help needed and advice please !!!

[blue angel]

  Hi to everyone on here. I was looking for any help?advice about CD. I had a screen for CD last month and apparently the specitivity ( sorry not sure which one medically) came back as weak positive. Two weeks ago i had a scope but afraid to say i didn't tolerate it too much and kept pulling the tube out. My specialist wanted 6 biopsies and due to being anxious they only got 2. They said i may have to undergo again but be totally asleep this time. Thats the recent stuff heres the symptoms: 

extremely bloated especially after bread, biscuits etc ( where i am mistaken as expecting a baby)
abdo pain vague dull
Hard poo but not constipated can change colours
Joint pain ankles,shoulders,neck
scope showed gastritis and oesophagitis both moderate
tired

sorry to be open but so new to all this just need help

Called hospital today and asked if biopsy result back said still working on it nothing to indicate as yet but only got two bits

Can anyone relate to all this or shed some light for me  Thanx

[the sensible celiac]

Hi Blue Angel,

The blood tests for celiac disease very often fail to identify the condition when it does exist, so the fact that your test results were weak positive is not a big surprise if you do in fact have the condition.

The biopsy method is a more reliable test, and I suspect it will come back positive in your case.

I also had pain in my joints, especially if I just mildly jarred them, like stepping off a curb too hard, or jumping down onto something.

Since you have now had the biopsy and the blood test You might want to try a GF diet just to see if you feel better.

It does seem to me that your symptoms could be consistent with celiac disease.

[blue angel]

 Thanks for the reply.
I have to wait a couple more days before i get the full results but i was wondering if the biopsy did come back neg and they were'nt going to do another. would my doc try me on a GF diet because of the symptoms and a pos blood test. Also if it improved would i be diagnosed or not ??

[the sensible celiac]

  Also if it improved would i be diagnosed or not ??

That's hard to say. 

Many people, especially people that don't know much or work in health food stores, talk about a condition called gluten intolerance as if it were something different and other than celiac disease.  I'm deeply skeptical that gluten intolerance really is something other than celiac disease.  I think it is merely a euphemism.  I never seem to see any scientific literature that delineates the supposed differences between celiac disease and gluten intolerance. 

Sometimes I wonder if doctors are reluctant to diagnose celiac disease because they know there are no medications available YET for the condition.  Doctors want to help their patients, this predisposes them to recognize conditions they know how to treat.  I have said many times that once a medication is approved to let celiac sufferers resume a normal diet, the incidence of diagnosis will increase dramatically.

If I were in your shoes and I found that a GF diet eased my symptoms, I would not hesitate too long before reaching the conclusion that celiac disaease was involved.  The symptoms you have described are not at all consistent with an allergic reaction to wheat.  Celiac disease is NOT an allergy.  So, with my limited knowledge of medicine (I'm a web designer / web master), I don't know what else to think might be the problem.

Your doctor is a much better source of medical advice than I am, please disregard anything I say if she or he tells you different.

[blue angel]

 Thanks anyway for all your advice and support i will keep you posted 

[Mari]

Hi,
I always appreciate people telling about their symptoms. I have the genetic markers for both Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity. The screening test I had tested for anti gliadin antibody (positive), tissue transaminase (negative) and several food allergies (Cow's milk positive) This suggested that I had Celiac Disease so instead of having biopsies I ordered DNA tests at Enterolab.com and took the result to my Dr. I went on a gluten/diary free diet when I showed a positive anti gliadin and had a good improvement and am still improving after 2 years. It seems to me that I have both CD and Gluten Intolerance which are separate conditions which involve the same gene. I found 2 good articles about CD and GI and the differences between the conditions. Write me at owl.@mcn.org and I'll send you the one I saved.