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CalGal37, Remember me??? =)
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megansmomma posted:
Hi! It has been a long time since I have posted on here! My previous screen name was peanutco... Anyway, a question has brought me back. Just a reminder, I have celiac disease, lymphocytic colitis, and pernicious anemia. I have also had chronic iron def. anemia for as long as I can remember.

Anyway, to my question. I have been on and off of iron supplements for years. The highest my hemoglobin ever got was around 10 or 11, and that was with iron supplementation. I just got the results of my last CBC, and I was shocked... lol. My RBC was 5.13, which was a tad high (.03 high), my hemoglobin was 14.4 and my hematocrit was 43.5. Neither one of those has EVER been that high. Everything else was normal, except my BUN was low and creatinine was low, but the ratio was normal. (They were just slightly low.) Nothing has changed, my diet is the same, my menstrual cycle is the same, iron supplementation was the same, etc. Any idea why my hemoglobin and hematocrit would suddenly improve? They did not test my serum iron with this CBC, but the last one I had a few months ago, my serum iron was either 10 or 12, with the normal being between 40-60, I believe. How could my hemoglobin and hematocrit improve so much so quickly??? It kinda has me a little freaked out, lol!

Any ideas you can give me, I would greatly appreciate! I know I could call my doc's office, but I am afraid they will think I am a little nuts... lol!

How are things with you? I have thought about you often and wondered how you were!
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CalGal37 responded:
Hi there!!! It's so good to hear from you. I often wonder where the people are who used to be here, and how they're doing.

I ran this by a couple of med people I trust and they're scratching their heads - so am I to tell you the truth. I've never run across it before, but it's wonderful. I've got another doc I want to ask, but I''ve got a feeling he's not going to know either. You know you're basically a 'medical oddity' with what's going on, don't you? LOL! But it's absolutely fantastic. I hope somewhere along the line you're going to find an answer that will not only help you, but others, too.

I'm doing well, thank you for asking. GI tract has been and continues to be calm, so I'm grateful for that. My husband's celiac issues are mostly under control. But every once in awhile he gets 'hit' and then he's miserable - totally miserable. I'd really like much tougher rules on labeling. He's so damn sensitive and even the 5ppm that some products have is too darn much. We try to make everything, but sometimes we forget to take 'clean' food with us and we have to do some improving.

How are you enjoying all the new GF products on the market? Is your CD and LC under control? How's life in general?
 
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megansmomma replied to CalGal37's response:
LOL!!! Yep, I have been called a medical oddity before! I hope so badly that it stays that way! I am almost scared to think that, hoping that it wasn't a mix-up in the lab...

My celiac is well under control, and the abundance of gf products is WONDERFUL!!! We also had our 5 year old daughter tested, we did the gene test with Enterolab. She came back with two of the main celiac genes, so she is gf as well. She actually has never eaten gluten.

My LC is still out of control. Bathroom trips average probably 10 or 12 a day. Although, after 9 years, I am pretty much accustomed to it. I had an issue with hypokalemia a few months back, that was no fun at all. My doc put me on prescription potassium, which I could not tolerate, so I really amped up the potassium in my diet, around 8,000 mgs a day and got it back to normal. My doc was really surprised that I was able to do that by diet alone.

That is wonderful that your GI issues are calmed! And, also wonderful that your husband's CD is pretty much under control. I completely understand the miserable part, if I happen to get any gluten, I am in horrible pain for a few hours. I totally agree that we need much tougher rules on labeling!

Life is great, I have started home schooling my daughter, it is a joy! Hubby is doing great as well. It is so nice to catch up with you! I am sure I will have a million and one questions for you, as I am due for the dreaded colonoscopy this year... lol!
 
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CalGal37 replied to megansmomma's response:
Any tie-in between dairy (casein) and your LC? Do you cross-react? I have a couple of people at the office who came back with 'gluten-sensitivity' cross-reacting with casein and they also have forms of microscopic colitis. We haven't gotten their gene tests back yet, though.
 
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megansmomma replied to CalGal37's response:
I have previously eliminated dairy in all forms for about 2 months and it made no difference. I also read an article a while back about people with celiac being sensitive to corn gluten as well. I eliminated all corn and corn by products for about 2 weeks and it seemed to make no difference. It was so hard eating corn and gluten free! lol!

I may give the dairy thing a try again, who knows, maybe I missed something in there with dairy??


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