Stop Chasing Skinny Episode #1
The Real Deal on Gluten and Life After a Diagnosis of Celiacs Disease with Megan Bryan
Join me for this eye-opening interview with Megan Bryan as she shares how and when she was diagnosed with celiac’s disease. Unfortunately I hear many people with these exact same symptoms on a regular basis and most people think feeling bloated, tired, unable to focus, and achy is just part of life. It doesn’t have to be that way!
Show Notes
How did you find out you had celiac’s disease?
2004 I was sick and going septic. I had skin problems, hormonal imbalances, I suffered a miscarriage, and had unexplained anxiety and fatigue, and was in almost constant pain in my gut. I went to a respected Gastroenterologist who performed the whole battery of tests on me and I was told I there was nothing wrong with me, I just had “IBS”, and that they should remove my gallbladder and see if it helped. Well, sadly, they did remove it and it did not help. Several months later I went to and MD who had been trained in Chinese medicine, looking for help. She tested me and found I had Celiac’s Disease and told me I needed to remove gluten from my diet. I had no idea what that meant or even where to begin.
What is celiac’s Disease?
It is an autoimmune response to gluten- meaning your body treats it as a foreign invader and attacks the gluten, destroying the lining of your gut, or the villi in the intestines.These Villi are what help us absorb nutrients, so People with Celiacs can become severely nutrient deficient, especially with Iron.
Signs/symptoms others can watch for:
* Digestive problems (abdominal bloating, pain, gas, diarrhea, pale stools, and weight loss).
* A severe skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis, eczema.
* Iron deficiency anemia (low blood count).
* Musculoskeletal problems (muscle cramps, joint and bone pain).
* Growth problems and failure to thrive (in children).
* Tingling sensation in the legs (caused by nerve damage and low calcium).
* Aphthous ulcers (sores in the mouth).
* Missed menstrual periods.
* Osteoporosis, a disease that weakens bones and leads to fractures. This occurs because the person has trouble absorbing enough calcium and vitamin D.
* Miscarriage or infertility.
* Birth defects, such as neural tube defects (improper formation of the spine) caused by poor absorption of such nutrients as folic acid.
* Seizures.
* Growth problems in children because they don’t absorb enough nutrients.
* Cancer of the intestine (very rare).
What happens if you don’t take it seriously and eliminate gluten?
According to and article by Robert Preidt, “a study, which was published in the Aug. 6 issue of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine [showed that] Overall, the patients with celiac disease had an annual lymphoma risk of about 68 of 100,000 people, which is nearly three times higher than the general population’s risk rate of about 24 of 100,000.
Meanwhile, the annual risk for patients with ongoing intestinal damage was about 102 of 100,000 people, compared with 31.5 of 100,000 for those with healed intestines.
What kind of doctor should you go to see if you think it might have celiacs?
Find a doctor who is trained to think wholistically about the body and about disease. Many doctors were not taught this in Med school and it is not on their radar when intestinal or skin problems occur
