Jed's Issues

[Jed]

Hello again, my 2nd post. Where do I begin?
I'm not sure I'm in the right section of this forum..I DO know I have brain fog way too much of the time!
I am going to the Dr. on the 24th and I feel nervous. I never have gotten answers before and I'm afraid they'll roll their eyes

I have what I think are mainly nuerological symptoms. I am fuzzy headed, irritable when I'm hungry, (which is every 2 1/2 hours) achy joints, allergies/ inability to get over sinus infections, weakness, fatigue. Also bloating and gas with food. How do I explain this to a Dr.? I have also had innumerable symptoms over the years which I've gone to Dr. for.: dry, dry mouth,eyes, chronic mouth sores, swollen tongue, worsening seasonal allergies over 10 years, lack of energy.

I cannot get well at the moment. I have bottomed out. It's a roller-coaster ride just to maintain daily routines ever since a cold at the beginning of September. I don't have problems with stools. I just can't seem to maintain my energy over the course of the day. I get tired trying to keep myself fed-like there's a monster inside me.
Oh yeah and I've gone from 111 lbs to 105 lbs.
And did I say I am eating like a horse?
I have been switching to gluten-free food this week and I think it's doing the trick because my sinus infection has subsided!!!
I am astounded at the severity of reactions of late when I slip and eat gluten or dairy.
My question is: what tests do I ask for? I have Kaiser HMO and sometimes they'll do what I ask. What tests are best to do first? Are food allergy tests reliable? I have have fecal fat testing done and blood tests. I haven't got the names of them yet. The only thing slightly off was the Quantitative fecal fat one, it was a little high.
So-I am brimming with questions here.
thanks so much for this forum
Jed
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Newly Gluten-free and soooooo Glad

[aklap]

Hi Jed,

DO NOT GO GF UNTIL ALL TESTING IS DONE!! I know it's tempting, cuz you just wanna feel human again Been there, done that! It sounds like you already have an idea as to how your body reacts. You must be consuming gluten in order for the test to be as accurate as they can be.

You need to have a Complete Celiac Panel run. See if you can get the doctor run all all the tests listed. The combination of tests will give the clearest picture.

Before your Doctors appt, you might look thru Our Thread on Information aimed at Medical Professionals. Lots of stuff here, all geared towards doctors. This is stuff the docs should know, but often times don't. So...you need to arm yourself with information. Not that they'll always listen, but you need to be prepared. Yes, they might roll their eyes when you tell them that you've been researching.

Here's some good ones to start with:

CD - More common than you think (2002) - http://www.aafp.org/afp/20021215/2259.pdf

Detecting Celiac Disease in Adult Patients (PDF) -(2005) http://jaapa.com/issues/j20051001/pdfs/celiac1005.pdf

Detecting Celiac Disease in Your Patients - HAROLD T. PRUESSNER, M.D.,
University of Texas Medical School at Houston - http://www.aafp.org/afp/980301ap/pruessn.html

I would write down a list off all of your symptoms and take it with you. That way, you don't forget a few of them during the appt. [that's something that I always did ]. Ask them if they would consider checking out the possibility of CD. They may not be open to it, but print out some of the info you find online.

One big red flag to me was your eating...and not gaining any weight. It certainly could be a malabsorption issue. Your other symptoms can be connected to CD, so it's definitely worth checking into. Of course, unexplained weight loss could point to other issues that need to be checked out too.

Ask all the questions you like!! We'll answer them to the best of or ability!
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa