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

Any Good Docs At University Of Chicago Celiac Center?

Newbee

By Newbee
in Doctors

Recommended Posts

Newbee Contributor
Newbee
Posted

Tomorrow is my 1 year anniversary being gluten free. I was diagnosed with celiac with quite a bit of damage to my system (Marsh stage 3B). I don

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Tomorrow is my 1 year anniversary being gluten free. I was diagnosed with celiac with quite a bit of damage to my system (Marsh stage 3B). I don

Newbee Contributor
Newbee
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for your response Lisa. Sorry, I'm very frustrated about this this week. Perhaps my GI doc is giving me bad info then. He was telling me after 6 months I should have good stools and that this was indicating perhaps I had the refractory celiac. That freaked me out. I've been doing the specific carbohydrate diet the last couple of months with some success. The beginning of the diet is very restrictive so I don't need a food journal as I pretty much eat the same thing every day. That diet contains a lot of meat/animal products so I'm concerned it will cause other problems for me. And when I have good stools doing that I diet I think it may be because of the huge amount of hard cheeses I eat every day. I'm afraid this may end up causing other health problems (heart disase/stroke). I haven't had a lot of success getting my doctor's to test me for other issues, and when I do I find out they did it wrong (didn't include all the tests for B12 or thyroid).

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Maybe eliminate dairy products and see if you get better? Did he re- test your anti- bodies? That could give you an idea if you are on the right track.

Newbee Contributor
Newbee
Posted
  • Author

Per SCD I have eliminated dairy except for homemade yogurt and hard cheeses. I have had antibodies retested. They are down significantly but still testing positive. Doc said he didn't think it was because of getting gluten into my system.

October3 Explorer
October3
Posted

I drive 5 hrs to take my son to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. For us it is well worth the drive. The GI we were seeing had basically given up on diagnosing my son and had said essentially just wait for things to get a lot worse and then we'll figure it out. We see Dr. Guandalini there. He took a long time with us, ran a lot of tests, sends me lab reqs so I can follow up with lab work without going back to see him. He did say he wants to see us once a year which is completely doable. Also he did run a lot of tests looking at nutritional deficits and thyroid issues, etc. And they have a nutritionist on staff who we met with (had to make another trip for that unfortunately but you may be able to schedule them together if you wanted to).

As for other diets etc, we haven't gotten into any of that with him so I don't know how far his expertise goes. I also think a lot of the dietary and other food intolerance things are not supported well by research yet and so MD's maybe aren't the best to help with some of those things no matter how good they are. We have had success working with a Naturopath in addition to MD's with my and my kids multiple food intolerances. I know people who have had fantastic success with the SCD but I don't think I've ever seen a doc who would recommend it because it is so restrictive.

The one complaint I would say I have about the clinic is that it can be difficult to get answers from the doc because he isn't in the office often and is a busy guy. The clinic staff are wonderful and as helpful as they can be but if you have a question for the doc outside of an appointment be prepared to wait a bit to get the answer.

Newbee Contributor
Newbee
Posted
  • Author

I drive 5 hrs to take my son to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. For us it is well worth the drive. The GI we were seeing had basically given up on diagnosing my son and had said essentially just wait for things to get a lot worse and then we'll figure it out. We see Dr. Guandalini there. He took a long time with us, ran a lot of tests, sends me lab reqs so I can follow up with lab work without going back to see him. He did say he wants to see us once a year which is completely doable. Also he did run a lot of tests looking at nutritional deficits and thyroid issues, etc. And they have a nutritionist on staff who we met with (had to make another trip for that unfortunately but you may be able to schedule them together if you wanted to).

As for other diets etc, we haven't gotten into any of that with him so I don't know how far his expertise goes. I also think a lot of the dietary and other food intolerance things are not supported well by research yet and so MD's maybe aren't the best to help with some of those things no matter how good they are. We have had success working with a Naturopath in addition to MD's with my and my kids multiple food intolerances. I know people who have had fantastic success with the SCD but I don't think I've ever seen a doc who would recommend it because it is so restrictive.

The one complaint I would say I have about the clinic is that it can be difficult to get answers from the doc because he isn't in the office often and is a busy guy. The clinic staff are wonderful and as helpful as they can be but if you have a question for the doc outside of an appointment be prepared to wait a bit to get the answer.

Thank you so much for your response! Great info! Did the doctor determine what vitamin deficiencies/tests to run or was that recommended by the dietician? And what exactly did the dietician do? I've never been to a dietician so not sure what all they cover. Thanks!

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Newbee Contributor
Newbee
Posted
  • Author

Any other recommendations (or people to stay away from) that have went to University of Chicago for treatment? I was hoping for a few more responses. Thanks!

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Any other recommendations (or people to stay away from) that have went to University of Chicago for treatment? I was hoping for a few more responses. Thanks!

