Posted 1/25/2014 6:30 AM (GMT 0)
I recently had an endoscopy due to some esophageal sympoms (sensation of food sticking in the throat, etc).
As someone with severe health anxiety who always thinks of the worst, I was decently relieved to hear from the gastro dr. right after the procedure that it was just a mild case of gerd and a hiatal hernia and that I will just have to be on some medication for 6 wks and after that, only occasionally, when needed.This was relatively nice to hear when my mind had already gone insane with fear thinking of "Barrets esophagus" or even the horror esophageal C word.
He set up a follow up appointment and told me to also get a referral from my GP to another Dr that should also look into possible "allergy to gluten".
A couple of weeks later the results from the biopsies taken during the endoscopy came back with the DX "reflux esophagitis - no precancerous changes".
Not great, but hey - treatable.
The trouble started when I began to look up what every image from the endoscopy meant -as I received a copy with the images at home.
Two of the images read: "2nd portion of the duodenum: atrophic" and "duodenal bulb: atrophic".
When I did the research on the Internet I realized the link between what the gastro saw on those two images and him mentioning a possible gluten allergy and the referral to another Dr.
Right now I am freaking about about having Celiac disease and I have 2 questions:
1. Am I correct in concluding that those atrophic findings in the duodenum indicate a high likelihood of celiac? Could they be due to other things? The Castro Dr. Never mentioned the word "Celiac" but he did tell me to check with another Dr (He may have said Allergy Dr, if I am not wrong) about possible gluten allergy. The interesting thing is that, when I attempted to make an appt. With an allergy Dr., they told me they don't test for gluten allergies and that the gastro Dr. Should do that ! Now I wonder why in the world the gastro Dr. Sent me to an allergy Dr?
2.If I have celiac, would the biopsies taken during endoscopy have confirmed this disease?
The only thing the biopsy report says is "reflux esophagitis". As the Dr. Obviously identified the atrophic duodenum, I am pretty sure he would have biopsied that little portion too, am I correct?
I have the follow up visit on Monday and I have a million question for the gastro dr, but in the meantime, could someone perhaps confirm that a DX of Celiac would have been clarified by the biopsies, if present? Wouldn't the Dr. Have mentioned this possibility to me, instead of calling it just "Gluten allergy"?
Otherwise, I do not experience any of the typical symptoms I read about celiac, such as diahrea, stomach cramps, etc.
I was however found to be vitamin d deficient a couple of years ago but after my gp put me on vitamin e over the summer and after some sun exposure,the vitamin d levels were back at the optimum level.
If you can reassure me in any way, I would be forever grateful!
My greatest fear is that those atrophic findings indicate a high likelihood of Celiac.