Loads of gas, cramping, pain and misery

[Axiom-1]

Newbie here so please forgive the possible long rant or my obvious lack of knowledge about intestinal problems.... Let me start by saying that "weird" intestinal problems run in my family as almost every single sibling has been diagnosed with some type of intestinal disorder. I had 2 Aunts and both of them had crohns disease.... Their Brother (my Uncle) has Ulcerative Colitis...and my Mother had Diverticulitis.... My Sister has Celiac disease and a couple of my Brothers have intestinal problems but have not sought out help yet.... In other words, intestinal problems run rampant in my Family tree.....

My intestinal problems started a long time ago (about 30 years ago) but they were not debilitating and so I tried my best to ignore them. The first problem I noticed back then was that my stools were becoming very soft and "tarry" for a lack of wording..... I noticed that my stools would "float" on top of the water in the toilet rather than sinking like they used to do.... I have not produced a "solid" stool since that time (30 years ago)..... I never noticed any blood or black colored stool....I only noticed that it was very soft and would float.... It was so soft that it was almost to the point of being like diarrhea, but not watery like diarrhea is..... So, I just figured my body was somehow different than most people and so I tried my best to ignore it through the years........

 

Then, about 3 or 4 years ago, I started to get watery diarrhea from time to time....... I never experienced much gas or pain but just occasional diarrhea for no apparent reason....

 

Don't know if this has anything to do with my intestinal problems but about 3 months ago I had a very extensive blood panel done from a Natural-path DR that my wife was seeing for her diabetes.... At any rate, to my "shock" when my blood results came back, the DR informed me that lots of my liver tests were very abnormal and he indicated that I have what is called a "fatty liver" (whatever that is)........ I don't know if this has anything to do with intestines but I thought I would mention it as it seems that there are lots of things in my body that have been malfunctioning along side with my intestinal problems.

 

Then about 1 month ago I started to get really sick with intestinal problems.......... One day while on a short vacation to another part of the State, my entire intestinal tract (from top to bottom) started to make these very LOUD gurgling/growling sounds. They were so loud that other people nearby could hear them......... It sort of freaked me out at first because I have never experienced anything like that in my entire life. Oh sure, I have had "normal" gas from time to time like all people experience but this is something that is magnified about 1000 times over what normal gas production is like. Since that time a month ago, I have almost constant gurgling noises. I can feel the gas moving around in my intestines...... The gurgling doesn't bother me too much but what does bother me and makes me sick is the PRESSURE/BLOATING and CRAMPING that the gas is causing....

There are a few days here and there when the gurgling noises stop and the gas production stops and then I start to feel better..... But, the weird thing is that now I know when I am going to get sick with whatever is wrong with my intestines because the first thing that happens to me is I get those loud gurgling noises for a few hours. Then the gas pressure starts to build and the cramping and bloating starts as well as the diarrhea....

I just seen a regular MD yesterday for this problem and they did a urine test and a blood test for Celiac disease and a couple of other things. They want me to have a colonoscopy (because I am over 50)...... I won't get the results of the blood tests for a few days yet.... Another weird thing I have noticed is that when I get bloated and full of gas that I get mild urges to urinate....... I feel like I have to pee even though I don't really have to pee..... I don't know if any of you have experienced that or not but it rather freaks me out. I mean my gosh, not only do I have to deal with the miserable and uncomfortable cramping and gas but then the urge to urinate on top of it is a bit much.....

The croaker (Doctor) prescribed me some type of medication that is in powder form and you mix it with water ( I forget the name of it).... It is supposed to help in trying to solidify my stools and help with the diarrhea..... Since this miserable "gas phenomenon" started about a month ago I have tried Gas-x and other meds to help with the gas but NOTHING is slowing down the production of gas..... Another weird thing I have noticed since this gas started a month ago, is that whenever I do expel gas, there is zero odor to it..... To me that is sort of weird because like everyone else on the planet, the gas that I used to expel (before I got sick with this) had odor to it (methane)........ But, when this chronic gas and diarrhea started a month ago, the gas that I expel is completely odorless. Don't know if anyone here has ever heard of such a weird thing but I can only state what is happening to me......

I am fairly freaked out by all of this because I had loose stools for years and like an idiot I ignored it......... I certainly hope that I do not have colon cancer as that is what is the most worrisome for me due to my age (57)  and my history of having soft stools for 30 years or so... However, due to the fact that almost everyone in my immediate Family as well as my relatives suffer from various types of intestinal diseases then I too probably stand a very good chance of having one of them. In reality, I wished I don't have Celiac's or any other intestinal disease but I seriously doubt that is going to be the case.

