“Dude…you’re an idiot. You’ve got that totally backwards! An endoscopy is a way to diagnose celiac disease; not treat it.”
That may be true (both parts actually), but hear me out.
If you recall from last month, I was going through a very rough stretch. It was probably the worst I’ve felt in the five years since my diagnosis.
So I schlepped from doctor to doctor to see what was going on.
My GI decided to do another endoscopy to check out my pipes.
With an endoscopy comes a nice dose of anesthesia. And not the local kind but the full-blown, out-like-a-light kind.
This was a month ago.
I have felt incredible ever since.
No fatigue. No stomach pain. No brain fog.
Nothing.
And then Mrs. Dude reminded me that this happens each time I get put under (which has happened several times in the past few years due to various other medical issues.)
Now obviously I’m not cured of celiac disease.
We all know there is no cure, unless of course you take Gluten Relief.
And I know my day of reckoning will soon return.
But there has got to be something to this.
Why do all of my symptoms temporarily disappear after anesthesia?
And even more importantly, how do I get some of this juice at home??
so interesting…maybe this is why Michael Jackson used propathol …
JK
If Big Pharma hears this maybe they’ll see dollar signs and start “developing” a drug for Celiac and finally our medical community will get an education.
ps…I’ve been glutened and I’m so foggy that I had to use my fingers to add up your security question :0
That’s funny…the math problems seem to trip up a lot of celiacs.
I would love to see this explored further and get medical community feedback. Could it be that anesthesia suppressing the immune system calming down a hyperactive one? No clue, but it is definately something worth looking into!
Could it be that you are not sleeping well at night and when they put you under you are getting total sleep. Our bodies heal when we sleep. I know since I have upped my sleep hours I feel a lot better!!!
Good thought…but I actually sleep ok. And for the endoscopy, I’m only out for about 20 minutes. Not that I remember any of it.
I had the exact same experience just a couple months ago. I was out for gallbladder removal and one of the first things I did (maybe 4 days after surgery) was accidentally eat an entirely gluten-filled cookie. I hadn’t had anything fatty for months and was so excited I just forgot to read the packaging. It was on the gluten free shelf at the store, but I still should have known better. Anyways, I kept waiting and waiting for what should have been the worst gluten attack ever. But nothing ever happened. Not even a little bit of pain. Once my normal appetite returned I seemed to have more leniency at restaurants and such and it was great fun. That lasted for maybe a week, and then all of a sudden the normal sensitivity returned. Multiple small stomach aches from cross-contamination in the last two weeks have convinced me that the fun is over.
Interesting TJ. We may have hit on something here.
I found it horrific at the time, but after my endoscopy in March I was offered some cookies and juice. I looked at the nurse thinking “Uh, hello? Have you BEEN paying attention at all?”
Now I wonder if I should have eaten that darn cookie?!
I’m finding all of this very interesting . . .
Really? Heavy anesthesia always slows down or even stops my intestines from functioning for quite awhile sometimes. I had a pretty rough time getting my bowel to ‘wake up’ after my partial colectomy. It wasn’t much better after the gallbladder removal last year. The combination of anesthesia and pain killers really slows down the digestion in a bad way….Most who have major surgery have to wait for their digestive systems to start functioning again. It’s why they have no appetites. That’s why they are made to walk around…it helps a great deal.
Lets see now….I’ve had 4 endoscopies and 3 colonoscopies.The anesthesia isn’t nearly as strong as when they are cutting on you. In fact, I remember holloring “it hurts, it hurts” during my first colonoscopy. The first colonoscopy actually set off a pretty bad case of diverticulitis. I asked the GI about it and he confirmed it can be a complication of a colonoscopy….he says it will happen within a couple of days if it is going to….
Whatever made you feel better Dude…I’m glad it did! I hope you continue to feel well 😀 Who knows? Maybe for you the anesthesia really did calm something down…..
Thanks. I am beyond unconscious during my procedures. But I’ve heard horror stories of people awaking during…yikes.
You have perfect timing! My EGD/biopsy is tomorrow morning and I was getting a bit uneasy thinking about what they are gonna find and now you have given me a whole new perspective! Thanks you! I
My blood test was positive so I am awaiting my biopsy results but after reading your blog and a few others I will be gluten free forever. I went a week without gluten and felt so good! Then I learned I must be eating gluten until after my biopsy sooo, for the past 2 weeks I have felt like doggy doodoo (you know that evil word I won’t type!)
Today is day 1 of smacking out that gluten, tears in my eyes, hopeful tears….
Good luck to you Kim. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
My guess is that when given anesthesia, it also includes a nerve block which alters our receptors drastically, as well as slowing everything down. That being said, I wonder if a drug like valium would help ease any symptoms??
I already take Valium every day…just kidding.
Your thought is a good one though.
Hello, just a thought , that it might have more to do with the prep than the anesthesia , good old cleaning out.
Not much “cleaning out” for an endoscopy. Now a colonoscopy…a whole nother story.
No food after midnight or drinks after 6 am…not too tough(maybe in my earlier days…LOL) Thanks for the update as I was concerned I didn’t get the right info for my prep!
