Could I have coeliac disease?

Before I was diagnosed I went through something similar, it was only when I mentioned that I couldn’t tolerate dairy products that she said ‘I wonder if it’s coeliacs’, some doctors try to rule other things out first. They say that 10% of the population have it,  it I wonder whether it’s actually more, and that there’s a lot of others slipping through the net. I was diagnosed with IBS almost 40 years ago, and it was only in the last 8 years got diagnosed with coeliacs, by this time I was extremely ill and losing my hair and had malnutrition because my body wasn’t absorbing nutrients from my food, including my ferritin levels, which were rock bottom; it was all complicated by the fact that the meds I was taking for other health issues, were not being absorbed either (e.g. levothyroxine for my thyroid and amitriptyline for my nerve pain, which made my muscles very weak and shaky because it made me go through withdrawal from the amitriptyline,  and which complicated my symptoms and I only realised recently when trying to reduce the amount of the drug that I was taking). Once properly diagnosed, my thyroid started to improve, because I was absorbing the drug properly.  It was a very scary time for me and I would hate anyone else to experience this.  Tell the doctor what you want outright, that you want an endoscopy and biopsies taken for Coeliac disease if that’s what you feel the issue is, get him to refer you. Just make sure you are eating gluten everyday for at least 6 weeks before being tested, so your body has the chance to make the antibodies needed to detect the disease. I hope this helps you. 

Hi Abbie, have you had another blood test yet? I went to the doctors beginning of this year for a blood test as for the last 5 or so years I've been suffering from what I assume was IBS and wanted clarification. I know from dietary change that I'm lactose intolerant although I'm ok with small amounts like in chocolate and some cheeses. My tests came back positive for coeliac though, and I'm awaiting an endoscopy to finalise the diagnosis. My doctor did tell me that IBS cannot be diagnosed, it's more of a "If it's nothing else it must be that." kind of thing, not sure how accurate that is.

?There is also Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, which is where you don't test positive for Celiac but a gluten free diet is tried and improves symptoms and you are therefore NCGS.

?As for it the mental effect you're preaching to the choir! You worry when you go out, where are the loos? What if someone's in there? What if I start thinking I'm gonna have a bad stomach? What can I eat? What if etc. etc. It's a vicious cycle, and as you probably know when worrying this makes things worse and you probably start thinking every little feeling in your stomach is going to be an episode. I've recently started getting really nervous when travelling, long journeys in the car or flying. A bit of breathing, telling yourself to calm down, collecting yourself does actually improve things sometimes.

?I know you said it's hard to talk to people, but don't keep it all in, people can be both very understanding and also some share your problems. It's not the nicest thing to talk about but you're not alone and you might be surprised.

?Also, maybe try a dairy free, gluten free pro-biotic, these can help sometimes to balance you out. Before I went dairy free(ish) I tried the yogurt with bio and felt worse; bloaty, windy etc., so stayed away from them. In hindsight it was obviously the dairy and not the bio. Go to a health shop and ask for some if you chose to, most of the staff there are very knowledgeable about the best thing to take. Also, supplements are not a bad idea, especially if your body is not digesting your food correctly. That's also a sign of Celiac disease as your body does not take the nutrients out of foods you eat, which is why you might feel fatigued and tired.

Hope this has helped, I'm no expert but since my results I've been doing a lot of homework! 

?All the best, hope you can find out what's affecting you and make tracks to do something about it.

A lot of exclusion diets are encouraged to find what things affect you.