Who Had Constipation, Not Diarrhea?

[Guest thatchickali]

Okay so I need someone who was IBS-C or similar diagnosis before celiac disease diagnosis.

So if this is you, what happens when you get glutened now? Have you switched to D. I think I have been contaminated 2 times and it was dizziness and nausea and mostly just fatigue and feeling like laying in bed all day. Some pain.....

Anyone?

[Guest j_mommy]

I alternated between D and C before DX.

Those sound like sypmtoms from being gluten or CC'd!!!!

when that happens to me I get D right away and then REALLY tired for a few days!

[Guest thatchickali]

I haven't had diarrhea, which is kind of nice, but I have horrible cramping still. In a couple days I might try cutting out dairy too. I use soymilk in my cereal but still consume things that contain dairy.

Anyone who was just constipated before diagnosis?

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Before diagnosis I was mostly (99%) just constipated.

After diagnosis when I got glutened, I had horrible cramps to the point, where I couldn't breath because of all the pressure and I thought, I explode. I couldn't walk and literally had to crawl up the stairs to the bathroom. Bloodpressure dropped, too. Horrible migranes, almost to the point where I had to throw up. Then there is always some blood in the stool, if I get glutened. I have always been a little sissy and never got a biopsy or an endoscopy to check, if anything else is alright. I'm really afraid, more could be damaged, but too much of a siss to get any other examinations done .

[somegirl2004]

  thatchickali said:

Okay so I need someone who was IBS-C or similar diagnosis before celiac disease diagnosis.

So if this is you, what happens when you get glutened now? Have you switched to D. I think I have been contaminated 2 times and it was dizziness and nausea and mostly just fatigue and feeling like laying in bed all day. Some pain.....

Anyone?

I alternated between constipation and diarrhea pre-diagnosis. When I get glutened, I get fatigued, nauseous, feverish, and want to curl up in a ball and never move! I have Crohn's, too, so I think that affects why sometimes I get diarrhea and sometimes constipation....

I hope it helps knowing you're not the only one with those symptoms!

[imsohungry]

Ok...this is not my favorite topic...but yep, ME!!!!!!!!!!!

I suffered a long, long time. I once took mag. citrate and 2 enemas to get myself to "move."

If I gluten myself, the first things to hit me are fatigue, joint pain, and the big C.

I only get D if I have a stomach flu or something.

As long as I stay gluten-free, I don't have the problem any more. It's amazing how it went from being a daily problem to literally gone.

A GI I saw one time told me that "some people go only once in fourteen days, if it hasn't been two weeks, don't call me just because you can't 'go'. "

Good grief! In fourteen days, I would blow up! Obviously, I found another GI...three of them actually (all of whom I liked because they were trying to find what was wrong with me), and the last two are who diagnosed me as gluten intolerant/celiac.

So, you are not alone! I've been there, chugged the fiber, ate the oatmeal, drank the Milk of Mag., all in the name of IBS w/C.

Take care. -Julie

[rsm]

I too had this for a long time, about 25 years before we figured out it was gluten. I had the D for about the first half and then had C the rest. I used enemas also to get moving and stop the hours of cramping and pain. I now use miralax for a few days and it does the trick. I have only been gluten free for 5 months so I know I haven't completely healed. If I do get any gluten it feels like a punch in the stomach for 2 or 3 days with gas and rumbling. Very bad!

[oceangirl]

Another voice to let you know you're not alone. Yes, me, too! 35 years of an IBS diagnosis and C or D alternating. But, if glutened now I feel as if concrete was poured through my system and everything is frozen and bloated and distended and VERY painful. Also, joint pain, hip pain, gurgle, "snakes in my belly", red eyes... blah, blah, blah... 3 days minimum just with cc. No fun. May it never happen to any of us again!

lisa

[Green12]

  thatchickali said:

Okay so I need someone who was IBS-C or similar diagnosis before celiac disease diagnosis.

So if this is you, what happens when you get glutened now? Have you switched to D. I think I have been contaminated 2 times and it was dizziness and nausea and mostly just fatigue and feeling like laying in bed all day. Some pain.....

Anyone?

I am also one that always had C, years of it, never D. In fact D wasn't even in my body's vocabulary it didn't know the meaning of the word.

Once I went gluten-free, I couldn't really tell if I had been accidentally glutened because I didn't experience immediate noticeable GI symptoms. Also my body has delayed and accumulative responses to the things I am allergic to and intolerant to so unless I am eating gluten a couple days in a row I might not experience any physical changes.

The longer I am off gluten and my other problem foods however, I have found that I am much more in tune with my body and if I do ingest an offender my symptoms are more obvious, immediate, and more pronounced every time.

You could have very well been glutened. I don't always get the GI symptoms, I feel kind of hungover, tired and dizzy and nauseated as you describe, and I have significant mood swings and I turn into a Gluten Monster, I want everything gluten! It's like the gluten beast has been unleashed.

[bluejeangirl]

I would eat enough fiber and ate whole grains for years and could never figure out why I was constipated. It got to the point where there was little movement and my appetite would go away. I knew it was bad to have my gut full and sitting that way for days. I was nauseated, head felt stuffed with cotton, sinues full, joints hurt. Then at night I would have bad dreams. I also lost 30 lbs.

All this led me to reading dangerous grains and a few other books and then here. I found out my cousin had celiac from birth and my grandma had stomach cancer etc, etc. Things just added up. Went gluten free and started to eliminate other foods that caused allergies.

