Celiac Symptoms: Why Do I Feel So Bad?

There were the IBS years.

There were the fibromyalgia years.

Then there were the lupus years.

Most days and years were just “blah” years. I try to think back and remember the years – an entire decade of my 30s – nearly lost to illness and brain fog associated with undiagnosed Celiac Disease. Looking back, it’s unimaginable that I functioned at all, let alone successfully progressed through my career and raised two extremely bright and gifted children.

Celiac Symptoms: It’s All in Your Head

A lot of people wrote off the way I was feeling as “just stress” or saying “it’s all in your head.” I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard “It’s all in your head”!

Well, I wish it were all in my head. I wish I was making this stuff up. But it was real. There was something wrong with me. But no doctor could pinpoint just what it was.

Seeking continual medical help for my ongoing “crappy” feeling and exhaustion, I remember the words uttered by my PCP with distinct clarity: “You work full-time. You have two young children at home. Of course you’re going to feel tired.”

But we’re not talking “just tired” here we’re talking down-right exhausted. Day after day went like this: Get up. Get the kids off to school. Go to work. Do all I can to drag myself through the day. Go home. Collapse into bed. There were many days I couldn’t deal with the kids’ homework or evening activities, I could only collapse. It wasn’t living at all. I wasn’t living. What’s wrong with me?

Celiac Symptoms: My List

My list of symptoms was long and varied (see chart). Among other things, my lab results consistently show I’m iron deficient. I take ginormous quantities of iron supplements. Doesn’t help. Bone density scans indicate bone loss categorized as osteopenia. I’m prescribed Actonel to restore bone loss. Doesn’t help. Miscellaneous tests point to fibromyalgia, arthritis and other joint issues. I’m prescribed Celebrex. Doesn’t help. My list of symptoms, misdiagnoses, and drug trials go on and on. Nothing helps.

What the heck?! I’m sick. I’m tired. I’m frustrated. Something’s got to help! Someone’s got to help! Please!