I have been quite sick lately, and have had some problems for many years now. Many of you know that I have dealt with headaches and migraines for as long as I can remember (as often as having headaches every day) and I have also always had some stomach problems (a sensitive stomach as some call it). I had even been diagnosed with IBS about 10-11 years ago and told to take fiber to control it. Well, that didn't work for me, but because it is such a personal issue, I just dealt with it and figured that it was just IBS and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Anyway, a month or so ago I had a really bad episode of what seemed like food poisoning that sent me to the doctor. They wanted to run some tests on me and after speaking with my doctor and being sent for a pre-op appointment to get a colonoscopy (how fun!), the endoscopy place decided that they wanted to test me for celiac disease after going over my history. It starts as a simple blood test to see if is even possible to have it. That came back "abnormal" - so they wanted to run an upper endoscopy on me, in addition to the *lower* one. Needless to say, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease last Tuesday when I received my results.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have done my research on this (since I knew of it, but not much about it) when they told me my blood work was abnormal for that test. The symptoms fit and I had all but convinced myself that this would ok if it was Celiac Disease because it would explain everything. But it made it no less easy to hear the news that they had confirmed it. I have since done a lot more research, found some contacts at a local support group that have given me some helpful information and have an appointment set up with a nutritionist for next Thursday night.
Celiac Disease (CD) is a hereditary autoimmune disease. When people with CD eat foods that contain gluten, it creates an immune-mediated toxic reaction that causes damage to the small intestine and does not allow food to be properly absorbed. Even small amounts of gluten in foods can affect those with CD and cause health problems. Damage can occur to the small bowel even when there are no symptoms present.
When individuals with CD ingest gluten, the villi, tiny hair-like projections in the small intestine that absorb nutrients from food, are damaged. This is due to an immunological reaction to gluten. Damaged villi do not effectively absorb basic nutrients -- proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and, in some cases, water and bile salts. If CD is left untreated, damage to the small bowel can be chronic and life threatening, causing an increased risk of associated disorders -- both nutritional and immune related
Gluten is the common name for the proteins in specific grains that are harmful to persons with celiac disease. These proteins are found in ALL forms of wheat (including durum, semolina, spelt, kamut, einkorn and faro) and related grains rye, barley and triticale and MUST be eliminated. (Yes, this includes things like cakes, breads, pizza, pasta etc.)
The symptoms of this can vary widely (or you can have none at all), but the main ones to look for are:
Intermittent diarrhea
Abdominal pain
Bloating
Irritability or depression
Anemia
Stomach upset
Joint pain
Muscle cramps
Skin rash
Mouth sores
Dental and bone disorders (such as osteoporosis)
Tingling in the legs and feet (neuropathy)
Headaches/migraines
Nonetheless, this has been and will continue to be a hard transition for me. I am still experiencing some bad moments/episodes and am trying to learn my new lifestyle. I have to completely change my eating habits and eliminate all gluten from my diet and watch out for cross contamination at home and when I am eating out. Not such an easy task given that we live on breads and pastas! But it is getting better all the time as more stores and restaurants are starting to offer Gluten Free options.
I just wanted to share this with everyone so that maybe someone out there can benefit from this (and to give an excuse for my lack of blogging!). If you or someone you know has had *stomach issues* or other related issues for a while and cannot seem to get it figured out, suggest to them to ask their doctor about the possibility of Celiac Disease. A study has shown that 1 in 133 people in the US have this disease but about 97% of them are undiagnosed.
As for now, I am trying to heal and get my new diet/lifestyle figured out. Please keep me in your thoughts and bear with me as my blogging may be fewer and far between for a little bit.
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