LuvMoosic4life

So I've been in search for a primary doctor since my last one rejected me for rediculous insurance reasons (not good when you are a college student). I've been calling everywhere and cant see a GI doc until I have a primary doctor. The closest appointment I can get is in JULY!! UGGHH! So I'm in a dilema. I know that gluten bothers me and I'm reading a lot about people getting negative results and such. I feel like if I want the best results to see if my body is reacting or if I have celiacs, I should be eating gluten. I dont want to go back b/c I know how I feel when I'm on it. My problems arent quite as severe as some people's in here. I could probably put up with eating a small amount of it each day, but it would have to be at night b/c I wouldnt want to deal with bloating and discomfort all day. BUt then there is the chance that I may get a doctor that will refuse to test me, so if I go back to gluten for three months prior to july, it may be for nothing depending onthe docs decision......grrrrr...

any suggestions?

so i went to the doctor months ago. had an endoscopy and it came back negative for celiac.

bloating, constipation, etc. the whole nine yards and i also get hives when i ingest gluten. no doc is able to get me answers.

i am going to see a different doc within the same practice, as per my allergist.

when i get there, and re-tell him everything.

- chronic constipation

- bloating

- bloating after eating bagels, bread products, etc.

- had some bloodwork done by regular doc. said i had an egg allergy and wheat allergy

- since cutting gluten/wheat out of my diet, bloating has gone down

- when i ingest gluten, i get itchy hives all over my legs

do i just re-tell the other doc all of this? think he will do anything else

I'm not really in the same situation as you, but I can understand why you want answers from a doctor. In my situation I havent seen a doctor, but i narrowed my problem down to being gluten, dairy and eggs. My whole family thinks this whole thing is just in my head. At one point they actually got me thinking that also, so I went off the gluten free diet and I started feeling horrible: tendon pains, bloating, gas,headace constipation ect...ect....

I am having a problem even finding a doctor to see, the closest appointment I can get is in 3 months from now. I really dont even want to go to the doctor, although I would like to find out if I have the gene for celiacs and get tested, but my main purpose is so that I can have somthing in writing to show my family so they dont think I'm on some diet where I dont want to eat thier food. It seems that people dont believe us about health problems unless it is confirmed by a doctor. I think its rediculous b/c nobody knows our bodies better than ourselves, but yet when I tell peopl I have a gluten intolerance, they tend to laugh at me and I feel that having some proof from a doctor would make them understaand where I am coming from and maybe actually believe me!

thanks... how am I supposed to get a dr. to do a biopsy if they are convinced that I don't have it then? despite me having almost every symptom ever mentioned on every site I could find ?? guess you can see I'm pretty discouraged.

Are you seeing a GI doctor? I know there are some GI doctors that specialize in digestive diseases so they should understand how the testing works. I'm having a problem even finding a doctor in my area right now b/c I have this feeling its going to be a long process just to find out if I have celiacs or not. This is why I think the gene test would be the best. If I dont have the gene, I dont have celiacs, if I do have the gene, I have had most of the symptoms and so have family memebers, so i dont see why they wouldnt do furthur testing...

thanks! that makes sense. now that I think of it, I had always got really thirsty after eating my entire life. People always ask me how I can drink so much water with a meal, but it always seems that even after on bite of something I have to drink water. I could never unerstand how someone could sit and eat a whole meal and not touch water....or even eat a handful of pretzels-haha

So I've been gluten free for a little while now. I don't know if this is related to it, but I feel like i cant drink enough water. I normally drink plenty of water throughout the day and I am a runner so I am very well aware of the need to stay hydrated. Lately since I've been gluten free I just feel dry; my skin feels dry, my eyes get dry,my nose and throat, and I hate to say it, but even my stools are extremely dry and hard ( but I wouldnt say I'm constipated). I eat plenty of fruits and veggies and my all around diet is very good and I make sure I get enough healthy fats and oils in my diet. I rarely eat processed foods.

I don't want to say that I am dehydrated b/c my urine is typically clear thoughout the day ( with exception in the morning it is a little darker yellow, but not to the point where it would be considered dehydration.) I dont drink coffee. the only caffine I take in is through green tea, which I have 2 or 3 times a day at the most.

Has anyone ever experienced this before after going gluten free?

its funny too b/c people in my family say I look thinner, but I actaully am the same wieght. My clothes even fit me better....

I have been visiting the organic isle in Tops quite a bit now and have been noticing new gluten free products every so often. The thing that bothers me is many products will clearly label "gluten free" in big letters on the front, but then when you read the ingredients list, at the end it states "produced in a facility that also produces products containg wheat, soy, nuts...ect.....

do these factories have specific section for producing gluten free products? and I wonder if these products are really gluten free. I dont buy them b/c I am unsure. I just stick to products produced in a 100% gluten free environment.

