leadmeastray88

Hey guys,

For the past couple of months I've been dealing with occasional insomnia. It doesn't happen more than once a week, most of the time less. But I've been finding that even though I'm exhausted I can't fall asleep, like my mind won't shut off even though I can't keep my eyes open. It may be from getting glutened, though I'm not entirely sure.

I really don't want to have to take sleep aids. I've heard things like magnesium, protein, calcium can help.

So I'd love some reccomendations - what do you take to aid sleeping and when do you take it?

Thanks in advance

My copy just got delivered to my house yesterday, and I poured over it for about an hour. It really is quite similar to Dr. Peter Green's Celiac: A Hidden Epidemic, probably because he helped But it's nice to have a personal spin on it though, and the added sections on makeup and tips on going out, dinner parties, etc.

Overall, I think it's a keeper! Atleast it's capturing the public's interest!

This is one of the best quinoa recipe's I've come by so far:

You'll need:

1 cup quinoa

1/2 tsp sea salt

Dressing:

1 bunch green onions, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 red pepper or 1 tomato, finely chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic, crushed (if you love garlic like me, you'll add more :-)

2 cups fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 tsp sea salt

Wash the quinoa well and drain it; put in a large pot with 2 cups of water. Bring it to a hard boil then cover it and turn the heat off. Let sit for 15 minutes, covered. Fluff with a fork then put in a bowl and in the fridge to cool.

Meanwhile..

Put the olive oil, lemon juice and salt in a small bowl. Add the crushed garlic and chopped onions. Either chop the veggies manually or use a small electric chopper like I did and add everything to the oil mixture. Mix really well and put in the fridge.

When the quinoa is completely cooled, pour the dressing on it and use spoons to mix everything well.

EAT!

You should visit your doctor. At the least he will likely want to do an occult blood stool test to see if there is bleeding that you can't see in your stool. He may want to do a scope to be on the safe side. Most likley it is just your hemmies acting up but you should err on the side of caution.

Thanks for your response, you always give great advice. I'll make an appointment ASAP.

Okay so since going gluten-free my symptoms have resolved completely...

As a child and through my teens I had chronic constipation. Sometimes when I wiped there would be some blood but my mom told me they were hemmroids and nothing to worry about. I tried everything to make it go away but it didn't until I went gluten-free.

Now, I am completely regular. Except the past couple of days I have noticed there has been a tiny bit of blood in my stool..nothing major, its kinda like a clot or something.

I don't know if this warrants a visit to the doctor or not - it's not a significant amount but bleeding of any kind freaks me out a bit.

Any thoughts?

Note: I thought I should mention that for 3 years I took Ibuprofen almost everyday for hernia pain relief as I had 7 surgeries...could that have caused this??

Sounds like acid reflux, which is worse in the morning for most people anyhow.

I take a Prilosec (actually, the generic Target version) in the morning and at night.

Thanks for the tip - I'm trying to control my acid reflux with Slippery Elm instead of prescription/OTC drugs because I've been on Losec since I was 15 and am trying to wean myself off of it.

I guess no more Starbucks for me in the meantime

I was thinking also, what about any meds you take first thing in the morning? I have some and if I pour coffee on top of that my stomach rebels, I have to wait an hour or 2. Just a thought.

The only thing I take in the morning is vitamin B12, vitamin D and 2 slippery elm capsules. Weird thing is I forgot to take them this morning before running out the door..Hmm.

It could be the milk. Ever ordered it with Soy? It's good that way, doesn't bother me. Coffee doesn't seem to be am issue for me, but I did cut it out because if I didn't drink it I got headaches.

I guess the milk part is definitely possible - however I don't find that I react whenever I eat anything else dairy, I eat ice cream a lot and eat a lot of cheese as well...maybe it's a morning thing But I guess it could be the caffeine as well.

I don't know why I keep doing this to myself!?

I work with my dad and every morning he pulls into Starbucks. It's so hard to say no.

I regret it every time. I dont know if I'm getting glutened or if it's the caffeine, but I'm reacting to it for sure. It makes me nauseous and I get heartburn.

Does this sound familiar to everyone? Can anyone else not tolerate coffee?

Yes it is available for Canadians. I'm from Winnipeg and I've ordered their tests, nice to meet cha

When he was first tested, only one part of the test came back with positive result, but he had the biopsy and they said that he didn't have celiac. Thanks again.

Seeing that he has a positive blood test but no visible damage, it could be safe to say that he is in the early stages of the disease.

