Bowel Cancer & Celiac Disease

Hi everyone,

Im just looking for a bit of reassurance. I am currently 22 years old, i was diagnosed with Celiac when i was 12. I had a gluten free diet since then, july 2022 i went to my doctor worrying about ongoing gastro problems such as change in bowel movements and pain, and asked for a re do of my celiac screening as i haven’t been seen by a specialist since i was 16 of which he told me my last celiac test was negative and to ‘eat gluten’ and stop ‘worrying so much’. This was crazy to me as i have always had celiac. He made me feel stupid and as though i was irrational therefore i ate gluten as he suggested 

Fastforward to now, i have unintentionally lost weight from 9 stone 4 to 8 stone 8 in a few months. I still have changes to my bowel, in Feb this year i had some bleeding when i went to the toilet however this went after a few weeeks. I get the sensation i need to go to the toilet to open my bowels very often and nothing happens, it’s feels as though i’m never empty. I know these are all symptoms of celiac disease also however i am just that extra worried it could be something more sinister due to me not sub-staining a gluten free diet  for the past year  

I have been referred to gastro and waiting for an appointment. I feel very anxious about this as i known celiac disease makes you high risk for stomach cancer. 

Just asking for some reassurance really. 

Thankyou. 

  • Hi livhealth,

    Welcome to Cancer Chat. I'm sorry you haven't received a reply up to now - my reply here will boost your post, so a few more people should see it.

    It's good to hear you have a referral in place - I hope it's not too long to wait for the appointment and for any answers.

    In the meantime, if others here have similar experience or thoughts to share then hopefully you'll get some more replies soon.

    Wishing you all the best,

    Ben
    Cancer Chat Moderator