Crohns disease ended up killing my Aunt and my Uncle died from complications due to Ulcerative colitis...... My sister who was just diagnosed with Celiac disease was also told that her bipolar disorder was directly linked to her Celiac disease.......

Anyway thanks for listening to me blab about my problems...... I mainly want to see if any of you have experienced the weird gurgling sounds and level of gas production that I have. Also, I wanted to know if any of you have had so much gas pressure that it sometimes causes the urge to urinate...... All as I know is this junk is MISERABLE, whatever it is that they discover that afflicts me.

Sorry for talking about embarrassing stuff but i know of no other way to express myself.

[GFinDC]

Hi Axiom,

Your symptoms sound like a normal day!   Before I went gluten-free anyway.  Yes, I had bloating and gas problems, along with side orders of gut pain, insomnia, dry skin, muscles twitching, pale mottled skin, joint pain, fatigue, brain fog, etc, etc.  And those were the fun days!

Thankfully, most of that has gone bye bye now.  I suggest you get tested for celiac disease by a complete celiac blood panel and possibly an endoscopy later.  You need to continue eating gluten until all the testing is done.  I suggest you don't stop eating gluten even if your (doctor) tells you to until the endoscopy is done.  If you stop eating gluten the antibody levels will begin to drop and your test results will be inaccurate.  then you would need to do a gluten challenge of 12 weeks for accurate results, which can be very unpleasant if you do have celiac disease.  Multiple posters have been told to "try" the gluten-free diet by their doctors before the testing was complete.  That is really bad advice IMHO.

Perhaps you could go to your sisters doctor for testing?  Many doctors are still not familiar with celiac disease testing so it is worthwhile finding someone with experience.  If your sisters doc can't help, try searching for a local celiac support group that may have doctor recommendations.

Welcome to the forum Axiom!

 

[Axiom-1]

Thank you GFinDC for the nice welcome as well as the info........ I do not have much association with any of my siblings because I moved out East (Pennsylvania) about 20 years ago and they are all located out West in Montana and Idaho. So, it is not feasible to go to the croaker that my Sister sees... The MD just did a Celiac test on me but I am not sure the "quality" of the blood test they did on me. I won't get the results of that blood test for another day or two.... Who knows maybe the test will turn out to be positive. But, yes, I will take your advice and not stop any gluten intake until all my testing is finished. I had never even thought about that but I can see how that could effect test results.

 

I got "freaked out" last night because I did a tad bit of research about this Celiac disease and from what I discovered blew me away because many of the problems that it can cause has happened to me through the years..... For example, when I was 40 years old, I started developing many weird neurological problems... It started out as numbness and tingling in various places of my body...  I also started to experience severe burning on the bottoms of both feet which was quite painful......   Then I started to develop muscle weakness plus all of the muscles all over my body started to constantly vibrate and twitch.... I got real freaked out because the symptoms I had were very similar to either Multiple Sclerosis or the dreaded ALS... Anyway, after 3 years of being sent to various Neurologists and Neuromuscular specialists, I was finally diagnosed with a body wide type of Neuropathy that not only effects the sensory nerves but it also affects the motor nerves that control the muscles........... The condition is called "sensi-motor polyneuropathy".... Anyway, I mention this because the nerve specialists have no clue as to WHY I developed this condition..... But, after doing some reading about Celiacs last night, I discovered that it is not uncommon for people with Celiac's to develop Neuropathy.......... (Go figure)

Anyway, thanks for the info and the welcome

[GFinDC]

Hi Axiom,

Yep, nueropathy can be a an issue.  Malabsorption of nutrients can be the cause.  B12 is important for nerve health and is sometimes low in celiacs.

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Iron, calcium, and Vitamin D are the most common deficiencies, but some present with deficiencies in B12, copper, folate, magnesium, niacin, riboflavin, and/or zinc. Nutrient deficiencies associated with celiac disease are due to intestinal damage caused by protein in wheat, rye, and barley. In most cases, nutrient deficiencies that were caused by damage from celiac disease will naturally resolve as your intestine heals. Many gluten-free dieters choose foods that aren’t fortified with vitamins and minerals like their gluten-containing counterparts. Thus, we suggest a general multivitamin to prevent against nutritional deficiencies. August, 2015