(If we had longer subject lines, there would have been a "please" in there. )

Celiac disease or celiac sprue is an autoimmune disorder where a person reacts with gluten. Gluten is found in wheat, oats and barley; you'd be astonished at the range of products that covers. Bread, pasta, pizza, yes, but also beer, (probably) anything with caramel color, ricotta cheese (well I was surprised anyway) etc, etc, ad infinitum. Celiac sprue results in malabsorption, as it damages the small intestine.

If you're interested, my story is below, after the asterisk (*). It was originally here, but even I was finding it boring (also a little heavy with the bodily functions) so I moved it down.

It's a little hard to sort out the good information among all the crazy people on the internets (you are certainly welcome to regard me as among the latter), but it appears that a prime effect of celiac sprue is insufficient absorption of vitamin B12. It also sucks that symptoms vary widely. A lot of people suffer anxiety (I'm one) but only limited obvious digestive effects. Celiac is quite uncommon, but commoner among persons of Italian or Irish ancestry. The official medical advice (as in from doctors, not from me) is to have a doctor run a blood test called the celiac panel. If this indicates that you may be celiac, you would then have a biopsy of the small intestine to see if you have the characteristic damage from celiac sprue.

The bad part (apart from the whole getting cut on aspect) is that you have to keep eating gluten to get accurate results. So the crazy-guy-on-the-internet advice is to try going gluten-free. If you notice anxieties and digestive difficulties clearing up after three days, try to make it two weeks. If you still feel different (ie better), you can of course just stay on a gluten free diet for life. Common sense, though, says that this is a good time to go to a doctor. (If I could afford it, I certainly would.)

If you're interested in a gluten-free diet, I have a number of suggestions to make it easier. Just PM or reply below and ask. I've only been at this a little while; there are folks all over the internets with great ideas, too. In short, it's pretty easy, but easier if you live in a metropolitan area; don't expect to be able to eat in too many restaurants though. Don't try just to cut out wheat, barley, barley malt and oats; it's still just as important if not moreso to maintain a balanced diet. Seek substitutes. Rice, potatoes and corn are all superb.

Sorry for the unloungy PSA nature of this, and I won't be the least bit surprised if it plummets straight to the archives. It's only my duty to tell you; it isn't yours to listen. And if the mods want to lock it as medical advice, I won't be upset or offended either.

*In my case, I came at this from the other direction. In my early 40s I started having trouble with the other ED, explosive diarrhea. As you can well imagine, I was more than a little concerned. Eventually I figured out that I was lactose intolerant; I'm embarrassed to say that this took about two years. I was a little bewildered, though, since lactose intolerance is quite uncommon among people with Northern European backgrounds. Except for a Jewish great-grandmother, my forebears were all Northern European, so I chalked it up to the Jewish great-grandmother. But now it appears it was the Irish great-grandmother that got me instead. (Celiac sprue AND being raised Catholic; THANKS A BUNCH, GREAT GRANDMA! )

I couldn't help but notice that I was still having bouts of diarrhea, even when I took Lactaid, and this was especially true after visiting the local pizza buffet. So I looked up wheat sensitivity, and there was my picture. (Not really, but it did seem a good fit.) I quit wheat and suddenly all my assorted and groundless and unnecessary anxieties just evaporated. Man I was happy, but they came back. Sooo I considered the possibility of celiac, with thoughts in my head along the lines of "That's different, man! That's a disease!") and eventually came around to the acceptance that I should at least try going gluten free. As of so far (only a few weeks), it's working out for me. For the first time, I feel capable of fulfilling some of my extravagant potential. (Oh, and in the intractable anxiety disorder department, I should mention that I tried a wide array of medicines prescribed by a couple of very good psychiatrists. The best were Paxil and Luvox (at different times). While each made me feel great (and also sleep half the time), neither made me feel able to get up and get going like I feel now. We'll see how it turns out.)