An ever growing list, the symptoms of celiac disease are often confused with other diseases or conditions making it often difficult to get a diagnosis. Add to that the fact that many times celiac can display no symptoms at all or can even be the exact opposite of what is normally seen and it not hard to understand why experts are beginning to believe there are far more cases of celiac disease than was previously thought.

Conventional thought was that all celiac sufferers were underweight, emaciated, anemic and very sickly and while this thought still holds true for most people many people are being diagnosed now that are overweight or have no symptoms at all or are only being tested because someone in their family has celiac disease.

That being said there is a growing number of symptoms that are a part of the celiac diagnosis. The symptoms most associated with celiac disease are severe chronic diarrhea, large stools that float, weight loss, anemia, and an intensely itchy condition called dermatitis herpetiformis.  Other Gastrointestinal symptoms can include constipation, indigestion, bloating, poor appetite, cramping, pain and distention of the abdomen, mouth ulcers, and lactose intolerance. In addition those with undiagnosed and uncontrolled celiac disease have a much higher risk of intestinal cancers particularly lymphoma.

There are is a litany of malabsorption related symptoms associated with celiac disease as well. Because the body cannot absorb the vitamins it needs from the small intestine this results in vitamin deficiencies which can result in anemia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, as well as depression and anxiety. Inability to absorb nutrients can also cause weight loss, a failure to thrive/ stunted growth in children, fatigue and bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine.

Other symptoms include delayed puberty, infertility, miscarriages, dental problems, other autoimmune disorders such as thyroid disorders or diabetes, ataxia, epilepsy and elevated liver functions. As you can see these varied symptoms may easily be mistaken for many other diseases, and as such it is up to the patient to request a test for celiac disease if they suspect that this may be their problem.