Nawchem,
I really was Hyperthyroid. I had the symptoms and the tests proved Graves Disease. I just don't know which disease came first. Autoimmune diseases often "piggyback" each other. People often have more than just one.
After all the research I've done logic is telling me Celiac probably occured first.
Statistics say 43% of Americans carry the genes for Celiac. Not everyone *gets* celiac though...the genes have to be "triggered". 1 in 133 people *do* get Celiac and most are undiagnosed. Symptoms vary greatly so it makes the disease sometimes hard to recognize. Its not like thyroid which most people get the same symptoms. Half of the diagnosed celiacs have NO symptoms whatsoever. These people were only tested because of the genetic factor...someone in their family had it. If Celiac can be active years before symptoms appear I'm thinking I probably had it for awhile with no symptoms and it probably caused the Graves Disease.
Celiac causes numerous different autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, anemia, cancer...the list goes on. Its very serious if left undiagnosed.
My doctor told me I probably didn't have it because I didn't have diarreah. I had every symptom EXCEPT diarreah...so therefore I probably didn't have celiac. He also has never diagnosed ANYONE with celiac....never TESTED anyone for celiac and did not even know HOW to order the tests for celiac.
He did attempt to test me but ordered the wrong tests..I was already trying the gluten-free diet at the time and he said it was OK for me to not eat gluten and then get tested. He finally managed to order 2 out of the 5 celiac tests after I'd been off gluten for 2 weeks. My test was neg....I was told I didn't have it and "just eat lots of food cuz you're too skinny." Well I almost died after 3 months back on gluten.
One year after my tests I find out you HAVE to be eating gluten everyday for 3 months prior to testing. Going on a gluten free diet even a few days before tests can give a false negative. Then I find out you need all 5 tests (celiac panel) in order to get a full picture. Then I find out constipation is actually MORE common in celiacs than diarreah. I had constipation.
Now I know...always do the research yourself and never take a doctors word for anything. Also false negatives are very common with celiac testing anyways but especially if you arent eating gluten.
I thought I must have the worst doctors in the world until I visited the celiac message board and found out the ones who had good doctors are few and far between.
Another thing...some doctors will say you have to be underweight and malnourished to be celiac. Not true. There are no rules and more celiacs are overweight than underweight. Some have no symptoms...some have numerous symptoms.
Here is a link:
http://www.gluten.net/celiac.html
-Rachel