Learn more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease
You can easily test this out by not eating gluten for a few weeks and see if things get better.
Also sent you an email.
Useful people are Loren Cordain[1] and Robb Wolf[2].
[1] http://www.thepaleodiet.com/ [2] http://www.robbwolf.com/
Celiac is a really wild disease, in that it can cause an enormous variety of symptoms due to the nutritional deficiencies it can cause, and also can fail to cause them just depending on your own body. Consequently, it is really difficult to diagnose. My primary symptom was iron-deficiency anemia, for instance, but the traditional answers that start with that symptom would have been wrong. Also, despite malnutrition, I was also obese. (Not "clinically obese", but obese no matter how you slice it.)
There are two things going for this diagnosis (even as I tip my head to the "don't trust internet diagnoses" crowd). First, per chasingsparks' excellent point, you shouldn't look for something rare when something common may explain it. In fact, Celiac is not a rare disease; estimates are now hovering around the 1 out of 133 people in the general US population, which is not really a "rare disease". The odds of at least one other person reading this message having Celiac without knowing it is actually virtually 100%, because of the second thing: It is known to be underdiagnosed due to the difficulty of diagnosing it correctly. It appears to match everything you've described, up to and including a known correlation between Celiac and other autoimmune diseases (especially when left untreated) and raised IgA. Testing for IgA is a standard first step of a screening: http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/conditions/celia...
With this you should be able to find a doctor who can help you confirm or deny this diagnosis, assuming you have not yet tried a gastroenterologist.
If there are money issues, the "don't eat gluten" test rksprst mentions is actually as good as the medical tests, if not better. Stop eating gluten for two weeks, or preferably three. If you feel better after that, then you may be on the right track, but wait, it might be placebo. To be really sure, have yourself a big ol' bowl of pasta or pizza. In about 5-7 hours or so, if you're suffering from Celiac... you'll know. And I apologize for that night. But at least you'll know after that.
Be aware you can not do both. Celiac tests only pick up "in progress" Celiac, if you cut out the gluten for three weeks, then go to the doctor, you will quite likely test negative even if you have it.
At your age, full recovery could take 3-4 years, but you'll start feeling better right away.
I feel your pain. My father was diagnosed in the nick of time for me to figure out what my problem was. I too was starting to lose enough cognitive power that I fear I would have lost my job.
Edit: Also, if this does turn out to be the problem, start taking a multivitamin. Many people say that multivitamins are not helpful for normal people. This may be true, I honestly don't know. Celiac is not "normal people" and I've found it helpful well beyond what "placebo" would cover. You may be able to stop when recovered, I'm just barely getting to "recovered" myself.
And yes, this could be me having a hammer and seeing a nail. Still, it does fit, right down to the difficulty of getting it properly diagnosed.
This. A friend of mine is a celiac and didn't know throughout high school; she and her family simply thought she had a very weak immune system since she was sick so often. (In fact, she often ate crackers to calm her upset stomach, which obviously exacerbated the problem.)
To clarify, though, the big bowl of pasta comes after the three weeks of "no gluten." If you're suffering from Celiac disease, as jerf said, once you take in a large amount of gluten after going gluten free for three weeks, you will notice. It will be like night and day. If you feel fine after that pasta, you're not a Celiac.
I'm not a doctor, but this is a pretty clear cut test.
I don't think Celiac is likely, but you can just not eat wheat for a week and see if it makes a difference. (Read every label if you're trying that.)
A week won't do it on the diet change, I had to go nearly 3 months before my system got back to normal. Amd Vivtek is right if you want to test this just read every label and do some research for example soy sauce is out, but it just isn't obvious.
As far as this being a possibility, it doesn't sound right, but since it is pretty easy to test for the next tiem you have a blood test you can have them check it if you want.
Paleo eating excludes refined sugars completely, and asks you to reduce fruit. Meat and veg, nuts and seeds, some fruit, no grains, no dairy.
> A week won't do it on the diet change,
Totally agree here. And switching from a traditional high-carb, low-fat diet to paleo leads to 2 or 3 weeks of feeling like crap. We're 5 weeks into our Paleo Challenge at the gym I own, and most people are feeling like a million bucks. We do our best to impress upon them that the first 2-3 weeks will be difficult.
I eat to manage my glycemic index now, but I unfortunately can't honestly split what is that part and what is getting off of gluten, I just know both have proved necessary to me. But of the two, for someone with celiac getting off the gluten is by far the more important.
I do stick to the Kikkoman name brand, but this turns out to be easy, it's the golden standard. Usually if it's not Kikkoman, it's fake soy sauce anyhow which is also safe.