WorriedMum

[Worriedmummy]

My son (now 24) was diagnosed with Coeliac last year. He has since cut out all gluten but still gets the same excruciating abdominal pain as before. It happens every couple of months. He is in agony for up to 4 hours, unable to move from a sitting foetal position. He says it feels like 'something want to go up or down'. Sometimes he vomits but not always. He's had an ambulance out on two occasions and been taken to hospital. He was given morphine in the ambulance which gave him no relief. By the time he was seen the pain had resolved and was put down to gastritis. A few months ago he also had a large bleed from his bowels. Does anyone recognise any of these symptoms? We're worried that there is something else going on as these don't seem to be typical Coeliac symptoms. Thanks in anticipation.  

[GFinDC]

Hi,

That sounds awful!  I am sorry he has such strong reactions.  Celiac disease can cause a lot of pain, but bleeding from the bowels is not typical.  I do get bleeding myself from eating dairy, but that is not a celiac reaction but food intolerance developed as a result of celiac.

It could be he has something like ulcerative colitits, or Crohns, or some other IBD (intestinal bowel disease).  Then again it could be a a lot of things.  He probably should have an endoscopy and colonoscopy to check for problems.

My younger brother had both Crohn's and celiac disease so they can pair up at times.

Some home treatments that may help symptoms are Pepto Bismol and peppermint tea or Altoids.  Pepto soothes the GI tract and peppermint helps to get gas out of the stomach.  Gas by itself can cause a lot of pain in an already irritated GI tract.

To prevent gas he should try cutting out all dairy, sugar and carbs for a few months.  And avoid gluten removed beers like Omission.  They aren't really gluten-free.

Whole foods cooked at home are safest.  Things like bone broth, veggies, meats, nuts, eggs, fruits, etc.  The celiac reaction is AI (auto-immune).  The immune reaction can go on for weeks to months.  It only takes a tiny amount of gluten to trigger the immune reaction.

I hope he feels better soon.

Edited January 12, 2020 by GFinDC

[BuddhaBar]

Having one autoimmune disease puts him at an increased (something like 34%) risk of getting another one. Severe pain and bleeding from the bowels sounds a lot like Crohns disease.

[Ennis-TX]

The type of bleeding can help narrow it down, dark tar like stools is upper GI like stomach and small intestines. If it is darker clotted blood it can be middle area but generally in the beginning/mid large intestines, if it is bright red then end of hte large intestines.  I have Ulcerative Colitis on top of celiac...they both flare to gluten but UC can flare to other things as well. UC will have red bloody stools, sometimes dark clots, and mucus, cramping, trapped gas bubbles, diarrhea, Mixed feeling of someone stepping on your gut around the outside digging their heal in going around your core (large intestines) and a large wet towel shoved inside being ringed out while randomly being stabbed by a icepick (heavy feeling, cramping, and stabbing pains)
My UC had a major flare due to other factors a few months ago and would not calm down, I was stuck on the floor in pain most of the day, and found it best just to rest in the bathroom due to D.

He also might be getting exposed to gluten, my reactions sometimes caused to vomit so hard I would rupture capillaries in my throat and have blood come up. I imagine this can happen elsewhere inside. I had to move to a completely gluten free home due to cross contamination in a shared home happening almost weekly or every other week. If he lives in a shared house, eats out, or never replaced all sources of contamination like cutting boards, wooden cooking utensils, scratched pots/pans, condiment jars contaminated with crumbs then he could be getting exposure randomly when using them.

GFinDC gave some good advice, I always go to broths, eggs, when I get flares, I avoid anything that can irritate a damaged system or ferment into gas in my gut. So no carbs, starchy foods, sugars, and I avoid tough veggies, nuts, and seeds til it improves. I would also suggest slow cooked tender lean meat cuts.  You want everything to super soft and easy to digest and free of irritating spices and textures...just imagine the inside of the intestines as all carpet burned and imagine what would hurt to put on it or rub on it.