Celiac Disease
 

Hi all,
I don't post much in the obstacles section, but I've been wondering lately about the possibility of having mild celiac disease (if you can have a mild case of it... I'm not sure).

My dad has celiac disease and my parents basically know everything about it. He has it so bad (again with the degree of disease) that for awhile he had to get an iron infusion every month or two. He's finally got normal iron levels (though normal for a female), so that's great. But I know it's got a strong genetic component and I was thinking of getting tested. I haven't thought much about it until recently when I've been really lethargic and sick feeling. I know there are other symptoms, and my dieting hasn't been going well because of my medications, but when I went home to visit my parents I ate almost no gluten (none for breakfast or usually lunch, and only when I went out for dinner) because my parents don't keep gluten in the house. I felt great the whole week, and I wonder if there's a correlation. I've been losing a lot of weight recently, despite my attempts at eating more (I posted about this in another forum on here), and I feel downright anemic.

I don't know, maybe I'm paranoid. But I eat a lot of wheat (not to mention the fact that I work for a bread company!!), and I can't help but wonder.

It would probably be a good idea to be tested for celiac since you did so well on a gluten-free diet. My sister was diagnosed with celiac recently. She also experienced unexpected weight loss and had problems with her magnesium and iron levels that baffled her doctor.

Here is a brief summary of celiac and testing: http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/gi/celiac.html

The important thing is to maintain your normal high-gluten diet until after you are tested. Some of the blood tests are for antibodies produced by gluten-sensitive individuals to gluten. The antibodies will disappear if you stop eating gluten and won't show up on the test.

Go get tested- it's a simple blood test although a lot of people have false negatives. False positives are unheard of.

Certainly don't go gluten free first, even if you suspect Celiac's and feel better.

If you do have Celaic's (and yes, there is a HUGE genetic component), at least you know how to live. I've been gluten-free for 2 and a half years since my son was diagnosed, and it's really not a hardship.

Good luck!

Mel

Yea, actually if I were living at home with my parents it'd be no problem at all to live gluten-free. But I don't know what I would do if I couldn't eat bread. I frickin' love bread and bread products.

And I work for a bread company... How ironic would that be?
"Hey can you eat this bagel for me and tell me how it tastes?"

ETA: Or beer!! OMFG I don't know if I could live without beer!

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!