Looking Pregnant

[pebbles]

Hi,

Today is my first day here, WOW! I'm hoping someone may be able to give my some insight. I have been at war with my body since last November. In a nutshell:

November: two rounds of the "flu"

December: cold and bladder infection

January: two kidney infections

February: possible "kidney" infection. Started having major abdominal bloating (look six months pregnant- but would de-swell after about three days), loose stool/pain, feeling extremly tired, brain fog, sick to my stomach, feeling on edge. Went to my regular dr. who scheduled an ultrasound. Didn't find anything, so it was all in my head-stress related.

March: felt better

April/May/June: All the symptoms that I had in February are now constant. I always look six months pregnant, have either D or C. I decided to go to another dr. at the end of March. Could not find a dr who was taking new patients, felt very depressed. Since I didn't have a dr., I decided to go to Urgent Care. The dr. told me that he thought I had diverticulits. The following weekend I felt much worse, so I went to the regular ER where they gave me a CATscan. This showed that diverticulits was not the problem, but I did have an irregular liver enzyme. He didn't tell me what it was, only that I needed to go to a gastro- but I needed a referral from another dr because they can't give referrals.

By May, I was concerned-called my gyn. who was nice enough to refer my to the gastro. Had my first appointment the beginning of June. Thought I had cediac, IBS, and lacto intolerance. Scheduled blood tests. Dr. has results, but is so busy that I will get my results when he can get to me (this is now the beginning of the fourth week). Have a scheduled colon. on the 10th, but feeling feeling helpless. Afraid that my blood tests will come out negative and no one will believe how awful I feel. Thanks for letting me vent. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I could sure use some advice!

[Lemontree]

I feel some of your pain, but not quite as extreme. I was hoping to get some advice for my bloating. I am not diagnosed yet, sorry I have no advice, but would like to know what the doctor says.

[pebbles]

I feel some of your pain, but not quite as extreme. I was hoping to get some advice for my bloating. I am not diagnosed yet, sorry I have no advice, but would like to know what the doctor says.

Thanks for the response! It is nice hearing from someone who feels like I do. I'll let you know what my doctor says as soon as I get some answers. Please let me know how you are doing. Again, it is really nice to talk to someone who "gets it".

Take care,

Deb

[Rosey]

Hi!

I'm new here too, but I've already found tons of useful information on the board (thanks so much everyone!!!!!) and I hope you will as well!

I can really relate to what you are saying. I've been having problems (pain, bloating, alternating C and D, GERD...) for over 20 years without knowing the cause. The bloating and gas started to get really bad after I had appendicitis in 1994 (they didn't even diagnose it properly at first - just put it down to my "irritable bowel"! The result was a burst appendix and peritonitis!). People used to offer me seats on the bus thinking I was pregnant or ask me when the baby was due - it was so embarrassing and very painful as well. Finally, it got so bad at the beginning of this year that I was having problems at work and was afraid even to go and visit friends. And that's when someone (to whom I will be eternally grateful!) told me about Celiac disease and I found this wonderful site. I didn't wait to do the test (here in France it's not so easy anyway!)- I started the diet at the end of May and I can tell you that the bloating and gas subsided in less than a week!! I still have occasional attacks of course, and suffer from some other symptoms, especially GERD and fatigue, but I can tell you that my life is already so much better and I'm hoping that I may be able to get those other symptoms under control sometime as well! So please don't despair! I really hope that the gluten-free diet (I'm also dairy-free and soy-free) will help you as much as it has helped me!

Let us know how it goes once you start the diet! Take care!

[pebbles]

Hi!

I'm new here too, but I've already found tons of useful information on the board (thanks so much everyone!!!!!) and I hope you will as well!

