Guest guest Posted January 17, 2008 Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 Hi All, I was curious if any of you had been diagnosed with Celiac Disease or Gluten Intolerance? I started seeing a new doctor back in October (due to finally being approved for Medicare!) and she ran all sorts of blood work on me. Most of my tests were pretty normal but a few showed evidence that I probably have Celiac Disease or am at least Gluten Intolerant. I wasn't tested specifically for the disease but I had a high ANA and a very high IgG antibody test. I know that other things can cause these readings but I feel sure that I have it. I quit eating all wheat (a long learning process as it is in everything! - had to get a new toaster!) and soon felt much better. I had been diagnosed with IBD a few years before I was dx with hep-c in 2002 and had been having loose stools for the last few years. Earlier this year, I was having horrible problems with bloating after eating and was taking digestive enzymes to help with that. But nothing made it go away - my pants were tight but I was losing weight - I thought that I had ovarian cancer or lymphoma. I thought that I had been eating healthy - mostly Whole Foods stuff - lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats - and lots of whole grains, as all of the books tell you to eat....... It's been a few months since I quit eating wheat and I feel so much better. No more IBD or stomach bloating! Since my testing, I have researched gluten intolerance and celiac disease and have learned how it is linked to so many other disorders - auto-immune disorders, like RA, osteoporosis, anemia and just about everything. It also affects the liver big time and can cause elevated ALT/AST as well as other readings and problems. Here are some interesting and informative links on Celiac and Gluten Intolerance. BTW, none of my doctors ever mentioned the possibility of having this disorder. One doctor came close when he suggested that I might be lactose intolerant. I've since read that it takes the average person 9-11 years to be correctly diagnosed: " Until recently, celiac disease was thought to be uncommon in the United States. However, studies have shown that celiac disease is very common. Recent findings estimate about 2 million people in the United States have celiac disease, or about 1 in 133 people. Among people who have a first-degree relative diagnosed with celiac disease, as many as 1 in 22 people may have the disease. " http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/ " People with celiac disease tend to have other autoimmune diseases as well, including: " Dermatitis herpetiformis. Thyroid disease. Systemic lupus erythematosus. Type 1 diabetes. Liver disease. Collagen vascular disease. Rheumatoid arthritis. Sjogren's syndrome. http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/956622658.html " Celiac disease in patients with severe liver disease: gluten-free diet may reverse hepatic failure. " http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11910339 " Gluten May Trigger Liver Failure Related to Celiac Disease " http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/431589 Misc articles: http://jccglutenfree.googlepages.com/atriskpopulation http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=25298 http://www.celiac.com/categories/Celiac-Disease-Research:-Associated- Diseases-and-Disorders/Liver-Disease-and-Celiac-Disease/ There's much more info out there! I hope this info might help some of you. I know that it's helped me more than anything that I've done in years and I'm looking forward to my next blood work to see how going gluten free has affected my LFT's. Good luck! M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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