Over the last decade or so, I’ve been dealing with unexplained, excessive flatulence. It would come and go, sometimes causing bloating and pain, but it was easy enough to deal with. I often chalked it up to lactose intolerance, but I wasn’t willing to give up dairy since the symptoms weren’t that bad and I felt like I could live with them.
For the past year, however, I’ve noticed that my bowel movements are having major issues too. I don’t eat as much dairy as I used to because of trying to watch my calorie and fat intake. But, I still consume some dairy so I don’t really know if dairy is the culprit. Plus, everyone has gas and everyone has issues with their bowels once in a while so I was thinking I was just going through a rough spot.
The symptoms I’m experiencing have become so bad in the last few months that I don’t like going out in public. Who knows when I’ll have an attack and my intestines will start wreaking havoc on my body and have the potential to cause embarrassment for me and everyone around me. I often deal with it by making frequent trips to the bathroom to spare those around me with the concentrated evil in my body that is trying to get free.
I finally decided it was time to go to the doctor. I knew there were tests to see if I was lactose intolerant and I also knew that I could have IBS–irritable bowel syndrome. Even though there is no cure for IBS, I felt like if I knew something, I might be able to control it better by changing my diet. I just needed to know what to do.
On Tuesday, I saw my doctor and described my symptoms. He said it could be IBS, but it sounded more like Celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease in which the lining of the small intestine is damaged from eating gluten and other proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats. He ordered a blood test to not only check for Celiac disease, but also to check my vitamin and mineral levels as well as my glucose level since I’m predisposed to getting Diabetes.
On Wednesday, I received a phone call about 9:30 am from my doctor’s nurse. She told me that my test results were back and that I had extremely low levels of iron and vitamin B12. She also told me that I needed to start taking iron and vitamin B12 supplements immediately. No wonder I’ve been so flipping tired! There are times when I can barely keep my eyes open and I’d have no idea why because I usually get enough sleep, not always but usually. I asked her about the result for Celiac and she said she didn’t have it yet and that she would call me later. But, Celiac disease causes deficiencies in vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin B12 and iron, because your body can’t absorb them anymore due to the damage to your intestines.
Around 3:30 pm, I received another phone call from my doctor’s office. This time it was a different nurse. She also told me that my test results were back. I thought she was going to repeat the deficiency in iron and vitamin B12, but to my surprise, she actually told me that I had yet another deficiency–in vitamin D. She said they were calling in a prescription for vitamin D because I need that much to help make up for my deficiency. Again, no news on the Celiac.
I have several friends with Celiac disease so I knew a little about it. The main thing I knew was the diet for people with Celiac–no gluten. I didn’t realize all the different non-gastrointestinal symptoms Celiac had a hand in. The more Corey and I research Celiac, the more we think that it’s definitely the culprit for many of my medical/physical issues. It’s just a matter of waiting for the confirmation, which I received this morning. Or, at least a preliminary confirmation.
Sometimes with Celiac disease, blood tests give you a false positive or negative. The only way to confirm the diagnosis is with a biopsy of the small intestines through an endoscopy and then living a gluten-free lifestyle for three to six months to see if your health improves. Now I get to have an endoscopy to see if the little finger-like projections in my intestines–villi–are damaged. If they are, then I most likely have Celiac disease. If they aren’t, then it’s back to the drawing board.
Until the endoscopy is performed, I’m still supposed to eat gluten. If I stop eating gluten, then it will skew the results. Right now, I’m going a little overboard on all my favorite gluten foods–pasta, breadsticks, doughnuts, cereal, etc. A possible farewell gesture, if you will. I just hope my endoscopy is scheduled sooner rather than later so I can start feeling better if my issues are indeed from Celiac disease.
Ewan McGregor is my favorite actor. I like listening to him speak because of his Scottish accent. I think his singing voice is amazing! And, most importantly, I think he’s extremely hot!
