I recently switched doctors, which gave me access to my medical records. I found out some surprising things that my doctor never told me. Apparently, I have high triglycerides 2.66 MMOL/L (I’m mid 30s female). This happened as soon as my Graves disease started going into remission. I wonder if I’ve been having mild bouts of acute pancreatitis or papillary stenosis ( a disturbance of the sphincter of Oddi, a muscular valve, that prevents the opening and release of bile or pancreatic fluids into the duodenum in response to food entering the duodenum.)
I also had a colonoscopy and and upper GI scope, and she told me it was normal, but the report said that I had proximal small bowel mucosa with minimal focal intraepithelial lymphocytes, without specific pathology. “It may be nothing noteworthy, but it comes up with inflammatory bowel disease and says can be seen with early gluten sensitive enteropathy.” So, am I gluten sensitive? Will going gluten free help? I tested negative for Celiacs, but..I have heard gut dysbiosis can make you sensitive to foods you normally can eat. Going to try it for a little while to see if it helps.
t-IgA = 5 KEU/L
Update July 27, 2014
So, I have given up gluten for only 4 days now and have noticed a big improvement in my gas and bloating, and believe me, I am/was the world’s biggest skeptic. Two things made me give this a try: a) my daughter has terrible, eczema on her hands and green, mucousy poops, and b) and upper GI scope that says small bowel inflammation, but not Celiacs. So, I was desperate and gave it a try – half-hearted at first, but after seeing a difference, I’ve been getting stricter, until today…at a bridal shower. I had half a sandwich and BOOM! My stomach is in agony. Now, whether it’s gluten, or wheat, it’s the first time I’ve had it in days and boy did it react with me. Doubled over with stomach pains and gas. It doesn’t last forever, but when I was eating Mini Wheats twice a day, breakfast and afternoon, I felt like every food was bothering my stomach. I can NOT believe it could be gluten, but my daughter’s poop is already back to a brown colour and her hand eczema is 80% better (until today, when her father, a non-believer, fed her TimBits and a hamburger with a regular bun). Her hand is already more red and she’s been farting and burping. It sucks.
I really don’t want either of us to have this condition, but the gas pains are just too much for me, and I hate to see my daughter face similar symptoms. Throughout my life my symptoms have waxed and waned and it seems my thyroid has been the breaking point for me – the second it started going into remission my problems with food/gas began. As a baby I was always constipated (like my daughter), and have had horrible gas my whole life, which was worse during puberty and during University. It was not bad after my first daughter, in fact, I felt great! When my Graves was at it’s worst, my digestion was at it’s best, ironically. Now, with Graves in remission (but with anti-bodies which haven’t changed from 198), my stomach is a disaster!
So, I will keep you updated on how the gluten-free thing works out. At the very least, my very picky-eater daughter is trying more foods. She actually has latched on quite positively to this gluten-free kick, which was a humongous surprise to me, since she really is a very picky eater. Maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world, this gluten-intolerance thing.
Good bye, my beloved fresh buns. I will miss you!
Update July 31
1 week off gluten and I realize there is more going on than just a gluten sensitivity. I know milk is an issue for me, so I tried soy milk in my coffee and my nose instantly started running. I had a reaction after dinner last night and I can’t figure out what caused it: I had chicken (I baked myself), potatoes, and a bowl of gluten-free Chex with coconut milk. I also had a green tea and a iced-tea. So, maybe tea doesn’t agree with me? Weird.
I used to swell up – go all red and puffy after eating and would sweat. That has stopped! My thyroid is still not controlled (T4s are the the bottom of the normal range at 10 pmol/l or .777 ng) and I wonder if that was corrected if I’d be less sensitive.
My “allergies” or “sensitivities” started all of a sudden – basically in January 2011 I could no longer eat what I wanted. This is also when my t4 was at 9.7 pmol/l, the lowest it’s been. So, I think there is a hypothyroid connection here. In fact, six months later my t4 was at the same level and I was in really bad shape. I was 5 months pregnant at this point and was swollen like I was 9 months pregnant. I started taking lots of supplements for the remainder of my pregnancy, and not sure if that helped, but when I was 9 months pregnant I felt the best I had the whole pregnancy. After my daughter was born, things quickly spiraled back to where they were, although I didn’t realize the food connection because it wasn’t immediate and because I couldn’t figure out which foods bothered me. But I finally realized that eating made me sweat, in between my shoulder blades and up the right side of my face. Weird, I know.
Just curious what other reactions to food people have had while being hypothyroid and what your free t4 levels are!
Read the comments in the link below. Some of these stories resonate so much with me!!
http://glutenfreegirl.com/2011/05/symptoms-of-celiac-and-gluten-sensitivity/
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