Coeliac disease

[Guest guest]

Hi Margaret!

Thanks for your reply! Have you had contact with this condition?

Yes, I will have another test but you have to wait until six months

after the reintroduction of gluten, according to my

gastroenterologist.

Of course, I may not get that far if I have problems! I've had two

views from my docs.

My panc specialist thinks that the 1988 coeliac diagnosis was most

likely wrong since the CP diagnosis would explain all my symptoms.

Economy of explanation for symptoms would indicate that since I

definitely have CP, I am probably not coeliac. He thinks it would be

useful to reintroduce gluten. BTW, it was with a biopsy that I was

diagnosed coeliac in 1988, not the now common blood test. For some

inexplicable reason, the actual result of that test is missing from

my file...probably happened when the all the hosp records were

computerised on a new system just after that time. My GP does have a

ltter referring to the fact that I'm coeliac. It's true that the gf

diet definitely helped me at the time but certainly not completely.

The follow-up biopsy a year later still showed a lot of damage even

though I followed the gf diet religiously. As I was a " bad " case, I

was also advised to eliminate lactose a few months later as some

coeliacs fail to produce enough lactase to digest lactose properly.

This brought about a big improvement, probably just because it

coincidentally reduced the amount of fat I consumed because cheese

had been my favourite food and I consumed it daily...and too much of

it! So when I stopped that, I did see more improvement. I did have

another biopsy in 2002 (before I knew I had CP) and it still showed

typical changes associated with coeliac disease. However, it also

showed duodenitis and the gastro said the biopsy result cannot

really be completely trusted in the presence of duodenitis.

The gastro actually is in no hurry for me to reintroduce gluten. He

takes the pragmatic view that eliminating gluten did help from 1988

onwards and, in any case, many people with digestive probs do better

on a gf diet. Why risk more disturbance?

I've reintroduced cheese (low fat or in very small amounts!!) with

no ill effects but I've been more wary about gluten. I've eaten

ordinary bread to-day and yesterday so I'll wait and see what

happens. It's largely for convenience that I'd like to abandon the

gf diet if I can. Otherwise, after 15 years, I'm quite used to

handling it!

Thanks for your interest Margaret.

With very good wishes,

Fliss