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Type 1 Diabetes and Coeliac disese

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fortuna

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8
Hello,
I saw my Diabetic consulatant this week and told him of my signs and symptoms - acute diarrhoea for 6 weeks, anaemia and 1 stone weight loss in 10 months (without trying). He felt it could be Coeliac disease although it did not show in the blood tests he took. I think there may be further blood tests that can be done.
Yesterday I saw a general surgeon who did not think this was likely. But then he may not know too much about long term diabetes. He has suggested a Colonoscopy something I dread.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this subject?
Thank you, Fortuna
 
There is a strong link between diabetes and Coeliac disease, but don't worry too much about the Colonoscopy as this will be carried out to rule out any bowel disease such as Chrohns disease or Ulcerative Colitis. I had a Colonoscopy 3 years ago and although the thought of it isn't very nice the procedure itself is quick and not too uncomfortable.

Nigel
 
Thank you Nigel. I suppose I am afraid of the knife wielding surgeon and want to make sure that it is NOT Coeliac disease.
Fortuna
 
Hey Fortuna,

I am not sure ifthis might work...but could you 2eat" like you knew you were allergic to gluten, and see if your problems imporoved? I don't know how quickly you should see an improvement though?
 
If it helps at all, a colonoscopy doesn't involve any knives etc.
 
Hi Fortuna,

I cant give u any advice about your Diabetes, As im a mum of a newly diagnosed teenager with type 1, However i am an old hand when it comes to Colonoscopys, Endoscopys and all the test that go with Chrones Disease or bowel problems, As i was Diagnosed with Chrones Disease 26 years ago, The tests sound worse than they actually are the worst part is the horrible drinks you have to have to clean out your bowel before the test, The test themselves are painless and no knives ect are involved, You will be fine, try not to worry,

Good luck
Debs D
 
My 6 year old son had a biopsy today. His blood showed antibodies which suggested coeliac disease, but a biopsy is done to take a section of the stomach to check for damage to the lining which would give a positive diagnosis.

In your case it sounds like they want to eliminate other causes since the blood test doesn't show any antibodies. For the time being I wouldn't recommend going gluten free until all the tests are done as this may affect the results of any assessments.
 
hi my son had the blood test which showed a risk ofcoeliac and we were told to stay on a normal diet until after the test other wise all results would come back normal so i wouldnt recommend cutting out the gluten just yet. we had a biopsy which showed to be normal so we just have to be mindful of the symptoms so we can keep an eye out for them and they start to present we would then have another biopsy, good luck with ur tests
anna marie
 
Hello, thank you for your replies. I agree, having thought more about it, that I will not start on gluten free foods until the tests are finished.
The "Knife wielding surgeon" I think I meant that I would like some discussion between the surgical and the medical sides. But even these days there does not seem to be much communication between them!
I don't know where I stand at the moment - they phoned on Thursday giving me an appointment for Tuesday afternoon and said they would send the instructions and medicine ny post on Friday. I was worried about this as there are problems with deliveries with Christmas and bad weather. But then asked if I was Diabetic! When I said I was I was told that appointment was no good as it had to be done first thing in the morning because of hypos if done later. I cannot believe they don't check these things. Doesn't improve my confidence!
Fortuna
 
no i bet it doesnt we had the first appointment the day we went due to the fact that ur not allowed to eat from the night before, we were on a childrens ward and got bought down to the normal ward where everyone was waiting for us to arrive, we turned up and went straight in felt guilty about it but it was done for the very reason u explained i imagine some of them prob sat waiting for most of the day, he was only in for about 10 mins tho so was over and done with quick we just had to wait for him to eat before we could leave so did end up sat in hosp from 7.30 un til mid afternnon for a 10 min procedure lol
 
Fortuna,

Odd that they didn't check or notice on your file that you had diabetes but never mind. On the morning you will be admitted on the ward and will be required to drink a movicol powder diluted in water, this will in-turn work very quickly (about 1-2 hours) by which time you will be sitting on the toilet until the bowels are totally empty, when the nurses are assured that you are clear you will then be taken to have the colonoscopy.

The procedure as I said earlier isn't as bad as you imagine, they use a lubricating gel and although you are aware of it entering it doesn't hurt and the procedure is only mildly uncomfortable, should you wish you can view the the procedure on the monitor. My oldest son also had this done back in August and said it wasn't as bad as he thought, so hope it isn't to stressful for you and hopefully they will find the cause of your problems.

Nigel
 
Ams and Nigel, thanks for your thoughts. I am now going to forget about it until the 7th. Well, try to! Happy Christmas to you all.
Fortuna
 
Some years ago I had the endoscopy to see if was coeliac - however the result did not show that even though the blood test I had had showed the antibodies. However, the consultant I saw felt that I had had it as a child [due to my description of myself at that time!] and the changes in puberty had made it appear to be no existent. However aftr the menopause, I had HRT then that was stopped because of family history of strokes I started having symptons again and also developed a form of exzema that occurs with coeliac. So even though I did not show as positive after the biopsy he advised me to go on a gluten free diet [although as not coelia have to buy own bread do not get prescriptions!]. This relieved stomach problems to some extent and my skin a lot.
Now 5 yrs on I have much clearer skin but still have the occasional stomach upset so eating gluten free has become an expensive way of life. So now I am diagnosed in last 2 weeks with diabetes type 2 so have to look at diet again.
Also have underactive thyroid [18 yrs] and my GP just thinks I have auto-imune disorders.
 
All done! And painless and I slept through it all. The colonoscopy was normal but they have taken a biopsy - results in 2 weeks.
Will that tell me what caused my problems, I wonder?
Fortuna
 
Hi

I have been diabetic for 40 plus years and have just been diagnosed with Coelias disease. I had a similar reults to another poster in that the biopsy was negative but the blood test results were positive.

The colonoscopy just involved being knocked out for a while, no pain or discomfort at all. I was asked if I was diabetic but still had the test at 10:00 in the morning. They checked my sugar levels regularly and made sure I was OK while I was knocked out.

Chris
 
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