I have done a lot of research that says that autoimmune diseases can all be related to each other...this being said, I have food allergies to wheat and am currently waiting to hear the results of my celiac blood test which I did a week and a half ago. I noticed that someone on this board (I think it was Megan) also had celiac, and was wondering who has other autoimmune diseases on top of the RA. In all your experience, do these tend to correlate with each other a lot? And also....for anyone who has celiac disease, how did you figure out that you had it, and have you heard about ways that this is in correlation with your RA? Any helpful tips for someone possibly just learning they are also celiac? Thanks!! Have a great night!
Britenny
Hi again...I've also seen that some people on this board also have Fibro...something? Can't remember the whole name of it? Can someone explain to me what this is? Also....does anyone know when Jr RA becomes regular RA? LIke at what age it is diagnosed as juvenile and when it is adult? Thanks
Britenny
Hi Britteny,
I'm being tested for Crohn's disease right now which is also another Autoimmune disease. My rheumy has always said that it is quite common for a person with one immune disorder to develop another. The one that many people seem to have is Fibromyalgia.
Here in the UK Juvenile is anything under the age of 18. I was diagnosed at 14, yet my diagnosis is Adult-Onset Still's Disease (which is also known as Systemic Juvenile RA), figure that one out!
Autoimmune disease, the more the merrier!
Allergies, IBS, Crohn's, asthma, skin stuff.... sitting around with others who are getting Remicade IV's .... all kinds of strange maladies come and go. Or worse yet come and stay like fibro.
Hi Britenny,
I have celiac and RA. I've read that celiac desease can predispose one to developing RA, not only because it can weaken one's health and nutritonal status but also because it has set the auto-immune response in motion. Once one has started producing auto-antibodies to one thing, one is more likely to begin producing them to another. I don't know whether this is true or not, but it makes sense to me. I think that if I had gotten my celiac diagnosed earlier and had done something about it way back when, I would possibly never have developed RA. As it is, I was actually diagnosed with RA first and celaic afterwards in the process of doing a number of blood tests, among them the celiac panel. The celiac panel was done because I had just recently started eating foods with gluten in them again, after having been mostly gluten free for two years, and I started getting really nauseas. I had stopped eating gluten because one doctor I was seeing told me I was sensitive to wheat. She didn't tell me I had celiac though.
Hi Megan
Thanks for your response. That really spoke clear to me, it sounds almost exactly like me. When you said that your doctor told you that you were sensitive to wheat, do you mind if I ask you why he thought that? What symptoms were you experiencing? I'm trying to see how they relate to mine. I have had a lot of stomach problems such as extreme bloating and stomach pain as well as nausea. When I dont' eat wheat I tend to feel better, although now the same thing seems to be happening even if I don't eat wheat (when I eat things like rye etc).
Thanks so much for your input, it's great to discuss this with someone who's been through it before!
Britenny
Hi Britenny,
If you have celiac disease you will be sensitve to wheat, rye, and barley because they all have gluten. Oats may or may not be a problem. Gluten is hidden in a lot of prepared foods as well, in the form of modified food starch, barley malt flavoring, and so on. Alcohol made with grain, and beer which is made with barley, have gluten in them too. You won't believe how many things they put wheat or barley (starch or flavoring) in until you start reading the labels on prepared foods. Most processed meats and almost all cereals, even those made with rice or corn, have gluten in them in the form of modified food starch or barley malt.
Symptoms of celiac can be really mild or they can be very troubling. Usually the symptoms are worse if you quit eating gluten for a while, then eat it again. My symptoms were nausea, bloating, leg cramps, and fatigue. Some people get really sick.
Let me know how your tests come out. Even if you test negative, you can still have celiac, in which case you might want to try a gluten free diet and see if it helps you feel better.
http://www.glutenfreeforum.com/index.php is a great forum for people with celiac. There's lots of information on symptoms and gluten free food.
Hope that helps.
I also have Celiac disease, I have RA, and I have a hard time adjusting to the new diet and new disease. Well i got the test result back and they said that I don't have celiac....good to know but now i'm confused all over again. I definitely have some kind of problem with the foods I'm eating, and if it's not celiac I have no idea what it could be? I've heard of something called Leaky Gut Syndrome, and this also relates to RA. Anyone heard anything about this? Also...if a celiac test comes back negative, is there any way that this result could be wrong? Perhaps I didn't eat enough wheat before the test?Hi Britenny,
Here's my 2 cents for what it's worth. I have RA and was thought to have celiac (or even IBD) several months ago after months and months of diarrhea. It came on in December last year, 2 mos after starting Arava. Now keep in mind I'd taken Arava in the past for a year, stopped it for six months, then resumed it.
