Elite Athlete surges after diagnosis

I saw this article on Pubmed about a college volleyball player who was diagnosed with Celiac her sophomore year. Several things interested me about her case.

1. She had a low hemocrit count on her complete blood count (CBC) before she was diagnosed. Me too.
2. She fell asleep at all times after intense workouts before she was diagnosed. Me too.
3. She lost about 20 pounds on her way to a diagnosis - and the medical team thought she had an eating disorder. That didn't happen to me, but it really irks me that medical teams go to anorexia and bulimia right away. Celiac is pretty common, too.
4. They thought it might be cancer. Me too.
5. She rebounded and surpassed her original fitness level after diagnosis and going on a gluten free diet. Me too.

What I'm thinking may be useful here from a medical perspective is the low hemocrit count and the sleeping thing. In athletes (and others?) the hemocrit may presage (or present with) the illness. This is critically important, because doctors will order a CBC for just about anything, but not a Celiac panel. As far as the sleeping goes - I recall the moment I realized I was really improving was the Saturday I did my 15 miler followed by activities with the kids all day, followed by a date with my wife (concert). As I was sitting in the chair at 10:30 pm, I realized I hadn't needed a nap that day. In the past, 15 miles had meant at least a two hour nap.

So my (not a doctor) advice for you is that if you need sleep after your workouts and have a low hemocrit count, get tested for Celiac. Any medical researchers want to pick this up?