Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Abdominal Pain - Worse In Morning

KerriAnne

By KerriAnne
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

KerriAnne Rookie
KerriAnne
Posted

Has anyone else ever had bad abdominal pain, particularly in the morning? Over my 3.5y on a gluten-free diet since being diagnosed, occasionally I have these spells where, even though I cannot easily identify any dietary changes, I feel horrible again...and then the symptoms resolve almost as suddenly as they came on. One particular symptom is abdominal pain - and I don't mean gas pain.

Pain is so hard to describe but I'll do my best... it's the worst in the morning but doesn't necessarily ever go away during these "spells", it gets worse with pressure (like if you suck in your stomach or press into your stomach), and it doesn't get better or worse with eating. Sometimes just taking a deep breath makes me feel the pain sharply. I have often wondered whether this is an indication of intestinal damage - do you think the damage caused by gluten is painful? For the most part I've done very well on the diet, so it's hard to imagine that these sick spells that may be caused by a mysterious source of gluten would cause enough damage to cause pain... but it's just a thought. I've had severe gas pain before - I'm fairly certain this pain is due to something else.... I just don't know what!

Let me know if you have ever felt this way or know what causes it.

Thanks.

Kerri

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Guest kivmom3
Guest kivmom3
Posted

Kerri

Just so you don't feel alone in your stomach pain....

I too have horrible stomach pain. It's about the same as you described. I am going to the GI celiac specialist tomorrow to see if he can figure out what is causing this horrible pain!!!

I can get back to you if he finds anything so that you can inquire to your doctor. Just PM me and I will get back to you.

Hopefully some other people will post to see if there is any other correlation....

Hang in there.

Gg

JNBunnie1 Community Regular
JNBunnie1
Posted

That sounds awful. Has that been happening ever since you went gluten-free? What's the frequency of it? It occurred to me you may have some kind of intestinal blockage, I don't know whether Celiac can cause enough damage to have pain like that when you're gluten-free. Ulcer, maybe?

KerriAnne Rookie
KerriAnne
Posted
  • Author

I had an ulcer years ago... doesn't feel the same as far as I can remember, and the pain this time is in the lower/central abdomen - my ulcer pain was under my ribs. I had this pain before being diagnosed - and in general, it went away with my other symptoms when I went on the gluten-free diet. I just wish I knew what causes it. I could be wrong - it could be gas pain, I suppose. I just don't get it. It's a deep stabbing-like pain. Anyhow, I'm going to go do some searching & reading to see what I can find... I'll let you all know if I get enlightened!

tempurachic Newbie
tempurachic
Posted

I can relate. I wake up with a painful abdomin often lately. I don't attribute it to consuming gluten or gas either. It particularly hurts under my ribs on the right. It feels hard to the touch and hurts badly. It's hard to push through in the morning. We have two little kids and there is no time to lay down and rest it seems. My husband encourages me to lay down after work and take it easy but it's not practical. Life still has to go on.

Before my stomach would bloat up if I ate gluten. But for the last two weeks my stomach is constantly bloated. It sucks. It hurts. I don't know what is causing it. It's embarassing because it looks like I'm pregnant...and I'm not! My stomach measured at 39 inches and that's no where near my usual size. My clothes arn't fitting and that's discouraging too.

I went to my GI doctor and he ordered another CAT scan. I'm thankful to have an attentive doctor but I'm confident the CAT scan is going to come back negative which is good but doesn't help us explain what's goign on.

It feels good to say this stuff to other peopel with celiac disease. My husband is wonderful and fully supportive but i know he's getting a little weary of this bout with my stomach being so bloated and me not being my usual self.

If anyone has any words for me I'd love to hear them!

  • 2 weeks later...
Runner1978 Rookie
Runner1978
Posted

I've been gluten free for about a month and I feel sicker now than I did then. I have the same pains you have described. I also have a complete loss of appetite, which is not normal given that I'm a runner. These pains are worse in the morning and they are followed by nausea. I also get them throughout the day.

Please let me know what you find out.

oceangirl Collaborator
oceangirl
Posted

For the females with this pain: Please check this out with a GYN just to be safe. Celiac and GI symptoms can be many things. Where you've had this for awhile, KerriAnne, I think you should check out your reproductive system just to have peace of mind. Of course, you may already have done this. I have terrible abdominal pain with gluten and now am having some again although I live in a gluten-free household and make everything myself! Very frustrating! I hope you fel better very soon!

lisa

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


dinali63 Rookie
dinali63
Posted

I was diagnosed with celiac disease and have been on a gluten free diet for a little over three months. At first I did a lot better on the diet and was feeling great, then I started having the same kind of stomach pains. I posted last week, and got some great suggestions, and on Monday cut out soy from my diet (I realized that many of the prepared items I was eating contained some sort of soy). The pain improved in a day and this morning I feel great!

