I've been to my primary doctor several times, and a GI specialist. Initially they debated a ulcer due to abdominal pain I had when eating and a gnawing hunger pain that would not subside with food. But then the digestive upset began. Several times a day of diarrhea and abdominal pain almost all the time. Occassional bloating. By other tests we ruled out parasites, blood in the stool or fat.

So my GI specialist went through their drill of questions and inquiries. They took some blood work for Celiac Disease or a gluten intolerance. As we suspected due to a dietary change this may be the issue. However, she also mentioned possiblity Colitis, Crohns disease or IBS. The bloodwork came back negative. I called my GI's office to receive these results. Had they been positive they told me, they would of pursued informing me of dietary changes. Since t hey were negative, they had nothing more to say. No follow-up appointments or anything.

Does this seem like an inefficient doctor to you? I felt that at least they shoudl of had me back to discuss further potential causes, or even to just label me IBS like everyone else gets labeled with these symptoms. (I Be Stumped as some may call it.) But my doctor has not pursued any of these avenues.
Time to see a new doctor? What do you think?

I have gone on my own and switched to a gluten free diet, and it has seemed to help tremendously the last four days. Today is the only day I've made multiple bathroom runs again. I am fearful of missing something potentially worse. Sometimse I think my own self-diagnosis is best, as these doctors seem to be uninterested except for collecting their fees. :eek:

yes exactly what you said, doctors are there to make money..and, unfortunatly we are the rats that they experiment on..sorry but, thats exactly the way i see it..yup..Anyhow since im celiac that means that my sisters and, brothers might have it aswell,,and, they do all have symtoms of this disease..Now my sister had IBS for sooo many years she also had lots of stomch cramps and, bloating, reflux..etc.. she started a gluten free diet without getting tested..i mean its simple the diet is not really a diet its just "healthy eating".. fruits, veggies, meats, corn or rice pasta, rice(risotto)..milk cheese, corn bread..etc, legumes..ok, so let me get this straight, if you went gluten free and, felt alot better..then voila..or problem is wheat..then just stay away from it..thats it, this diseaes is very hard to diaganose..doctors often miss the diagnose, leaving you confused and, with all of those symtoms. So if that diet makes you feel better, just do it. :)

Mario,
Thanks.. my only real concern now is the tightness in my chest. Which I didn't mention before. I don't believe its heartburn. Its constant today. I have drainage from a sinus cold down the back of my throat causing a cough due to throat irritation. But the tightness in the center of my chest remains, but does not seem to impair me from taking a full deep breath. I don't feel my breathing is hindered at all. Although the tightness feels exactly like a horrible chest cold. (When it moves to your lungs and you're coughing all the time.)

Any ideas on what this is? I haven't read aynthing about it being Celiac related! And I'm so SICK of the doctors! You're right..rats.. especially at a teaching hospital!!!

hi there :) did you get your cholestorol checked..??

It took a long, long time for me to get diagnosed with crohns because my blood tests didn't always come back abnormal. I'd ask to be retested again in a month or so.

Celiac Disease Symptoms

Celiac disease was once thought of a disease with only GI symptoms. It is now recognized that the disease is a multi-symptom, multi-system (organ) disease. Celiac disease also does not routinely present with the 'textbook' symptoms that physicians learn. More often it presents with symptoms that can mimic other problems.
Most physicians recognize the classic symptoms of celiac disease : diarrhea, bloating, weight loss, anemia, chronic fatigue, weakness, bone pain, and muscle cramps. Physicians may not be aware that celiac disease frequently presents with other symptoms, some that do not involve the small intestine. More often, symptoms can include constipation, constipation alternating with diarrhea, or premature osteoporosis. Overweight persons may also have undiagnosed celiac disease.
Children may exhibit behavioral, learning or concentration problems, irritability, diarrhea, bloated abdomen, growth failure, dental enamel defects, or projectile vomiting. Others will have symptoms such as rheumatoid conditions, chronic anemia, chronic fatigue, weakness, migraine headaches, nerve problems such as tingling of hands or difficulty walking, or other conditions that are unexplained and/or do not respond to usual treatment. People may have one or more of the above symptoms.

Patients are frequently misdiagnosed as having 'irritable bowel syndrome', 'spastic colon/bowel', or Crohn's disease'.

Mario,
Yes before all of this I had my cholestoral check, liver functions,kidney functions, everything has come back with wonderful numbers. (Which is great, so what the heck is wrong with me?! :) alas!)