When I get cc'd I'll get naucous, my lower bowel will spasm and make noise but I sit on the toilet and nothing. Its so frustrating. I'll also get heartburn and sooo much gas.

So no your not alone

Gail

[Guest thatchickali]

I appreciate the replies. Do ya'll who answered feel better now? Will the mental issues go away with the physical (anxiety, depression)

Ali

[gfpaperdoll]

Hi Ali, I forgot to tell you that you need to start taking a B12 RIGHT AWAY, get the sublingual that dissolves under your tongue. You will need to take this for the rest of your life - just trust me on this one. So run out & get your B12, I take 1,000mg a day - you could probably start taking 2,000 maybe search for B12 on here & see what other people are taking.

This will help your mood immensely, plus you need to be eating some nutritious meals. Plan out the things that you like & come up with what you are going to eat each day. Also, there is nothing wrong with taking an antidepressant for a bit, if you need it. It might really help you. Just make sure it is gluten-free

I think you should look at your choices and make sure you get some meat, fruit & veggies in every day. You also might try the almond butter at Whole Foods to see if you can tolerate the nuts...

I know that you are in transition with moving to college, so I know this has got to be hard for you.

Did you contact the Austin support group yet? I wish you were near me, I would just cook for you in my kitchen.

Before you cut out dairy you need to be set up where you can cook a steak or chicken for yourself or better yet a roast & then freeze portions of it. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it might not be the dairy, it might be the cereal & replacement grains that you are eating, most people in your situation cannot tolerate the grains. I know that you are trying really hard to just get substitutes for the things that you had been eating, but that usually does not work. You have to completely rethink how you are eating. I know that since you have been having so much damage & problems with food hurting you (IBS type) that this is difficult. Plus it takes a lot of time to cook & shop. For instance for your breakfast I suggest some of those corn tortillas with some of the chicken in them & at least one fruit. Then within 2 to 3 hours you need a snack. Try the nut butters or peanut butter & you need to get the Lundberg Rice Cakes (NOT the quaker ones) your snack could be some veggies & dip or another fruit or jam & nut butter on rice cakes. For you, I would say cut grains before you cut dairy. BUT for you I would say to limit your dairy to Cheese & butter & not to worry about cutting it our as an ingredient in anything. Baked potato is also a good breakfast food or an anytime food. Don;t forget to eat a baked sweet potato. There again I suggest you make a list of every food that you like that you can have because with all our restrictions it is hard to remember some of the things that we can eat. Then it is lunch, snack & dinner. You need to be carrying food with you everywhere you go. Check into ordering some of those Bento lunch containers - see the thread here in the parents of children section...

Also, I forgot to tell you about Canadian Bacon, I usually get mine at Walmart or Kroger it is in the area with the bacon & is a little package with two little round stacks of Canadian Bacon. This is wonderful stuff - you can freeze half of it in a baggie & then take it with you - when you are ready to eat it, it is already defrosted, you can chop this on top of a baked potato, salad, eat with cheese & fritos, sprinkle on top of an otherwise homemade veggie taco, eat with fruit for a protein to go with the fruit instead of nuts, if you still are not doing well with nuts. You can also fry this & roll up in those corn tortillas with PB & jam - LOVE those corn tortillas, everything can go in them!!!!

I hope you are feeling better soon. You have my number you can always call me & you know I am up late

[ravenwoodglass]

  thatchickali said:

I appreciate the replies. Do ya'll who answered feel better now? Will the mental issues go away with the physical (anxiety, depression)

Ali

In short for most of us this does goes away, gluten is a very powerful neurotoxin and unfortunately the way it effects the brain can make it difficult to medicate. But once the body has cleared the gluten and started to absorb some nutrients the depression and anxiety should ease. Some, like my family have found this symptom very usefull for telling whether we have a bug or gluten. If we get depressed and irritable and start thinking horrible self destructive thoughts or want to kill someone, it's gluten. But once you get through the initial part of the diet, which for those of us who have virtually lived off gluten comes often with a withdrawl phase, you should find those episodes to be few and far between.

Before I was diagnosed I could never imagine life without my gluten foods. It was almost all I ate. I would go to KFC to eat the breading and throw away the meat, my DD was the same. As I got sicker I often would eat just noodles and butter, sometimes for days. I wish I had known how much damage I was doing. When I was diagnosed it seemed like so much was gone. I broke down in tears at the grocery store during the first week. It was really hard at first, and I didn't have this site and all the wonderful, caring people on it. It was only a month before my body told me what a good thing I was doing though, and my mind felt clear and for the first time in a long time I felt actually happy.

gfpaperdoll has given you some good advice. I do hope you get the sublingual B12 as soon as you can. I saw from her post that you will soon be going to college. Make sure you make them aware of your dietary needs if you need to live on campus. My DD was put in senior housing her first year so she could have her own kitchen.

As to your original query about C, count me in up until I had my second child then I switched to 15 years of daily D. When I was a child and young adult I usually only had at most 2 'rabbit turd' (my Moms expression) movements a week. I also had the joy of impacted intestines, one of the most painful experiences of my life and the only time I almost passed out in a doctors office. I also had neuro effects, my skin was always either blistered from DH or covered in what they called 'pickers acne', joint and muscle pain and migraines all were present long before the D.

It can take a while both to adjust and heal but you will do both. You've certainly found the right place to guide you in the process.