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View Full Version : Possible Celiac? ALWAYS feeling sick!


lindsay1024
03-30-2007, 10:55 AM
Hello Everyone,

This is my first time on one of these message boards, so please forgive me if this sounds familiar. First off, I am a 25 year old female. The majority of my symptoms began about two years ago, however I have had several other digestive related problems for most of my life.

Starting from the beginning, I have had chronic constipation for as long as I can remember. I've seen many GI's and I've always been told it was IBS, but I never really thought that was the case. I was given many prescriptions, most recently Zelnorm and Miralax, which helped some but didn't fix the problem. During my 8th grade year of school I was hospitalized due to 20+ stomach ulcers, the majority of them bleeding. I did not have the H. pylori bacteria. Then starting about two years ago, I started feeling sick after eating almost anything. I always have the feeling that what I ate is still in my stomach even several hours later. I always feel full. I then began having severe bloating in my stomach with lots of gas....I was always burping. I looked about 6 months pregnant....I couldn't have stuck my stomach out more if I tried! Sometimes I would feel better with less bloating and gas, other days I'd be home throwing up all day. This progressed into almost constant nausea and vomiting after about 80% of my meals. I would even wake up at night and vomit. At this point I went to a new GI who ran several tests, and told me that I had a bacterial overgrowth of my small intestine and I also had a motility disorder in my colon. After finishing the antibiotics for the bacterial overgrowth I felt better for about a week. Then all the symptoms came back even worse than before. I could barely eat anything and lost about 15 pounds in 2 months. Although I felt full, I always felt hungry too. I wanted to eat, but was afraid that I'd get sick again. I am ALWAYS tired/exhausted. I feel like I can't get enough sleep, yet have trouble falling asleep. In addition to this, I have very frequent severe migraines. Also as all this was going on I was diagnosed with depression and ADD. I have wondered if my ADD symptoms could be caused by a lack of vitamins or something to that effect. One last random thing is I have these dark circles under my eyes that won't go away no matter how much sleep I get.

I recently found out that my Aunt and my Grandfather on my Mom's side have Celiac's Disease. I have had a biopsy of my small intestine that came back normal. This was taken during the period when I was barely eating anything at all though. I have heard of people who have had negative biopsies, but were later diagnosed with Celiacs. From what I have read most of my symptoms fit the Celiac list, but I haven't come across much information about vomiting, migraines, chronic constipation and Celiacs.

I guess my question is, does this sound like it could be Celiacs?

I am just tired of feeling like a sickly tired version of my formerly athletic happy self.

Thank you for tolerating my long-winded account, but I would really appreciate any input from people who have similar problems.

Unregistered
04-01-2007, 03:06 PM
All of your symptoms could be consistent with celiac disease, which is a multi-faceted disease. Celiac can be hard to diagnose and there are many false negatives. I have tested negative but still have what are apparently gluten-related symptoms, mainly abdominal cramps, excessive gas, constipation and bloating. Have you had a celiac panel (bloodwork) run? If not you should get one done soon. I would also suggest a trial gluten free diet, but only after the bloodwork is taken and the results are in. If it's positive, you may want to stay on gluten until you can get another biopsy (if your doctor thinks that is necessary). If it's negative, you could still try the gluten-free diet. Many people, including myself, have a positive response to gluten-free diets even if all celiac testing and biopsies are negative.

lindsay1024
04-03-2007, 04:12 AM
Thank you so much! I will have that Celiac Panel done just as soon as I get some insurance. After I turned 25, I was no longer eligible to be on my parents plan, although I am still a full time student :( Thank you for the advice though! It helps to know there are other people out there with the same problems and have found something that actually works!

acuann
04-03-2007, 04:34 AM
Whether it is celiac or some other food intolerance, I recommend trying something called NAET. This is a treatment that works amazingly well for all food intolerances, and even more severe food allergies. Visit www.naet.com (http://www.naet.com) for more info.

Best wishes
DOM