Ibs, Gerd, Celiac

[pilatesgirl24]

Hi, everyone. I'm a 24 year old female who has been diagnosed with GERD and possible IBS. For over a year, I've been experiencing bowel problems including chronic constipation, pain while passing stool, and stools that contain bright red blood and mucus. I sometimes have gas and bloating, and once in a while small pieces of my stool float in the toilet (sorry for the graphic info!) This all started after I took a course of heavy antibiotics (Flagell) to treat an unrelated infection. I was tested for C. Diff. and had a colonoscopy when my symptoms began. Both tests came back normal, and my GI specialist concluded I had internal hemmoroids and told me to take fiber. Despite the fiber, my symptoms have persisted, and my GI doc. concluded I may have IBS. To complicate the picture, I've had epigastric pain, nausea, occasional vomiting, painful swallowing, and a sore throat for over six months now. I had an abdominal ultrasound as well as an upper GI endoscopy, both of which were normal. My GI specialist told me I have GERD, and I've been taking Prilosec twice a day. I'm very slim, I exercise, don't drink alcohol or much caffeine, don't smoke, and have been eating a low fat diet and avoiding foods that might exacerbate my symptoms. Yet, I still have almost daily symptoms, especially at night. I've read a little bit about celiac disease, and I was wondering if my symptoms might not be attributable to GERD/IBS after all. Is it possible I might have celiac disease? Any thoughts? Thanks so much in advance!

Maggie

[pilatesgirl24]

Hi, I'm a 24 year old female in need of some advice. I have been diagnosed with GERD and possible IBS, but I'm wondering if I might actually have celiac disease? The GERD diagnosis is based on epigastric pain, nausea, occasional vomitting, and occasional pain while swallowing. I've had these symptoms for about six months now and am taking Prilosec twice a day. I've also made recommended lifestyle change including avoiding fatty and acidic foods and caffeine. I'm already very slim, I exercise regularly, don't drink alcohol, and don't smoke. I'm otherwise very healthy. The medication and diet seemed to help for a while, but now I'm having almost daily symptoms again. I've had an upper GI as well as an abdominal ultrasound, both of which were normal.

I've also had bowel problems for almost a year and half. These symptoms include chronic constipation, gas, bloating, painful bowel movements, and stool that contains bright red blood and mucus. Sometimes small pieces of my stool float in the toilet. (Sorry to be so graphic!) These symptoms began after I took a course of heavy antibiotics (Flagell) to treat an unrelated infection. Inititally, my doc. thought I might have C. Diff. and did tests, which were negative. I had a colonoscopy, which was also normal. The GI specialist told me I probably had internal hemmeroids and possible IBS, so I've been taking fiber on his instruction. Yet, I still have sypmtoms much of the time.

Additionally, I have some strange skin bumps which come and go. I've had these for several years, but they seem to have gotten worse lately. They occur on my hands and fingers and also on my feet. They're not itchy, but they are painful at times.

Basically, I'm wondering whether anyone thinks my symptoms might be caused by celiac disease? Sorry this post is so long. I could really use some help and advice. Thanks in advance! --Maggie

[purple]

My 19 yr old daughter has/had a couple of your symptoms. Blood in her stools, bloating. Others are extreme pms, bumps on her face but they didn't itch or hurt, nightmares, fatigue, 2 or 3 hours to fall asleep, "growing pains" when she was little, allergies to dust and animals, doesn't tolerate milk well, always hungry, only 5'4", ovary pain at odd times, lack of glutathione, lack of concentration, bad memory.... The doc diagnosed her allergic to gluten, no testing done. She is alot better after 5 months of very little gluten. We are still working on it. She went from being diagnosed while at the dorm to an apartment now, so its hard to monitor it all.

I am not a Celiac so others will have better suggestions, but I would go a few days without gluten and then have some and see if it makes you sick. If Rachel posts she will give you alot of good wisdom along with many other people on here. They have been thru it so they know first hand.

[frec]

I am still not sure after reading your post whether you had a biopsy done on your small intestine with the upper GI? That is the best method of diagnosis. Did you have the celiac blood tests? Those can sometimes be negative even when you don't tolerate gluten--the biopsy is the best way. I had IBS and GERD and hemorrhoids prior to being diagnosed with celiac so this sounds awfully familiar to me.

If it isn't celiac--Taking the Flagell wiped out the friendly bacteria that normally live in your intestines and keep your digestive system healthy, and you may still be having trouble because of that. You could try taking acidophilus (Lactobacillus) to repopulate. (Find some without dairy in it.) You may also still be having trouble digesting dairy because of the infection and the antibiotic--that often happens to normal non-celiac people after a severe digestive infection. Dairy is always a good thing to avoid if your digestive system is upset; it is hard to digest. You could skip dairy for a while. If you have celiac avoiding dairy is a good thing to do as well.

There is lots of good information on this site. Many doctors--even some GI specialists, unfortunately--do not know much about celiac disease so you need to be informed. Good luck, and I hope you find an answer soon.

