Ready for that colonoscopy?
I’m not in this for kicks; the procedure was mandated by my insurance company.
My wife had discovered I was gluten sensitive from talking to a girlfriend.
As the girlfriend explained her issues, an autoimmune disease, my wife asked, “Are you talking about yourself or my husband?”
So these days we just say, “Thanks, Maria.”
We’d figured out that I had a gluten sensitivity, although I’d been told by a friend that I might want to check out gluten as a culprit to my distress many years before. I wasn’t ready to hear it then, Simone. I’m thankful for your suggestions. I wasn’t ready. I was so overwhelmed. I’m sorry you had to suffer a fool.
Ann, thanks for your help, too. We did need to “look beyond the gluten sensitivity.” Wise words from a kind person.
My issues, like Maria’s, and unlike Ann’s, turned out to be an autoimmune disease.
For the life of me, I don’t know if the autoimmune disease has always been slowing me down or whether I developed the disease by taking antibiotics for about a decade.
I remember a long time ago, getting out of my parents house and within a couple of months ending up in a doctor’s office.
I came out of the general practitioner’s office with an IBS ( Irritable Bowel Syndrome ) diagnosis. Some librium bromide and metamucil were prescribed. Yay!
I then started developing skin problems. I saw three different dermatologists. Of the three, all were specialist’s; however, I might begin to see specialization as only one tree in a forrest. I might treat a symptom rather than look for the cause of the condition.
Skin problem diagnosis — Seborrhreic keratosis on my back and legs. Folliculitis on (in?) my scalp.
The antibiotic prescribed . . . tetracycline.
Every dermatologists I saw froze or burned “things” on my skin and said, “Try not to scratch that if it starts itching.”
I had laser surgery to remove “a thing” on my back. Just a few stitches required, no big deal.
So I’m taking tetracycline for folliculitis, and the dermatologist keeps ramping up the dosage. After a while, I was put on another tetracycline antibiotic called doxycycline. Then I was prescribed some drug that might be a little rough on the liver for the toe fungus I’d developed. Finally, one of dermatologists started to worry about my blood count. This dermatologist suggested I see yet another dermatologist.
I couldn’t believe I could continue to seek out the doctors with the drugs that weren’t helping me. Every couple of years I’d have a new condition and be prescribed one more pill to add to my regimen. It’s a way to live a life I guess, but I started looking for the possibility of something beyond the anger issues and substance abuse and downward spiral my life had become.
I went to an allergist. His initial prescription was a shot in each arm two times a week and pills and an inhaler.
By now you are certainly ready for that colonoscopy, right? How about a biopsy of your small intestine? It’d be good to be sure, right?
My gastroenterologist explained what we went through — the blood tests, the biopsies, the genetic markers etc. Bingo! You have celiac disease. His prescription?
Don’t eat gluten.
Furthermore, and I’m just sayin’, any slight or strong allergic reaction, any intolerance, any sensitivity, any mood changes occurring from eating gluten, or manufactured/genetically modified substances warrant having a doctor research why problems are occurring when you ingest these foods or franken foods.
A proper diagnosis and a change in diet makes a huge difference in the life you lead.
It’s taking me years, a lifetime, to get better, and I am getting better, but I’m still in it. There are still the small breakdowns, small disasters, the mad dashes to the bathroom, but they are less frequent these days.
I’m no expert, but I had to start making better discoveries about myself. A lot of the doctors I saw couldn’t figure out what to do with me. None cared to discover anything about my lifestyle or diet. And this thought, this displacement, if that’s the right word, makes me think of myself as less than myself. None of my doctors ever had that worry, and I think they helped me become an SPD, OCD, with a migraine, diarrhea, and skin problems.
Knowing that I’m a celiac has helped me look towards developing a stronger psychological profile pointing towards a healthier and happier me.
What’s tests are needed to discover if you are a celiac ( and I say test for this mainly because Michael Pollan thinks it’s interesting that more people are . . . and you have to be able to discuss with a Doctor what tests should be preformed in order to be able to consider the results. )
WebMD.com says a preferred blood test for celiac is the Immunoglobulin A (IgA) anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody blood test. If the blood test suggests “abnormally elevated levels of IgA endomysial and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies are found, a person almost certainly has celiac disease. “ footnote: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/celiac-disease/celiac-disease-diagnosis-tests
“Almost certainly,” but, to actually make certain another test is required — a biopsy of the small intestine.
The best reasons to suffer these uncomfortable tests are to live a happier, healthier, life. No one wants to live in a world of false restrictions.