<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I am nearly 23 and have had gastrointestinal issues my whole life, including
flatulence, constipation, heartburn, gurgling noises whenever I digest food,
cramps ranging from uncomfortable to severe, bloating, sporadic diarrhea,
and lactose intolerance that comes and goes for years at a time. Last spring
I became convinced that I have Celiac Disease. I went to see a
gastroenterologist, making sure specifically to visit one who's familiar
with Celiac. When he ran the blood tests, my IgG was 49 and my IgA was
"negative." Then he took a biopsy and observed that everything was
completely normal and declared conclusively that I do not have Celiac
Disease.

Meanwhile, while testing for the gluten antibodies, he also had the
prescience to test for TSH, and found that it was 8.616. On the old scale,
.5 to 5 is normal and 8.616 indicated hypothyroid; but the test was
re-scaled last year: now .3 to 3 is normal, so 8.616 is very hypothyroid. I
am now seeing an endocrinologist (the best doctor I've ever dealt with in my
life, and I've dealt with many incompetent doctors). She tested my thyroid
antibodies, found that they were over 2600, discovered my TSH had increased
to 9.2, diagnosed me with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and put me on 100 MCG
Synthroid.

I feel *slightly* better on the Synthroid, but most of my gastrointestinal
symptoms persist most of the time. I have been reading up on Hashimoto's as
an autoimmune disorder, and Celiac Disease keeps popping up persistently in
lists of related conditions. I can not shake the suspicion that I might have
Celiac Disease after all, particularly because I've had the gastrointestinal
symptoms my whole life, while my thyroid-related symptoms only seemed to
develop around 20 months ago. I doubt that this particular
gastroenterologist, who supposedly knows about Celiac, could have
misdiagnosed me, but I can't seem to find anything else that could explain
what's going on in my digestive tract.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks a lot,
Nathan G

* Send administrative questions to [log in to unmask] *