I think I'm going to try to get the gene test. I'm also going to try one more time to eat gluten. My digestive system is still recovering from a week ago when I tried it....I was under a lot of stress too, so mabye I had a worse reaction b/c of that. It seems like being gluten freee and then going back causes your body to react stronger.

thanks. yeah, sorry, I was responding to the post before yours and shouldve qouted it. I will definitly look at that link!!! thankyou, I havent heard of that

thanks. I'm well aware of gluten free beers and other drinks that are gluten free. Because regular beer has gluten I just thought maybe b/c my body is reacting against gluten it may not be able to catch up with the alcohol, therefore the alcohol would effect me more. I was just seeing if anyone has this reaction and if this is the reason I get sick.....I'm going to try gluten free beer to see if I have the same reactions....

I've been asking a lot of questions in here since I can't afford to go to a doc yet.....

So I've had digestive symptoms for quite a few years. I was trying to figure out when this whole gluten intolerance thing started with me ( that is being aware that it may be what I have)...

I've always had the digestive problems, but the getting sick and exttremely fatigued started happening more regularly in my third year of college when I transfered to a university. Of course many college students drink..I was never really into it but started drinking more here and there my third year into college. I'm not at all a heavy drinker and know when to stop for my own body, but will admit I've gone over my limit a few times. Generally I used to hold my alcohol well considerig my size....not anymore

At the beginning of 2007 (before I knew I was gluten intolerant) I got a spot playing in a band that plays at a bar in the town. I was never a beer drinker, but part of the reason the band plays is for free beer from the bar (plus we get payed). So I started drinking beer. It didnt bother me at first, but a couple months later I would start having the big "D" the day after a gig, but it didnt happen until after a few hours after waking up.....it was so bad that I would be running to the bathrrom up to 10 times in an hour.....I sware it was like the beer went right through me. I figured it was just a common reaction to beer/alcohol, so I just made it a point to limit how much i drank and eat something afterward (which would be bread or something, yeah real smart)....it didnt matter if I had 1 or 20 (no I didnt have 20 ) I would have D and continuous gas.

Later in the year I started playing in another band where we also get free drinks...I know this makes me sound like an alcoholic, but really I would only drink once or twice every other week and wouldnt go over 3 drinks in a 6 hour time frame... By the fall of 2007 I was getting sick every other month it seemed. By christmas time I had about 3 sinus infections, strepp throat, pink eye and a cold. I had a christmas party, where there was plenty of glutened food..... one of my friend brought cheep box wine (prob. not gluten free) I got really dizzy after half a glass. I actually had a gig that night and tried drinking a beer just because the guys in the band make a big deal if I dont drink-ha....I ended up drinking water the rest of the night because my muscles felt fatigued and I had no energy to play.

I started 2008 off sick (go figure) and when I was semi- better one of my friends wanted me to meet him at a bar. I hadn't drank since x-mas, so I had one beer. Normally one beer would just relax me, well, this one beer caused me to almost not make to the bathroom when i stood up after sitting for a half an hour b/c I felt extremly dizzy and light, like I was walking on a cloud. I came back out and my friend had odered me another one even though I didnt want it, so I sipped on it and ended up drinking it...then he ordered this french bread appetizer for us which I also ate ....I ended up puking from nausea when I got home......I never puke from drinking....especially 2 beers??? so I figured maybe someone put something in my drink....the next couple of times I went out, the same thing happened, and I was sure to monitor my drinks...I told my friends what was happening when i would drink and they said, "well maybe you shouldnt have alcohol anymore".

Not much later on I started learning about gluten intolerance and am now realizing all my problems are/may be related to this.

.....so after writing a novel here my question is, does glutened alcoholc drinks increase the effect of alcohol in those who are gluten intolerant? Or was the reaction I was having from the gluten alone?

I had one beer at my last gig and felt like i drank a six pack......

I was taking beano for a while, it seemed to work at first, but after a few times it made my gas problem worse and made me naucious...

SO I understand that before I get tested (if they do the antibody test) I should be eating gluten. Do I have to be eating it for a certain amount of time before the test?

I can't even go back to eating gluten right now, I tried and was completely miserable for 2 days and am still recovering today, I felt like i was coming down with the flu almost. I was just wondering if there has to be a certain level of gluten in your body built up, or if all it would take is say, a bagel in the morning before the test....

I havent been to a doc yet and just have been experimenting on my own. I was gluten free for a month or so and just wanted to see what would happen adding bread and cereal, ect... back in my diet.....I felt so horrible I got mad and cleaned my entire apt. of anything containing any traces of wheat/gluten! theres no way I can go back to living like that, and nobody understands what I feel like when I eat it, they think I'm making it up- so frustrating

I always hear that the typical celiac will gain wieght when going gluten free.

