Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Hello From So.cal.

angieInCA

Recommended Posts

angieInCA Apprentice
angieInCA
Posted

Hello all!

I am a total newbie to this whole celiac thing. I was diagnosed on Aug. 22nd. Just a little over a week of finally knowing what has been my problem for over 40 years. Sad thing is I became suspicious over 3 years ago and my gastroentologist then said "No Way" but never ran one test.

I've known for years something was not right and have had test after test for allergies and other things but nothing was ever conclusive. Sad thing is if you go down the Celiac check list I had 14 out of what 17 symptoms! And not one Dr. in my entire life ever questioned it. My guess is because the one symptom I didn't have was weight loss. Matter of fact I have always been about 10 to 15 lbs over weight and now I am close to 40 lbs over weight. Strangely enough, after just 1 week of being gluten free I have dropped 10 lbs and feel the best I have felt in years!

I have found all of this very daunting as I'm sure most of you did in the beginning. I've spent countless hours researching. I'm so excited to join a community where I feel I can learn so much.

Just call me

Angie

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


home-based-mom Contributor
home-based-mom
Posted
Hello all!

I am a total newbie to this whole celiac thing. I was diagnosed on Aug. 22nd. Just a little over a week of finally knowing what has been my problem for over 40 years. Sad thing is I became suspicious over 3 years ago and my gastroentologist then said "No Way" but never ran one test.

I've known for years something was not right and have had test after test for allergies and other things but nothing was ever conclusive. Sad thing is if you go down the Celiac check list I had 14 out of what 17 symptoms! And not one Dr. in my entire life ever questioned it. My guess is because the one symptom I didn't have was weight loss. Matter of fact I have always been about 10 to 15 lbs over weight and now I am close to 40 lbs over weight. Strangely enough, after just 1 week of being gluten free I have dropped 10 lbs and feel the best I have felt in years!

I have found all of this very daunting as I'm sure most of you did in the beginning. I've spent countless hours researching. I'm so excited to join a community where I feel I can learn so much.

Just call me

Angie

Welcome, Angie! :)

Unfortunately your story is far too common. You have come to a great place top learn. Read and ask questions to your heart's content! :P

quillpenz Newbie
quillpenz
Posted

Dear Angie from California, I suffered this disease as a child, I now realize. There were lots of times as a child when I think I was wheat free because on the farm in NC we alternated between biscuits (wheat) and cornbread and my mom made the pure cornbread without the flour. All I know is that I had the horrific celiac episodes once a month at a minimum as a child and had no idea what was wrong. My symptoms are violent. I think that by the time I was college age, it went into remission and came back in the 1990's when I had a serious family tragedy. In the 1990's I heard about celiac disease on the public radio broadcast, an item from the BBC and something about how the disease was generally in people of Mediteranean dissent. In the late 80's and early nineties they said that if you went wheat free for a year or so, you would be cured and could resume the wheat. That turned out to be false. I began to suspect that celiac was what I had. When I mentioned to my doctor, he said, "Not likely": I am black. He said that black people rarely get the disease. A girlfriend, a white woman, was having trouble and got tested. Turned out she did not have it but she told me that I should look into it. Like you, Angie, I could not get him to test me, so, I experimented, in 1999 and went off wheat. One week later I felt like a million dollars. I have stayed wheat free for nine years except for accidents and mislabelling and the episodes are horrible. I finally got tested this year and it confirmed my own diagnosis. I had a recurrence of symptoms because of a particular item of canned vegetables that I would never suspect had the wheat. I know how you feel. Angie. Are you near a Trader Joe's? They have a great ginger snap cookie. Harris Teeter and Food Lion are labelling shelf areas with large letters, "gluten free" and they jump at me like neon. As a child and young adult, I had trouble gaining weight. I weighed 99 pounds until I was 27 years old. As a child, I was made fun of for being so skinny. When I turned 60 I weighed 112. Luckily I had a big ego and didn't mind. I minded but I didn't let it stop me from being aggressive and happy. Angie, I hate to welcome you to this ailment, but welcome andgood luck. Quillpenz

angieInCA Apprentice
angieInCA
Posted
  • Author

I had only really learned about Celiac about 4 years ago before my Step-Daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's. I was doing research trying to help her when I discovered Celiac. All the sudden all the puzzle pieces started fitting together for me. It was so obvious.

I immediately went to my Dr. and said I think this might be my problem. Was sent to a gastroentologist and of course the answer was no and we don't need to test. For the last 3 years I have seen 6 different Dr.s in this area untill I saw one that would actually listen to me. I'm sure my insurance company thinks I'm a complete hypochondriac.

Thank God I have a Trader Joe's just down the street and we have a great Health Food store very close that had a whole aisle just for Gluten free even though they are a bit on the expensive side. I found some of the same things at Trader Joe's for almost 2 dollars cheaper.

There is a Whole Food's in this area but it's about 20 miles away so trips will have to be planned because here in So. Cal. 20 miles may mean an hour of traffic just to get there.

Phyllis28 Apprentice
Phyllis28
Posted

Henry's Famers Markets also have a reasonable selection of gluten free foods in Southern CA. Below is the link to their "Find a Store" webpage

Open Original Shared Link

quillpenz Newbie
quillpenz
Posted

Wholefoods has oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip!!!!

I cannot find a sandwich bread that I like. It is as heavy as lead. Quillpenz

Janessa Rookie
Janessa
Posted

I am in So Cal too. A lot of stuff you get at whole foods you can also buy in bulk on amazon much cheaper, so once you find something you like you can just order.