I can really relate to what you are saying. I've been having problems (pain, bloating, alternating C and D, GERD...) for over 20 years without knowing the cause. The bloating and gas started to get really bad after I had appendicitis in 1994 (they didn't even diagnose it properly at first - just put it down to my "irritable bowel"! The result was a burst appendix and peritonitis!). People used to offer me seats on the bus thinking I was pregnant or ask me when the baby was due - it was so embarrassing and very painful as well. Finally, it got so bad at the beginning of this year that I was having problems at work and was afraid even to go and visit friends. And that's when someone (to whom I will be eternally grateful!) told me about Celiac disease and I found this wonderful site. I didn't wait to do the test (here in France it's not so easy anyway!)- I started the diet at the end of May and I can tell you that the bloating and gas subsided in less than a week!! I still have occasional attacks of course, and suffer from some other symptoms, especially GERD and fatigue, but I can tell you that my life is already so much better and I'm hoping that I may be able to get those other symptoms under control sometime as well! So please don't despair! I really hope that the gluten-free diet (I'm also dairy-free and soy-free) will help you as much as it has helped me!

Let us know how it goes once you start the diet! Take care!

Hi Rosey,

Thanks for your post! It really brightened my day. I do not feel so alone . I started the diet on July 1. After two days, I lost 5 inches (!) from my waist and 2 inches from my abdomen, incredible! I also feel much better, although still very tired and feeling weeker than my normal self. My colonoscopy is next week with a new doctor (5 weeks and I still don't have my blood results) who may have some answers. I'll let you know what I find out ASAP! I hope you are feeling better and if you ever want to chat, that would be great! Thanks again for the post...

Take care!!!

Deb

[Rosey]

Hi Rosey,

Thanks for your post! It really brightened my day. I do not feel so alone . I started the diet on July 1. After two days, I lost 5 inches (!) from my waist and 2 inches from my abdomen, incredible! I also feel much better, although still very tired and feeling weeker than my normal self. My colonoscopy is next week with a new doctor (5 weeks and I still don't have my blood results) who may have some answers. I'll let you know what I find out ASAP! I hope you are feeling better and if you ever want to chat, that would be great! Thanks again for the post...

Take care!!!

Deb

Hi Deb!

I'm so glad you are feeling better! How did the colonoscopy go? For your sake, I hope you'll get some positive results! I have left you a message and would be happy to chat whenever you like!

Take care,

Rosey

[Eriella]

As far as looking pregnant-- I wear lots of empire waisted blouses with dance paints (they stretch and grow with me). To get the bloating down I drink tons to water, eat something with salt (tortilla chips or pretzels), and eat lots of fruit. Between going gluten free and eating those foods, I have a lot fewer problems with it. When I went off gluten I dropped 2 pant sizes in a week (simply because of the bloating)

Even if your test results come back negative, try the diet. You may have a false negative or are gluten intolerant. If you feel better, that is all that is what matters.

If you have any questions, this is the place to ask.

[Emily Elizabeth]

This all sounds familiar to me! I was diagnosed with celiac in May, but was feeling the same frustration as you before diagnosis. I looked pregnant every afternoon and worse at night and was eating constantly. Even my co-workers thought i was pregnant! The only advice I have is to hang in there. Unfortunately if you have celiac you have a tough road ahead of you. In probably about 4 months though, you should feel better then you have maybe even in your entire life! Make sure that you eat plenty of gluten right now (they say 4 slices of bread a day) before all of your tests. That way they will be able to properly diagnose you. I wish you the best of luck!

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I could sure use some advice!

[junky]

Wow, your medical history is sounding quite a bit like mine before I began getting severe GI symptoms [i still don't know if it's Celiac]. So far this year, I've had about three kidney infections [they don't seem to go away really], a yeast infection [which I have never had one in my life], and about three colds. I'm normally not this sick ever.

Also, the pregnancy-looking thing kind of stuck out to me. For the past couple months, I'd joke with my bf about how my belly would get distended after I had eaten. I'd often say that I looked pregnant, and I'd kind of laugh it off.

I know what you're going through though. I've had tons of tests run too, and it's so exhausting and upsetting when they don't find anything at all. I'm honestly not going to know where to turn if my tests come back negative. I feel like this is a last ditch effort before pumping myself with IBS meds without knowing if it's IBS or not.

