any ideas

[timothy]

Can anyone help. I have been a coeliac for about 6 years now. i was also diagnosed with barrets, hietas hernia and acid reflux. i had an operation for the acid reflux and since then i have trouble with back pain between the shoulders. with the coeliac i have cut everything out, but still feel like CRAP. At the moment i have just a blood test for everything and came back ok. The last three weeks or so i have been suffering with tiredness, cold feet and pains in both calfs. can anyone help is these symptons part of being a coeliac or is there something else wrong, also everytime i eat a dinner i get stomach cramps and need the toilet. this does'nt happen all the time but it as got to the stage where i start looking at what i have just eat and now it as got to the stage where i don't eat dinners that much. So please can someone help so i no if i need to see doctor about something else that could be wrong. Thanks

[maidforit]

Hey timothy, that's a lot of problems. I only know about being coeliac and not the other problems. The symptoms could be coeliac. There's a post recently with a list of 300 symptoms it could be worth taking a look at. It may be that you are having problems with tolerating other foods too. I find dairy a problem and avoid booze, sulphites, soya. There's a great app for iPhone or Android: docsdietdiary.com/app.htm. u can track what u r eating and the symptoms easily and download as a csv file too.

I'm sure that there will be other people with the same problems as you that can offer much more advice than me good luck finding out whats wrong. I hope u find a solution quickly.

[Lynxcat]

Hello Timothy, Although you may think that you have cut everything out of your diet perhaps there is an item here and there that may be causing you problems. Is there any chance that your food could be cross-contaminated? In other words is your food being prepared in an area where others are eating gluten? Do you share the same butter dish/knife with a gluten eater? Are you using the same hand towels and tea towels in the kitchen as a gluten eater? It is so easy to get the most dreadful symptoms where cross-contamination is happening.

With your diet - are you avoiding dextrose? This is often sourced from wheat. Are you avoiding codex wheat starch? This is often found in commercially produced bread, biscuits and cakes even when the items are marked gluten free.

Are you eating oats? Many of us find even pure oats cause massive health problems.

A while back there was an article here about coffee causing some problems - are you a coffee drinker?

If all of the above doesn't apply to you then may be it would be wise to begin a food diary - making sure that you write everything you are eating and drinking down including the product names. It is often trial and error and the items that may be causing you problems may not necessarily be gluten linked. Once people have been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease their bodies often become very sensitive to other types of foods and sometimes these also have to be removed from the diet. The most common of these is dairy food but some also have problems with the nightshade family - such as tomato, potatoe, egg plant, etc. Soya also appears to cause some difficulties. Some are so sensitive that they find that they cannot tolerate any type of grain and end up eating occasional grass types such as quinoa.

We are all different, even with coeliacs and the best solution might be perhaps to sit down with a dietician and prune back your diet into basics of meat, fish, vegetables and an occasional piece of fruit perhaps once or twice per week. A dietician should be able to help you to do this at least for a short space of time to see if it has a positive effect on any of your related conditions.

Good luck, I hope this has been a little help.

[Lynxcat in reply to Lynxcat]

I also meant to add that the following items help with cold hands and feet - sea vegetables or seaweeds including kelp which can be purchased in tablet form. Ginger and cayenne pepper are both useful in warming up both the hands and feet.

If none of these help then perhaps it might well be an idea to mention the problem to your GP in case you may be lacking in a few minerals.

[1stgls]

See the doctor! Hopefully s/he is one of the better ones who will listen--the problem is that if there is something really wrong, by the time you have gone through the exclusion diets and then re-introduced the foods --then found your problems unresolved, whatever it is could have got a really tight hold on your body and could be more difficult to shift

[Mia1057]

I think it is also worth recognising that cd is an autoimmune disorder and my experience is that where there is one autoimmune problem there may be others. Tiredness and cold could be your thyroid. Go back to the docs and try and get them to think whole body rather than just your gut.

[zoombie]

Just to add a further point, I have CD but I also have Reynaulds Disease - cold hand and feet - and some days I can't feel my feet. This also causes cramp in the legs. Doc has prescribed Nifedipine twice a day and it does keep it at bay! Your tiredness could be diabetes related also. As previously suggested, docs need to look at whole body and not just a bit here and a bit there! Keep perservering!