What I noticed with the anesthesia, mild or surgery dosage, is that my nasal allergies/sinusitis symptoms were relieved for several days. At those times I was not diagnosed with celiac yet, so can’t say for sure about that, but I can swear about the nose. I had a large cyst surgically removed from my ovary, and I was worried about all my sneezing and messing up the incision and/or pain from it, but the nose stuff held off long enough for me to heal and I did not have much problems when I did start sneezing again.
And my first thought was about Michael Jackson too. Maybe it was the only thing that “calmed” him down.
Yep. I know what you mean. For a day or two, I was as close to “normal” as I’ve been for years. I told my wife that I could understand how folks could get addicted to things!
Slightly immuno-suppressive somehow?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12781327/
This would mean they’d work the same way Humira does, but be more fun. Kidding. Humira side effects sound scary.
I felt better for a day or two after a recent endo/colonoscopy. I thought it had something to do with the prep cleaning, but now I wonder if it was the anesthesia. Although, I did wake up several times so I wonder if it was the same thing? Not fun during the endo part let me tell ya. Felt like I was in some kind of sci-fi alien movie.
This is really interesting. When I had my colonoscopy and endoscopy, that day and the day after were the best I ever felt (still to this day). I thought it was just from being cleaned out. But I read a lot about it taking people eating gluten free for days or even months before they’d feel any better – and I felt incredible just by being empty. Maybe it was the anesthesia after all! Guess I won’t find out til my next procedure.. hopefully a very long time from now.
Would be nice if a knowledgeable doctor chimed in with some input…there’s gotta be something to it.
Anesthesia for an endoscopy? No such thing in Ontario. I was fully awake. They just sprayed something in my mouth to freeze my throat, and gave me an injection of something to relax me, but I was fully conscious. In fact the doctor gave me the Celiac diagnosis right then and there, while the tube was still down my throat.
Aaahhhhh! That. Sounds. Awful.
I guess Canadian healthcare isn’t better after all. 😉
On the plus side, it was all for free!
Oh mercy…
Anesthesia usually make me pretty sick for a few days, so I am happy to hear you feel good!
There is nothing in it to give you a month-long high, so to speak, so it’s doubtful you are still enjoying that buzz. 🙂
Okay, Dude, I am just spit-balling here…you also said in your post before the endo that you were worried that ” something else” was going on. (but your villi are doing fine)
And let’s recall, you had just been GLUTENED at PF Chang’s recently, too.
soooo, maybe just getting the “all clear” results has helped your mind set and you are less stressed about it.? Stress can exacerbate some pretty nasty symptoms.
And now, you got the residual gluten out of your system? (a glutening can give me stomach pain, fatigue and whack brain for a few weeks)
Either that —-or the “miracle” finally happened !!—-and you crossed that final frontier into “yes, I have celiac, but I feel pretty good now” remission stage.
Whatever it is, ride the wave of feeling good, bro!!!
Happy to hear you’re feeling better.
Could it be from the oxygen and IV? I mean think about it- they’re giving you O2 treatments, plus they’re hydrating you.
Could be Kate. But whatever is was has now seemed to pass. I’ve napped the last two days. Dang!
This is a late comment to this post, but I have another interesting bit of info to add to this mystery. The local anesthetic procaine HCL (Novocaine) has been used for years as a rejuvenating drug. It is very controversial, but has been used in this manner for over 50 years now. The Wikipedia article is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerovital
It might be that the body essentially sets aside the autoimmune battle and deals with the anesthetic.. I notice that with alcohol, if I have bad symptoms by the time I’m off work, two glasses of wine and I’m fine. Wipes out next day symptoms also. Could just be my interpretation.
@Else
Another late comment – but I’m Canadian and have had 3 endoscopies and 1 colonoscopy, and was put under sedation for all of them. Either your doctor was crazy or didn’t give you enough! You can request NOT to be sedated for it, but the option is definitely available to anyone in any province (I checked) and it’s still fully covered. I did wake up part way through one of them and they had to give me more medication. The last one though I warned them I’d woken up before, so they made sure to keep it well topped up and I didn’t waken that time.
That’s the twilight sedation though, like you get for wisdom teeth, NOT full anaesthetic like for an operation. If you wanted to actually be put out you’d have to pay for the extra costs yourself.
I have had the same experience after endoscopy… My GI thinks it is due to the rather large dose of Benadryl given through the IV (supposed to help calm your stomach) it must calm the “allergic” response as well… Interesting…
You might be missing out on the “delta” sleep. I found that my gastrointestinal issues did not exist until one day after I stayed up all night for the first time in my entire life. Had I gotten at least a few hours’ sleep, I might have never developed GI issues in the first place. Thankfully, it’s all under control again as far as I can tell.
A video on the adrenal glands and the different brain waves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP2xXHgZaS0 might be useful.
Hope you’re well.
I have had the similar experience after the nose surgery and complete sedation, I woke up full of energy without stomac problem(I’m coeliac) womiting and similar…Doctor was very suprised because I ‘m allergic on Aspirin,paracetamol,ibuprofen …and three months after I gain the weight for the first time from my diagnosis of celiac disease in my late 30s when I was under the weight…
I’m so jealous you all had some kind of medication to help. I only had the throat spray and wasn’t told I had the option for anything else. I cried the whole way through.