Constipation

[lilleroy family]

First off I am very embarrassed by this question but since I have been gluten free since March after blood antigens said I was 96% positive for Celiac and a biospy later fully diagnosed me I have now started to have severe constipation to the point that it is painful, I don't even have bowel movements on a regular basis either its like maybe once or twice a week and are all extremely painful and then also there is some blood in the stool, I don't know if its from a hemorroid that I have from child birth or what and I am so embarrassed to talk to my doctor face to face about this, I am a new patient of his as we just relocated to this area and even though he is familiar with celiac and very knowledgeable its embarrassing. I have even contemplated over the counter laxatives to lessen the constipation, I drink tons of water, and eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruits and all so I just don't get it I go from having loose stools to now this. Any suggestions on what to do or how to broach this topic with the doctor?

[GEF]

I can understand your embarrassment on the issue.... gastro-intestinal problems are not the easiest thing thing to talk about... especially face-to-face with someone. You'd be amazed at how compassionate and caring of a response you'd receive from your doctor... probably because he would be able to help rule out some things for you and offer pro-active treatment. Maybe just express to him that it's difficult for you to talk about "those things".... if you get choked up, perhaps you can ask for a list of symptoms that you can circle or check-off on a piece of paper.

Sometimes it helps to know you're not the only who suffers with this.. I had to tell my doctor that I saw blood recently... I think it was because my system was so used to loose stool that when it was solid one day, it hurt and probably did some tearing. Kinda gross... I know. But even for that instance, he wanted to make sure that nothing else was going wrong.

I wish I could offer some advise on the constipation... usually if I have that problem I drink some coffee (I goes right through me). There are many people here who I'm sure could offer some helpful advise on it though.

Good luck with your doctor!

Gretchen

[tarnalberry]

Given that you're doing the obvious things, PLEASE schedule an appointment with your doctor. Blood in/on the stools is nothing to mess with.

I had a similar problem (turned out the be a hemmhroid), and I'm only 25, so was also embarassed about this. I told my GP that when I got there, and she said "I see this every day." When I stopped to think about it, it made me much less embarassed to have to have that bit examined once in ... my life, I think, at the least, not very often, but she may have to look at one after another every single day! Made me feel a bit better... ;-)

[burdee]

Hi Lilleroy: My undiagnosed celiac symptoms since early childhood included constipation, steatorrhea, and bloating. I was only diagnosed with celiac disease recently, after 50 years of symptoms . However, longterm constipation influenced my developing hemorrhoids which hurt and bled when I passed hard, painful stools. If you had hemorrhoids before, constipation can always exacerbate those to swell up, bleed and hurt.

There are many OTC salves for hemorrhoids (including Preparation H), but the BEST, simplest solution for shrinking hemorrhoids and reducing pain is a sitz bath. That doesn't mean sitting in the bathtub in hot water, which can dry your skin and not even effect the hemorrhoids, depending on your tub position. You can buy sitzbath bowls which attach to a toilet seat at a hospital supply store. You just fill them with hot water, as hot as you can comfortably stand without burning yourself , and sit on the toilet with your buns immersed in that hot water for 5-10 minutes or whenever the water is too cool to help. Do that 5-10 minutes after every bowel movement and before bed, until your hemorrhoids heal enough to stop bleeding. That soothes pain, shrinks hemorrhoids and helps them heal. Unfortunately I didn't learn about the sitz bath device until AFTER I had hemorrhoid surgery which followed a botched, banding procedure. Your doctor might prescribe a salve (I used a xylocaine salve successfully until my hemorrhoids got really bad) or even prescribe a sitzbath.

As far as resolving constipation, I was misdiagnosed with IBS and used wheat bran for years to cope with constipation. Obviously that exacerbated my celiac symptoms and made my constipation WORSE. Meanwhile drinking liquids and eating lotsa produce fiber didn't help, but I started taking Magnesium supplements to draw the fluid into the stool. Nevertheless, avoiding gluten helped to resolve some of my constipation. However, eliminating DAIRY (since I have casein intolerance) helped the most to resolve my constipation. Unfortunately that was 5 years AFTER that painful hemorrhoid surgery.

I suspect many celiacs who had diarrhea for years preceliac diagnoses, now experience more constipation, because they never had to focus on eating enough fiber for regularity. Without celiac induced diarrhea, some may now have to cope with constipationHowever fiber is good for both constipation and diarrhea, but not the OTC pill or drug forms. The safest fiber comes from gluten-free grains, fruit, vegies and nuts, without any added chemicals. However I've found taking Vitamin C and Magnesium also helps for regularity.

BURDEE