Re: What do you guys think...test results/symptoms

Actually I'm 34. 24 is just my favorite #...used it wear it when I played sports. :)

Yeah dark circles are another symptom...celiac disease robs the body of nutrients.

I was sick 3 years so I have a long list of symptoms...I'll try to list them in order of severity.

Depression
Fatigue
Brainfog
Mood swings/crying spells
Food/chemical sensitivities
Joint pain/stiffness (especially jaw)
Tissue swelling
Pressure in head
Muscle aches
Weight loss (came on suddenly after 2 years of sickness)
Fluid retention
Bloating
Burning sensations
Tingling/numbness in extremities
Blurred vision/eye pain
Burning in eyes
Dry eyes
Headaches
Night sweats
Dry skin and hair
Hairloss
Swollen glands
Felling cold
Constipation
Pale skin
Brittle nails
Dark circles
Skin eruptions
White coated tongue
Sore throat
Rashes


I only just got diagnosed last month so I'm really starting to see how the whole thing works now. As long as I stay off gluten every one of these symptoms either improves dramatically or is gone altogether. Depression, brainfog, and pain go away almost immediately others gradually get better each day. The ones that take longer are the hair, skin, fluid retention, food/chemical sensitivities. If I eat gluten the whole chain reaction begins all over. I'm told it usually takes 3 to 6 months for complete recovery...sometimes up to a year. The main thing for me now is to not make mistakes so that I can really begin the healing process. Even a trace amount of gluten will start the autoimmune process.

Gluten sensitivity is genetic. If you are born with the genes they can be activated at birth or any age after that. Anything can trigger the gene. It can be triggered the first time you consume gluten as a child or later in life during stress, pregnancy, infection, surgery or over consumption of gluten. These would be some main triggers. I don't know your ethnicity but those with European backgrounds are more likely to carry these genes. 43% of Americans carry the genes for celiac but obviously not everyone gets them triggered....but statistics say 1 in 133 people DO trigger the gene. Unfortunately the majority of these people are undiagnosed.

I don't know where you live but here in the U.S. Celiac is grossly underdiagnosed. In other countries such as Italy or Sweden they routinely test the children for this disease....its that common.
http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/International/nyh...&artikel=696055

Symptoms for celiac vary greatly...one person may be disabled by the symptoms while another person may only experience headaches. Some Celiacs are underweight while others are overweight. Also half of diagnosed Celiacs have NO symptoms whatsoever. They were only tested because of the genetic factor...meaning someone in their family has it. These people would likely experience symptoms eventually but were tested before symptoms appeared or sadly in some cases the first symptom of the disease may be cancer. It is very serious if left undiagnosed.

The more I'm learning about Celiac the more I am shocked at how how many people are not getting tested especially those who are presenting with "classic" symptoms of the disease. I suffered 3 years undiagnosed and I saw numerous doctors and specialists who ordered numerous tests but not one of them ever mentioned celiac. I was told there was nothing wrong with me..."it was all in my head". They said they had ran every test. Well they forgot one.

http://www.gluten.net/celiac.html

This link shows some of the similarities between candida and celiac:

http://www.candidapage.com/cccomp.shtml

Hope this helps :)
-Rachel



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