Does this sound like Celiac?

[Bearlegdairy]

For over a year now, I've been having periodical bouts of nausea. It first began last February after an enormous meal and continued for about a week, but then disappeared for a while and came back rather infrequently throughout the Spring and Summer. In September-October it came back in full force, causing me to miss many school days and becoming a nearly constant problems.

Initially I saw my general practitioner and he diagnosed it as general anxiety, for which he prescribed Xanax to be taken as needed. While this controlled it for about a month, eventually the nausea returned and the Xanax did not seem to help. At this point I saw a phsychiatrist and he prescribed Lexapro, which had terrible side effects, then changed me to Remeron, which agreed with my stomach better. I was on that for about a month and the symptoms, while not as bad as before, still continued.

I had an endoscopy recently and there was some irriation of the stomach walls which initially led him to prescribe Aciphex for gastritis, to be taken daily. While I have only been on that for about 2 weeks, it has not seemed to help much. Initially, I felt much better after I began taking the Aciphex, but over the last few days I have felt horrible, with nearly constant nausea and often times the feeling of gas breaking when I lie down.

Recently my mother and the gastroenterologist has been suggesting that this may be a result of Celiac diesease, partially because of gas and what he called "mucosal flattening." When I looked this up, almost all of the results were referencing Celiac disease. While the recent problems I've been having seem to trace back to a day where I ate nothing but pizza and pasta (both with a good deal of gluten), I have always eaten a large amount of pasta and other wheat-based foods and often times I feel better after eating and the nausea is reduced, although not taken care of. Gas, while it has been a problem, only occurs periodically and usually only when I'm lying down, which seems to be a fairly common complaint, labeled "burbling." There is no history of Celiac in my immediate family, although a distant relative may have it. Likewise, nausea is not a symptom commonly associated with Celiac, and while the recent nausea has been accompanied by gas, normally it is not. Celiac would also not explain why the Xanax and Remeron seemed to offer some relief.

My question is whether or not these symptoms are, if not typical, at least indicative of Celiac Disease. I am going to talk to my doctor on Monday, but if none of this is typical of Celiac, I do not want to get blood work done, as I am terrified of needles. Thank you for your time and I apologize for the long post.

[Kathie]

Welcome Bearlegdairy,

Yes you are not alone, many people have the same symptoms you are talking about. May I suggest that you try the sticky link at the top of the diagnostic forum, it has links to a list of symptoms and much helpful information. I'm sure people will hop in a tell you what they experienced, I just found out today (Thanks, Al) the the Stickys at the top of each forum topic is THE place to go to find answers to many of the questions we all have. Try it and then when it gives you more questions to ask, fire away!

Congratulations on having a doctor that is thinking Celiac, you are very fortunate.
_________________
CD by Biopsy 3/25/88

[aklap]

Hi Bearlegdairy,

Welcome to the board!!

Your symptoms certainly could be related to Celiac Disease or Gluten Sensitivity. Sorry hear about your adventures with Xanax. Again, all too often these type of symptoms are chalked up to "stress".

Have you seen Our Thread on CD Symptoms? There are around 200+ that can be associated with it.

The tricky thing about CD is that everybody presents symptoms differently - so sometimes it's hard to diagnosis. Many times all the tests come back negative and yet people still feel bad. Gluten can still be the cause. Only like 50% of dx'ed celiacs have gastro issues. Since many docs ONLY look for gastro issue when trying to dx'ed - many are missed.

Have you seen Our Path's to Gluten Free-dom Thread? Stories like this are what got me to try going gluten free after all my tests were negative. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain! And gain I did!!

Please, read as much as you can about this. I think you are on the right track. I really would try to put aside your fear of needles and get tested. It could ultimately save your life - or certainly save you from other horrible things in the future. Of course, there's always doing a GF trial. But you really want to get tested BEFORE doing that if at all possible.

Good luck in your Knowledge Quest!! Keep us updated. Don't be afraid to ask us any questions!
_________________
Al

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