Strange Abdominal Symptom

[lotusgem 0]

Hi Everyone! Before I get into my question, I want to say how impressed I am with all the caring and informed people in this group. Wow! I'm fast becoming addicted to this message board.

My question has to do with a symptom that I had as a pre-teen, more than 30 years ago. You see, until I had learned about Celiac disease and begun the diet several months ago, I had forgotten all about these unpleasant spells that I used to endure from time to time as a child. I feel certain that they were directly a result of Celiac, and wondered if anyone knows what they were. I used to sometimes feel my lower abdomen start to stiffen and get hard and I would hobble into my bedroom and lay down on my back. I could feel and see the outline of my innards start to swell or inflate and push out from what would normally be a flat stomach. It would continue to get worse and worse for a couple of minutes or so. I remember reaching out and touching the area and it was hard as a rock, and the part that was raised resembled the shape of a hose. I was vaguely aware of anatomy and decided that from the looks of the form, that it was probably my intestines. It was very scary for me as a child, not to mention painful. I was always afraid that something would burst. But after a few minutes the stress would subside and whatever was going on down there would relax and my stomach would flatten out again. Odd, but I never told anyone about it, either family or doctor. Can anyone tell me what was going on there?

[celiac3270 5]

Hmm...I don't know--I used to have a strange abdominal symptom--not sure if it was celiac or the malrotation, but when I felt sick, all the muscles in my stomach would tense up completely--making it look I had really amazing abs and my stomach would....get sucked inwards--without me trying to or anything....I think that was malrotation, not celiac, but another weird stomach thing. Sorry I can't help with your situation, cause mine was basically the opposite.

[lotusgem 0]

Thanks, celiac3270 for taking the time to reply. I wonder if it was malrotation. After I read your post, I did a little research on the subject. If what I understand is correct, the right side of the abdomen is where the action takes place, and that's the side that was most affected in myself. What I wonder now is if there is a connection between Celiac and this birth defect. Seems like I've noticed a few people participating in this message board that say they have both. Well, I saw your earlier post about your recent operation; I hope that you stay well and happy!

Paula

[celiac3270 5]

Thank you --it's been 19 days now w/o getting sick--I haven't gone that long in over a year!

Really? Who else has this? Also, I'm not trying to suggest that you have that-- do you still get that symptom or was it just in the past? If you no longer get the symptom, I think it would effectively rule out malrotation. If not--well, you said it started as a child...so who knows?

[lotusgem 0]

Way to go, celiac3270! 19 days and counting! You're on a roll (mal-ROLL-tation )

Gosh, I wish that I could tell you who I thought I saw that had both Celiac and malrotation, but I have no idea. I've been all over this message board and just don't remember, but could swear there were others. I realize that you are not suggesting that this could be the problem, but still, it is interesting and I had decided to research it but had forgotten the name. So you did me a nice favor by reminding me! No, I haven't had any other symptoms like that since childhood. That means that I can rule it out, huh? I had wondered about that. Well, good. Maybe we'll talk again sometime.

Take care.

Paula

[celiac3270 5]

Yes--your intestines wouldn't be twisting as a child and then all of a sudden stop--this is ongoing and will not be present without symptoms of some sort--which is why they usually find it at birth--often a baby has a problem, such as projectile (or green) vomiting. So yes--you can rule out malrotation. Congratulations, your intestines aren't messed up structurally