Hyasnthgrl,
Well they mentioned an endoscopy,conoloscopy, or sigmoidoscopy. However, when I saw the GI specialist, they basically said my symptoms weren't "screaming" any particular disease enough to justify the invasiveness of one of these procedures. Now I appreciate them not wanting to do invasive testing if its not necessary and can be determined by a blood test. But obviously, they didn't determine anything, nor did they care to follow-up with me. However, for a patient who is losing weight, in pain, with chronic diarrhea, don't you think they'd pursue other avenues?

Oh well. 7 days Gluten Free and I feel so much better. I'm going to attempt this for a month and reintroduce gluten into my diet. If i strikes a horrible response, I'll know that this is what my problem is. Even if it is just a wheat allergy, or something related to that, I'm OK with going GF for the rest of my life. Just really disappointed in my doctors inefficiences.. Never even got my exact test results back either. Oh well. Thats why I've requested my entire hospital record to have for my own person file drawer!

hi bullun hehe cute name..
anyhow once you start to going gluten free thats it, you will have to eat that way forever because the less you eat it the more sensitive you will become..anyways gluten is crap if you notice it is found in all the junk food..

bottom line is: eat healthfully(gluten free) and, excercise everyday and, you won't need docs..trust me.. :)

keep me posted

btw/ whats you name?? :)
________________________________________ __

for you chest pain i dunno..maybe Angina..or stress..you haven't been feeling good its proly all related...

Mario,
Thanks. Oh trust me I plan on staying GF. With these results, I can't think otherwise.

Re: the chest pain, I'm beginning to think it was something related or actually heartburn. Either way, I have a lovely sinus cold to top things off as of late. Ah, I need to start running and boost back up my immune system or I'll be run down for life! :)

Names Dana, and thanks for all your info lately on the forum! The celiac.com website has a great web forum to, if you're ever interested. I am sure you'd find it very informative.

Dana

thanks Dana<<nice :) i go on the forums here in Quebec the forums are in french here and, i speak it and, write it... on the forum im Mario we help each other and, we have fun.. :) so take care and, keep me posted as usual..

asta la vista ;)

I am sorry your doctor has left you in the lurch.. We hear that all too often.

I am glad that the Gluten free diet is helping you feel better. As you mentioned it may be a wheat allergy, which from what I read sounds very plausible..

GI symptoms are sure a tangle to figure out, :nono: There is another disease that does fit your symptoms and that your doctor may not have considered...
EGID Eosinphilic Gastrointestional Disease. Many of the symptoms can be the same, and some with eosinophilic disease do improve with a Celiac diet, because they have been reacting to some of the things they are now eliminating...

Even the chest tightness can be a symptom of Eosinophilic Esophagatis.
Food getting stuck, trouble swallowing, horrible chest pains...or just tightness.

EGID, is not a new disease, but it has been considered a rare one. Now some doctors think that it may rival Crohns in numbers. Because it is considered rare, not all GI's are familiar with it. There is no blood test to be done to rule it in or out.. The only way to get a diagnosis is with scopes and lots of biopsies.

The Eosinophil is a normal part of our white blood cells. Their main job as we know it is to attack parasites, but sometimes they attack us. There are many things that can cause an elevation of Eosinophils in the Blood, including parasites, but unfortunately Blood eosinophils do not always rise with GI eosinophilic infiltration... and this has been a misnomer in the medical profession... They often don't consider EGID if the blood level of Eos is not elevated...

Another clue for me that this may be allergy related in you, is the Sinus infection... I don't know how often you endure sinus infections, but I know for me a lifetime of headaches and sinus problems was solved by Allegra. Seems I have allergic Rhinitis and Sinusitus and they were diagnosed after my EG diagnosis.. I seldom get headaches or sinus problems now so I will stay on Allegra... :bouncing:

You can learn about Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease at APFED.Org This is a non profit org founded by parents of children affected by this disease... The website is currently being updated to reflect information that is relevant to those seeking current and appropriate information...

I hope you continue to feel better on the Gluten free diet, and hope you will check out the info I have given you... Besides not having knowledge of EGID, many docs seem to think it is a childrens disease... Well, where do they think those kids go.. This is not something we outgrow... And many are diagnosed as Adults....

Just wanted to give you some other information and encourage you not to let the doc off the hook... Make a new appointment and discuss just what is going on and where to go from here...

Eos Lady

Eos Lady,
Thanks.. and eventually I may wind up at the doctors office again. Unfortunately right now I'm still exhasuted from seeing various doctors for various things over the past year. But I will definitely investigate EGID. I am very curious now. Thank you for the info!
Dana