Celiac Sprue - HELP!! - Bowel Disorders Message Board

JustLilOlMe · 07-15-2003, 02:22 PM

Hi, I'm new here, and hoping someone can help me.

Since January of this year, I keep having episodes of diarea and I have lost over 20 pounds. (Now I was underweight to begin with, so loosing this weight has been very bad for me). Each time I get one of these episodes it seems to last longer. The most recent was last week and I had it for 3 days. It comes and goes and there is no pattern to what seems to be triggering it.

Back in March I had my annual exam and had mentioned I was loosing weight, they ran some tests (blood and stool) and everything they tested for came back negative.

I was talking to my mom last night, and she told me that both she and my grandmother had Nontropical Sprue. My grandmother died from complications of it and my mom's is in submission.

She told me that I need to tell my doctor to test for this because it is not something they usually check for unless it runs in your family.

Is this true? And do my symptoms sound like they would be related?? The only symptoms I have to go by are the diarea and severe weight loss?

Thanks for any help!!

Also, does anyone know of any message boards relating strictly to this condition?

mariamommy · 07-15-2003, 06:58 PM

It could be. If it really is, just omit from diet all wheat, barley, rye, and oats for a while and see if it improves. You need to do that 100% though, not one bite, as far as what I undesrtand.

Lots of internet sites about celiac disease, check for example [url="http://directory.google.com/Top/Health/Conditions_and_Diseases/Digestive_Disorders/Intestinal/Celiac_Disease/?tc=1"]http://directory.google.com/Top/Health/Conditions_and_Diseas es/Digestive_Disorders/Intestinal/Celiac_Disease/?tc=1[/url]

maria

[This message has been edited by moderator4 (edited 07-16-2003).]

mlgable · 07-15-2003, 09:04 PM

Your best bet is to go see the doc and get tested for it. In the meantime elimiate as much gluten from your diet as you can to see if that helps until your test results come back. You will need to read all the labels of anything you eat or drink since many things including some juices as well as medications contain gluten in their makeup.