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Can Gluten Harm The Colon Too?

sspitzer5

By sspitzer5
in Related Issues & Disorders

Recommended Posts

sspitzer5 Apprentice
sspitzer5
Posted

Hi, my boyfriend had ulcerative colitis and had to have surgery for it. His colon was very damaged. I know there are some correlations between Celiac and colitis and I've been urging (aka bugging the hell out of) him to get tested for Celiac - he's half Irish and his cousin has derm. hep.

What I'm wondering is if eating gluten can damage not only the small intestine, but the colon. He never had a small intestine biopsy, so I don't know if there is damage there or not. Any info would be appreciated.

S

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Rusla Enthusiast
Rusla
Posted

Yes, it can. I know someone who ended up with colon cancer from Celiac and now he has to have all his waste drained into a bag for the rest of his life.

luvs2eat Collaborator
luvs2eat
Posted

That molten lava that rushes from my small intestine thru my large intestine as it fights its way out of me CAN'T be good for any part of me, I'm thinkin'!! We're talking alien acid that melts the space ship floor!!

  • 3 months later...
DeeTee33 Newbie
DeeTee33
Posted

Oh yes, Gluten can harm the colon!

I had been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis back in 1989 and it never got better. It actually got worse no matter how much medicine I took. The doctor said they didn't know what caused Ulcerative Colitis and there was no cure for it so I did a little research on my own.

Late 2003 I went on a Gluten-Free diet and started digesting food in less than 2 weeks. I went off all my medicine in a couple months and have never felt better. By the time I found a new doctor and had the blood test for Celiac Disease I had already been on a Gluten-Free diet for over 3 months. The test didn't come back negative though, it came back inconclusive. He offered to do the biopsy but I told him it wasn't necessary. For me Gluten-Free is the key to healthy living!

I encourage anyone diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease to get tested for Celiac Disease.

corinne Apprentice
corinne
Posted

I have collagenous colitis (not celiac) and the symptoms quit when I went off gluten (and other grains). My mother is celiac and many people with collagenous colitis have a first degree relative with celiac. For some people, the inflammation of colitis (including ulcerative or crohn's) may be triggered by gluten. It will be interesting to see when I have my next colonoscopy if the damage is reduced.

DeeTee33 Newbie
DeeTee33
Posted

Just took my 19 year old daughter for the first time to the GI for digestive problems. Even though I haven't been officially diagnosed with Celiac Disease he has decided to give her the blood test next week. I'm really curious on what the results might say.

My mother passed away at the age of 54 with Cancer of the Pancreas. She previosly also had been diagnosed with Colitis and Osteoporosis. At that time neither one of us had heard of Celiac Disease. Hopefully my daughter doesn't follow in either of our footsteps.

Next month I will be having my 1st Colonoscopy since being on a gluten-free diet for 2 1/2 years. I don't know who is more curious of the results, my doctor or me.

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    • cristiana
      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      By cristiana · Posted

      You are very welcome @Dizzyma. Gastroenterologists are now following this rule in the UK more and more with children, so I am not surprised your daughter is not having an endoscopy.   Switching to a gluten free diet should begin to help, but also, even if you have to have testing done privately, it would be very helpful for you to find out if your daughter has vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which is highly likely,    In the UK tests are generally offered on the NHS for B12 and ferritin, and sometimes vitamin D.  Shortages in these can really cause any anxiety or depression or ramp it up. If you do end up supplementing, make sure your GP is aware as levels do need to be monitored, for example,  too much ferritin can cause huge health issues. Re: anxiety, definitely speak to a GP or another health care professional about this if it is an issue. Hopefully the Coeliac Society of Ireland will also be able to help. Cristiana  
    • tiffanygosci
      Celiac support is hard to find

      By tiffanygosci · Posted

      EDIT: I did find a monthly Zoom meeting for Celiacs through the Celiac Disease Foundation, so I'll be able to talk with some other people on January 15. And I also found a Celiac Living podcast on Spotify made by a celiac. I feel a little bit better now and I am still hoping I will find some more personal connections in my area.
    • trents
      Help understand results

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      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @mamaof7! It means for the one celiac disease antibody test that was ordered, she tested negative. However, other tests should have been ordered, especially for someone so young who would have an immature immune system where there would be a high probability of being IGA deficient.  The one test that was ordered was an IGA-based antibody test. It is not the only IGA antibody test for celiac disease that can be run. The most common one ordered by physicians is the TTG-IGA. Whenever IGA antibody tests are ordered, a "total IGA" test should be included to check for IGA deficiency. In the case of IGA deficiency, all other IGA tests results will be inaccurate. There is another category of celiac disease antibody tests that can be used in the case of IGA deficiency. They are known as IGG tests. I will attach an article that gives an overview of celiac disease antibody tests. All this to say, I would not trust the results of the testing you have had done and I would not rule out your daughter having celiac disease. I would seek further testing at some point but it would require your daughter to have been eating normal amounts of gluten for weeks/months in order for the testing to be valid. It is also possible she does not have celiac disease (aka, "gluten intolerance") but that she has NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, or just "gluten sensitivity" for short) which is more common. The difference is that celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that damages the lining of the small bowel whereas NCGS does not autoimmune in nature and does not damage the lining of the small bowel, though the two conditions share many of the same symptoms. We have testing to diagnose celiac disease but there are no tests for NCGS. To arrive at a diagnosis of NCGS, celiac disease must first be ruled out. A gluten free diet is the solution to both maladies.   
    • mamaof7
      Help understand results

      By mamaof7 · Posted

      For reference, daughter is 18 mths old. Was having painful severe constipation with pale stool and blood also bloating (tight extended belly.) Liver and gallbladder are normal. Ultrasound was normal. Dr ordered celiac blood test. We took her off gluten after blood draw. She is sleeping better, no longer bloated and stools are still off color but not painful.    "GLIADIN (DEAMID) AB, IGA FLU Value  0.84 Reference Range: 0.00-4.99 No further celiac disease serology testing to be performed. INTERPRETIVE INFORMATION: Deamidated Gliadin Peptide (DGP) Ab, IgA A positive deamidated gliadin (DGP) IgA antibody result is associated with celiac disease but is not to be used as an initial screening test due to its low specificity and only occasional positivity in celiac disease patients who are negative for tissue transglutaminase (tTG) IgA antibody."   Anyone know what in the world this means. She isn't scheduled to see GI until late April. 
    • Dizzyma
      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      By Dizzyma · Posted

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