. I do feel much better when I avoid wheat but I'd like to know how strict with the diet I need to be. Avoiding wheat only is definitely much easier.

I'm actually a bit jealous of people on here who got dx by the "gold standard", went on the diet and got better. My whole life I've been told "it's IBS, eat more fiber and stop worrying about it". I'm just sick of doctors and "professionals" who don't get it.

Sorry for typos, I'm using my iphone while waiting in a doctor's office (orthopedist).

I had a negative blood test and decided to WASTE my money on enterolab, it also came back negative. I had a biopsy this past monday after going on a gluten challenge for two weeks. The doc said it looks like celiac, we have to wait for biopsy results to make it official. So upset I wasted the money with enterolab!!!!!

I started a gluten challenge yesterday at lunch. I have yet to have any really bad symptoms. I have been gluten free for about 5 months. I do have a lot of burping and today I felt like I was in a funk, this after being so happy go lucky for months now.

Have any of you done a gluten challenge? When and how did your symptoms return? What were the results of any testing???

Thanks for responding!!!!

How long did your test take. Tomorrow will be three weeks. I am anxious to find out.