New Symptoms - Need Help Analyzing

[Gentleheart]

I was thoroughly enterolab diagnosed about 9 months ago. Symptoms mostly neurological; anxiety, heart palpitations, dizziness and ataxia. Only gastro symptoms were chronic constipation and bloating.

After gluten, dairy, egg and soy free for awhile, experienced unusual gastro symptoms. Got constant D on top of everything else, which was new for me and lasted many months. I was told that it was because my body was trying to adjust to life without those foods after a lifetime with them. Made sense. D finally went away.

But my anxiety, heart palps, dizziness and ataxia have not gone away yet. And in the last couple weeks I have added more symptoms that I'm very unacquainted with. I am burping frequently (seems to be just air), I sometimes have difficulty swallowing (seems to be anxiety) but the main thing is that immediately after swallowing, my food is coming back up at the base of my throat, just a little. I don't even get any burning or the horrible taste. It's like it is just sitting there for awhile. Is that what GERD feels like or how it begins?

It's a funny thing. I have more symptoms since I went gluten free than I did before. Anybody have any theories on that?

I'm hanging in there hoping that I feel better soon and all of this is just a beat up body adjusting to a very new dietary lifestyle. But these most recent symptoms are brand new and really confusing me. I would have thought my digestion would be improving, not getting worse.

[Ursa Major]

I am sorry you are feeling worse again. Unfortunately, it sounds like you may be dealing with intolerances other than the identified ones.

Legumes (especially peanuts) make me burp like that, and rice (another grain) will give me almost identical symptoms to gluten. Check out the link in my signature on lectins, and see if they may all be a problem.

Heart palpitations, anxiety and dizziness could also be symptoms of adrenal fatigue, a thyroid problem or both.

Since taking desiccated adrenal my heart palpitations have finally gone away.

[Gentleheart]

May I ask which dessicated adrenal you use? The one I tried to use seemed to make my palps worse. I assume they contained something I can't have. Thanks.

[Ursa Major]

May I ask which dessicated adrenal you use? The one I tried to use seemed to make my palps worse. I assume they contained something I can't have. Thanks.

I am taking 3 a day of AOR classic series ADRENAL, lyophilized active glandular 250 mg. They guarantee that it doesn't contain wheat, gluten, corn, nuts, dairy, soy, eggs, fish or shellfish.

[Gentleheart]

Thanks so much! I will look it up on the web. If I could just get those abominable heart palps to stop, I'd be a happy camper and endure all the rest!

[jayhawkmom]

but the main thing is that immediately after swallowing, my food is coming back up at the base of my throat, just a little. I don't even get any burning or the horrible taste. It's like it is just sitting there for awhile. Is that what GERD feels like or how it begins?

Yep, that's what GERD feels like. It's unpleasant as heck. I have "silent reflux" in that I don't get heartburn or the burning throat associated with it. I simply feel like food gets stuck, constantly.

I've had an endoscopy - and the GERD has caused erosion in my esophagus. I didn't even know that I *had* it. I've been taking Prevacid to help heal the erosions. More recently than my endoscopy was a barrium swallow. They noticed no reflux at all after a few months on Prevacid. So, going gluten-free has helped that particular issue, for me, as well.

[Nevadan]

Gentleheart, have you had your thyroid function tested? Your symptoms of heart palpitations, anxiety, etc could be due to an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism). If your thyroid has been tested, or if you have it tested, be sure that the "Free T3 and Free T4" levels are measured and not just the usual TSH level.

Of course there are lots of other possible causes of your symptoms; this is just one possibility.

[Gentleheart]

Yep, that's what GERD feels like. It's unpleasant as heck. I have "silent reflux" in that I don't get heartburn or the burning throat associated with it. I simply feel like food gets stuck, constantly.

I've had an endoscopy - and the GERD has caused erosion in my esophagus. I didn't even know that I *had* it. I've been taking Prevacid to help heal the erosions. More recently than my endoscopy was a barrium swallow. They noticed no reflux at all after a few months on Prevacid. So, going gluten-free has helped that particular issue, for me, as well.

I really don't want to take drugs if I can avoid it and I sure was hoping to not have to endure an endoscopy for any reason either. I wonder if just remaining gluten free long enough will allow natural healing without all those invasive procedures. I'll certainly do what's necessary. But it just seems funny that the reflux has only emerged AFTER going gluten free for many months. Hope it isn't getting worse for some reason. Silent Reflux. I'll have to investigate that possibility. Thanks.

Has anyone ever tried digestive aid supplements for reflux? Did they work?

[Gentleheart]

Gentleheart, have you had your thyroid function tested? Your symptoms of heart palpitations, anxiety, etc could be due to an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism). If your thyroid has been tested, or if you have it tested, be sure that the "Free T3 and Free T4" levels are measured and not just the usual TSH level.

Of course there are lots of other possible causes of your symptoms; this is just one possibility.

Yes. I have been thoroughly tested for thyroid issues many times. Nothing ever showed even slightly abnormal. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

[Nancym]

Trouble swallowing is also a thyroid symptoms but it is also a symptom of EE as well: Open Original Shared Link

[chrissy]

gentleheart---and endoscopy is nothing that you have to "endure"----i just had one recently and didn't remember a thing once they put me out. it doesn't leave any side effects, except maybe a slightly sore throat. i was out driving early in the afternoon after my procedure. i have reflux, two of my celiac girls have reflux, and my 3 year old had reflux so bad that she required surgery before she was 10 months old. untreated reflux can lead to esophageal cancer, so it is nothing to mess around with. i have trouble swallowing food and have had trouble in the past with it getting stuck and totally blocking off my esophagus----really painful. i am considering surgry myself because i don't want to take expensive meds for the rest of my life. don't know that this is helpful to you, but it's just a little more info for you to consider.