I would definitely think long and hard about this, because you don't want to be poisoning your son with gluten because he's reacting...I definitely don't envy your position on this. Maybe you should discuss this with your doctor.

For me, it was three weeks to the day, like they time it or something

Sorry to disappoint you

Interestingly enough, I noticed this past week that I have tonsil stones and related this to my post-nasal drip that I've been suffering from for a few months now. I ignored it because I thought I had a cold but it's obviously something more. I've been gluten free for almost a year so I don't think there's a connection there..

Does anyone know of any other food intolerances associated with post-nasal drip? I have no other symptoms.

Thanks to everyone that replied. My feeling was that I do have Celiac Disease, but when a doctor tells you that the tests don't lie and that I do not have Celiac, it makes me question what I am feeling and what I have been told previously. I have been on a gluten-free diet for about a week now and feel much better. Thanks!!

How can your doctor say you do NOT have Celiac disease? He obviously hasn't looked at your medical history. He should know that the antibodies disappear after going gluten free. You should definitely see if you can get copies of your biopsy report. Obviously if your bloodwork was negative that means you're doing a good job on the diet.

Go with your gut

DNA testing is not diagnostic. It is only useful in seeing if you have the "appropriate" genes and if it could be possible for you to develop the disease. It doesn't mean you will, and it doesn't mean you won't. The problem is that not all diagnosed Celiacs have these "recognized" genes and/or the US/Canada don't recognize as many Celiac genes as other countries do. I'm no expert on genetic testing, but you obviously have a problem with gluten. Have you ever had the bloodwork done?

nak. she said under 75 is normal for iga. i googled high esr rate and everything that comes up is people asking people, even on this site, if they had been checked for celiacs.

In that case, then his IgA levels are elevated and he should get an endoscopy to confirm. However he MUST be eating gluten in order for this to be accurate. You have an appointment with a GI shortly am I right?

Someone tell me i am justified in feeling freaked. Maybe I cant read. Everything I read said IGA is high in celiacs? Am I reading wrong? His is 122, which would be much higher then the normal? Even Esr or sed rate is right? Help!

It's okay to be freaked out, thats what we're here for

Unfortunately we can't tell whether the results are high or not because we need the "normal ranges" from the specific lab that did the bloodwork.

And yes, you are right in saying that IgA levels are normally elevated for seropositive Celiacs. I would wait and see what exactly the mailed lab results say to get the ranges. I've never seen the Esr or sed rate tests before...didn't know those were specific/sensitive for Celiac. I noticed that they did miss a couple of tests, like the tTG and the IgG one.

I had a dinner party last weekend, and my friend was in charge of dessert. She was so amazing and make adorable little mini raspberry cheesecakes. The recipe is from the Philadelpia Cream Cheese website, she just substituted the cookies for gluten free ones. They're the perfect size and SO delicious!! They look so professional! Here's a picture of what they look like:

http://img237.imageshack.us/my.php?image=minicheesecake.webp

*can be sub-ed for light/low fat

4-6 gluten free shortbread cookies (bought or homemade), crushed

1 pkg (250 g) cream cheese*

1 cup cottage cheese*

3 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup sour cream*

1 tsp corn starch

1 egg

2 Tbsp raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350

As for whether or not sypmtomology and dietary response will be enough for diagnosis for your doctor, that entirely depends on your doctor. For most of mine, they said "yup, sounds like it's likely celiac, makes sense to avoid gluten". That is *not* a definitive diagnosis, but it is medical support of a "likely diagnosis" and the treatment.

I was lucky and had the same response from my doctor. She said that because of my family history and resolution of symptoms, I *most likely* had Celiac and she didn't push me to do a challenge for more testing because I was doing so much better gluten free. Basically, if it hurts you don't do it!

You know you're better without gluten and you'll probably never go back even if you do get negative tests, right? At the end of the day, you have to do what you feel is right for you.

For those who used Enterolab - how, uhm, exactly do you have to do the stool test? For my GI doctor, I had to actually scoop out small samples (TMI, I know), and it made me sick to my stomach.

Have any of you ever taken the results from Enterolab to your GI doc? Do GI docs recognize outside sources like that? It sounds like their stool tests look for the same thing as the blood tests I've already had...is it possible that the stool samples will yield a more, uhm, concentrated result, thus possibly catching something the blood tests didn't?

Nope, no scooping required! You just pass a complete BM (sorry if TMI again lol) into this container that they give you and then you immediately send it off. For the genetic test, they send swabs, they look like large Qtips, and you rub the inside of your cheek with them. It's really really simple. WAY easier than scooping, I know how gross it is I've done it

I took my results to my doc and she was actually really interested to hear about it. I don't know if it helped at all in her semi-diagnosis but atleast she knows of it now, and she didn't completely disregard me at all. She knows how much going gluten-free has solved my problems.

