This is really embarrassing, but here goes. For the past two weeks, I have had really bad diarrhea nonstop. At first I thought it was just a stomach virus, but it won't go away and I don't really have all the symptoms of a stomach virus. I still have a huge appetite, I'm not vomiting, and I haven't had fever at all. I also have had stomach problems basically my whole life. I either have diarrhea, weird bms, painful gas and bloating, or I'm constipated for a week or more at a time. I'm also always extremely tired, I feel weak most of the time, I'm always really hungry, my skin itches for no apparent reason, and sometimes I feel like I'm kind of in a fog. I've been to the doctor, but I've never been tested for this. All of my bloodwork always comes out well and they tell me just to eat right and exercise and I'll be fine. So, I've done that. I went on a whole grain diet and started exercising but things just seem to be getting worse rather than better. Today, I haven't eaten anything with wheat and I feel a little better. I still have diarrhea but for most of the day I didn't feel as weak or as tired as usual. Anyways, any replies would be greatly appreciated.

not an expert by any means as I'm new to all of this too - but it sounds familiar. i had great bloodwork but became progressively more "off" until I was really really sick. I never had any allergy issues at all and then this. I would suggest to pursue this further with your doctor, maybe it's a food sensitivy, possibly wheat or another, that has crept up on you. I just felt like sometihng wasn't right before discovering this.

Welcome to this site. Caraline, what type of blood work has your doctor done on you? A metabolic panel to check deficiency?

Since you have found this site, I assume that you have a concern regarding Celiac. Celiac Disease is an intolerance from the proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, malt and most oats Contact you doctor and ask that he/she run a full Celiac Panel and get the blood work done, and then go from there.

If you feel immediate results from not eating "wheat" you may have a wheat allergy. Wheat is only a portion of Celiac Disease.

Oh so many of us have been diagnoses with IBS (the last meaning BS). By average it takes a Celiac person 11 year to be diagnoses. So, you are in good company.

If you do consider the full panel testing for Celiac, you need to continue with a full gluten diet. This will ensure a more accuracy in testing.

(btw - poo is a common topic here, with much interest )

Thank you guys so much for your replies. I really appreciate them.

Unfortunately, I can't afford to get the test done right now. I did the gluten free diet for four days though and I was feeling so much better. My stomach problems went away after two days and I had a lot more energy. But, then, today, I ate some stuff with gluten in it and I got really really sick. So, I think I'm going to just stick to the gluten free diet and if I get sick again, then I'll get checked. I'm really broke so I just can't get the test right now.

Welcome to the board Caraline,
And u sound like a duplicate of my son all through his child hood
It took them til he was so skinny and white complected low blood count, passsing out after BM and totaly fatigued he missed 88 days of school
But the first blood draw was celiac disease positive and like Momma Goose said u have to stick with the nastey stuff to get a post. reading or U could just skip all the reg doc's and go to a good GI doc like son did
We r having a gene test done on hubby cuz he won't do the Gluten ever again (he almost lost a 17 year job over this figuring out wht was wrong)
So my heart goes out to ya
I know from first hand experiance this can be long and hard to figure out
And we too are on the poor side so it is quite expensive to eat right let alone find out the DXD
Good Luck to you in your quest and wish you well
Belinda

Thanks for the reply Belinda. I've thought about the gene test, but I'll have to wait a while for that. That's good that your husband figured out what it was before he lost his job though. I've had to take a lot of time off of work because of this and I'm always scared that I'm going to lose my job. I'm really glad that I've figured out what it is though and now I can finally start healing.

Be aware if you're having problems with gluten, you may also have issues with dairy. You might want to try eliminating it for a few days, too, to see if you don't continue to improve.

Thanks for the info, darkangel. I think I'm going to give up dairy and soy for a while just to see how I feel and then work them back into my diet after a while.

Be forewarned that if you go completely gluten free and then later on decide to get an official diagnosis you will have to do a gluten challenge. This means that you'll have to eat a fair amount of gluten daily for months (I think the recommended length of time is four months, but I'm not sure on this). Can you imagine how sick that could make you? My advice is if you're planning on ever getting tested, now's the time to do it. Perhaps you could go to a free clinic at a local city hospital? However, if you really noticed a huge difference after being gluten free for only a few days, perhaps you don't need an official diagnosis to force yourself to stick with the diet. Some people do, some people don't. Either way, good luck.

Honestly, sticking with the diet isn't that hard so far. I feel so much better that its like I don't really miss what I was eating. I mean, I'd like to have it on paper just to have it, but I know that my body just can't tolerate gluten. The reaction I had last Sunday to it was horrible and I hadn't felt that way since I stopped eating it the first time and since Monday I've been fine. I'm just glad that I found these boards and other websites because its really helping me in figuring things out.