Celiac?
I haven't had WLS, but my youngest daughter and I both have CD. For the best information, go to www.celiac.com - they have a wealth of information that will help you. Please feel free to e-mail me as well - I have done a lot of personal research and I am always happy to help anyone who has questions about CD. I am starting to wonder if more people should be tested for CD before they ever undergo WLS, as CD is horribly underdiagnosed. Unfortunately, a lot of the symptoms that people describe having had before their surgeries are textbook CD or Gluten Sensitivity. What most doctors don't realize is that 40% of people with CD are overweight, with 17% of that number being MO. That flies in the face of the "typical" symptoms of CD. The current thinking is that 1-out-of-133 people in the US currently have CD, yet only 3% of them know that they have it.
The only reason that our daughter was tested is that she has Down syndrome (they have a 1-in-8 chance of developing CD), and her pediatrician took it upon himself to test ALL of the kids with DS in his practice (he has over 30) for CD, since it is such a "silent" disease in most people. Our daughter - with no outward symptoms, mind you - had bloodwork numbers off the charts, and she had Borderline Stage IV intestinal damage. I found out that I have the skin manifestation of CD, which explains why my bloodwork came back negative, but the rash started clearing up when I went on a GF diet.
I hope that I will be able to help you in any way possible. If you test positive for CD, BE SURE and have ALL of your family members tested as well, since they are at a significantly increased risk of also having CD.
Sincerely,
Teresa Koch
Fort Worth, Texas
