learning2cope's Blog

Hi! My name is Brittany, I am 28 years old and just recently started researching Celiac Disease and how it can affect people. I have come to find out that most of my various health problems can be related to and caused by celiac disease. Here is a list of what ails me currently:

Celiac.com Sponsor (A13):
 

bipolar disorder

type 2 diabetes

neuropathy in legs

severe generalized anxiety disorder

"palmoplantar pustular psoriasis" which I know believe is actually dermatitis herpetiformis

hypothyroidism

high cholesterol/triglycerides (celiac-related or just form poor diet or heredity?)

bloating

loose, yellow stool

low-grade fevers every day for over a year (in the evenings/night, goes away about 4 or 5am)

significant weight gain for no apparent reason (impossible to lose weight and keep it off)

fatigue

high blood pressure (poss. from weight gain and heredity)

arthritis/joint/bone aches

severe constant constipation as a child

nausea associated with bloating

I'm sure there is more but I can't think of it currently. I have done quite a bit of research on Celiac disease the past week, even using my college online library to read peer-reviewed studies/journal articles about celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis and associated conditions. I feel 99.9% sure I have celiac disease.

At my last 3-month checkup with my GP (just a week ago) I brought up the idea of celiac disease and briefly said i thought it could explain my weight gain. He brushed me off telling me that I am not underweight and have chronic diarrhea so it couldn't be celiac disease. So I left it at that and vowed to do my research on it. Well, he's not up with all the research apparently. He must not have looked into it at all since he gradudated from med school 18 years ago. So much has changed in regards to knowlege about celiac disease since then.

So I am hesitant to go back to him for bloodwork for celiac disease. He probably would put up a fight when I asked to be tested for it. He has a god complex that really irritates me. For example, when I went in complaining of leg burning pain he told me to pinpoint where it hurt exactly, well it didn't hurt in one specific small area, it was my whole thigh. He yelled at me and told me to point "with one finger where it hurt" I again told him it was not on specific area! He again forced me to point. So I did. He "diagnosed me" with bursitis. Well a year and a half later and the anti-inflammatory medicine he prescribed wasn't helping at all. My leg pain was getting worse! So I again made an appointment with him and he did send me off for an EMG. The EMG revealed I have neuropathy, not bursitis. So we talked about upping my Neurontin for the pain and we did. I now have controlled neuropathy pain with it. I was already on the Neurontin (off-label) for anxiety. So yeah... He's annoying to deal with.

I hope to just go to my dermatologist and get a skin biopsy on or near my "psoriasis" to see if it is indeed dermatitis herpetiformis which I think would mean a 100% positive result for celiac disease. So hopefully I don't have to go to my GP about getting bloodwork or a referral to a gastroenterologist for an intestinal biopsy. But if that is what it takes, I'll do it.

I tried a gluten-free hot dog bun last week as I love to eat hot dogs. Well it was nasty! The taste wasn't so bad but the texture of the bread was bad. The dryness of it was horrible! I sliced it mostly in half to put the hot dog in there and it just completely split open in half. Well that was ackward trying to eat the hot dog like a sandwich. The hot dog kept rolling around and partially falling out of the sandwiched buns. Plus the bun was just too much for the hot dog, the bun itself was very thick and they could have made 6 or 8 buns instead of the 4 they packaged in the bag with the same amount of ingredients. The brand was Udi's. Never again will I buy anything made by Udi's. Ack!

So that was a failed attempt at gluten-free bread.

I know I can't go gluten-free until after the tests are done, so I need to call on Monday to get the biopsy appointment scheduled with my deramtologist. I don't know how long it'll take to get into to see him. Possibly over a week, which isn't too bad considering all I hear about people in other countries haveing to wait a YEAR or more to get a test done. So we'll see. I'll try to keep this blog updated regularly with how I feel and what has happened with medical tests and the like.