The One Symptom That Won't Go Away

[lilliexx]

I am not really sick anymore, but still having major gas and loud stomach growling. it happens pretty much when i eat anything. my stomach doesnt hurt, but the gas is so bad it feels like something is alive in side of me. (yikes)

i am not sure if this lingering symptom is just something that takes longer time to heal..or if it is something else not related to gluten.

i have been gluten free for 6 months...and am very careful.

if anyone else has this problem, any advice would be helpful.

thanks a lot

lillie

[Carriefaith]

I still have gas and stomach growling, but I found it got a lot better after I eliminated lactose. I think the gas a bloating will go away with time. Hopefully

[minibabe]

Medaka if you have alot of bloating and stomach growling you think that it is driectly related to lactose? That is one of my huge problems. I feel bloated every day, there is never a day when i feel great. But also i do eat cereal in the morning. (Dont worry Wheat Free) How long did it take for your symptoms to start going away?

[Carriefaith]

minibabe,

I find that when I eat any amount of lactose I get extreme gas, bloating, stomach growling, and then diarrhea Not fun. By any amount of lactose I mean even milk chocolate or candy with lactose listed as an ingredient (I am super sensitive)! I avoid gluten and lactose like a plague.

Lactose intolerance is common in celiacs. When celiacs eat gluten, it flattens the villi in the small intestine. The enzyme that breaks down lactose in the body is located at the tip of the villi in the small intestine and when the villi are flattened, the body can't naturally break down lactose. Therefore, many celiacs are temporarily lactose intolerant until the villi heal. The healing may take time depending on the extent of villi damage.

Try avoiding lactose for a few weeks it may just be your problem! Some people use lactaid, which is gluten free. Lactaid doesn't work for me.

(I still have gas/bloating/diarrhea but my intestines are still sensitive due to all the gluten I ate before I went gluten free resulting in temporary IBS).

[lilliexx]

i dont eat much lactose iether, i drink soy milk and eat dark chocholate. i do eat cheese , but i dont think cheese and yogurt effects people with lactose intolerence.

it doesnt really matter what i eat. i seem to get the gas after every meal.

i hope it goes away with time, but in the mean time is there something i should take for this?

[lyoung2]

I am having the same problem. I have been gluten-free for 4.5 months. I never did have a gas issue until 5 days ago. The heartburn is killing me!!!!! I don't do dairy, and have tried eating more, eating less, nothing is helping.

Any suggestions?

Laura

[cdford]

I had to go lactose free for several months at the beginning, but then was able to add back small amounts of dairy. Now after well over a year, I can handle it well unless I eat certain cheeses. The advice from these others is a good place to start. It has helped four of our family members. Hopefully you will be like me as you heal and be able to add back some dairy over time.

[kvogt]

Be it lactose or some other food, there is probably something in your diets that is giving you trouble. Try eliminating carb foods one at a time and see if that makes a difference. Gas comes from the lower quadrant and is produced by flora (bacteria) found normally there. Food for these bacteria are undigested foods, particularly sugars (beans excel at this) and carbs, which get through because of our digestion problems. We can tend to overconsume carbs, which exacerbates the problem.

[lilliexx]

well that makes sense, i guess. when i did the south beach diet for a few weeks my gas went completely away. i shall try to reduce my carb intake again, and see what happens.

thanks for the input.

[melzie]

I was wondering how a person could be lactose intolerant and still eat cheese? I have elimanted almost all except fot meat and veggies and I have the worlds worst gas and the bloating and stomachache is unreal? I have read here some of you have been gluten-free for ten months? Did you all decontaminate your kitchen too? I am at such a loss with this disease and any help would be great..I was sick for fourteen months with test after test until I went for a second opinion and got the celiac disease dx..Blood test and biopsy were positive..I still sometimes dont believe I have it cause nobody in my family has stomach problems at all? Any other reason I could have gotten it? I have the chills everday and in the first two months of being sick I lost thirty pounds?

Any suggestions are helpful...

Melanie gluten-free since Dec 04

[newby]

Hi Everyone,

I would suggest that a lot of you do have an allergy to lactose and probably caesin - a milk protein. Caesin is found in a lot of soy products and other products. Because celiac disease causes a dairy allergy too, I would suggest you to get food allergy blood work for the top 100 foods.

Also, my naturopath put me on betaine HCl, which I take with a meal, and it alleviates the bloating and gassy heavy stomach.

"supplementing with betaine HCl (a compound that contains hydrochloric acid) often relieves the symptoms of heartburn and improves digestion, at least in people who have hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid). The amount of betaine HCl used varies with the size of the meal and with the amount of protein ingested. Typical amounts recommended by doctors range from 600 to 2,400 mg per meals."

Take care

~ Newby

[melzie]

Hello!!

I will mention that to my Dr..Right now they are retesting me cause an expert at the Mayo in Rochester,Mn isnt too sure I have celiac disease...I just had all the blood work and it was neg which the only test I had originally come back positive was the TTg was 50 and now its 16....They are doing the Gene test too and I had a bone scan so I dont know..

