Celiac Disease And Lower Abdominal Pain

[EdmBkn]

My 13 year old brother has recently diagnosed with Celiac disease. He went Gluten-free three days ago, but still he has severe pain in his right side of lower abdomen. Sometimes, he feels no pain, but sometimes pain become too much severe to bear. I consulted with doctor, but he only prescribed some pain reliefers and said only Gluten free diet will eliminate this pain and other symptoms. I am so much scared about this. Is this something that will be cured with time? Is there anyone else having same pain? 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, EdmBkn!

Three days is not long enough to tell anything. Is right sided abdominal pain the only symptom he was experiencing before his diagnosis? How much time elapsed between his diagnosis and his going gluten free? Are you sure he is truly eating gluten free? There are many temptations for a 13 year old celiac to cheat on the gluten free diet and that doesn't even take into account how aware he is of where gluten is found in the food we eat.

Finally, are you yourself a celiac? There is a 44% chance that your brother's first degree relatives (parent's, siblings and when he is older his own children) will also have celiac disease.

[EdmBkn]

Just now, trents said:

Welcome to the forum, EdmBkn!

Three days is not long enough to tell anything. Is right sided abdominal pain the only symptom he was experiencing before his diagnosis? How much time elapsed between his diagnosis and his going gluten free? Are you sure he is truly eating gluten free? There are many temptations for a 13 year old celiac to cheat on the gluten free diet and that doesn't even take into account how aware he is of where gluten is found in the food we eat.

Finally, are you yourself a celiac? There is a 44% chance that your brother's first degree relatives (parent's, siblings and when he is older his own children) will also have celiac disease.

Thanks for your response. Pain in lower abdominal side is only one of many other symptoms that he has. Others are severe anemia, unable to thrive and weight loss. 

We are giving them only Gluten free diet. Though he is too young to understand Gluten free diet, but he keeps asking us what to eat and what not. Should we keep giving him milk or other dairy products? Because he just love eating milk. 

I am sure he will recover from other symptoms soon, but his pain makes me worry. 

[trents]

Many celiacs are intolerant of dairy. After significant healing of the small bowel lining has occurred then sometimes celiacs are able to resume dairy consumption without issue. It can take around two years for full healing of the bowel but significant improvement in symptoms often happens within weeks. 

Having said that, has anyone checked your brother for appendicitis? The appendix is in that same area.

[EdmBkn]

1 hour ago, trents said:

Many celiacs are intolerant of dairy. After significant healing of the small bowel lining has occurred then sometimes celiacs are able to resume dairy consumption without issue. It can take around two years for full healing of the bowel but significant improvement in symptoms often happens within weeks. 

Having said that, has anyone checked your brother for appendicitis? The appendix is in that same area.

So should i exclude dairy products too from his diet? Also I'll test for appendicitis. But he is having pain for more than 2-3 weeks and it gets worst sometimes. 

[RMJ]

Lactose, the sugar in dairy products, is digested by enzymes made in the tips of the villi in the intestine.  Since celiac disease injures the villi, many people who have not yet healed from celiac disease are lactose intolerant.  Since the calcium in dairy is important for a growing child, you might try dairy with less or no lactose, like lactose-free milk and hard cheeses.

[EdmBkn]

Just now, RMJ said:

Lactose, the sugar in dairy products, is digested by enzymes made in the tips of the villi in the intestine.  Since celiac disease injures the villi, many people who have not yet healed from celiac disease are lactose intolerant.  Since the calcium in dairy is important for a growing child, you might try dairy with less or no lactose, like lactose-free milk and hard cheeses.

Thanks for this helpful information. 

[trents]

5 hours ago, EdmBkn said:

So should i exclude dairy products too from his diet? Also I'll test for appendicitis. But he is having pain for more than 2-3 weeks and it gets worst sometimes. 

Appendicitis doesn't always hit suddenly and without warning. That is a common misconception. Many people have chronic appendicitis that comes and goes and eventually there is an acute crisis that can be life threatening if not addressed in time.

Concerning dairy intolerance, it often is not in response to the lactose, which is the sugar component of milk, but to the protein component call casein. Soy, corn and eggs are also common intolerance developments connected to celiac disease.

It would be a good idea to keep a food diary of what your brother eats for a few weeks and see if you can spot patterns that connect his symptoms with what he eats.

[EdmBkn]

On 7/26/2021 at 2:07 AM, trents said:

Appendicitis doesn't always hit suddenly and without warning. That is a common misconception. Many people have chronic appendicitis that comes and goes and eventually there is an acute crisis that can be life threatening if not addressed in time.

Concerning dairy intolerance, it often is not in response to the lactose, which is the sugar component of milk, but to the protein component call casein. Soy, corn and eggs are also common intolerance developments connected to celiac disease.

It would be a good idea to keep a food diary of what your brother eats for a few weeks and see if you can spot patterns that connect his symptoms with what he eats.

He has no pain in lower abdomen now. But has severe constipation. 

[ButWhatCanIEat]

Constipation can definitely cause this pain, although you want to rule out appendicitis. I had appendicitis and an appendectomy years ago before I knew about the Celiac disease. But I still have pain in that area, mostly due to constipation. If his dx is that recent, otherwise then I would just give it time to adjust to the new diet before you go eliminating too many more things. If it persists over time then you can try eliminating more foods. Eventually I had to go low FODMAP to get rid of most of my stomach pain but that's a pretty strict diet and you shouldn't do it unless you have to.

[EdmBkn]

6 hours ago, ButWhatCanIEat said:

Constipation can definitely cause this pain, although you want to rule out appendicitis. I had appendicitis and an appendectomy years ago before I knew about the Celiac disease. But I still have pain in that area, mostly due to constipation. If his dx is that recent, otherwise then I would just give it time to adjust to the new diet before you go eliminating too many more things. If it persists over time then you can try eliminating more foods. Eventually I had to go low FODMAP to get rid of most of my stomach pain but that's a pretty strict diet and you shouldn't do it unless you have to.

So i think i should consider removing different food items from his diet. Thanks for your reply!