• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Hello from allergy and GI suffer

Hello there,

I thought I'd best introduce myself. I came across this forum whilst searching for candida on the internet. I live in South Birmingham and am 31 yrs of old.

I first started suffering from food allergies in my early teens with a sensitivity to apples. Over the years, these have increased to include tap water, nightshade vegetables, brassica vegetables, pollen, hazelnuts, any fruit with a stone and many more. I suffered from bloating, excess weight gain (despite being on low calorie diets or healthy eating and performing regular exercise), allergic rhinitis, night sweats, hot flushes, awful stomach cramps, flatulence, stress and malnourishment to name a few.

A visit to my GP got me laughed at when I mentioned possible cause as candida, the remarks "how can you be allergic to potatoes" and "you don't look stressed, I'm not testing for that". Anyhow, private testing proved that my cortisol was 1.5 times the upper limit of the reference range and some of the IgE tests confirmed that I had allergies.

I suspect I have leaky gut syndrome (generally a great contributor to abdominal/GI complaints), suspected celiac disease, chronic systemic candida, 28 food intolerances at last test (IgG), many food allergies (IgE) and stress. Since a lot of the medical profession do not recognise LGS and Systemic candida it's the start of a long haul for me.

My Exercise and Nutrition Consultant (qualified clinical nutritionalist) Cain Leathem has so far has vastly improved my quality of life; I've dropped over 2st in weight, decreased my body fat from 34% to 26%, he's formulated and helped me manage a healthy eating and supplementation plan reducing my GI symptoms, my body is better nourished (proved by my nails) and I feel so much better about myself. Sadly, it's the beginning of a long road as I still have GI complaints.

Currently, I am awaiting to see an immunologist through my GP and am about to embark on further tests.

It's good to know there is a community out here with people suffering with similar issues/frustrations who hopefully don't think I am barmy. Sometimes we all need support and to offer support. I hope that this is an arena in which I can get and do that.

All stories that I have read so far are remarkable. You all have amazing strength, resilience and positive attitudes. I look forward to learning more from you all.

Thanks for providing a place of sanctuary :ybiggrin:

Claireyvb
x
 

xJillx

Your Story Forum Monitor
Hi Claireyvb and welcome! I am glad your nutrition consultant has greatly helped you with your health. I hope things continue to impove for you.

As far as the suspected celiac - have you been tested? Also, are you maintaining a gluten free diet? Several of your symptoms do align with celiac disease.
 
Hi Claireyvb! We Certainly welcome anyone with GI issues here! Hope you get sorted soon. It is always hard not to have a clear diagnosis.
 
Thanks for your welcome.

xJillx - thanks. I haven't been diagnosed as celiac. Reasons: the tests for celiac, IMO, are unreliable at best and for some of them I have to be eating gluten to be able to take the test - no way I am doing that. The gene tests will only give me an idea of genetic susceptibility rather than a conclusive positive or negative. A biopsy might help but this will just tell me that there is damage to my intestinal villi, which I know is already the case due to the IgG food intolerances.

The only way to know, i think, will be to see an improvement in symptoms.

I've been strict gluten free for a couple of months, less strict since October so will see how it goes and keep you updated. I'm hoping to get a capsule endoscopy later in the year if the gluten free diet doesn't help.

Here's hoping :)
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Hi Claireyvb, welcome to the forum. In your initial post, you mentioned high cortisol levels, which makes me wonder if you've ever been checked for Cushing's Syndrome? I've got undiagnosed gastrointestinal issues myself and for a little while my GI thought I might have Addison's disease, which is similar to Cushing's (Addison's is too little cortisol, Cushing's is too much cortisol). You mentioned weight gain which I believe is one of the main symptoms of Cushings. I did a bit of googling and found a link from Mayo Clinic which lists more symptoms. Here's the link:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cushings-syndrome/DS00470/DSECTION=symptoms

I don't know if you have any of the other symptoms besides weight gain and high cortisol, but with those two symptoms alone I'd think it's at least worth looking into a little further. Good luck, I hope you're able to get a firm diagnosis soon, and I just wanted to say I know how tough it is to have GI symptoms but no diagnosis!
 
Cortisol is crude, and its well known that it goes up with stress, so a high cortisol doesnt necessarily = cushings.... prob best to speak to your doctor if youre worried about that tho!

Have you had your antibodies done for coeliacs? That doesnt involve eating gluten....... Really simple blood test, anti TTG, endomysial and I think glian..... should be a good pointer! Speak to your doctor........... the gluten thing can be gotten around!

Hope youre doing well
xxxx
 
Thank you all - so much useful advice. I'll have a research into these issues that you guys mention. Thanks for those links x

Lulu2 - I've got IgG antibodies to gliadin, but no other have been tested for. Definitely worth me investigating further. thank you.

Cat-a-Tonic - it sure is hard with undiagnosed GI problems. Hang in there! Do you have any suspicions of what you might have?? I at least have a load of things that it could and probably have caused my symptoms, the problem is narrowing it down without spending a whole load of money or taking more pharmaceuticals.

What I didn't mention that a lot of my symptoms are probably through chronic use of antibiotics, NSAIDS and nasal corticosteroids - which are notorious for disrupting Gut flora and damaging the GI tract. The stress is not only symptom but also I have undergone some very stressful times in my life, so I doubt that it is Cushings but I will not discount anything. I used to overtrain in terms of exercise, thus promoting more stress and more damage to the GI tract. The list goes on and on :(
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Claireyvb: I've been tested for various things including Addison's disease and Celiac and have ruled both of those out. My GI thinks I probably have some form of IBD and that Crohn's or microscopic colitis are the most likely suspects. Both can be tricky to diagnose - Crohn's can appear anywhere from mouth to anus and has a "skip pattern" meaning it can manifest in patches between areas of healthy intestine. Microscopic colitis also has a skip pattern, and although it's just found in the colon, it can apparently only be diagnosed on biopsy - in other words, if they don't biopsy the right spot, it can be completely missed and the intestines otherwise look healthy. So I likely have one or the other of those illnesses hiding in my guts, just have to search it out!

I hope you get diagnosed soon, it's so frustrating and exhausting being ill like this without solid answers. We've got a thread in the Support Forum titled "Undiagnosed Club" and you're more than welcome to join us there if you'd like. Unfortunately, there's quite a few of us on here who don't yet have firm diagnoses. The good news is, you're not alone!
 
Top