The Begining

To begin my Celiac Disease journey, we need to go back to last June. My little sister had just returned home from a mission in Alabama, where she spent 18 months with digestive health issues no one could figure out. I am not sure I have all the details right, and they don't matter here much, so I won't delve into them. What's important is that she felt crappy (ha! no pun intended) for most of her mission, and it wasn't until she got home that someone thought to test her for Celiac Disease. The test was overwhelmingly positive. She started eating gluten free and has felt a lot better.
She mentioned to me that Celiac's is something that can be genetic, so I "better watch out!" Haha! I was like "well, I have no symptoms, so I'm pretty sure I'm safe."

I was not.

Fast forward to January. I have had thyroid issues since I got home from my mission... What is it with coming home and getting life-altering diagnoses?!  Anyway, I was running out of my medication, and I needed to see a doctor. Trouble was, my most recent endocrinologist is usually booked 3 months out. Plus I wasn't really hooked on going to him. I looked for, and found, a new one. He recently moved his practice and is rebuilding his patient base, so I was able to get in to see him in a week. This guy is attentive and is really good at making sure you understand what's going on. After speaking with him (and me mentioning that my sister was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease) he decided to add into my lab order some labs to test for it. My numbers came back with ALL the markers. He said I'd need to see a GI doctor to get diagnosed. In the mean time, he prescribed me Synthroid (name brand!) because the generic option isn't guaranteed gluten free (I guess). First Celiac expense: thyroid medication that costs 3 times more than what I've been paying. Yay.

It's worth mentioning that I still felt I had absolutely no symptoms. When my endo said that I probably have Celiac Disease, I just said "but I have no symptoms!!" That's when I learned that fatigue is an extremely common symptom of having Celiac Disease. He also told me that since he wasn't a GI doctor, he wouldn't diagnose me.