Ever since I was a kid, I've had an almost constant uncomfortable, gnawing stomachache, which escalates at night. I've had adhd (diagnosed since fourth grade), anxiety problems (meds and shrink and everything), and I developed severe headaches when I hit puberty. I've always been rather scrawny. :\ I was tested, as far as the stomachache goes, for everything under the sun (except any sort of food allergy. Ha) and my doctors simply came to the conclusion that I was constantly nauseas, constipated, and uncomfortable because I had a nervous stomach because I was especially anxious. Same sort of thing with the headaches. I had just decided that I was a freak and broken and nobody could fix me.
I am subscribed to mercola.com, a naturalist doctors newsletter. He had an article about how many people (especially those of irish descent. I'm of irish descent!) have sub clinical gluten intolerance, in which they dont have the proper enzymes to break down gluten and it just destroys their digestive tract and they cant absorb things and it wreaks havoc on their bodies. All the symptoms fit me. There were tests, but he said that they were mostly for celiac, so I dismissed it immediately. So the next day, I went completely gluten free. Like that. And also lactose free, because he advised doing that too (plus, milk is for baby cows. Not humans.).
Within a few weeks, I felt better. I had more energy, and I could sleep at night (a symptom I had taken for granted until I noticed I had it). No more stomach aches. No more headaches. I was gonna wait for a few months to start expecting adhd help.
But then, as I did more research, I started realizing that it may be the elusive celiac after all. I had dismissed it at the beginning--oh, theres no way I could have something THAT intense. But the internet said that there were many undiagnosed celiacs, and that many symptoms can be seemingly unrelated but really are.
Anyways, after all that flack, I'm looking for a celiacs opinion on a few things. Firstly, could I possibly have celiac? I'm not anemic to my knowledge, but I've got a lot of problems throughout my system (so many different ones, I must be the most unlucky person ever if theyre all caused by different things.). Secondly, should I stop being gluten free and go get tested? Or is it okay to just not know and roll with it if I feel better? And thirdly, is there any advice that anyone could give me?