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

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams replied to Thoughtidjoin's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      3

      Dried Chickpeas

      If a package of dried chickpeas or lentils says “may contain” or “may have been cross contaminated,” that usually means they were processed in facilities that also handle wheat, barley, or rye. The concern is not gluten dissolved on the surface like dust that can simply be rinsed away, but small fragments of gluten-containing grains that may be mixed in duri...
    2. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to Thoughtidjoin's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      3

      Dried Chickpeas

      Welcome, While picking through chickpeas and lentils I have found little pebbles and on occasion, a kernel or two of wheat. Farm equipment and transport trucks are used to harvest different crops. It would be really expensive to have separate trucks and packaging lines for each crop. I have found sorting or picking through the peas or lentils...
    3. trents
      - trents replied to Thoughtidjoin's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      3

      Dried Chickpeas

      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @Thoughtidjoin! I would think so, yes. But you need to realize that cross contamination studies with lintels have shown the real problem isn't only coming in contact with gluten containing grains in processing but in the actual mixing in of cereal grain seeds in significant quantities with the lentils. I think it...
    4. Scott Adams
      - Scott Adams commented on Scott Adams's article in Origins of Celiac Disease
      7

      Do Antibiotics in Babies Increase Celiac Disease Risk Later in Life? (+Video)

      I think you're reading way too much into this study--it is a large population-based study, and when they do these they aim not to focus it on a particular smaller sub-set of the population, in fact, they take measures to be sure that doesn't happen.
    5. Thoughtidjoin
      - Thoughtidjoin posted a topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      3

      Dried Chickpeas

      Can I wash gluten off dried chickpeas or green lentils when the packet says “may have been cross contaminated?” Has there been any research into this? If so what are the results? If no research has been done why not? I am getting mixed advice from different sources, how serious is this or are the food manufacturer being over cautious? Many tha...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,431
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Dave162
    Newest Member
    Dave162
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Dried Chickpeas

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      If a package of dried chickpeas or lentils says “may contain” or “may have been cross contaminated,” that usually means they were processed in facilities that also handle wheat, barley, or rye. The concern is not gluten dissolved on the surface like dust that can simply be rinsed away, but small fragments of gluten-containing grains that may be mixed in during harvesting, storage, or packaging. Rinsing and sorting can reduce surface flour and remove visible stray grains, and many people do this successfully, but it does not guarantee that all gluten contamination is eliminated. Some limited testing has shown that naturally gluten-free grains and legumes can contain measurable gluten when cross-contact occurs in shared facilities, which is why manufacturers use precautionary labeling. The seriousness depends on the individual: for someone with celiac disease, even small amounts of gluten can trigger intestinal damage, so choosing certified gluten-free legumes is the safest option. Manufacturers are not necessarily being overly cautious; they are often acknowledging real cross-contact risk in complex agricultural supply chains.
    • knitty kitty
      Dried Chickpeas

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Welcome,  While picking through chickpeas and lentils I have found little pebbles and on occasion, a kernel or two of wheat.  Farm equipment and transport trucks are used to harvest different crops.  It would be really expensive to have separate trucks and packaging lines for each crop.   I have found sorting or picking through the peas or lentils along with a good rinse sufficient to make them safe for me.  Do remember that lentils and such are high in carbohydrates.  Eating a diet high in carbs can lower thiamine B1.  Good sources of Thiamine and other B vitamins are meats.  Extra thiamine is needed for tissue repair to grow the villi back and recovery from malabsorption.  Low thiamine symptoms (gastric Beriberi) are very similar to symptoms of a glutening.  Try adding thiamine hydrochloride or Benfotiamine and see if you still react to chickpeas and lentils the same way. Supplementing with extra thiamine is safe and nontoxic.   Best wishes.
    • trents
      Dried Chickpeas

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @Thoughtidjoin! I would think so, yes. But you need to realize that cross contamination studies with lintels have shown the real problem isn't only coming in contact with gluten containing grains in processing but in the actual mixing in of cereal grain seeds in significant quantities with the lentils. I think it was a study done by Gluten Free Watchdog I'm thinking of but they did an actual count of the seeds in a purchased mainline food company bag of lintels and found something like 20% of the content was wheat seeds. So, you'd better do some sorting first.
    • Thoughtidjoin
      Dried Chickpeas

      By Thoughtidjoin · Posted

      Can I wash gluten off dried chickpeas or green lentils when the packet says “may have been cross contaminated?” Has there been any research into this?  If so what are the results? If no research has been done why not? I am getting mixed advice from different sources, how serious is this or are the food manufacturer being over cautious? Many thanks Catherine
    • catnapt
      Collecting all possibly related lab work?

      By catnapt · Posted

      I've got some lab work results going back to 2010, various MRIs and CT scans and ultrasounds. I discovered two things that MIGHT be of interest to the GI doc tell me what you think? one is the results to an abdominal CT scan with contrast in 2013 that includes this:  "there is some thickening seen in the second and third portions of the duodenum"    Since this CT scan was for left lower quad pain, it was not followed up on   Then in May of 2024 I saw a foot specialist for problems with my feet. Some of that pain is due to a very obvious deformity of both of my legs- the right worse than the left. The dr suggested that my symptoms sounded like an auto immune condition (???) and I thought he was nuts but he ordered some lab work- it came back negative except for a weak positive on one test HLA-B27 and there was a follow up test recommended but that was never ordered and this dr gave me a useless Rx for custom insoles which he refused to address - and my calls to his office were never returned.   At that time I was having all over joint pains, plus some numbness in my feet (also stiffness) and some burning pain in my toes- esp the big toe on the right foot (the more deformed side of my body)   The last time I was eating any appreciable amount of gluten containing foods was in the period of Nov 2024 to around sometime in the summer of 2024. I regularly ate a barley soup that I loved and had subs and pizza and toast etc. I was no longer eating wheat pasta, had already switched to brown rice pasta but otherwise I had not yet made a clear connection between what I was calling 'refined grain products' and any symptoms that I had. And the symptoms were vague and could be attributed to other things.   I was referred to a neurologist in late 2023 for symptoms  of confusion/disorientation, that included loss of balance that I attributed, in part, to the inability to feel where my feet were. Some symptoms such as high spikes in blood pressure (some close to 200 over 100! scary stuff) were later determined to be due to covid or long covid (also had loss of sense of smell and taste)    I had periods of dizziness that did NOT include any spinning sensations, it was more of a feeling of lightheadedness as if my mind would go blank- very strange, never really got any answers about that but that eventually went away so not worried about that   WHAT OTHER THINGS from my past records might be good for the GI dr to know? I had my very first Vit D test done in 2023 and it was low at 23, supplements have gotten that up in the range of adequate but values varied up and down... most recent test was Nov 2025 and it was 45ish I think. That's on a min of 5000Ius per day (there are some fortified foods I eat sometimes that have added vit D)   I thought my serum calcium ran on the low side but it turns out that the reference ranges have changed for the labs that I use- one changed their RR back around er, 2014 I think? so I have no clue how to compare the results before and after those changes   calcium has never been below normal and most of my blood work looks "normal" except during illness or other issues like if I'm in afib- blood work looks insane LOL    I don't know what to make of all this but it sure will be nice to get some answers!         
×
×
  • 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.