Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • 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

New Here, Pre-diagnosis.

LIS-Guy

Recommended Posts

LIS-Guy Rookie
LIS-Guy
Posted

Hi,

I'm a 45 year-old male who has been struggling for about five years now with debilitating fatigue.

I have had chronic diarrhea since childhood, often uncontrollable, that led to many episodes of 'not making it to the bathroom in time', even into my early teens. I suffered with terrible hay fever as a child that could not be controlled with any amount of medication. When I was 12 I got mononucleosis and had to be hospitalized due to its severity. I don't know what, if anything, these may have to do with Celiac, but I mention these because frankly my immune system has never been quite right since.

Through my twenties and thirties the chronic diarrhea remained but I did learn to live with it. I have recurrent ear and sinus infections and take antibiotics an average of four times per year. I've now become allergic to keflex and sulfa drugs. About five years ago I moved into a new apartment in an old house and developed a sinus infection within a month. I still have it to this day. Even sinus surgery did not relieve it and I've been told it's just 'one of those things'. This is when the fatigue started and has worsened ever since.

Last year my landlord was required to have a health inspection done of the premises. The health inspector was concerned enough by the findings to call me at home and tell me to 'move out of the house as soon as possible'. Apparently the mold was so bad the apartment was unfit to live in. The house had a wet dirt floor in the basement, forced-air heating, and open return-air vents thru which you could see the basement floor. I had been breathing all that in for four years. I moved immediately into modern housing which is very clean and well-maintained, but the fatigue never went away.

I don't have the best insurance right now and frankly my doctor thinks I'm a nutjob. I've been told it's just depression, and I also have low levels of several vitamins, and was prescribed antidepressants and vitamin supplements. Interestingly, several months ago I went on a low-carb diet to lose weight and was suprised to find my symptoms got a little better. I didn't put two and two together at the time, but when you do low-carb you virtually eliminate grains.

Questions: Could I have Celiac's? Could my exposure to the mold have triggered it to get worse?

Thanks for any help,

LIS

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


CarlaB Enthusiast
CarlaB
Posted

I would check out this website. www.biotoxin.info Just because you remove the mold exposure does not mean your body was able to detox the toxins. Gluten produces a similar biotoxin to mold, so you could have a problem with gluten (including celiac) in addition to having a problem with the mold toxins.

There are some great webcasts on that website. The doctor there is considered an expert in biotoxin treatment and even mentions gluten/celiac in the webcasts.

MELINE Enthusiast
MELINE
Posted

Hello

check candida...

antibiotics trigger it, mold makes it worse, and fatigue is a main symptom......

Meline

nora-n Rookie
nora-n
Posted

Yes you could have had celiac all the time.

Were any tests run?

Be aware now that celiac tests are very unreliable after being low-carb.

happened to me.

In order to test positive on conventional celiac tests and endoscopy, one has to consume at least 0,3 g gluten per kg weight for at least 6 weeks, better for at least 3 months before testing.

If you want a more sensitive test, you can do the enterolab tests, the stool test and the gene test. But they cannot diagnose celiac, because their tests are too sensitive and detect the antibodies long before they get so bad they enter the blood stream.

nora

LIS-Guy Rookie
LIS-Guy
Posted
  • Author

Thank you for the valuable information.

I guess it's been about 3 months since I was on the low-carb diet. I only stuck with it for a few weeks however and my chronic diarrhea returned almost immediately upon discontinuing it. I then went to the other extreme and attempted a vegetarian diet thinking it might help my vitamin deficiency and other symptoms. I knew nothing about Celiac at the time... I just thought a vegetarian diet seemed healthier overall. Needless to say I ate a LOT of grains for the thirty days I was vegetarian, and felt absolutely miserable.

I'm going to try and get an appointment to see a gastroenterologist asap. I talked to my primary care doctor's nurse yesterday and found out that my insurance does not require a referral from him if I choose to see a specialist that is in-network. I'll kinda feel like I'm going behind his back, and he won't be happy about it, but at this point I just want answers.

LIS

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
Thank you for the valuable information.

I guess it's been about 3 months since I was on the low-carb diet. I only stuck with it for a few weeks however and my chronic diarrhea returned almost immediately upon discontinuing it. I then went to the other extreme and attempted a vegetarian diet thinking it might help my vitamin deficiency and other symptoms. I knew nothing about Celiac at the time... I just thought a vegetarian diet seemed healthier overall. Needless to say I ate a LOT of grains for the thirty days I was vegetarian, and felt absolutely miserable.

I'm going to try and get an appointment to see a gastroenterologist asap. I talked to my primary care doctor's nurse yesterday and found out that my insurance does not require a referral from him if I choose to see a specialist that is in-network. I'll kinda feel like I'm going behind his back, and he won't be happy about it, but at this point I just want answers.

