elucia

I have been taking medication for a low thyroid since I was 16 yrs old. I believe I had Celiac at that time.  After being gluten free for a couple of years my blood tests showed I could lower the amount of medication.  I dropped the dosage three times in three years and lately keep the same dose. 

I assume that the improvement is due to being gluten free as I am now 75 years old. 

My endoscopy was also inconclusive however I had been gluten free for five years.  The doctor then told me the only way to know for sure is with a genetic test and symptoms.  My daughter was diagnosed with Celiac five years before and told me to get off gluten as i had all the symptoms.  She also took the genetic test with two markers for Celiac.  Because I have osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and an auto immune disease, I early on assumed I had Celiac and easily went completely gluten free.  I have had five joint replacements do to loss of cartilage so staying off gluten will not help with osteoarthritis but it had been great at increasing my endurance.  It took about one year off gluten for me to get the full benefit but it has been great so I will never go back to eating gluten.    Do other doctors really put much confidence in the blood tests or endoscopies?  Have you run into other doctors that prefer to rely in a genetic test?   

I wonder why so many people who can't have gluten have insomnia. My daughter has had severe debilitating insomnia for about 20 months. We have gone to so many specialists and no one has been able to help her. She went gluten free in October after finding out that she tested positive through Enterolab. We still haven't seen any improvement. She is on several supplements (B12, B6, zinc, b complex to name a few) and nothing is helping her.

It is so bad that I had to pull her out of school last fall and have been teaching her at home. It is even difficult for her to learn at home. She can never fall asleep before 3:00 and often not until 4 or 5. Then she wakes up pretty much every hour and can't get back to sleep. I let her stay in bed until 10:00 but she still isn't getting very much sleep. It is so difficult for her to get through the day.

Any more suggestions?

I developed insomnia a few years ago but late in life I was in my 60s. I took sleeping pills for several months but they were addicting so I don't take them any more. After going to a sleep doctor and taking all kinds of test I was told that some people change and need less sleep that before. That's me. I get usually don't go to sleep before one and often 3 or 4 in the morning. I may feel tired in the morning and sleep in but sleeping in only means that I will have more trouble getting to sleep the next night. The doctor said get up early each morning no matter how late I fell asleep. Keep busy, do not take naps and hopefully I will get to sleep an hour or more earlier that the night before. I have adjusted and do fun quiet things in the evening now and just enjoy the extra time I have. Good luck