[pilatesgirl24]

Thanks to everyone who's replied so far!

Frec, to answer your question, I know I did have biopsies done when I had the GI endoscopy, but I don't know what the tissue was tested for; I was just told the biopsies all came back normal. I have an appointment with my GI doc coming up in a few weeks, so I will definitely ask about the specifics then! If a biopsy was done for celiac disease, and it was negative, does that conclusively rule out celiac or a gluten intolerance?

I did actually take acidophilus for a period of time, so I assume I should have repopulated my digestive tract with bacteria by now.

Also, I should add that when I say I have "mucus" in my stool, I usually have white, fuzzy-looking stuff embedded in and on the surface of the stool. I've kind of assumed it's mucus but I could be wrong. Other times, I have brown blobs in or with the stool that look sticky and stretchy like mucus. Sorry if that's TMI. : )

[veggienft]

We've dealt with this in our family. It looks like mucous, most GP's would call it mucous, but it's probably reconstituted fat. You are probably not reabsorbing bile acid, probably because your liver is producing insufficient cholinesterase.

Try cutting out tap water. Drink only purified water, distilled, deionized or reverse osmosis purified. It worked for us. We don't know why, and our G.I. specialist didn't know why. If it works, you'll probably have to continue the treatment for life.

If you need help with home purifiers, I have experience.

..

[leadmeastray88]

Hi, everyone. I'm a 24 year old female who has been diagnosed with GERD and possible IBS. For over a year, I've been experiencing bowel problems including chronic constipation, pain while passing stool, and stools that contain bright red blood and mucus. I sometimes have gas and bloating, and once in a while small pieces of my stool float in the toilet (sorry for the graphic info!) This all started after I took a course of heavy antibiotics (Flagell) to treat an unrelated infection. I was tested for C. Diff. and had a colonoscopy when my symptoms began. Both tests came back normal, and my GI specialist concluded I had internal hemmoroids and told me to take fiber. Despite the fiber, my symptoms have persisted, and my GI doc. concluded I may have IBS. To complicate the picture, I've had epigastric pain, nausea, occasional vomiting, painful swallowing, and a sore throat for over six months now. I had an abdominal ultrasound as well as an upper GI endoscopy, both of which were normal. My GI specialist told me I have GERD, and I've been taking Prilosec twice a day. I'm very slim, I exercise, don't drink alcohol or much caffeine, don't smoke, and have been eating a low fat diet and avoiding foods that might exacerbate my symptoms. Yet, I still have almost daily symptoms, especially at night. I've read a little bit about celiac disease, and I was wondering if my symptoms might not be attributable to GERD/IBS after all. Is it possible I might have celiac disease? Any thoughts? Thanks so much in advance!

Maggie

Hi there

Your symptoms could definitely be attributed to Celiac, which is one reason why its so hard to diagnose. The symptoms can be very similar to IBS/Colitis/Chrons/GERD, or some people have no symptoms at all. I, like you, have constipation instead of the 'classic' symptom of diarrhea. There really are no 'classic symptoms' anymore.

WHat you're experiencing is obviously not normal. You should go to your GI and ask for a complete celiac panel (bloodwork) and then an upper endoscopy, no matter what the bloodowork says! This is especially important because there are many people here who have had false negative bloodwork yet have a positive biopsy and vice versa. Let us know how you do and good luck!

-Kim

[gfpaperdoll]

well there is not such disease as IBS, just like there is no disease called vomitting. We call IBS the I Be Stumped diagnosis that the doctor hands out. IBS is a symptom of a problem, very common with celiac as GERD is also just a symptom, also very common with celiac. I laugh when I think about all the billions of dollars that drug companies make each year from acid reflux meds. All so that people can continue to eat the foods that give them that problem in the first place.

what you have to do is decide if you want blood tests & biopsy before you go on a gluten-free diet. And/or if you want to test thru Enterolab.

A lot of us have/had that swallowing problem, it goes away once gluten-free and maybe also dairy free. I used to have it & I am now gluten-free & dairy free & do not have it anymore.

IMO Crohn's is just a complication of celiac - at least that was the case for a friend of mine that had Crohn's, she tested thru Enterolab - at my urging, has a DQ2 gene & a DQ8 gene & was better on day 5 of the gluten-free diet. She was some angry at her doctors... No more Chron's & she is happy & healthy as a young woman her age should be - & she drives the coolest auto ever.

[elye]

I am still not sure after reading your post whether you had a biopsy done on your small intestine with the upper GI? That is the best method of diagnosis. Did you have the celiac blood tests? Those can sometimes be negative even when you don't tolerate gluten--the biopsy is the best way.

There can be false negatives with the biopsy, as well. It happened with my husband and son, and I am sure it happens regularly with others. We have twenty-two feet of small intestine, and areas of damage can be small and/or patchy. It is very easy for the GI to miss damaged areas with the camera and knife.

The only truly accurate diagnostic tool, time and time again, remains dietary response.