LIS

You could start by calling your GP's office and asking him to order a celiac panel for you. If your doctor knows of your long term history of D he should not have a problem with ordering it. There is a chance your blood panel may show up positive and if it does your doctor could significantly cut your waiting time for an endo by contacting the gastro. No definates there but worth a shot.

LIS-Guy Rookie
LIS-Guy
Posted
  • Author

Good news.

I have an appointment to see a gastroenterologist on the 30th of this month, it's covered by my insurance, and I'm told she is well-versed in Celiac's. Twenty-seven days doesn't seem like that long to wait for a specialist, does it? To be honest I didn't expect to get in so soon. The hardest part will be continuing to eat gluten till the end of the month while I'm feeling like such crap, but I'll just have to buck up and keep pounding down the bread and pasta while I wait.

Thanks for the help,

LIS

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
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      126,855
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Roserose
    Newest Member
    Roserose
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.9k
    • Total Posts
      69.7k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      9 Year Old test results - help interpret

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Welcome to the forum, @Gill.brittany8, Yes, the bloodwork is confusing.   One has to be eating a sufficient amount of gluten (10 grams/day, about 5-6 slices of bread) in order for the antibody level to get high enough to be measured in the bloodstream.  If insufficient amounts of gluten are eaten, the the antibodies stay in the small intestines, hence the statement "tTG IgA may normalize in individuals with celiac disease who maintain a gluten-free diet."  The bloodwork reflects anemia.  People with anemia can have false negatives on tTg IgA tests because anemia interferes with antibody production.  Diabetes and Thiamine deficiency are other conditions that may result in false negatives.  Anemias, B12 deficiency, iron deficiency, Thiamine deficiency and gastritis are common in undiagnosed Celiac disease.    The DGP IgG antibody test should be given because your daughter is so young.  Many young people test positive on DGP IgG because their immune systems are not mature and don't produce IgA antibodies yet.  Your daughter has several alleles (genes for Celiac disease).   Your daughter needs to be checked for nutritional deficiencies.  Iron (ferritin) B12, Vitamin D, Thiamine and Vitamin A should be checked.   Were any biopsies taken during the endoscopy? Keep us posted on your progress.  
    • knitty kitty
      Years of testing - no real answers

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      The intestinal tract can be as long as twenty-two feet long, so intestinal damage may be out of the reach of endoscopy tools.  Some people have had more success with capsule endoscopy, but this method cannot take biopsies.  
    • knitty kitty
      What should I do with these test results?

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @Jack Common, It's possible that your antibiotic for giardiasis has caused thiamine deficiency.   https://hormonesmatter.com/metronidazole-toxicity-thiamine-deficiency-wernickes-encephalopathy/ And... Thiamine and benfotiamine: Focus on their therapeutic potential https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10682628/ For clarification, the weight of your slice of bread is not equal to the amount of gluten in it.   Gluten helps form those big holes in breads, so breads like thick chewy pizza crust and artisan breads contain more gluten than cakes and cookies.  
    • knitty kitty
      Guidance on next steps after the lab tests

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Sorry about that link.  It was meant for a different post.   Do consider taking high dose Vitamin D in order to get your level up to around 80 nm/l quickly.   This is the level where Vitamin D can properly work like a hormone and can improve the immune system and lower inflammation.  It makes a big difference.   I took high dose Vitamin D and really improved quickly.  I ate Vitamin D supplements throughout the day like m&ms.  My body craved them.  Very strange, I know, but it worked.   Before you have surgery, you really need to improve your vitamins and minerals.  Vitamins A and D, Vitamin C and Niacin are extremely important to skin health and repair.  Without these, the body does not repair itself neatly.  I've got a scar worthy of a horror movie.  My doctors were clueless about nutritional deficiencies. A sublingual Vitamin B12 supplement will work better for boosting levels.  Tablets or liquid drops in the mouth are easily absorbed directly into the blood stream.   Do bear in mind that about half of Celiac people react to the protein in dairy, Casein, the same as they react to gluten because segments of the protein in Casein resembles segments of the protein Gluten.  Some people lose the ability to produce lactase, the enzyme that digests Lactose, the sugar in dairy, as they age.  Others lose the ability to produce lactase because the intestinal Villi become damaged during the autoimmune response against gluten, and damaged chili can't produce lactase.   Do try Benfotiamine.  It has been shown to improve gastrointestinal health and neuropathy. Keep us posted on your progress!
    • ABP2025
      Guidance on next steps after the lab tests

      By ABP2025 · Posted

      Thanks sending me additional links including how to test for thiamine deficiency. With regards to your first link, I wasn't diagnosed with giardiasis and I didn't take antibiotic for it. I try to generally stay away from antibiotic unless absolutely necessary as it might affect gut health. For treating phimosis, the doctor didn't give me antibiotics. I need to have a circumcision surgery which I haven't got around to schedule it.
×
×
  • Create New...