Our Family Beginnings

Today, this is one of the questions I am asking myself, amongst others. The reason being is that my dad, at the ripe age of 61 was just diagnosed with celiac disease. He had gotten lyme disease twice this year (he lives in Connecticut and he and my mom have indoor/outdoor cats, what do you want?) and had another rash check. Turns out it’s a common rash for celiac sufferers.

Did you know that women who have a father with celiac disease are at greater risk to get the disease themselves? Oh, and that it’s been linked to infertility as well as anxiety and depression? Yeah. I read off some of the symptoms to Mr. Badger over IM yesterday: fatigue, infertility or recurrent miscarriage, iron-deficiency, fatigue, bone or joint pain, depression or anxiety. When he got home, he gave me a big hug, kind of like an “I’m so sorry” hug. But wait, that kind of hug over my dad?

Apparently he spent downtime reading up on the disease, which causes an inability to handle gluten of any sort (wheat, rye, barley, flour, and other foods that come in contact with these things in processing) and is convinced I have it. It was sweet, he even was trying to soothe me by pointing out sites like Gluten-Free Girl and what not.

Now, Mr. Badger is not the tin-foil hat, conspiracy theory, hypochondriac type.  He tends towards mild diagnoses of issues as the likely cause, but for this…he seems pretty intense.  So I whipped open my laptop when he was home from work and we went through a number of the possible symptoms:

Gastrointestinal symptoms:

• Diarrhea – I dunno, I mean, I don’t constantly have the shits, but I don’t have the most solid poops.  Who sits around and compares their poop consistency with someone else’s?  I mean, I’ll talk about V’s poop, but mine?
• Constipation – Not really a big one on my list, SCORE!
• Chronic indigestion – Not really. Another check for not having it!
  
• Chronic bloating – Crap.  Yeah, always.
  
• Poor appetite – Okay, this one’s vague. I can’t eat a lot at once, I prefer small nibbling.  I don’t go without eating though.
• Abdominal cramping, pain, and distention. – Again, it kinda depends. It’s not the kind of thing that I’d ever feel a need to get checked out.  If you’re used to something, it becomes normal.  I don’t ever double over or get scared from any distension, but does it happen? Sure.
• Mouth Ulcers – No! Woo hoo!
• Lactose intolerant – Not that I know!

Non-Gastro symptoms:

• Weight loss – Not to be crass, but, I wish?
• Fatigue - Yup. Damn.
• Anemia – I am almost always borderline anemic. Bugger.
• Osteopenia or osteoporosis – Haven’t ever checked this, who knows. We’ll go with no for now.
• Abnormal coagulation due to deficiency of vitamin K – I have a few clotting issues, sayeth ye olde RE, so maybe?
• Bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine - I assume they’ll test for this if necessary.
• Dermatitis herpetiformis (a specific type of extremely itchy rash, sometimes called a “gluten rash”) – This is what my dad had, but I don’t think I’ve had it.
• Unexplained short stature – I’m 5’7″, not an issue.
• Delayed puberty – I got my period at 13, similar to plenty of friends.
• Infertility – Heh.
• Recurrent miscarriage – That would assume I could *get* pregnant. But the one time I was, I miscarried.
• Dental enamel abnormalities – I plead the 5th on this one due to other factors at play.
• Autoimmune endocrine disorders, including thyroid disease – My folks both have thyroid issues, I assume that one day I will too.
• Depression and anxiety – Heh, part 2.
• Peripheral neuropathy (tingly hands and feet) – I have COLD hands and feet, but not tingly.
• Ataxia – Nope.
• Epilepsy – Nope.
• Subtle abnormalities in blood tests for no obvious reason (also referred to as “unexplained abnormal serum chemistries”) – I personally think some of my tests look weird, like consistently high red blood count, but no one has ever shown concern for this.
• Elevated liver function tests – Never had a test.
• Low serum (blood) protein levels – Dunno
• Low serum (blood) calcium levels – Dunno

After reading these aloud with Mr. Badger, he again gave me that look and stroked my head.  The problem is, celiac disease is one of the most misdiagnosed diseases.  Doctors will call it many things, because of the variability of the sypmtoms and their severity among sufferers.

That being said, I have an appointment with a gastroenterologist group on Monday, and a backup appointment with *the* top celiac specialist in the area in late January.  So if the first doc isn’t receptive to seeking out a celiac issue and the full gamut of tests (bloodwork and a *gulp* intestinal biopsy), then I’ll find someone who will.  I’m not someone who wants to have a disease, but from what I’ve read about the lack of good diagnosticians in this area, I’ll fight for this one.

Oh, and the post title?  Apparently two types of poop float on a regular basis. People, like vegetarians, who get LOTS of fiber in their diet, and people who have a gastrointestinal issue, like celiac, because their body isn’t getting enough of the fat and nutrients out of their food.  A floater here and there isn’t a big deal, but consistently…let me just go all TMI on you and say, oh crap.