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Does this sound like Celiac's Disease?

Posted , 7 users are following.

anne91595
anne91595

I'm 21 years old and from the US and have had stomach problems since I was born. I failed to thrive for the first few years of my life and was considered malnourished until late teen years. I am finally on the charts as far as my weight goes (I'm still very thin though). I have a lot of digestive issues and grew up thinking everyone did and that it was normal to get sick all the time. I would get terrible stomach pains and really bad diarrhea all the time. I was afraid to be away from home and go on trips because I didn't want to get sick while I was away. The stomach problems seem to get worse. Not more frequent, but more intense when they happen. Now I'll get really bad stomach pain and will start getting shakey, cold, sweaty, and pale. Then I start to get dizzy and my ears start ringing and I begin to black out and or throw up. Then I get terrible diarrhea. Outside of feeling really weak and tired afterwards, I usually start to feel better once it's all out of my system.

I can't seem to pinpoint what food is the cause of this. I used to think it was milk/dairy but it even happens when I don't eat that. I went to a pediatric GI a few years ago and she did a blood test which came back negative for celiac but I don't think I ate much gluten the week or two before that test... she said since there wasn't blood in my stools it couldn't be chrones so therefore it was ibs. She basically sent me home with probiotics and that was that. I hate going places because I never know when I'm going to get sick. It doesn't happen after every meal... it'll happen every week or two. I've been trying to gain weight because I'm a university athlete and I'm way too thin but I can't no matter how hard I try. I plan on going to a GI doctor again soon and maybe get an endoscopy.

I am tired all of the time and also have (and have always had) a lot of dental issues.

I also wanted to add that I have hashimotos (autoimmune hypothyroidism). I was diagnosed with that when I was 6 years old.

Does this sound like it could be celiac? Or do I probably just have ibs? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

1 like, 23 replies

23 Replies

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  • dee53012
    dee53012 anne91595

    Posted

    Lorie and deb are right, you need to get that colonoscopy. That is the only way it can be determined.

    Come back and let us know OK?

    • anne91595
      anne91595 dee53012

      Posted

      Yeah I will. I've been looking up different GI doctors near me so hopefully I'll be able to find one and schedule an appointment soon! Thanks so much to all four of you!

    • dee53012
      dee53012 anne91595

      Posted

      They will likely do biopsy, find out how many they take before they do it. I read they should take 5, but i only had 2. 
  • Youdontknowme1
    Youdontknowme1 anne91595

    Posted

    Hi Anne. First off I hope you are ok. I have experienced this with my husband not too long ago so I would to tell you that after reading the symptoms you described etc that you may well have celiac. I'm no doctor so I can't of course give you the final diagnosis but after what I experienced with my husband I would say there is a likely chance it could be. Please believe i do not wish to frighten you or make you have unnecessary worry but I would also maybe mention when you go to see a GI, to check on your Electrolytes. The symptoms you described my husband had (and still does) all of them and when it became worse I took him to the hospital and they said he was really ill and was admitted to ICU because it caused his Electrolytes (potassium, calcium, magnesium etc) to be critically low. He was diagnosed with Celiac disease on January 12 2012. I hope you get to a GI for a much needed checkup and you can get the answers you need.

    • anne91595
      anne91595 Youdontknowme1

      Posted

      Thank you for the information! I'm sorry to hear about your husband, that's sounds awful. We're his electrolytes just really low when he was sick with stomach problems or were they permanently low all the time?

  • Linder607
    Linder607 anne91595

    Posted

    Please keep in mind that you do not have to test positive for celiac to have issues with gluten. For example, if you simply have IBS, gluten and lactose can be huge offenders. I have been gluten free for 3 years and, despite having tested negative for celiac (I even actually had the DNA test because I refused to start eating gluten again for the sake of the blood test), eliminating gluten has literally saved my life! Truthfully, I think I had issues with gluten for many, many years and simply did not know it. The list of symptoms in my life that have improved since eliminating gluten are too numerous to list but include weight loss (of the puffy fluid weight) and weight  gain (of real weight), diarrhea reduction, increased magnesium levels, increased iron levels, reduction in bloody stool, huge decrease in digestive discomfort, no more skin rash, reduced headaches... The list goes on... Please, I urge you to take a look into IBS and follow their dietary recommendations. I think you will be happy you did. Everything relates back to our diet. And, for the record - being gluten free is easy!! Grocery stores and restaurants are super easy to navigate these days and it's not a big deal at all. I find I like certain gf pastas and breads BETTER than wheat ones, I've found delicious gf crackers, I enjoy fixing more rice and potato dishes than I used to and actually discovered I love corn tortillas more than flour! Overall, I feel amazing and my favorite part of the week is going to the gym and excercising! Something I never had the energy to do before. Try gluten free - You may, like me, discover a new lease on life!!

  • anne91595
    anne91595

    Posted

    Update: I had my GI appointment and the dr ran a celiac panel. The results were basically all normal outside of the IgA. I dont know if that could affect the rest of the panel or not, but i wanted to update you guys. He basically said it was probably just IBS and told me to take probiotics...

    Deamidated Gliadin Abs, Iga     1     Referance range 0-19

    Deamidated Gliadin Abs, Igg     4     Referance range 0-19

    T-Transglutaminase (Ttg) Iga   <2    Referance range 0-3

    ?T-Transglutaminase (Ttg) Igg   <2    Referance range 0-5

    ?Endomysial Antibody Iga          Negative

    ?Immunoglobulin A, Qn, Serum  20    Referance range 87-352

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