[mhb]

I really don't want to take drugs if I can avoid it and I sure was hoping to not have to endure an endoscopy for any reason either. I wonder if just remaining gluten free long enough will allow natural healing without all those invasive procedures. I'll certainly do what's necessary. But it just seems funny that the reflux has only emerged AFTER going gluten free for many months. Hope it isn't getting worse for some reason. Silent Reflux. I'll have to investigate that possibility. Thanks.

Gentleheart, How are you doing with this? I went GFDF in early June 08, and over the last month or so (Nov) I'm getting your exact problem. Like you, never had it before. Bummer. Has yours resolved? I have not had an endoscopy. Now there's research saying caffeine and chocolate are not the problem. Don't know what to believe and what to eliminate. I'm off gluten, dairy, soy, corn, beans, eggplant and potatoes. 2x tea a day, one piece dark chocolate some afternoons. Eggs and tomatoes don't seem to bother me that I'm aware of. How long after eating a GERD food does the symptom last if no other triggers come to play?

[AliB]

I see this all the time. Those who get better then get worse and start to develop weird reactions and intolerances to foods that were fine before, especially carbs.

Carbs are the biggest factor. Many of us with gut damage cannot digest them properly and undigested carbs are bacteria heaven! Hence the gas and bloating - they are kicking up a shindig in there! If you get gas, you know you have eaten something that is feeding the little beggars! Its all down to fermentation - what causes fermentation? Bacteria - yeast-based Candida being one of the biggest culprits.

The gas and bloating causes the top of the stomach to force up through the diaphragm creating a hernia. Food can't get down properly and gas can't get up. Often it creates a pocket at the top that traps the gas and creates a lot of pain. Mine used to cause pain right up into my throat. gluten-free settled it down initially but I quickly realised that it was down to more than just gluten and I was going backwards again.

Because gluten-free foods are much higher in carbs than gluten foods, we can end up eventually being worse off when we replace gluten with gluten-free. The beasties will end up travelling around the body in search of food, causing mayhem on the way in the form of other seemingly unrelated health issues that we have not experienced before.

An initial recovery may well simply be due to that in withdrawing their food source, namely the gluten, they die back somewhat, but then we start to introduce all this yummy high carb gluten-free stuff and they just pick themselves up, regroup, adapt to the new food source and come back with a vengeance.

The only real way of getting the better of them is to a)remove all forms of long-chain carbs and sugar from the diet for some time and b)prevent them getting a hold again by rebuilding the gut flora with good probiotics.

Quite a few of us on here have joined the large throng of those who have gained huge benefit from the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) that cuts out the offending foods and encourages probio replenishment, and are gradually healing properly. There is an SCD thread on the 'Other Food Intolerances and Leaky Gut Syndrome' section if you would like to know more. 'Breaking the Vicious cycle' and 'Pecanbread' are two very informative sites, too.

[ShayFL]

I had good success when I had a bout of GERD with "CeaseFire" by Vitamin Research Labs.

Open Original Shared Link

At first the the taste was kind of strong to me. But I grew to like it even. But it really did get rid of the reflux for me.

[Mtndog]

Yep, that's what GERD feels like. It's unpleasant as heck. I have "silent reflux" in that I don't get heartburn or the burning throat associated with it. I simply feel like food gets stuck, constantly.

I've had an endoscopy - and the GERD has caused erosion in my esophagus. I didn't even know that I *had* it. I've been taking Prevacid to help heal the erosions. More recently than my endoscopy was a barrium swallow. They noticed no reflux at all after a few months on Prevacid. So, going gluten-free has helped that particular issue, for me, as well.

I have GERD as well and am taking Prevacid. I feel like there's a chip stuck in my throat when I swallow. I've noticed it's worse with dry foods.

After my upper endoscopy last year, my GI told me I had a narrow esophagus and it could cause that sensation from time to time. It can also be related to nerve pain.

You should definitely get it checked out- especially since it's a new symptom for you.

[spunky]

I haven't had the chance to read all of the replies, but would just like to add my experience in case it's helpful at all...

I went gluten free in Feb of 06... by the summer of 06, began having these symptoms... felt like the sphincter of my esophagus was messed up or something... like felt like it wouldn't open up to let swallowed food in, and wouldn't open right to allow burping, which was beginning to increase in me also at that time, but seemed the sphincter would open up too much later and allow stomach acids to flush up, etc.

I have a habit of keeping symptoms to myself when they confuse or scare me, which I think is why I let celiac symptoms go on for years before I fianlly addressed them... so with this symptom, I shoved it under the rug and struggled through it... but it seemed to be some temporary thing that happened quite a bit during the first months gluten free, and has come and gone to a much lesser extent for maybe a couple of weeks at a time since then. Now I'm getting close to 3 years gluten free, and have not experienced this for quite a while...

Since I don't do doctors, I don't know what it was or what caused it... just know it was something that happened to me after my first few months gluten free, and now seems to have stopped happening... so... it's possible it's some weird adjustment or reactiveness to foods that happens during healing ... also, I should add that during that time I discovered I had to stop eating soy, eggs, and a few others things that seemed to have begun bothering me out of the blue... now I've added back the eggs... I am doing better with small amounts of soy infrequently.