Is It Celiac?

[boomboomjak]

hi, i'm new to this whole thing and i'm not sure what to think of it.

i guess it all started months ago in the middle of second sem. i would always get these "farting" noises coming from the side of my hips during first period class which is very early in the morning. i used to think hunger was the cause since i just wasn't eating enough for breakfast. so i started eating more. cereals and stuff like that with the occasional glass of milk. it worked. i felt energized, but something was still wrong. the noises were still there despite the full stomach. in fact, i think it got much louder than before. i can feel the rumbling especially when i drink milk or eat any dairy product. the loud, annoying noises would usually occur during first period but as the day progresses it gets quieter or sometimes just plainly disappears. a few weeks later after still hearing the noises, i decided to check this out on the net. that's when i found out about IBS. one site i went to insisted going on a high fiber diet. so i persisted with that up to the end of the school year. at the start, i had this huge box of cheerios that i would eat, just that and nothing else. it worked tremendously. my guts were silent till i finally ran out of cheerios (lol). then i moved on to all brand, which was good up until i got tired of the taste. and that's when the noises came back again. so i decided to cut the cereals for a bit and fruits became my number one meal. it worked for the most part. there were still some noise, but not as much and not as loud. by the time final exams rolled around, rice krispies and ritz crackers became part of my breakfast. since it was going to be a whole week of silence, i was really worried that people would hear the noises. for some reason, it gets louder when its really quiet especially when i panic. surprisingly for that whole time, i was able to control my insides. i was calm and relaxed which was great because i was able to concentrate. as for the summer, it was on and off. i didn't get to follow the diet due to a trip to the philippines, the place where i grew up. once i got there, i pretty much ditched the whole diet thing and just ate whatever. i got a couple of stomach aches, but prolly cos i was still re-adjusting to the climate. also i remember getting alot of those when i was a kid growing up there. i drank a couple of beers though that was after the stomach aches. when i got back, i decided to carry on with the diet. after a couple of days, there were still noises and i wasn't sure whether i should continue. maybe i was just impatient but i was really getting tired of the sounds. i surfed the net once again, looking for the cure. celiac disease came up on one of the searches. it seemed like a good fit for my situation so i gave the whole gluten-free thing a try. it worked, barely any noises at all. then out of nowhere, i stumbled upon this site. i've been lurking for a couple of days now and from what i've seen so far, a lot of celiacs experience more than just intestinal grumbling. pain and rashes for example, which i don't get at all. some even say they feel really sick after eating gluten, i just get the noises. that's it. though i think the lactose intolerance i'm getting lately could be from the gluten. so what do you guys think? could it be either celiac disease or simply gluten intolerance? IBS or lactose intolerance? this is something completely unknown to me and i really hope you guys have the answer.

thank you very much in advance.

[boomboomjak]

also i seem to get diarrhea from time to time.

any help guys?

[ohsotired]

If you went gluten free and it helped, then yes, you could be looking at either gluten intolerance or Celiac Disease.

I too had the grumbly stomach. I call mine 'the alien baby' because it's not only extremely loud but I can feel movement (gas in my intestines - sorry if that's TMI, but you'll get lots of that here! ). Once going gluten free (and I'm still working on this) things have settled down considerably. That's one of my first symptoms to know I've been glutened. The Big D (and I don't mean Dallas) quickly follows that.

You mentioned that lots of people here had much worse symptoms than the grumbling, but there are also people here who had no symptoms whatsoever. It might be a good idea to see your doctor and have the blood tests run. If you do, make sure that you request ALL the blood tests, or your doc might only run one or two if they aren't knowledgeable about Celiac Disease.

Good luck to you!