I was following a modified version of the South Beach ...my husband's doc wanted him to lose wt and lower his LDL cholesterol. We both did this and lost wt. except mine kept coming off at a faster rate due to the daily diarrhea.
After undergoing a colonoscopy and SBFT and blood tests (for celiac, etc.), I was told I was "normal." But I wasn't! My rheum doc suggested it was the Arava so he took me off it and substituted MTX. The D stopped within a couple of weeks and it's been gone ever since June. Because my RA has been somewhat active, I still have not put that weight back on. It makes me think the wt loss was not so tied to the Arava, but to the RA itself. Does anyone else find it easier to lose wt when this disease is active?
Glad you don't have celiac, Britenny. However, if you're feeling sick, I would keep looking for answers until you find one. Good luck!
Molly Bee
Alright so i don't know what happened when they called me and said that i was negative for celiac cause i just went to see my doctor yesterday and she said that out of three tests that they did, one of them was elevated and two were not. She said that because of this, they can't exclude celiac disease and need to send me for further testing. Has anyone had this happen? This sucks!!!!!! She said they are going to do some kind of scope at the GI doctor? Oh NO. Has anyone had this and what the hell is it????? I'm scared :(
I am on Arava too... it does cause the big D! I wonder if its causing other probs for me, but it does help the RA. Oh! I am on the 10 mg dose... you can get that instead of the regular 20 mg and it may help with that. Anyone have skin rashes with it too? My lips totally blister a lot too... ugh! I am on like 10 meds though! (or 11 or 12, cant keep track, except for the cost! doh!doh! Damn meds! I have insurance and have to use an outside agency to help pay for my Remicade copays. At least Arava isnt a 100 copay anymore! Finally a generic!)
I almost give up on the GI stuff... almost bleeding to death in the hospital for a week last year was not fun... and they still dont know why! They thought I had Crohns too but then said I didnt show the cobblestoning look in the cells of the colon lining. They dont know if it was infectious or IBD (not IBS) so I dont know. I also tested negative for celiac. I think its an intolerance, not an allergy... look those up to know the difference since most people do not have a true allergy... that is when anaphalactic shock happens, etc. like with peanuts or shrimp, one guy I know would have died from shrimp had there not been an oxygen tank nearby... so its good to know the difference. People tend to mix them up. Anyway! I wonder how much the meds are messing us up there! How can we take these meds forever and kill our insides? I worry about that since I am in my 30's! doh!
Someone mentioned JRA and RA... if you look them up (on this site even) they are different in the way they act... JRA affects different organs i have read. But... I have been told that I probably had both, so I wondered how that worked also, but my doc didnt know.
Good luck everyone!
I'm allergic to shrimp like that pepper....it could kill me.
I also lose a lot of weight when I'm not controlled well. That's always been a cycle for me. That's just a common symptom for me. I have very little appitete when I'm not controlled well.
Britteny, I have undiagnosed celiac and I have RA. Two years ago I became violently ill for 7 months. My gastroenterologist ran every test possible BUT a test for celiac. Every test was negative as my family watched me lose 30 pounds in 7 months. My doctor told me I had nothing life-threatening and perhaps I needed hypnosis (as he handed me megadoses of nexium). After going on a trip to visit my family (thinking this was all in my head), my sister observed me and said she thought I had celiac. I had never heard of it. Desperate to try anything, I went on a gluten free diet and started feeling better immediately. I returned home, called my doctor, couldn't get in to see him, so I made an appointment with an area celiac specialist, waited 3 months (they're hard to get into). I took all my records into him, and he gave me the diagnosis without anymore tests. He said diet alone was diagnosis enough. I still continued to get occasionally sick, but I have learned all about cross-contamination - I can't even kiss my husband if he has just been eating bread. So, I don't get sick anymore, I've gained my weight back. In the whole process my RA reacted with a vengeance, but I have that back under control. I'm sorry this is long, but I want you to know that many of these doctors are incompetent and the labs are also incompetent in reading the results. I hope this info is of some benefit. Chris