Question: What are the symptoms of Celiac Disease ?
Answer: A person may experience digestive signs and symptoms, or symptoms in other parts of the body. Digestive signs and symptoms are more common in children and can include
                
- abdominal bloating  - chronic diarrhea  - constipation  - gas  - pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool  - stomach pain  - nausea  - vomiting
                
Being unable to absorb nutrients during the years when nutrition is critical to a child's normal growth and development can lead to other health problems, such as
                
- failure to thrive in infants  - slowed growth and short stature  - weight loss  - irritability or change in mood  - delayed puberty  - dental enamel defects of permanent teeth
                
Adults are less likely to have digestive signs and symptoms and may instead have one or more of the following:
                
- anemia  - bone or joint pain  - canker sores inside the mouth  - depression or anxiety  - dermatitis herpetiformis, an itchy, blistering skin rash  - fatigue, or feeling tired  - infertility or recurrent miscarriage  - missed menstrual periods  - seizures  - tingling numbness in the hands and feet  - weak and brittle bones, or osteoporosis  - headaches
                
Intestinal inflammation can cause other symptoms, such as
                
- feeling tired for long periods of time  - abdominal pain and bloating  - ulcers  - blockages in the intestine
                
Celiac disease can produce an autoimmune reaction, or a self-directed immune reaction, in which a person's immune system attacks healthy cells in the body. This reaction can spread outside of the gastrointestinal tract to affect other areas of the body, including the
                
- spleen  - skin  - nervous system  - bones  - joints
                
Recognizing celiac disease can be difficult because some of its symptoms are similar to those of other diseases and conditions. Celiac disease can be confused with
                
- irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)  - iron-deficiency anemia caused by menstrual blood loss  - lactose intolerance  - inflammatory bowel disease  - diverticulitis  - intestinal infections  - chronic fatigue syndrome
                
As a result, celiac disease has long been underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. As health care providers become more aware of the many varied symptoms of the disease and reliable blood tests become more available, diagnosis rates are increasing, particularly for adults.
                

                
Dermatitis Herpetiformis   Dermatitis herpetiformis is a chronic, itchy, blistering skin rashusually on the elbows, knees, buttocks, back, or scalpthat affects about 5 to 10 percent of people with celiac disease.3 Men with dermatitis herpetiformis may also have oral or genital lesions. People with dermatitis herpetiformis may have no other signs or symptoms of celiac disease. Skin deposits of antibodiesproteins that react against the body's own cells or tissuescommon in celiac disease cause dermatitis herpetiformis. Ingesting gluten triggers these antibodies.   More information is provided in the NIDDK health topic, Dermatitis Herpetiformis: Skin Manifestation of Celiac Disease.