We are also getting pizza places that have gluten free pizza (pizzafusion-dot-com)

And Babycakes is opening in LA too (babycakesnyc-dot-com)

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams replied to Kirita's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      3

      Recovery from gluten challenge

      Hopefully the food she eats away from home, especially at school, is 100% gluten-free. If you haven't checked in with the school directly about this, it might be worth a planned visit with their staff to make sure her food is safe.
    2. Scatterbrain
      - Scatterbrain replied to Scatterbrain's topic in Sports and Fitness
      3

      Feel like I’m starting over

      Thanks to those who have replied. To Cristina, my symptoms are as follows: Dizziness, lightheaded, headaches (mostly sinus), jaw/neck pain, severe tinnitus, joint stiffness, fatigue, irregular heart rate, post exercise muscle fatigue and soreness, brain fog, insomnia. Generally feeling unwell. To Trents, We didn’t do any of the construction but did v...
    3. Kirita
      - Kirita replied to Kirita's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      3

      Recovery from gluten challenge

      Thank you so much for your response! I have a follow-up appointment with her pediatrician next week, and also an appointment with her pediatric GI Dr. Your message gives me some ideas for questions to ask the doctors. My daughter went strictly gluten-free in January following her first endoscopy so I’m guessing her diet is pretty solid. She is compliant b...
    4. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams replied to Kirita's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      3

      Recovery from gluten challenge

      While the positive endoscopy confirms the diagnosis, it's important to be skeptical of the idea that your daughter will simply "bounce back" to a pre-challenge state. The gluten challenge was essentially a controlled, prolonged exposure that likely caused significant inflammation and damage to her system; it's not surprising that recovery is slow and that...
    5. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams replied to Colleen H's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      1

      Brain fog

      The most common nutrient deficiencies associated with celiac disease that may lead to testing for the condition include iron, vitamin D, folate (vitamin B9), vitamin B12, calcium, zinc, and magnesium. Unfortunately many doctors, including my own doctor at the time, don't do extensive follow up testing for a broad range of nutrient deficiencies, nor recommend...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,287
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Desert Ratt
    Newest Member
    Desert Ratt
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Recovery from gluten challenge

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Hopefully the food she eats away from home, especially at school, is 100% gluten-free. If you haven't checked in with the school directly about this, it might be worth a planned visit with their staff to make sure her food is safe.
    • Scatterbrain
      Feel like I’m starting over

      By Scatterbrain · Posted

      Thanks to those who have replied.  To Cristina, my symptoms are as follows: Dizziness, lightheaded, headaches (mostly sinus), jaw/neck pain, severe tinnitus, joint stiffness, fatigue, irregular heart rate, post exercise muscle fatigue and soreness, brain fog, insomnia.  Generally feeling unwell. To Trents, We didn’t do any of the construction but did visit the job site quite often.  While getting the old house ready we stirred up a lot of dust and I’m sure mold but haven’t been back there for over a month.
    • Kirita
      Recovery from gluten challenge

      By Kirita · Posted

      Thank you so much for your response! I have a follow-up appointment with her pediatrician next week, and also an appointment with her pediatric GI Dr. Your message gives me some ideas for questions to ask the doctors. My daughter went strictly gluten-free in January following her first endoscopy so I’m guessing her diet is pretty solid. She is compliant but also reliant on others to make her food (at school and home) but she didn’t have this problem prior to the gluten challenge when she went strictly gluten-free. It really makes sense to me that the gluten challenge inflammation hasn’t healed and I will be asking her doctors about nutritional issues. I ask for anecdotal stories because the research surrounding the gluten challenge seems to be inconsistent and inconclusive (at least what I’ve been able to find!). Thank you so much for your response!
    • Scott Adams
      Recovery from gluten challenge

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      While the positive endoscopy confirms the diagnosis, it's important to be skeptical of the idea that your daughter will simply "bounce back" to a pre-challenge state. The gluten challenge was essentially a controlled, prolonged exposure that likely caused significant inflammation and damage to her system; it's not surprising that recovery is slow and that a subsequent exposure hit her so hard. The persistent fatigue is a major red flag that her body is still struggling, potentially indicating that the initial damage hasn't fully healed or that her system is now in a heightened state of reactivity. Rather than seeking anecdotal timelines from others, her experience underscores the critical need for close follow-up with her gastroenterologist to rule out other nutrient deficiencies commonly caused by celiac flare-ups, like iron or B12, and to consult with a dietitian to scrutinize her diet for any hidden sources of cross-contamination that could be perpetuating her symptoms. The most common nutrient deficiencies associated with celiac disease that may lead to testing for the condition include iron, vitamin D, folate (vitamin B9), vitamin B12, calcium, zinc, and magnesium.  Unfortunately many doctors, including my own doctor at the time, don't do extensive follow up testing for a broad range of nutrient deficiencies, nor recommend that those just diagnosed with celiac disease take a broad spectrum vitamin/mineral supplement, which would greatly benefit most, if not all, newly diagnosed celiacs.      
    • Scott Adams
      Brain fog

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      The most common nutrient deficiencies associated with celiac disease that may lead to testing for the condition include iron, vitamin D, folate (vitamin B9), vitamin B12, calcium, zinc, and magnesium.  Unfortunately many doctors, including my own doctor at the time, don't do extensive follow up testing for a broad range of nutrient deficiencies, nor recommend that those just diagnosed with celiac disease take a broad spectrum vitamin/mineral supplement, which would greatly benefit most, if not all, newly diagnosed celiacs. Brain fog, like other celiac disease symptoms, does improve after you to 100% gluten-free, and supplementation will also help.      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.