Incontinence

[nw0528]

Hi,

I'm new here - just diagnosed Thursday and just started gluten-free lifestyle.

My symptoms actually started this past July, but I believed it was a bout of IBS (for which I had been symptom-free since 2005) due to being about to return to work after being home with my son for two years - and having to then put him in daycare. Anyhow, I assumed when I returned to work and things settled down my symptoms would go away. They did not.

My primary symptom was very frequent bowel movements (but not always diarrhea), with great urgency and I was often not able to "hold it." Although this was two years after giving birth to my son my OB/GYN at my annual exam in December suggested the incontinence might be damage to the sphincter muscles from chidlbirth (although I did not have forceps, episiotimy, etc.) and referred me to a specialist for that (for a rectal ultrasound and other interesting tests to check the function of the muscles). My OB/GYN is also the one who found I was anemic and recommended I go to my primary care dr. while waiting for the appt. with the specialist.

Since then I went to my primary care dr. and she is the one who ordered the bloodwork and found the celiac disease. She said she hasn't had patients who have had incontinence as a symptom of celiac disease. I'm curious if any of you have had this symptom too.

Now I am trying to decide if I should keep or cancel the appt. with the specialist (it's this week). Even if he finds some muscle weakness, I wonder really if someone with perfect muscle tone/control would be able to control these bowel movements. My bowel movements drastically changed in every way in July - if they had not changed but I had had incontinence, I would think it might have been muscle control issue, but since it was the stools that were so different, I'm thinking the incontinence was related to celiac disease. (I'm only 35 and these symptoms did not start until two years after giving birth to my son.)

Thansk for any insight you can offer.

Nicole

[CDFAMILY]

Dear Nicole,

Yes bowel urgency is a sign of Celiac just not a commonly mentioned one. The reason probably is that most women/men do not want to mention bowel accidents to doctors. I did send a note to DR. Green to put this symptom on the list....but still don't see it.

I also had some IBS symptoms starting immediately after the birth of my first child 1981...mostly gas problems which I never had before.

Before the birth of my third child the urgency and accidents started. Before the birth I thought it was the iron that caused the problem. After the birth I thought it was my fourth degree rip (into my rectum). I mentioned it casually to my doctor who gave me the name of a doctor that does repairs. I never went. I figured this was just life and accidents didn't happen too often but there was always urgency.

Fast forward 2001 and the gas and urgency is getting worse. I finally discussed with my female doctor the difficult time I was having with gas and she told me if I tried all the over the counter medications, there was not much she could do. Still to embarrassed to mention the "other" problem.

Finally in 2005 when my symptoms increased to many neurological symptoms and a diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis, I found info on Braintalk about Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac Disease. With their guidance and help I received a Gold star diagnosis. Within a year my urgency, accidents and gas were gone and I had a very seriously bad rip into my rectum and was told I would have control issues.

So, my thoughts are to wait a little while and if the problems don't clear up in a few months then maybe reschedule. You really don't want stitches and scarring in an area that doesn't need it.

Hope this helps.

[ravenwoodglass]

I had severe nerve damage due to celiac and this was one of the issues that finally got me diagnosed. Do keep the appointment with the specialist, I saw a GI surgeon. What he did was send me to Physical Therapist to see if she could help before he was going to do surgery. For me it got to the point where it wasn't just that I couldn't hold it, I couldn't tell I had to go until a few seconds before I needed to be in the bathroom. In my case the PT was able to help a great deal. She used a biofeedback type of thing and excercises that I did at home. It helped a lot although what helped me most was her nagging me to see an allergist to guide me through an elimination diet, I wasn't yet diagnosed at that point. I was very far advanced by the time I asked for help but I still got a pretty good resolution of the problems.

[lizard00]

Open Original Shared Link

I found that article last year sometime while searching for something else celiac related. Anyway, it popped back in my head. I remember it being longer though, and that the woman had no issues after 6 months or something along those lines. But, maybe it's a different one.

Anyway, maybe your doctor hasn't had any patients with this specific symptom, but that doesn't mean it isn't one.