My panic might go away

[Kroko]

Hello,

I recently went to see a private doctor for the first time in my life. He had some blood tests taken and today he said that there's at least a 70% chance that I have celiac disease, where your body does not tolerate gluten. I have osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) which was diagnosed when I was 10, and ever since doctors have examined me to no avail. In 2001 the panic attacks started.

This doctor says that if I do in fact have celiac disease, it is most likely the cause behind both my osteoporosis and panic attacks. I will now dropped wheat from my diet and go to another blood test in three months where they'll see if dropping just wheat did the trick. If not, I will try dropping more crops from my diet.

Right now I'm hoping this is indeed what I have and it's just the wheat so I don't have to stop eating for example pasta!

I'm very excited about this. To think that I might be healthy in a matter of months , when I've had all kinds of pains and aches from osteoporosis pretty much all my life (20 years), not to mention my more recently developed panic attacks and anxiety, seems unbelievable.

[Meg]

Thats good to have a new avenue to investigate.

Coeliac disease certainly can account for some of the anxiety sideeffects and may well explain the osteoporosis and underweight which is extremely unusual in your age group.

I'm sure you'll know if its helping by how you feel long before you're due a blood test.

I thought you had to be careful about which type of pasta you eat as lots of it is wheat based.

Good luck Kroko - I really hope this helps you




Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk

You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

[seh1980]

hello Kroko,

Good news!! Although it can't be much fun to have celiac disease, it's great that the end to your panic attacks might be in sight!! I hope that it all works out for you. Let us know how it goes, ok?

Sarah :D

[nomorepanic]

Kroko

Great news if it is that and can be cured eh?

Don't forget that if you are giving up wheat that you need to cut out all flour products too - e.g. biscuits, gravy powders, some cook-in sauces and I am sure pasta too.

On the plus side there are loads of wheat/gluten free products out there now though I tried the wheat free bread and it was horrid!!! yuck! The wheat free museli is lovely though.

Let us know how it goes.

Nicola

[Kroko]

Hi!

So I'm over a week into my new diet and I don't feel any positive progress so far.

I'm wondering about this tingling/stinging feeling I have all over my body today...does anyone else ever get this?! I get these stings in seemingly random places, feels like a circulatory problem.

[Meg]

I expect it will take a few weeks for the wheat you hav eon board to be cleared out and for you to have any positive effects.
Do you think the stings may be as a result of clearing out the 'old toxins' .


Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk

You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

[Kroko]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">Do you think the stings may be as a result of clearing out the 'old toxins' .
<div align="right">Originally posted by Meg - 19 January 2005 : 12:40:01</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

No, I don't tend to think positively like that. [:P]

I'm thinking it's something that will kill me, like diabetes or something. I also have blurry vision which I've had for a long time, especially on my left eye, which is a symptom of diabetes. :(

I think I've had this kind of stinging before sometime...maybe not to this extent though. Anyway, I'm thinking diabetes because that affects the blood and this feels like a blood problem and I'll die, ARGH.

[Meg]

Kroko,

Mayb ethats what you need to address most as well as your diet.
Learning to underreact to potentially medical things that arer just fuelled by media reports and a very little real knowledge.

Having Diabetes does not kill you.. over a very long period the long term effects of diabetes can lead to premature death but only if the person has had out of control diabetes for years - so put that one out of your mind . Plus blurry vision is not an immediate symptom of diabetes- it too comes later on if the sugar control has been poor.
Diabetes also does not affect the bood other than the sugar leavel in the blood is higher than with most people - it does not lead to burning sensations. Again - a long term effect is poor circulation but the pain for that is progressive and only comes after years ...

I think I shall have to write a page on health anxiety for the site.

Next ?

Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk

You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

[Kroko]

Thank you for trying to assure me, Meg, but I've had the blurry vision thing for years and it has worsened recently, so maybe I have had diabetes for long. All these websites say type 2 diabetes is a silent killer disease, you might not notice it until it's too late.

I've had drastic weight loss which is also a symptom.

I've read that with celiac disease comes like a 40 times bigger than usual risk of diabetes.

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/d/diabetes/symptoms.htm This page says that tingling is a symptom.

[nomorepanic]

Kroko

All of these can be tested for with one simple blood test. Have you had that done?

Don't read the internet anymore - trust me it makes you 10 times worse. I was convinced I had serious liver problems but got it checked out and I was fine.

Please get some tests done to reassure yourself.

I don't know about in Finland but in the UK you can get diabetes tests in the local chemists too and it is free.

You will keep worrying till you get it confirmed one way or the other.

Nicola

[Kroko]

I've been to a lot of blood tests, I'm not sure I've been tested for diabetes though, probably not.

What if my sugar level decreases so that it won't show in the blood test? I've thought I should start avoiding sugar.

[nomorepanic]

A blood test is the only way to see if you have diabetes so it won't matter when you have it done.

Get it done and reassure yourself.

Nicola