[confusedks]

Wow! I totally relate! I am a very small waisted person. My usually 26 inch waist "expands" to about 31-2 inches when I get glutened. I also LOVE empire waisted tops because they hide my "pregnant looking tummy" It is also really hard for me because I am so small, so it REALLY looks like I'm pregnant! Now what I'm dealing with is my dr. took a Celiac panel when I was very gluten lite (almost no gluten except for dressings) and of course they came back negative! But he told me to go gluten free but the problem is that I can't even stand the thought of going back on gluten to get a proper diagnosis. He even told me he is pretty positive I have Celiac but now I am stuck! Like I said, I totally relate and if anyone ever wants to talk...I have had a huge amount of experience with all kinds of Celiac related symptoms! You can PM or email me... knshore@hotmail.com

Kassandra

[dmack]

Hi! When I saw "looking pregnant" I couldn't help but joining in -

I'm definitely experiencing bloating, but my other symptoms are wierd and i'm not sure I have celiac disease? The bloating is the most prominent symptom, and started about 2 months ago, pretty suddenly. Some friends think it must be due to celiac disease, but the bloating is only occasionally accompanied with nausea, rarely paired with pain, and i've had no increase/decrease in normal gas levels and/or bowel movements. JUST BLOATING, discomfort, and confusion are constant. Went to the gyno, ultrasounds came back negative.

I've also had a few days of severe fatigue, but that comes and goes. I went on a gluten-free diet one week ago, but one friend said I'd feel better within 3 days. Another person I talked to said I should feel better after about 2 weeks. I've had less discomfort and nausea since cutting out gluten, but the bloating will NOT go away. Day 4 into my gluten-free diet I ate the insides of a plain sandwich (just the roast beef, ham, tomato slice and lettuce - no mayo or anything on 'em), and some bean salad (garbanzo, lima, red/yellow pepper) -- and got very nauseous about an hour afterwards.

Today I had a latte with 2% milk to see if lactose is an issue (first dairy in a week+) -- no problems today!

It doesn't run in the family -- Think I could really have celiac disease?

[confusedks]

dmack,

If you do have a gluten problem, you can't take the food out of the inside of a sandwich. It will be "contaminated" with gluten. Food must never TOUCH gluten otherwise it is contaminated. That may be the reason you were feeling symptomatic.

Kassandra

[dmack]

Yikes! Good thing I didn't snack on the ice cream inside a birthday cake today at the office then.

Is it really possible for celiac disease to develop so quickly? I've never had problems or symptoms (30 yrs old) - then 2 months ago, wham!

Sorry, one more question: the week before I started my gluten-free diet, I ate a veggie burger (wheat bun) -- felt icky afterwards, but didn't stop me from normal activities. Then (as I mentioned) day 4 into being gluten-free I had meat from inside a sandwich (no bread) -- felt so sick I had to leave work. Is it possible for it to get that much worse in just a matter of a week?

[confusedks]

dmack,

I'm glad you didn't have the ice cream either!!

It is possible to develop it quickly. There are some threads on this site that talk about what you think triggered your celiac. As far as the gluten reaction getting worse, that's not what really happens. When you get "glutened" after being gluten free, the reactions are much worse! When you have no gluten in your body, and then suddenly you put gluten in your body, it freaks out because it thinks it's attacking your small intestines. It is like a foreign object in a sense.

Kassandra

[kalikohl]

This all sounds familiar to me! I was diagnosed with celiac in May, but was feeling the same frustration as you before diagnosis. I looked pregnant every afternoon and worse at night and was eating constantly.

this sounds so much like my story. I totally looked pregnant and I was just eating all the time. I had the tests and don't know the results yet but figured I'd go gluten-free. I've been gluten-free for about a week or so and I've never felt better. And my stomach is flatter than ever. my stomach just totally deflated.

good luck to you and i hope that you start feeling better soon