Always check things out medically, but you may want to think about other food intolerances. :)

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,394
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Graceland.h
    Newest Member
    Graceland.h
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Coeliac UK Research Conference 2025

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Thanks for sharing this!
    • Scott Adams
      Shingles - Could It Be Related to Gluten/ Celiac

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I had the same thing happen to me at around your age, and to this day it's the most painful experience I've ever had. For me it was the right side of my head, above my ear, running from my nerves in my neck. For years before my outbreak I felt a tingling sensation shooting along the exact nerves that ended up exactly where the shingles blisters appeared. I highly recommend the two shot shingles vaccine as soon as your turn 50--I did this because I started to get the same tingling sensations in the same area, and after the vaccines I've never felt that again.  As you likely know, shingles is caused by chicken pox, which was once though of as one of those harmless childhood viruses that everyone should catch in the wild--little did they know that it can stay in your nervous system for your entire life, and cause major issues as you age.
    • trents
      Blood tests low iGA 4 years later digestive issues

      By trents · Posted

      Keep us posted.
    • Clear2me
      Gluten free nuts

      By Clear2me · Posted

      Thanks for the info. I recently moved to CA from Wyoming and in that western region the Costco and Sam's /Walmart Brands have many nuts and more products that are labeled gluten free. I was told it's because those products are packaged and processed  in different  plants. Some plants can be labeled  gluten free because the plant does not also package gluten products and they know that for example the trucks, containers equipment are not used to handle wheat, barely or Rye. The Walmart butter in the western region says gluten free but not here. Most of The Kirkland and Members Mark brands in CA say they are from Vietnam. That's not the case in Wyoming and Colorado. I've spoken to customer service at the stores here in California. They were not helpful. I check labels every time I go to the store. The stores where I am are a Sh*tshow. The Magalopoly grocery chain Vons/Safeway/Albertsons, etc. are the same. Fishers and Planters brands no longer say gluten free. It could be regional. There are nuts with sugar coatings and fruit and nut mixes at the big chains that are labeled gluten free but I don't want the fruit or sugar.  It's so difficult I am considering moving again. I thought it would be easier to find safe food in a more populated area. It's actually worse.  I was undiagnosed for most of my life but not because I didn't try to figure it out. So I have had all the complications possible. I don't have any spare organs left.  No a little gluten will hurt you. The autoimmune process continues to destroy your organs though you may not feel it. If you are getting a little all the time and as much as we try we probably all are and so the damage is happening. Now the FDA has pretty much abandoned celiacs. There are no requirements for labeling for common allergens on medications. All the generic drugs made outside the US are not regulated for common allergens and the FDA is taking the last gluten free porcine Thyroid med, NP Thyroid, off the market in 2026. I was being glutened by a generic levothyroxin. The insurance wouldn't pay for the gluten free brand any longer because the FDA took them all off their approved formulary. So now I am paying $147 out of pocket for NP Thyroid but shortly I will have no safe choice. Other people with allergies should be aware that these foreign generic pharmaceutical producers are using ground shellfish shell as pill coatings and anti-desicants. The FDA knows this but  now just waits for consumers to complain or die. The take over of Wholefoods by Amazon destroyed a very reliable source of good high quality food for people with allergies and for people who wanted good reliably organic food. Bezos thought  he could make a fortune off people who were paying alot for organic and allergen free food by substituting cheap brands from Thailand. He didn't understand who the customers were who were willing to pay more for that food and why. I went from spending hundreds to nothing because Bezo removed every single trusted brand that I was buying. Now they are closing Whole foods stores across the country. In CA, Mill Valley store (closed July 2025) and the National Blvd. store in West Los Angeles (closed October 2025). The Cupertino store will close.  In recent years I have learned to be careful and trust no one. I have been deleberately glutened in a restaurant that was my favorite (a new employee). The Chef owner was not in the kitchen that night. I've had  a metal scouring pad cut up over my food.The chain offered gluten free dishes but it only takes one crazy who thinks you're a problem as a food fadist. Good thing I always look. Good thing they didn't do that to food going to a child with a busy mom.  I give big tips and apologize for having to ask in restaurants but mental illness seem to be rampant. I've learn the hard way.          I don't buy any processed food that doesn't say gluten free.  I am a life long Catholic. I worked for the Church while at college. I don't go to Church anymore because the men at the top decided Jesus is gluten. The special hosts are gluten less not gluten free. No I can't drink wine after people with gluten in their mouth and a variety of deadly germs. I have been abandoned and excluded by my Church/Family.  Having nearly died several times, safe food is paramount. If your immune system collapses as mine did, you get sepsis. It can kill you very quickly. I spent 5 days unconscious and had to have my appendix and gall bladder removed because they were necrotic. I was 25. They didn't figure out I had celiac till I was 53. No one will take the time to tell you what can happen when your immune system gets overwhelmed from its constant fighting the gluten and just stops. It is miserable that our food is processed so carelessly. Our food in many aspects is not safe. And the merging of all the grocery chains has made it far worse. Its a disaster. Krogers also recently purchased Vitacost where I was getting the products I could no longer get at Whole Foods. Kroger is eliminating those products from Vitacost just a Bezos did from WF. I am looking for reliable and certified sources for nuts. I have lived the worst consequences of the disease and being exposed unknowingly and maliciously. Once I was diagnosed I learned way more than anyone should have to about the food industry.  I don't do gray areas. And now I dont eat out except very rarely.  I have not eaten fast food for 30 years before the celiac diagnosis. Gluten aside..... It's not food and it's not safe.  No one has got our backs. Sharing safe food sources is one thing we can do to try to be safe.        
    • Mmoc
      Blood tests low iGA 4 years later digestive issues

      By Mmoc · Posted

      Thank you kindly for your response. I have since gotten the other type of bloods done and am awaiting results. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.