Hello everyone. I'm just going to put my families personal experience in here. My husband was diagnosed with Celiac in December of 04 as a result of his mother also being diagnosed. So immediately he went on a gluten free diet. He felt great for a few months. Then started feeling crummy again. Knowing what I know about Celiacs(that most don't tolerate Dairy b/c the gluten protein and dairy protein are very similar and so cause a similar reaction), I told him he should try also excluding dairy. After only a few days he was feeling good again. Problem solved. Not really. Again he did fine for a few months and then started back with the symptoms though he had changed nothing. He also started getting large lumps under the skin in his underarms. So we decided to get a referal to an allergist and a dermatologist. We got it and I went on our insurers web page to see what doctors to call and I found one doctor who was both and allergist and a dermatologist. I thought it would be a great idea to go to him so as to not get a conflicting report. So we went to him, and he has been amazing. We found out through allergy skin testing as well as an exclusion diet that he is also intolerant to corn which he was eating constantly since the CD diagnosis as well as about 10-15 other things. He had an extreme reaction on day with carrots. So he started testing everything that he had reacted negatively from the skin testing. It was right. He had bad reactions with most of the things that he did with the skin testing. The good thing about all of this is that he can avoid the things that cause him problems. So if you do have a positive test with CD, my advice is to stick to a gluten free diet and to get further food allergy/intolerance testing. You could decide that you don't have CD because you aren't feeling better, but it may be that there are other issues there. The other thing that I wanted to say is that a biopsy can in my opinion be inaccurate because some people aren't born with CD. You may have the gene for it but everyone starts experiencing symptoms at different times in their lives. It can lay dormant and come out in your fifties or you can suffer with it from child hood and not connect all the symptoms. I definately suggest to anyone with IBS to get tested and even if the blood test is negative to start a gluten free diet and keep a food record of everything you eat and how you feel within a half hour of eat and also any syptoms you have that you would normally consider your IBS. IBS is just a title to the symptoms and does NOT an answer to your problem. Most MD's will not tell you this because it does not put any money in their pocket. They will try to mask the symptoms and not get to the root of the problem. Don't just accept the diagnosis of IBS. My husband grandmother has suffered for years with IBS, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Fatigue Sydrome. Again, these are all a diagnosis of the symptoms and not the problem. She's so old now and set in her ways, will not be tested for CD, but I know she has it. My point in mentioning her is that you don't have to suffer your whole life like she did. I also want to mention that Cancer is a huge problem for people with CD. Get tested and know what is going on inside your body. Since my husband has cut out the foods that bother him, he is a new man with lots of energy. I'm very happy for him and I'm going to go get tested for food allergies/intolerances as well. I think everyone should as a part of their health maintenece. Food allergies/intolerances can wreak havoc on your life. My adivice to you if you do have any is to buy fresh food and cook it your self. We started making and canning tomoto sauces and no longer buy any prepacked foods accept for a few that we know are safe. There are many out there you just have to read all labels carefully and educate yourself on the "secret" hidden places of commen allregens. There are many words that don't sound anything like wheat or dairy or corn. So be careful! Afterall it's your health! Take care and I hope this helps at least one person who is struggling with this problem!
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Re: Celiac disease w/ibs symptoms
