Hello To All/new Guy Questions

[nephlim]

Hey folks.

I'm male, 25 years old, and live in the US. I've had this lower GI condition since May of 06. It started with a slight cramping/nausea feeling while eating. From there, it progressed to these horrible cramping pains along my belt-line. With it came frequent and cramping BMs, and then constipation, then epic, cramping BMs. Now, I've got quite a pain tolerance. I've broken knees, had serious burns, even had things under my fingernails, but this lower cramping beats all. Worst of all, it would seem to come out of the blue, almost like an attack.

I racked my brain trying to figure out what is was. I cut meat, dairy, alcohol, chocolate, and all fatty and processed foods from my diet. Granted vegan diets like this can lead to weight loss, but I have lost over 40lbs since May of 06.

I had an endo and colonosocpy done. The endo showed gastritis (inflamation of the mucosal lining); this was also shown on the GI follow through test, which also suggested some "spasms". They tested for bacteria and viral infections, both neg. They asked me about celiac, but considering that grains and rice and such were staples of my diet, we didn't pay it much thought. Though, despite the diet, the negative findings, prilosec OTC and sucrafate, I was still getting sick.

Then a friend sugested it could be a gluten intolerance. It's been a few days now without any gluten and so far I feel better. I have since made an appointment with my PCP to test for gluten intolerance/celiac disease. No one in my family has any of these symptoms. Prior to this, I could eat anything I wanted. The only triggers I could think of is that I was under HUGE amounts of stress, sleep dep, and probably drank a bit much to compensate.

Does this sound like it could be gluten related? Can an intolerance just "appear" out of the blue like that? Could things set it off? Any info/feedback would be great.

Thanks a bunch,

-Dan

[codetalker]

  nephlim said:

Does this sound like it could be gluten related? Can an intolerance just "appear" out of the blue like that? Could things set it off?

That's the way it happened for me. Not as sudden or as severe as it appears you are experiencing. However, there are a lot of similarities.

Symptoms, such as the ones you mention, started in my mid-20's and appeared pretty much out-of-the-blue. Stress and other factors seemed to aggravate the situation. Prior to that time, I could and did eat anything I wanted and any quantity. No one in my family had similar symptoms. As far as I know, none of my relatives have Celiac disease.

Good luck with the tests. Hopefully, you will get a definitive result one way or the other.

[Guest cassidy]

Stress can certainly trigger things. You may already have your answer since you are feeling better on the diet. If you didn't have a problem with gluten then you shouldn't feel any different on the diet.

If you had an endoscopy and they didn't mention celiac then I would think your blood test would be negative as well. The blood tests aren't accurate which is frustrating, but the way it is. Also, you would also need to keep eating gluten before a blood test so you could have the best possible chance of having a positive blood test. Some people went through testing and other people feel a positive dietary response is all they need, that is a personal choice.

Please realize that it takes a while to find all the hidden gluten and that you may have ups and downs in the beginning. I used to get myself sick all the time in the beginning but it does get easier. I would hate for you to have a couple of good days, get yourself glutened and then think the diet isn't working at all because you don't feel good again. It also takes a while for all the gluten to get out of your system. I find it is 2-3 weeks after I'm glutened until I feel 100% again.

I hope this is the answer for you. This board has some great information. Good luck and glad you are doing better.

[GlutenWrangler]

It definitely could be celiac disease or gluten intolerance. It is good that you asked to be tested for it. Kepp in mind, if the tests are far into the future, eating gluten-free before hand will affect the test. Just something to keep in mind. But it definitely might be a sign that you are feeling somewhat better after going gluten-free. Take care, and good luck.

-Brian

[mamabear]

  nephlim said:

Hey folks.

I'm male, 25 years old, and live in the US. I've had this lower GI condition since May of 06. It started with a slight cramping/nausea feeling while eating. From there, it progressed to these horrible cramping pains along my belt-line. With it came frequent and cramping BMs, and then constipation, then epic, cramping BMs. Now, I've got quite a pain tolerance. I've broken knees, had serious burns, even had things under my fingernails, but this lower cramping beats all. Worst of all, it would seem to come out of the blue, almost like an attack.

I racked my brain trying to figure out what is was. I cut meat, dairy, alcohol, chocolate, and all fatty and processed foods from my diet. Granted vegan diets like this can lead to weight loss, but I have lost over 40lbs since May of 06.

I had an endo and colonosocpy done. The endo showed gastritis (inflamation of the mucosal lining); this was also shown on the GI follow through test, which also suggested some "spasms". They tested for bacteria and viral infections, both neg. They asked me about celiac, but considering that grains and rice and such were staples of my diet, we didn't pay it much thought. Though, despite the diet, the negative findings, prilosec OTC and sucrafate, I was still getting sick.

Then a friend sugested it could be a gluten intolerance. It's been a few days now without any gluten and so far I feel better. I have since made an appointment with my PCP to test for gluten intolerance/celiac disease. No one in my family has any of these symptoms. Prior to this, I could eat anything I wanted. The only triggers I could think of is that I was under HUGE amounts of stress, sleep dep, and probably drank a bit much to compensate.

Does this sound like it could be gluten related? Can an intolerance just "appear" out of the blue like that? Could things set it off? Any info/feedback would be great.

Thanks a bunch,

-Dan

Sometimes the GI's just "look" at the duodenum;think it looks normal to them and don't biopsy! Ask if they did a biopsy or not. And since is a patchy disease.....it can potentially miss any areas involved.

I would suggest expediting the PCP appointment and get any blood work done ASAP since you have found gluten free makes you better.....it may be changing your serologies as we speak ! If you have private insurance, it will also still be on this years's deductible !!!By the way, I was the first and only known celiac in my family.and also the only thyroid disease,too.

[nephlim]

  GFMemphis said:

Sometimes the GI's just "look" at the duodenum;think it looks normal to them and don't biopsy! Ask if they did a biopsy or not. And since is a patchy disease.....it can potentially miss any areas involved.

I would suggest expediting the PCP appointment and get any blood work done ASAP since you have found gluten free makes you better.....it may be changing your serologies as we speak ! If you have private insurance, it will also still be on this years's deductible !!!By the way, I was the first and only known celiac in my family.and also the only thyroid disease,too.

Hey there. Yes they did a biopsy, and looked for H plyori and other bacteria. All came back neg/unremarkable.

Even if the gluten test comes back neg, I'll continue the gluten-free diet because if it makes me feel better, that's all that matters in the long run

[Nancym]

I had those "attacks" too. I'd end up on the toilet almost sobbing with the cramping spasms. Oy, it hurt! I basically had them disappear 2 days into the gluten-free diet. I never looked back. I'd suffered with it for years and years. Looking back I can see now a variety of things that I missed, the autoimmune diseases, the bad gas after eating cookies, all kinds of strange things that have gotten better or gone away.

You might want to check out www.enterolab.com for testing and get a casein (milk products) test done at the same time. I found out the milk products are nearly as bad as the gluten for me.

[Looking for answers]

Although my symptoms weren't as severe as yours, my did just appear out of the blue. Like another person noted, looking back I did see many signs over the years but didn't realize how problematic they really were: D, gas, cramps after eating--they just became a way of life. I was never officially diagnosed with Celiac because I went gluten free almost a year before testing (long story). I'll never really know if I have the disease or not, but I do know without a doubt that I'm gluten sensitive/intolerant and feel soooo much better living wihout it.

Good luck to you!