Celiac Intolerant?

[Lizking531]

I've been trying to find out whats wrong with me/my diet - For around 4 months now (coincidentally the same time I quit smoking) I developed chronic diarrhea 8-12 times/day-everyday, painful gas, intermittent back pain (kidney area - it usually gets a lump), major fatigue, bloating, and sometimes headaches or fever.

My regular doc did a stool, blood, and urine test - all negative. Saw her in Friday - had some drinks over the weekend - woke up Sunday 3 am vomiting, diarrhea, gas -She sent me to a GI Specialist. He gave me Methoscopalomine Bromide (generic for Pamine Forte), and sent me in for Endoscopy/Colonoscopy with blood and biopsy - Once again - all negative. I have one more test to do - a "breathe test" - Nurse said its the same as the lactose test, but with a different med. This test checks for bacteria overgrowth of the upper GI.

In the meantime, I've kept up a daily intake of probiotic drink (Bio-K: Dairy Free) and Activia yogurt. I've been taking my pill twice a day - before breakfast and before dinner - and not drinking alcohol. My diarrhea has subsided - kind of. It feels like I get totally constipated then I "exploded" These episodes occur every few days instead of daily now. The medicine has some pretty pesky side effects (blurred vision, dizziness), but it feels like I'm developing a tolerance to that.

Now for 18hrs or so, I feel great, I mean perfect - not a care in the world, but usually right after dinner and my pill - I get totally drugged up hungover feeling and cant move - totally drained and bloated and it feels like my insides are roller skating around in there. Sometimes I'll pass an obscene amount of gas very quickly and it will feel somewhat better, other times it lingers and if I'm lucky I'll get sleepy.

Everyone I've talked to - doctors, relatives, friends -seems to think its all nerves and I'm just tense or "its just a case of IBS"

I've been thinking of going gluten free and seeing if that helps - couldn't hurt right? Has anyone else had similar symptoms, etc? Could this be an overlooked food allergy?

I come from a German family raised on meat & potatoes & gravy. In the last year my diet has reached near vegetarian status - My gluten-free works at a natural grocery and loves to cook veggies - We get a veggie basket weekly from the local farm. Could my system just not know how to digest that much veggies properly?

The 2 foods I've found that leave me with minimal, if any, immediate side effects are Chicken Taquitos (the cheap frozen chicken/cheese rolled in a corn tortilla) and the white processed Mexican cheese dip.

Please help!!!!

[Eriella]

It feels like I get totally constipated then I "exploded"

I've been thinking of going gluten free and seeing if that helps - couldn't hurt right?

Hi! That is the best way to describe my GI issues, and that pattern is common among those with gluten issues. One of the reasons why all of your tests could come back negative, but you still have symptoms is non-Celiac gluten intolerance, which just means that you don't have the gene which causes damage to your villi in your small intestine when you ingest gluten, but you still are not able to consume gluten without major problems. The only way to find out is to go gluten free and stick with easily digestible, unprocessed, whole foods, like grilled meat (depending on what "near vegetarian" means, eggs, steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, and plain rice. Try that for a month and see if you have any improvement at all. If you do, then it is likely gluten is the cause of your problems.

[Lizking531]

Hi! That is the best way to describe my GI issues, and that pattern is common among those with gluten issues. One of the reasons why all of your tests could come back negative, but you still have symptoms is non-Celiac gluten intolerance, which just means that you don't have the gene which causes damage to your villi in your small intestine when you ingest gluten, but you still are not able to consume gluten without major problems. The only way to find out is to go gluten free and stick with easily digestible, unprocessed, whole foods, like grilled meat (depending on what "near vegetarian" means, eggs, steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, and plain rice. Try that for a month and see if you have any improvement at all. If you do, then it is likely gluten is the cause of your problems.

Near vegetarian - for me - mostly veggies, some meat (grilled or baked chicken) - usually days apart. A whole lot of wheat pasta, beans, tomato sauce. I'll have eggs for breakfast on the weekends & tuna salad sandwiches for lunch at work.

Would going gluten free before the breathe test affect the test? I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt so far. I think I'm going to request copies of my test results - they will do that, right?

It sucks - I started smoking a couple cigs per day to just ease the stomach symptoms - I know its not a very good treatment apporach, but in the meantime it keeps me from being hungry which in turn makes me eat which makes me feel worse than I felt being hungry. I'm sick of laying around. It gets depressing. My gluten-free gets mad because "all I do is lay around and sleep" But its not liek I'm trying to waste away. You wouldn;t want to do too much either if you felt like you were gonna puke each time you moved your head, or you'll mess yourself if you can't find a restroom in .2 secs.

The physical aspect is draining and it is starting to take over the mental. Its hard to stay positive and try when all you know is feeling bad.

Could the meds be a partial culprit?