The lingering Question, Do i have celiac Disease or do I not??

[rmmadden]

I have gas/belching with my celiac disease and it's not much fun. I was told that I have gastritis in the stomach (diagnosed from my endoscopy test) and it seems like it varies in severity depending upon how much stress I have and what I eat. Try to watch both is the only advice I can offer. Mine has been better the last few weeks as I am done with the traveling part of my job (Creating The Stress) until late fall and, I've cut back my diet a bit to try and prevent any flare-ups related to food.

Hopefully we both have better days ahead of us!

Cleveland Bob

[Maggie1956]

Lactose intolerance is common in celiacs. When celiacs eat gluten, it flattens the villi in the small intestine. The enzyme that breaks down lactose in the body is located at the tip of the villi in the small intestine and when the villi are flattened, the body can't naturally break down lactose. Therefore, many celiacs are temporarily lactose intolerant until the villi heal. The healing may take time depending on the extent of villi damage.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm lactose intolerant. When I had the endoscopy, the villi were 'total atrophy'. That's mean that they are totally flattened, right?

Therefore, would it be reasonable for me to assume that the part of the villi which helps break down lactose is missing/damaged too??

I DO get pain when I have a lot of dairy. Cheese gives me pain and constipation.

My doctor has diagnosed me, but he hasn't spoken to me since then about celiac disease. So, I'm sorting myself out with a lot of help from this group.

[hthorvald]

The next time you see your doctor, you may want to ask him about a pro-biotic. Apparently, Celiacs need to build up the necessary bacteria in their intestinal tracts. Sometimes if it's out of whack, bloating and gas can occur. Lactose might be a consideration, but if you elminate it and still have problems, you may want to give pro-biotics a try. They are available at your health food store. But check with your GI doc first.

[Maggie1956]

Thankx for that info hthorvald. I do get a lot of gas, bloating etc after eating any dairy. How long would I have to go without dairy to see if it makes a difference?

[hthorvald]

I'm not sure, I'm not lactose intolerant any more (thank goodness). I stopped eating anything with lactose in it for the first couple of months after being diagnosed and then slowly introduced it back into my diet. I've had little problems since, but then again, I only eat yogurt and, occasionally, cheese.

I had a huge problem with eggs after I was diagnosed. Because I couldn't eat my typical oatmeal and english muffin, I switched to grits and gluten free bread. To change the diet slightly, I'd have a boiled egg everyother day. Boy did it tear up my stomach. I should try again, since it's been a few months, but am a little gun shy.

Good luck with your solutions.

Helen.

[tom]

Thankx for that info hthorvald. I do get a lot of gas, bloating etc after eating any dairy. How long would I have to go without dairy to see if it makes a difference?

I saw great change in 2 days and felt a TON better in 5.

Gluten-free Casein-free diet is very common. (gluten/casein)

The weird part is that alleged non-dairy creamers actually are not. The ingred labels all include the phrase "a milk derivative" after the Sodium Caseinate listing.

But besides skeptically reading labels of products claiming "non-dairy", it isn't too hard. I use Silk brand soymilk in coffee, cereal etc and it's great.

[melzie]

Hi all

Well right now I am in the midst of gettting a wrong diagnosis...I had my stuff sent to a specialist at the Mayo in Rochester, Mn and he looked at my biopsy and he isnt sure i have the disease..He ordered some tests I had the gene test and all the blood tests, all the blood came back neg so I am waiting for the gene test now and I had a bone scan so who knows..'

VEry frusterated now so I started drinking beer again and i havent had a problemn yet I dont want to attempt eating gluten yet till I know so who knows I shall know soon if I have celiac disease or not..

Crazy!!

[debmidge]

Melzie, If I understood you correctly, you are drinking beer but avoiding gluten. Beer=gluten (unless you are drinking the special gluten-free beer).

RE: Cheese consumption. I've been lactose intolerant (severely) for over 20 years and cannot digest soft, moist or creamy cheeses -- like Ricotta or cottage or some muenster unless I eat a Lactaid pill with it. And the Lactaid pills can be "pot shot" meaning that they don't work all the way sometimes.

I learned that the harder in texture the cheese is, the less lactose it has. So a hard parmesan (a grating cheese) will have less lactose than american cheese slice. I don't know if Lactaid brand cheese is gluten-free.

[melzie]

Hi..

I am on the gluten challenge right now which isnt all its cracked up to be....I have a Dr that dx me with Celiac and I have a specialist that said he isnt sure it is celiac disease??? I am so lost so yes i am drinking beer and that doesnt bother me but I had alsagna tonight and about 1 hour or so later and now I want to curl up and cry..My tummy doesnt like me at all...I am suppose to go to The Mayo in Rochester mn and have more tests but right now I am thinking screw the challenge and forget the Mayo..

Beer tastes great and it doesnt bother me, but doesnt mean I dont have the disease either..

[debmidge]

Melzie,

Do you have symptoms other than gastro?