Abdominal Pain - Worse In Morning

[KerriAnne]

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

[Guest kivmom3]

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]

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]

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]

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!

[Runner1978]

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]

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

[dinali63]

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.