Multiple Symptoms But No Answers

[amande01]

I've known that I've had celiac disease for 2 years now, but unforunately a gluten-free diet has not cleared up all my problems. I'm still suffering from some severe chronic symptoms. I bloat to the point where I look over 5 months pregnant, cannot fit into my pants, and even have trouble breathing. This bloating can occur because I'm either A) hungry sat down or laid down too soon after eating C) bent over for too long D) breathed in some air. I swear it just happens whenever it feels like it and everything is a trigger. Plus, the doctors I had didn't believe me for 2 years until it actually happened in their office (even though I had shown them pictures). Then 3 of them came in and looked at me (sitting there with pants undone trying to breathe normally) and did nothing. They basically said how interesting it was and how they had never seen this before, but did nothing to help. Additionally, I have intense pains in my stomach. It feels like I swallowed a box of toothpicks some days. Usually the pain then triggers my stomach to bloat. I also get terrible headaches. Normally they are triggered by light (tv light, light off the computer screen) or sometimes they just come out of no where. I'm hoping someone can help or has similar problems and has a diagnosis. My doctors are practically useless and it's getting very depressing. Please help!

[confusedks]

Do you have a GI dr? Have you been tested for a Small Bowel (Intestinal) Bacterial Overgrowth? You may want to google that...my GI is convinced that is what's causing my bloating. The treatment is a course of antibiotics. I did that and it helped a little bit, but I also have a whole bunch of other stuff going on with me.

Also, have you looked into Candida?

I will be watching this thread, because to be honest, I can't seem to stop bloating either.

[confused]

Do you have a GI dr? Have you been tested for a Small Bowel (Intestinal) Bacterial Overgrowth? You may want to google that...my GI is convinced that is what's causing my bloating. The treatment is a course of antibiotics. I did that and it helped a little bit, but I also have a whole bunch of other stuff going on with me.

Also, have you looked into Candida?

I will be watching this thread, because to be honest, I can't seem to stop bloating either.

I just had to say i had the bloat going to, until i started the candida diet today and my stomach is alot smaller today. Of course its not all gone, but the bloat is so much better, i would look into candida.

paula

[amande01]

I've gone through 2 GI doctors who both couldn't figure out what was going on. Now I'm seeing and endocrine specialist, but all my tests came back as normal. I actually did the bacteria overgrowth test and I came back with bacteria results that were 3 times the normal amount. I took the antibiotic and it actually made me gain 20 pounds in 4 months. It was crazy but I found out that antibiotics can actually cause weight gain. The antibiotic only helped for less than 2 weeks though. I'll have to check out that diet you both mentioned. I've actually never heard of it. Thanks for the replies!

[Fiddle-Faddle]

People here might be able so spot some clues if you post a typical day's diet.

Many of us had to temporarily (or permanently) give up dairy until our guts healed.

[confusedks]

Did you also take probiotics while you were taking the abx? If not, you would have a MAJOR yeast overgrowth I would think. Also, I was only on the abx for 10 days, maybe 12...no it was 10. I took probiotics because otherwise the abx kill both the good and bad bacteria, so you need to make sure you replenish your intestines with the good stuff.

[amande01]

At the time I took the antibiotics I didn't know anything about probiotics. I took a course a month after but I have a feeling that the antibiotics may have damaged quite a bit. In response to a typical day's diet: Yogurt, bananas, gluten-free cereal, eggs, salads, rice, vegetables, squashes. I'm a vegetarian so my diet is pretty restricted and I keep it fairly uniform so I can tell if a certain food is making me sick. I rarely eat rice pastas since spaghetti squash is actually cheaper. I do drink milk and eat dairy products but it's been 2 years of a gluten-free diet so I believe my stomach is fairly healed. I should also mention that normally my stomach only bloats in the late afternoon or evening. I never bloat in the morning. It's strange. It always happens after 3pm. Thanks for the suggestions so far!

[confusedks]

I am dairy free, and I feel that way I don't have to wonder if my symptoms are being caused by dairy since it's just always out of my diet. Dairy could be causing the bloating for sure. Also, I think it feeds yeast. I really don't have any answers to your bloating question since I am still trying to figure it out.

Have you tried an anti-candida diet? I don't know if that may help, because you have quite a lot of starch/sugar in your diet which feeds yeast. Just a thought.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

It is possible that your gut never did heal if you never went off dairy. Most people here report problems with dairy even after going off gluten. Many of us were able to add dairy back into our diets after a couple of months off.

The above poster might be right about an anti-candida diet. Your diet does seem very starchy, but I guess most vegetarian diets are. Do you have legumes, too, or just veggies? I don't see a whole lot of protein in your diet outside of eggs.

That's gotta mean something, bloating only after 3 pm! Maybe something you have for lunch?

[amande01]

I actually was dairy free for about a year right when I was diagnosed. I do eat a ton of beans, soy products, and tofu. People actually consume more protein than they really need due to cultural changes since the 80's. The bloating is odd because it happens very unexpectantly. I tried eating the same meals for a week and 4 days I was fine, bloated the fifth and sixth day, and back to normal on the seventh. I'm definately looking into the candida diet.

[hathor]

Have you tried keeping a food/symptom diary? Perhaps you can find a link there.

What do you have during the day usually that may cause bloating? Dairy and eggs would do it for me, but also any sugar alcohols (like sorbitol, mannitol, etc., found in sugar-free products). If you could post everything you had in a day when you experience your symptoms, perhaps we could do some sleuthing. People vary, but it seems like you have some trigger. What are you drinking, are you chewing sugar-free gum, taking medicines or supplements, etc.? It would seem strange that if everything was precisely the same, some days you would bloat and other days you wouldn't.

If worse comes to worse you can try an elimination diet. There is a vegetarian (really a vegan) one on Dr. McDougall's web site under the discussion of food allergies. It sounds like you are really suffering enough to go through the process.

[mftnchn]

Have you ever tried going soy free?

One thing about food sensitivities is that you can have delayed reactions, which makes it hard to track. In addition, if it is a food you are eating regularly, the symptoms are masked often, and come out in periodic symptoms that don't correspond to the time when you eat the food.

I read that soy has also been found to cause villi to shorten in some people. For me, gluten plus milk and soy made a difference.

Also the 3 pm makes me wonder if you do better after a lengthy "fast" overnight, whether there is some kind of build up as you eat through the day. Have you ever tried digestive enzymes? Perhaps you are not digesting proteins well or fats well??