I was diagnosed on February 19th, 2010 by endoscopy (later confirmed by pathology and blood test) after about 16 years of on-and-off GI pain/malfunction. My final major symptomatic period (and my first major symptomatic period) began after what I suspect was a norovirus infection (thought to trigger symptoms of previously asymptomatic celiac disease due to its disruption of the small intestinal mucosa). I was very sick the night before a flight to Las Vegas, and then all over the inside of a casino, but I digress. In the following months, I experienced a lot of severe reflux, stomach pain during and after eating, and nausea for hours after eating. My digestive tract seemed to be revolting against food. It was a struggle to eat even 1000 calories a day, and everything I ate was forced down. My already-skinny, ~120-lb. body began to shed weight until my dimensions were 5'8", 103 lbs. I was tired and cold all of the time. I knew about celiac disease from my own research on GI troubles, but I didn't suspect I had it because the symptoms didn't quite match up. But as I learned later, the "typical" presentation is not the most common presentation.
I first had symptoms at age 6, and bad symptoms at age 8/9 that led to extremely reduced food consumption on my part. My concerned parents, of course, took me to many doctors to find out why I didn't want to eat, and after brain CTs, EEGs, and and esophagram (I complained I couldn't swallow - probably was reflux), it was decided I was anorexic or that I was displaying "attention-seeking" behavior by "starving myself." I was asymptomatic through most of my young adulthood (13-21 were pretty good), and I was convinced it had all been in my head as a kid, until it happened again. Though I recall mentioning stomachaches as a child, and now remembered having felt the same way back then, no one ever checked my gut until I took myself to my first GI doc at age 22 (because now I was convinced it was my freakin' gut). This experience is a strong part of what has led me to medicine.
Sorry for the length; you unleashed the storyteller. 🙂
