I’m 70 years old and have RA for 25 years. I’d never had digestive issues or even heard of celiac until 2 months ago.  6 years ago I started having serious diarrhea, dropped what little weight I had,  became very exhausted, developed rapid onset blood pressure and other symptoms. I went to the doctor for an unrelated matter and even with my records he told me they have ‘pills’ for all those things; which I turned down and sought to deal with this with homeopathic remedies.  Mid October 2024 my guts hurt terribly and started to swell. My massage therapist asked about celiac and I started to do research on it. It absolutely fits all the symptoms so I’ve been gluten free since 2 days before Thanksgiving but the huge gut persists. Thankfully the pain and cramps are gone. I look like a 90# pregnant skeleton.  I’m exhausted and looking for some encouragement from the tribe. I have good days and bad. I know living with an autoimmune disease sucks but this is even worse than the RA. 

Hi guys. Apologies for the late reply. Many many thanks for the replies. Hi - I am eating both white rice and wholegrain brown rice, due to it being very difficult to just eat brown rice. In regards to histamine foods - I am taking 10mg loratadine to combat this issue, however haven't seen any positive results as of yet. I have noticed if I am on a strict gluten free diet for around 1 week, the insomnia instantly pops up, and I have to eat around half a slice of bread for it to stop. I am trying to lower this amount, however the insomnia is still present. I have searched these forums and the internet but there seem to be no solution to this issue. I thought if I gradually reduce from half a slice and a little less, the issue will be resolved. However this is not the case.

Would you also agree that being so close to the IgA deficient cut off is significant? We just have been told he’s not as just over into the not deficient category…   thank you so much for all the help so far, it’s been so helpful!

One study showed that up to 44% of first degree relatives also have celiac disease, so his odds of having it are quite high. Also, if he were not IgA deficient his celiac disease test scores would likely have been much higher because they were based on the IgA antibodies.

Statistically, the incidence of IBS and other bowel disorders is higher in the celiac population than it is in the general population. Still, I would take one thing at a time. There is significant reason to believe your son does have celiac disease and there is no nasty prep needed for that endoscopic procedure. Assuming that he does have either celiac disease or NCGS, it is likely that a gluten-free diet corrects his symptoms and there would be no need to pursue a lower GI and it's nasty prep.  I would also add that the immune system of a child his age is not mature. It's in flux. Because of this, celiac disease testing can yield erratic results. And I would also add that some experts believe that NCGS can be a precursor to the development of celiac disease. If this is true, there would seem to be transition phases. I hope you will keep us posted.