2nd Opinion and questions for doctor

besthoyboy

New Member

Joined : Dec 2007

Posts : 11

Posted 12/14/2007 7:15 AM (GMT -7)

Thanks to everyone for your input on my first post. My wife read them with me and we both thought this site is awesome. So I thought I would ask two more questions:

1. Do you thinks it is necessary for a second opinion aftering being diagnosed with chrones? I have had colonoscopy said everything looked fine; had a small bowel follow thru and they said everything looked okay, had an upper endoscope and they said they found abnormalities in some villia and they suspected siliac disease and wanted to do a pill endscope (where I swallow the camera) the results they said was crones in my small intesine. So just curious should I seek second opinion.

2. What all types of questions do you think I should be asking when I got back on the 19th to talk to the doctor about the results? They already stuck me on 500 mg of Pentasa 6 times a day. That has been about two weeks ago and nothing has seemed to change.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Sarita

Veteran Member

Joined : Mar 2005

Posts : 2486

Posted 12/14/2007 7:39 AM (GMT -7)

Celiac disease causes blunting of the villi in the upper intestine and is a hallmark of the disease. They might have seen something else that led them to the Crohn's diagnosis, but I would be wary until you get the pathology report in your hands. A second opinion is never a bad idea.

The only way to tell if it's truly celiac disease at this point would be to go on a completely, 100% gluten-free diet for at least 2 weeks to see if your symptoms improve. If it is celiac, your symptoms will get better on such a diet. It's kind of a pain, but if you continue eating gluten as a celiac, that can cause a lot of problems. So you might want to try that before your appointment. It's tricky - you can't eat any "normal" bread, cereals, pasta, soy sauce, or anything at all with wheat gluten in it. But it would be worth knowing if that helps.

schoolgirl

Regular Member

Joined : Oct 2007

Posts : 35

Posted 12/14/2007 5:16 PM (GMT -7)

Please be aware that if you are going to have additional tests for celiac disease, you need to be eating gluten everyday. there are blood tests they might want to run. but the endoscopy is definitive if you respond to the diet, like Sarita says. You need to give the diet at least 3 weeks and avoid wheat, barley and rye gluten.

I have celiac and was just dx recently with crohn's also. They found it the same way you have described colonoscopy and endoscopy, then the pill cam. The pill cam shows them how far the crohn's damage is in the small intestine where they can't reach with their scopes. There should be biopsies that confirm the dx of both.

Definitely get the pathology report and read it for yourself. And if you do have celiac, you'll probably find more info on the internet than from the doctor.

Last time I saw my GI I took a list of all my questions, and she was happy to answer them, whether I thought they were dumb or not. I'm really blessed with this doc.

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