I havent been diagnosed with celiacs and havent even see a doctor yet, but I found the reason I've been feeling like crap and getting sick all the time is gluten. I tried elimination diets on my own and I found that going gluten free makes me feel amazing. IF I go back to eating gluten I dont neccesarrily gain wieght, ( I hate wieghing myself and just go by how I feel) but I feel like I am retaining water. The feeling I get after adding something like bread or cereal in my diet for a couple days is pretty much the same feeling I have before my menstrual cycle....tired, fatigued,muscle fatigue, headace, bloating, gas and even sinus problems. It has always been harder for me than an average person to keep my wieght down my whole life, I am not fat by any means, but I exercise and eat very healthy.... but when I went gluten free, I found I had more energy and the feeling of water retention was gone and my clothes fit me so much better.....is this something typical of gluten intolerance or even celiacs?

I also noticed that when I was gluten free my pre-menstrual syptoms were half as bad, I tried eating regular pasta one day during the time of my pms symptons just to see what would happen, I ended up spending 12 hours in bed, I felt so sick!!!

I heard that with the DNA test, it just shows wether or not you carry the gene for celiacs. Just because you have the gene doesnt mean you will get it...

....but I know less than people here

does anyone feel deyhdrated after eaten gluten?

yeah thats true. but I'm also worried I wont find a doctor that even knows that-ha

yeah, trying to explain a gluten free diet to my family= the response : what? thats insane. thres nohing you can eat!!! you're crazy......

plus they are almost all italian.......that doesnt help.

Hi...

this is really lengthy, but I dunno how else to get my point/concern accross...

I have had digestive issues my whole life, but they started getting really bad around age 17. I am 22 now, and ever since then they just seemed to get progressivly worse. My symptoms are mostly severe gas/bloating and frequent constipation and then diarhea. My gas was so bad to the point where I would avoid social events and sometimes go w/o eating before going to school or going somewhere important because I knew I would be in such discomfort. I figured having gas is just the way I am since I grew up in a family where almost everyone, especailly my dad had the same problems... everyone in my family just told me, and still tells me it is normal, although by age 18 it started getting to the point where it was an everyday thing, I would eat, and then 1- 3 hours later I felt like I swallowed a balloon with a knife stuck in it. I had heartburn problems in high school and began to come down with viral infections that increasingly got worse, until in this passed year I got sick nearly 10 times and went on antibiotics 3 times. At one point I had pink eye, sinus infection and strepp throat all at the same time. Just recently I developed soars in my mouth and had a buring tounge for no appearent reason. I had my blood checked to find out I was borderline anemic ( I was very anemic around age 16/17 with my hemoglobin down to 8 and hospitalized b/c I kept passing out.) NO doctor or physician could ever give me an answer to my getting sick all the time, and the heartburn problems they were cluless about.

About a year ago I started linking my heartburn to eating bread, so I slowly cut it out of my diet as much as possible, it was something I would have every morning, either toast, or some type of whole wheat cereal. I was eating a lot of wheat pasta also and noticed that I was having diarhea on a regular basis, and even worse just before my menstrual cycles. I would go for days being constipated and then all of a sudden I couldn't leave the bathroom... I tried switching over to regular "white" pasta and it actually was having a worse effect on me.

By the time 2008 rolled around I stopped eating pasta, unless I knew I wasnt going anywhere. At the beginning of this year I started having bad reactions to beer. sometimes it would bother me, other times it wouldn't, but I never really had a problem before. I was talking to a friend about my symptoms and she suggested I may have gluten intolerance. So tried going compltely gluten free and I couldnt belive my symptoms nearly disapeared! My family thinks I'm making this all up and I've been doing a lot of research on celiacs, I'm almost convinced this may be what I have and what half the people in my family have...

...after eating gluten free for a couple weeks, I went home fore easter and ended up spending a whole day on the couch after eating pretzels, the discomfort was horrible!!!! I started getting a headace, something I rarely get anymore. I used to get migranes as a child after eating all the time, but never really thought anything of it....by the third day of being home I had painful gas, constipation, heartburn and a headace.

I know I have to be eating wheat before getting a blood test done for celiacs, but I'm having a hard time going back b/c I feel so good gluten free! Actually, I feel so good I almost am thinking I dont have a problem now and it is all in my head like my family is telling me. I dont have a doctor and am trying to find one. I just fear that he/she may not take me seriously or be knowledgable about this disease/intolerance. I went to the health center at my school and the nurse practitioner was trying to hide a smile when I explained to her my problems, and then I had to explain to her what celiacs is!!!!! and how its tested!!!!!

does anyone know anywhere to go in/near buffalo NY???? or is celiacs something that all doctors should be familar with???? I don't even know how i should approach a doctor with this. I dont know for sure I have celiacs, but I know for sure that wheat/gluten is a main source for my digestive problems. and even if I get tested and its negative, I'm still avoiding gluten. I just think I should get tested to find out if I have celiacs so that way I'll know how serious of a gluten free diet to follow.......

this is really stressing me out!