Is there such thing as being 'mildly' coeliac?

Hello everyone,

This post is pretty much a last resort for me! I've been from doctor to doctor, and have been suffering with these problems since last summer, and I'm pretty much at the end of my tether!

I'm 20 years old, and have not really had any health issues up until now. It started particularly last summer, where I had consistent bloating, diarrhoea, a sensitive stomach (hurt to touch it), heartburn and generally felt unwell. It was particularly worse after eating breakfast, and I used to eat either cereal or toast. I have pretty much cut out bread, because I found that this would make my symptoms 10x worse. I have always dipped between being borderline anaemic in my adult years, and have only been prescribed ferrous sulphates once, which restored my levels I believe. Having been to see the doctors towards the end of summer, I insisted on having my bloods checked, and came clear for coeliac etc. I was then referred to a specialist, who did further blood tests which also came clear, and then had a colonoscopy procedure. Those results showed mild inflammation in the intestine, but nothing drastic came back from it. The doctor pretty much stopped trying to resolve my problems now that those results came back okay, so after much insisting, I had another appointment with the consultant, who sent me away on a gluten free diet.

I followed that for 8 weeks, and although my symptoms were better in general, I felt much "lighter" if that makes sense, however, I was still having bouts of diarrhoea. My symptoms had drastically eased off before starting gluten free, so I'm not sure whether they continued due to being gluten free, or if what I am suffering with comes in phases?

My health had generally improved until Christmas, where it all started again, despite being gluten free. Having seen the doctor, she prescribed me a short course of Omeprozole, which did not really benefit me in the long term.

Since then, I have been continuing trying to cut out gluten as much as possible, but my symptoms have flared up again. I continuously feel bloated and uncomfortable. I saw another GP yesterday who said it seems as though it's IBS, and said I "may" be mildly coeliac. I couldn't help but he kept brushing off my concerns about coeliac because the blood tests came clear, but I cannot help but notice my general improvements when being gluten free. He said that I can continue to cut off the gluten, but can eat it every now and then. This is where I became a little concerned - he said that eating gluten doesn't carry long term damage, the bowel will repair itself time and time again. Is this correct??

My mum is gluten free, and she has always been told otherwise?

Anyway, I apologise if this post is a lot longer than people usually post on here. But i wanted to make sure everything was posted so there's more chance of someone being able to help! Basically, I am wondering if anyone can shed light on this mildly coeliac thing, and if anyone thinks I should look into another diagnosis?

I'm starting a new job in June and moving away, and I can't continue with worrying about finding a toilet etc for the rest of my life!

Thanks in advance!

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