Oh, that could have been worse

[Eisa]

I have needed to go get blood tests done since the end of April. Finally went and got them done. Lab order was for TTG-IgA and TTG-IgG tests, whatever the fuck they are. The doctor said basically blood tests to see if I have celiac disease.

I tried to drink a fuck-load of Powerade beforehand so I wouldn't be quite so dehydrated, but I ended up having to help my aunt move her bedroom furniture around beforehand, so that didn't work out quite as I had hoped.

The phlebotomist was nice. It was at the lab at the hospital. I told her that I was phobic of needles and that it was hard to draw blood from me. She soon saw what I meant.

Drew blood from the crook of my left arm...but that went really slowly and not that great. Plus, it hurt like a bitch. I just stared at the ceiling the whole time.

Then...that was hardly any she actually got, and she wasn't positive it would be enough for the tests. So she asked if I wanted her to try and get some more now to be sure, or wait and see if she had to call me back. Yeah, I opted for now.

So that time, she did my right arm, down toward my wrist. By the way, what does it mean if a vein blows? She said she was trying to prevent that.

So yeah all in all, it went better than some blood visits I've had. It hurt like blazes, but at least every time she got the needle in, it worked. And she used a really small needle, so hopefully I wouldn't feel it as much.

[trailerparkmedic]

A blown vein is when the needle goes through the vein (instead of staying in it). The bruise that you inevitably get from blown veins is from the blood leaking out.

IgA and IgG are antibodies that are part of your immune system. Usually they help attack bad things, like bacteria. I don't know much about Celiac disease, but from a quick Wikipedia search it looks like it is autoimmune, so part of your body is attacking itself. That's why they would be looking at your antibodies--too many of a certain kind can indicate different autoimmune disorders.

[Akasa]

People with Celiac disease pretty much have to eat gluten free as a way to control it. I know this much about Celiac disease.

[TowelKing]

I'll tell you right now: celiac is a bitch. The list of shit you cant eat is longer than what you can. You have to check everything you eat for various types of gluten...and gluten is in a lot.
If you are celiac, check out celiac.com.

[Sapphire Silk]

The tests will determine if you are developing antibodies in response to specific proteins. If you have celiac disease, you will have IgA (an immune antibody) sensitive to gliadin, which is found in wheat and wheat like grains.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder; as trailerparkmedic said, the body attacks itself, specifically in the small intestine.

trailerparkmedic's description of blow veins sums it up; they will heal but sometimes with scar tissue that can make accessing that site more difficult in the future. And of course the bruises make you look like you've been beaten up

[Eisa]

Oh, ok. In that case, I'm quite glad she didn't blow the vein. That sounds painful and yucky.

I wish I could find out what the results were already. I'd like to know sooner rather than later lol.

[Eisa]

Apparently the results came in. I get to call them tomorrow and find out. Eep! -bites fingernails-

[Akasa]

Good luck!

[Eisa]

Managed to call.

Showed no signs of celiac disease. YAY!

[dragon_wings]

Yay. Glad for you!

[Akasa]

Yay! Celiac woulda sucked.

[Sapphire Silk]

Excellent news.

Now what?

[Eisa]

Now...I don't know. Before, the PA was talking about checking my gallbladder. This is getting frustrating. All we know so far is that I have idiopathic gastroparesis...which really doesn't say much. I'm having more troubles this week, too, I get sick and feel tons of pain every time I eat. No matter what it is, apparently. That might be tied to my two-day migraine, however. My migraines can make me feel really yucky concerning food...like today, I know it was dumb, but I didn't properly eat a meal until like 9:30 p.m. I ate a nutrigrain bar. And had Pepsi. :3 Pepsi makes me feel better 'cause of the caffeine, I guess.

But yeah. I was on erm...metaclopramide...Reglan I think is the brand name? But it wasn't helping, even at 4 pills a day. And the risk for tardive dyskinesia goes up the higher the dose, so I was like fuck this. Now I'm supposed to be taking 4 pills of domperidone, but it's expensive as shit 'cause it's not FDA-approved.

And I still get the feeling the PA's only humoring me 'cause after all, it's not like the abdominal ultrasound or the endoscopy showed anything. Not my fault my digestive system's a bitch.

[Sapphire Silk]

It sucks that sometimes the docs can't ever find an answer to the symptoms, and then they will sometimes assume it's a somatic problem just because the testing is all negative.

Idiopathic is another way of saying, "I dunno." But the illness is still real.

[Primer]

I just went through a bunch of this myself, but not quite to the degree you are. The gastro finally said it's all due to "stress" and put me on Levsin-SL (hyoscyamine) PRN for epigastric spasms.

Hang in there!