My Aunt Has Celiac, Do I?

By Bluemoose

I've been thinking about and reading about Celiac Disease a lot in the last week as I attempt to find some relief from my eternal suffering chronic illness.

I'm nearly a week in on my gluten-free diet, though on Day 2 I had already accidentally glutened myself. (Not all Reese's peanut butter cups are safe, in case you were wondering!)

It's way too early to know if the diet is helping or if I'm just sliding out of my flare, but I do feel like a different person. My mood is improved, my bloating is decreased, and my constant headache is gone. I also feel like my gut is mobile again.

This is where I talk about my poop. I mean, someone's got to do it.

I'm spending a lot of time in the bathroom every day now that I'm gluten-free, but I feel that's preferable to the past, where it wasn't uncommon for me to suffer three to five days of agonizing constipation followed by a single day of diarrhea. On-again, off-again was my pattern. It was horrendous, and the "bad" days made it impossible to leave the house. If you know what I'm sayin'.

Anypoo, when I was talking to my mom today, I thought to ask her about my aunt's (her sister's) celiac diagnosis. Here's how that part of the conversation went.

Me: How old was Aunt C. when she was diagnosed with celiac?

Mom: 56. But she's fairly certain she had it for at least 20 years before her doctor ever thought to test her for it.

(Hmm. 56 – 20 = 36. I am 36.)

Me: With my last flare, I had new symptoms—skin rash and canker sores. So I'm going to bring it up in July at my next doctor's appointment. Everything seems to match up, plus it runs in families.

Mom: Aunt C suffered from skin eruptions too.

I know that I need to prepare myself for the possibility that celiac tests will come up negative like everything else in my life so far, but it's hard. I so desperately want real answers.