Food Intolerance Symptoms - Gluten Or Other?

[Rhoger1]

Hi all, am new to this site and it has been very helpful so far.

I was wondering if anyone else has the same symptoms I have and can provide some guidance. Seems to have hit me over the past 4 months starting with "D" and loose stools without much notice occuring 1 or 2x per week. As time went on, symptoms got worse to currently involving loose stools (not formed) 5, 6 x per week and 2,3 times per day. Also starting to get stomach pain that seems to last for many days, almost feeling like the system is trying to heal itself, but struggling.

GI Dr. says everything is ok....colonoscopy fine, blood work negative for celiac, etc. Seems going on Gluten free diet is making it better, but not completely. Been off Gluten for a 1 month now, was good for first 2 weeks then minor symptoms came back (stomach pain, gurgling).

Questions: Do only these GI symptoms show up with Gluten, other food intolerances? After ingesting, how long does the system take to recover (stomach pain, formed stool, gurgling stop, etc)

I've also sent away for the lab stool samples, but not sure if that will tell me anything...

Gluten Free since April 25

Dairy Free since May 10

Thanks.....Rhoger

[FMcGee]

Might you be lactose intolerant? Also, did you stop eating gluten before your blood test? That could result in a false negative.

[ang1e0251]

A colonoscopy does not dx celiac disease. You should have had an endoscopy. You can have false negatives in the blood work.

As to your ongoing symptoms, the other poster is right, many of us have to give up dairy for a time in the beginning. Some can add it back in after some healing.

The fact that you felt well in the beginning, then some of your problems returned, could be one of two things. Either another problem is creeping up (dairy?) or you are getting sneaky gluten from some source.

Review your diet carefully and even jot down a food journal with your symptoms also. THe writing it down can be very revealing. You can post your diet here if you want help.

[Rhoger1]

A colonoscopy does not dx celiac disease. You should have had an endoscopy. You can have false negatives in the blood work.

As to your ongoing symptoms, the other poster is right, many of us have to give up dairy for a time in the beginning. Some can add it back in after some healing.

The fact that you felt well in the beginning, then some of your problems returned, could be one of two things. Either another problem is creeping up (dairy?) or you are getting sneaky gluten from some source.

Review your diet carefully and even jot down a food journal with your symptoms also. THe writing it down can be very revealing. You can post your diet here if you want help.

Thanks for the info. I scheduled an Endoscopy for next week. Diet today excludes Gluten, Dairy, Recently Soy and Corn. I've been very careful with the Gluten and CC. I did notice an issue when starting Gluten Free products.....think it may be the Soy...but more testing.

[Lisa]

For the best accuracy in testing for Celiac, you must remain on a full gluten diet.

If you have damage due to Celiac, it will take a while for healing to take place. In the mean time, any food, gluten or not, can be difficult on your system.

I would remove one item at a time with the exception of gluten and dairy.

[Katea]

Hi Rhhoger,

I was reading your post and had to check that it wasn't my own. lol

I have been gluten-free for over 2 months now after testing negative on blood and biopsy. I saw a positive change over the initial couple of weeks but then most symptoms returned. I have tried lactose free (been on it for the last 2 weeks)diet and after a consultation with the dietitian also excluded certain other foods without much success.

I still can see the benefit of being off gluten however that alone does not address my issues. It seems pinpointing your intolerance is not easy and likely to be a time consuming process (unless unlike me you are lucky to stumble on your problem foods early).

Hope you get some answers soon. Seems like I will need to hang around for some time longer...