People with Irritable Bowel Syndrome Don't Usually Have Celiac Disease

This concerns me. As I was diagnosed as IBS by symptoms only (no testing) for over 20 plus years. I am a DH  celiac who had GI issues My entire life and numerous waxing waning celiac symptoms through out life. In the end the Dr confirmed no gluten for me ( misdiagnosed IBS decades ) and there was no signs to indicate/confirm IBS.

I have concerns for misdiagnosed Celiac's out there that maybe  currently labeled IBS. I was missed too many times upon reflection it's riduculous. 

Best wishes to everyone so that my story is hopefully rare.

On 3/17/2019 at 2:13 PM, Awol cast iron stomach said:

This concerns me. As I was diagnosed as IBS by symptoms only (no testing) for over 20 plus years. I am a DH  celiac who had GI issues My entire life and numerous waxing waning celiac symptoms through out life. In the end the Dr confirmed no gluten for me ( misdiagnosed IBS decades ) and there was no signs to indicate/confirm IBS.

I have concerns for misdiagnosed Celiac's out there that maybe  currently labeled IBS. I was missed too many times upon reflection it's riduculous. 

Best wishes to everyone so that my story is hopefully rare.

This concerns me too.   In 2007, my 1st gastro specialist didn't even to bother ordering bloodwork, went straight to colonoscopy. When it came back clean, he said IBS.  He also said, well, it could be celiac, but you're overweight, so nope, we're not even gonna test you for it.  I had so many of the symptoms it's not even funny.  Fast forward to 2011, my symptoms had gotten worse, and surprise, bloodwork for celiac came back very positive.  Endoscopy confirmed it.  And going gluten free saved me.  I know I'm not alone in this type of experience.  Not enough people are tested for celiac disease.  I had symptoms starting in adolescence that got pretty bad in my 20's, and still didn't get diagnosed until I was 33, despite reporting my issues to various doctors for many years.  I just hope the awareness of this disease continues to spread.

I agree. There are so many people I've heard that got misdiagnosed with IBS when it was really Celiac (including myself), that I feel like articles and studies like this make it even less likely that the mistake will be found. Maybe someone who ACTUALLY has IBS is less likely to have Celiac, but what about all the people who doctors write off as IBS that aren't? I think Celiac screening should be a go-to for people who manifest with persistent digestive issues (especially if that person has two other auto-immune diseases - duh!) I was told IBS for years, and after a conversation with a co-worker who had Celiac, I did some research and essentially diagnosed myself. I had to insist on the testing, like the earlier poster, I was overweight so the Dr thought it was impossible. There is so much misunderstanding out there; this is just going to feed the resistance to keep looking for a cause.

8 hours ago, Guest ThisIsKate said:

This concerns me too.   In 2007, my 1st gastro specialist didn't even to bother ordering bloodwork, went straight to colonoscopy. When it came back clean, he said IBS.  He also said, well, it could be celiac, but you're overweight, so nope, we're not even gonna test you for it.  I had so many of the symptoms it's not even funny.  Fast forward to 2011, my symptoms had gotten worse, and surprise, bloodwork for celiac came back very positive.  Endoscopy confirmed it.  And going gluten free saved me.  I know I'm not alone in this type of experience.  Not enough people are tested for celiac disease.  I had symptoms starting in adolescence that got pretty bad in my 20's, and still didn't get diagnosed until I was 33, despite reporting my issues to various doctors for many years.  I just hope the awareness of this disease continues to spread.

Yes,  very concerning indeed. I had had a colonoscopy even after I was diagnosed IBS symptoms only for over a decade. No endoscopy until 2016. By then my cousin was diagnosed a gold standard celiac she also was also sick with GI issues for decades. 

So while not every IBS is celiac in my opinion quite a few celiac's are currently or have been misdiagnosed IBS in past. We are hitting middle-age and finally some Dr's are saying wait your diagnosed IBS on  symptoms  only? You didn't get both scopes ?  Those are the ones showing us celiac is not the rare rigid disease, but a more complex diagnosis often misdiagnosis. To those Dr's thanks .

In 2004 I was in College and missed classes for two weeks because I was had so much stomach pain, and I could not be away from a restroom.  I had to drop a few classes because I could not make up the work.  On spring break I drove home chugging Imodium and stopping at every gas station in my 1 1/2 journey home.  My mother scheduled doctors appointments for me and they said I had ... IBS.  2016 I had the same with no energy to do anything but sleep.  Finally diagnosed with Celiac.  But I had to change doctors and force them to test for Celiac even though my Uncle has it. Why because I am a big woman and that is not what celiac usually looks like.  I was malnourished.  I feel better now, but so many years waisted. 

On 3/17/2019 at 11:13 AM, Awol cast iron stomach said:

This concerns me. As I was diagnosed as IBS by symptoms only (no testing) for over 20 plus years. I am a DH  celiac who had GI issues My entire life and numerous waxing waning celiac symptoms through out life. In the end the Dr confirmed no gluten for me ( misdiagnosed IBS decades ) and there was no signs to indicate/confirm IBS.

I have concerns for misdiagnosed Celiac's out there that maybe  currently labeled IBS. I was missed too many times upon reflection it's riduculous. 

Best wishes to everyone so that my story is hopefully rare.

I Agree! This article couldn't be more off base. So many people with celiac are misdiagnosed with IBS. It is the medical community's way of a quick and easy diagnosis and to move on to the next patient. I was misdiagnosed with IBS twice over the course of 8 years, and was even improperly tested for celiac and told I didn't have it. The resulting damage to my GI from years of misdiagnosis is incredible. I think EVERY patient with IBS symptoms should be tested for celiac disease. Even now, my doctor insists that I have both IBS and celiac disease concurrently (which is highly unlikely). This is a systemic problem that is hurting patients everywhere.