Also, like sbj said Enterolab can't diagnose Celiac. The stool tests are meant to detect an "active dietary gluten sensitivity" in your stool, which you're pretty much sure of already.

The GI doc wants to do an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy, which I declined, as there are no signs that anything is wrong in the blood and stool samples.

...

So my big question is: now what? Obviously I'm sticking to gluten-free, but is there ANY other way to test for celiac besides the gluten challenge?

My question is, why did you refuse the endoscopy? Even though the blood/stool samples were "normal", you said yourself you're convinced it's more than an intolerance because you're still having problems. You've done the bloodwork, the only other way to test for Celiac is the endoscopy. A biopsy can be positive even with negative bloodwork. Unfortunately, both test methods for Celiac can be very unreliable. That's why it's a good idea to pursue both.

You could use Enterolab, but there again, it's only testing for a sensitivity. It can't diagnose Celiac. Nothing can diagnose Celiac except bloodwork and biopsy (except in some very rare cases, dietary response). Genetic testing can be helpful in ruling Celiac in, but again, it can't rule it out.

If you don't want a scope and you feel better gluten free, why bother? You're feeling better and that's what counts. Listen to what your body is telling you

Welcome to the board

I found your post interesting because it sounds like my story.

All of my troubles started after I had my last hernia surgery 2 years ago - I had 7 inguinal hernia surgeries total in a period of 3 years, and after the last one I was never the same. I was constipated like nobody's business (I would feel the urge to go, but nothing would happen, sorry if TMI), I was nauseous after eating, my stomach made weird noises all the time, I had bad bad cramps after I'd eat (think bad menstrual cramps), I lost 6 pounds and so on. They tested me for various things, but my GI refused to scope me because I had "already been through so much", and wrote me a prescription for IBS and sent me home.

My MD thought it might be Celiac's, like you I also had negative bloodwork (they only tested the ttG tough, I didn't know that wasn't enough at the time)

But since July 2008 I went gluten free, and all of my problems disappeared. My MD semi-diagnosed me with Celiac's because I have a family history and because of my incredible dietary response.

I'm not the best person to ask on the blood test stuff but I know you have to get a Total Serum IgA to see if you're IgA deficient, and in the case that you are your bloodwork would be false. If you're convinced that its Celiac I would absolutely push for an endoscopy if you could, it could be beneficial in that they could also see if anything else is wrong while they're in there.

It's too late for me now, being gluten-free for so long, but I don't need a biopsy to tell me that gluten was what was making me sick. I pulled a complete 180 since stopping and I'm never looking back.

I hope you feel better soon! Good luck

My main symptom was nausea as well. I was so nauseous, they kept asking me if I was pregnant. I knew I wasn't - You'd think after 3 negative tests they would move on to something else?!

After going gluten-free, nausea subsided almost completely after 3 weeks or so. I found that a B12 supplement helped with this immensely.

Some people take longer to heal than others, and your body is going through a lot right now. Be easy on yourself! And you've already got some great advice - skip the fast food, that stuff is terrible for your stomach to begin with. Add the contamination factor and it's not a good scene. Protect yourself and know exactly what you're ingesting by cooking at home. And like others said, definitely eat breakfast! You may be pleasantly surprised and find that helps the nausea. A small bowl of Cream of Rice is what I eat every morning, it's very gentle and it helps fill your stomach.

Hope you feel better soon

I should also have added that Enterolab (www.enterolab.com) does genetic testing for $149.

The problem is that Enterolab and Kimball have different ideas of what markers are associated with Celiac and which are not. For example, I have a copy of DQ*0202. Enterolab says that it's a "gluten sensitivity" gene while Kimball states on their website that it's a Celiac gene.

Just wondering if anyone has information regarding the genetic test. What to do in order to get the test, cost and any other info. Whether even this is something that someone should look into doing on not?

Any pros v. cons. for doing the test?

thanks

Kimball does genetic testing:

Open Original Shared Link

Last time I checked with them I think it's around $300

Remember that gene testing is not diagnostic. It can just show if you possess the gene markers for Celiac. Even if you do have one, it doesn't mean that you have Celiac or that you will develop it...but that it's possible.

The problem with genetic testing is that many diagnosed Celiacs don't have the common "gene markers" (DQ2 or DQ8) so it isn't really a reliable method of testing.

Have you had other testing done?