Posted 4/9/2009 2:00 AM (GMT 0)
I'm not entirely sure where to put this thread, but I appreciate any of your thoughts.
5 years ago I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. However, the medications they provided did nothing and I continued to have diarrhea between 10 and 30 times per day. High dose prednisone (40-60mg/day) worked somewhat, but they said I'd probably need to have my colon removed. Since I was out of patience and money, I went 100% gluten free, which relieved my symptoms almost immediately. I figured I must have Celiac since it runs in my family.
However, starting ~5 months ago the diarrhea and some blood returned along with a pain in my upper abdomen (about 1-2 inches below my sternum, about 1/4-1/2 inch to the right of center). Doctors felt it was too high to be colon related, and an ultrasound came back negative for liver/gallbladder/pancreas/etc issues. They suggested another colonoscopy/endoscopy, but since my insurance really only covers emergency this wasn't financially viable.
I have been able to moderate the diarrhea and pain considerably by significantly reducing carbohydrates. Since this pain started, I've found that I cannot tolerate ANY carbohydrate ... even small amounts of rice or potato go straight through me completely undigested. Again, I haven't touch a bit of gluten for 5 years (I don't even eat out, check the label, and almost always only eat food marked gluten free). The more carbs I eat, the worse the symptoms seem to get.
This is really hard to deal with ... any thoughts?