MISTAKE 6: Comparing symptoms to other Celiacs or online lists and ruling it out

We live in a culture where Google is our #1 go-to for medical issues (very sad, but very true). There are even sites that seem medical in nature where you type in your symptoms and get a result with a handy list of possible illnesses you might have (this is what we've come to!).

 

Sad as that is, there is something even sadder: the fact that going to a doctor is often not more effective than going online.

 

The first one I went to when I was feeling constant pain said “Well, you’re not 20 anymore”. The second suggested painkillers (after running standard blood tests that were all “normal”), the third suggested anti-depressants. I was better off with Google.

 

I don’t ever suggest self-diagnosing. I always suggest working with the medical system… just make sure you’re in the driver seat. But that’s actually another issue entirely than the one I want to clear up here.

 

What I want to discuss here is that the longer you wait to get properly tested (not the ridiculous testing I went through for 5 months that others go through for years and even decades) the more damage your body is suffering.

 

...So when a person feels certain symptoms, let’s say they are: headache, nausea, insomnia – and they go to popular Celiac websites and see a list of common symptoms that say bloating, cramps, diarrhea – the person will self-diagnose negative and assume since they don’t have any of those symptoms listed then it must not be gluten.

 

Here’s a statement that should get your attention: of the millions of people already diagnosed with Celiac Disease, you’d be hard pressed to find 2 that reacted exactly the same way. Think about that.

 

For me everything started with a severe migraine that wouldn’t go away. The initial symptoms were not the “common” ones at all. Migraines and numbness and tingling sensations were the major symptoms for me and that threw everything off track as we chased the neurological route (I don’t even want to think about the radiation I was exposed to with all the c-scans and MRI’s).

 

Gluten affects each person a different way. Your reaction will be as unique as your fingerprint. For some it hits their glandular system and they have thyroid issues and are dealing with obesity - cramps & bloating nowhere in sight. It’s different for everyone.

 

So don’t make that common mistake of going online and ruling out Celiac Disease or Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity just because the symptoms you are experiencing are different from what you find online.

 

No two Celiac are alike. Remember that.

 

You have a unique genetic code from every other person on the planet including your own family; you will react differently to contaminants. So do not go by the common symptoms when there is a simple accurate way to know for sure. Accurate being genetic testing, not blood test, not biopsy - and I explain why in mistake #7...