Why The Tummy Rumbles?

[Debbie65]

Just out of interest, how many of us have the tremendously loud tummy rumbling as a first sign of having been glutened?

Have you ever sat in a meeting or on a date holding your breath and discreetly pressing your stomach knowing that if that horrible crawling feeling reaches the other end of you digestive tract before the meeting finishes the result will be very embarrassing?

And finally, what causes the noises?

[Juliebove]

AFAIK I don't have gluten problems but I do have food allergies and that is a symptom. Eggs are my worst allergy and if I eat an egg you'd think there was an ocean crashing and falling in there. Luckily most of the time this happens it's night and I'm home in bed so nobody else has to hear it.

[angelbender]

Ahhhhhh........you must be referring to The Pinball Machine......yes? I don't know what actually causes it (gas?) but with my progress on the gluten-free diet it has much diminished.....much. I call it The Pinball Machine because that's how it behaves......bing! ping! pong! and zing! as whatever it is rounds the curves......can you identify? I had to learn to recognise when that started because pretty soon down the road is a 97.38% chance of a visit to my "office" (bathroom). I asked my GI doc last time how fast my by product was probably rushing thru the machine but we got waylaid disussing where it's actually parked for awhile........I am soooooooo distracting. Sorry I guess I got off the thread a bit here. I also found that until recently, products with yeast caused me The Pinball Machine.....that seems to be better now and since I have given up gluten for Lent, I should be all set.

[jennyj]

I can go days, weeks, or months, without a tummy grumble but you can rest assured that if I go to a funeral and sit down within minutes my tummy lets everyone around me know that I am there. I had two funerals this past weekend and each day even if I ate a small snack before I went in the silence you would hear ERRRRRRRRRRR, people try not to laugh but you can only hold a hymnal so close before you can't breathe anymore.

[jerseyangel]

Oh yes--for me, the growling comes along with painful cramping. I love the Pinball Machine analogy--that's what it seems like!

As the situation progresses, the gas begins, and then the trip to the bathroom.

Yep, the very first symptom is the rumble