Celiacs Unite!

My kid was diagnosed with celiacs and it was first alerted through a blood test, followed by an endoscopy. When the villli in the intestines are flattened, it is celiacs and can be seen.

I am not sure what villi is? also was it just routine bloodwork or were they looking for it?

Hi! Recently diagnosed celiac here. To get tested, you can ask your doctor for a celiac blood panel, which is a blood test that looks for antibodies to gluten in your bloodstream. Celiac disease is actually an autoimmune disease, so when you eat gluten, your immune system freaks out and sends antibodies into your intestines. These antibodies attack the parts of your intestine that absorb nutrients from food, the villi. In a healthy person, the villi look like tiny pipe cleaners sticking out from the walls in your intestine- in a person with celiacs, some of the villi will be missing or flattened. This is why celiacs is dangerous- if your intestines are damaged it's really easy to become malnourished, even if you're eating a lot. If you have a positive blood test, the doctor will usually give you an endoscopy to check how your villi are doing and give you an official diagnosis.

Gluten intolerance, which seems more common, is not an autoimmune disease- it's similar to lactose intolerance, where you'll feel like crap after you eat whatever you're intolerant to, but your body isn't permanently damaged.

I would recommend asking your doctor for the blood test, instead of just trying to avoid gluten. Avoiding all gluten is extremely difficult- some surprising food items that contain gluten include soy sauce, rice krispies, beer, most chocolates, most yogurts, most spaghetti sauces (Classico is gluten free), lunchmeat, and veggie burgers. It's just a total pain in the butt. If you have celiacs it's very important to avoid, so you should get tested so that you know you're not seriously ill- if the test is negative and avoiding wheat just makes you feel better generally, go for it!

Hope this was helpful

Hi everyone,
I was diagnosed with Celiac disease two years ago and it was confirmed in a biopsy last year. (Note to the person above who asked what villi are--they are tiny hair-like structures on the inside of your intestine. You have to have a biopsy to find out if they are damaged or not. If you want to confirm a diagnosis of celiac disease, eat gluten a day or two prior to the test to make sure that your symptoms are evident.)

After several months of avoiding gluten, I gained more than ten pounds, which is why I'm on myfitness pal now. My doctor says that years of undernourishment might take some time to get used to. Last month, I had my second biopsy and my intestine is as healed as someone with celiac disease can be so now I only have to have another one in two years. (Doctors who care will biopsy you a year after going on the diet to make sure that you are healed or healing. You also get a photo of what it looks like--it's amazing the difference!)

I'm wondering whether any of the rest of you are using myfitness pal to track iron, fibre or protein, since these are the nutrients celiacs tend to lack.

Any other advice for a newbie?

Wife is Celiac, middle daughter is Aspy so she is off gluten, and the youngest is gluten intolerant. I'm the only one spared by the gluten monster but I'm the cook so as the family eats so do I. We've been off gluten for about 5 yrs now. It was really tough at first but we adapted. Other than my weight which was high prior to going GF, we are all much healthier now. Can't say for sure if it's the lack gluten or the healthier diet we drifted into out of necessity but it has been great for us. It hasn't translated into any weight loss (or gain) for me but I haven't really been trying until recently. Nice to know there are some other gluten-free's on the site that might have some good dieting advice.

I have coeliac, I was diagnosed in November 2012, after many years of unexplained wrenching gut pain and lethargy.

I was diagnosed with celiacs disease a few years ago when I started breaking out in these odd hives all over my body. I recently was told by my doctor to try and incorporate gluten back into my diet and see how I tolerate it. Well I have been eating gluten again for about a month and now i am breaking out in those hives on my back and I am having gastrointestinal problems, so I think I'm going to go back to eating gluten-free! It is pretty difficult though, I get what you mean.

If you have been diagnosed celiac through biopsy and your doctor said this, you need a new doctor....

I guess i should update. I was tested about a month ago for celiac, the blood tests came back with off the charts antibodies even being gluten free since march. I have been having some complications and I finally got to see a gastroenterologist last week.He is pushing for an endoscopy to investigate things. It has been impossible to lose weight for awhile now. I have been trying to avoid the gluten free replacements, and trying to eat whole foods as much as possible.

When does the weight loss get easier?

Hello there! I am new this board, but wondered if any of you have mental roadblocks from the celiac diagnosis? I often tend to carry the attitude that since I can't enjoy a lot of things I can eat things that are GF even though I know they are empty calories. I need to get over this hump! I was diagnosed 10 years ago and have slowly put on the weight with 3 pregnancies, etc. I know what I need to do and it is time to take care of it!

I don't have Celiac but I was in a bad car accident 2 years ago and lost 5 feet of my intestines leaving me with short gut syndrome which has a lot of the same issues as Celiac. Still have lots of issues and no real answers on how to fix it but I have learned how to manage it better.