Not everyone is so fortunate to have such a great facility nearby, with the most knowledgeable experts in the field of Celiac Disease. ;)

Open Original Shared Link

October3 Explorer
October3
Posted

Thank you so much for your response! Great info! Did the doctor determine what vitamin deficiencies/tests to run or was that recommended by the dietician? And what exactly did the dietician do? I've never been to a dietician so not sure what all they cover. Thanks!

The doctor decided what to test for. We didn't see the dietician until later after it was determined we should go back on a gluten-free diet. She mostly answered all the questions about management of the diet itself and how to make sure you are getting the right nutrients, etc. She also worked with us on foods to promote iron absorption since that was our main issue.

Mandy's Mom Newbie
Mandy's Mom
Posted

Tomorrow is my 1 year anniversary being gluten free. I was diagnosed with celiac with quite a bit of damage to my system (Marsh stage 3B). I don

kam43 Newbie
kam43
Posted

Hi! I started seeing Dr. Sonia Kupfer shortly after my diagnosis as I was disappointed with my diagnosing GI, too. She has a very warm demeanor and was willing to communicate via phone and email. She was also on top of sharing information with my MD. Unfortunately, I have since moved too far to continue going there for treatment but in the visits I did have, she took her time and was incredibly thorough. I will say that scheduling procedures, depending on what you need, can be a little tricky as some things are coordinated with other departments and so you may have to make multiple trips but probably worth it if you get results.

I would say, if you are concerned that you have issues beyond Celiac, like thyroid, that you might want to consider an MD that works in an Integrative Medicine practice. I was lucky to find an amazing doc in Chicago and he was actually the one to even think to test me for Celiac after 7 years of suffering and wrong diagnoses. In my experience, an integrative doc goes beyond what a GI generally would to consider the big picture.

That said, I would highly recommend Dr. Kupfer. The entire center really is an amazing thing and you're lucky to be able to take advantage of it, drive and all.

If you'd like the name of the MD I mentioned, feel free to PM me and I will give you his info.

Archived

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

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      126,012
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Lil Nugent
    Newest Member
    Lil Nugent
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.9k
    • Total Posts
      69.1k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • BertoleAmur
      Has anyone found Ozempic affected their symptoms?

      By BertoleAmur · Posted

      I’ve been gluten-free for a while too, and I know how frustrating it can be when your body reacts unexpectedly. I haven’t personally experienced what you’re describing with Ozempic, but I did have a situation where I took a break from certain supplements and noticed my body felt a lot better.
    • Scott Adams
      Muscle Twitching

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Two of our moderators @knitty kitty and @Wheatwacked know a lot more about nutrients and may be able to offer some more help, so hopefully they will chime in here.
    • aperlo34
      Muscle Twitching

      By aperlo34 · Posted

      Hi Scott, thanks for the reply.    I’m currently taking  3000IU vitamin D3 centrum multivitamin  500mg vitamin C 1000mcg B12 naturemade softgel Omega 3 (for dry eyes) My latest labs for vitamins were D - 43.6 (range 30-100) B12 - 406 (range 232-1245) Folate - 11.4 (range >3.0) ferritin - 117 (30-400) magnesium - 2.3 (1.6-2.3) Calcium - 9.9 (8.7-10.2)   I am 29 and really struggling with this emotionally, I was caught by surprise 2.5months ago with this dx and pretty much no symptoms that I really knew of besides low ferritin. When I first met with the GI doctor in July and he ordered the endoscopy/colonoscopy, that was around when the twitching started. I’m unsure if it’s the anxiety of it all (I have been consistently freaking out since the scopes were ordered, losing sleep, obsessively googling etc.) or if it’s celiac related. I’m horrified that I might have something else wrong with me.  Additionally, I’ve been getting some mixed opinions - dietician told me to stop the additional b12 because my multi had b12, but I see online that some people think b12 levels should be well over 500.    Some other things that I’ve experienced since I went gluten free are more “sinus” headaches, facial pressure, some cramping in my left side (could be postural problems I’m dealing with) and dry eyes - my eye doctor has me on some eyes drops that really help and this is a work in progress. And no my mouth isn’t dry too 😅   I’m absolutely beside myself with fear of other AI diseases and have no one I can really turn to (besides online) that has dealt with this. I have no idea what’s in my mind and what is a real symptom anymore because I’m so hyper aware of every sensation in my body! Thank you so much in advance for any input/guidance.    
    • Yaya
      Muscle Twitching

      By Yaya · Posted

      I never had muscle twitching that I would relate to Celiac Disease (celiac disease).  However, I now have Long Covid and muscle twitching, burning, and other issues cropped up with that.  Predating all was restless leg syndrome (RLS).  Are you talking about RLS?  I've had that since '99.  It gets progressively worse.  
    • Scott Adams
      Muscle Twitching

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Hello @aperlo34, what types of supplements are you taking? Your symptoms could be related to vitamin/mineral deficiencies.   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. Because of this it took me decades to overcome a few long-standing issues I had that were associated with gluten ataxia, for example numbness and tingling in my feet, and muscle knots--especially in my shoulders an neck. Only long term extensive supplementation has helped me to resolve these issues.      
×
×
  • Create New...