Celiac And Gerd

[Crash69]

I have had GI issues for 20 years. Numerous colonoscopy and upper scopes performed. Five in the past 6 years. Each scope reveals no abnormal issues ! Yet I have suffered from terrible acid pain in my chest area for years. 3 Months ago I had cervical fusion surgery on my neck. Since the surgery, I have suffered even worse acid excursions and now it is up into my throat and esophagus. These attacks last for at least a week at a time. I saw a specialist at Baylor Gastro Clinic in Houston yesterday. He is running bloodwork and a nuclear scan next week to see the stomach liquids empty and how fast this is occurring. He said he is checking me for Celiac, but has anyone else had so much trouble with the acid reflux before the Celiac diagnoses ? I do have many of the other side effects contributed to Celiac. Soft bones, arthritis, seizures, etc. But I am just amazed that I have seen a Gastro doctor for 10 years and he has never mentioned Celiac desease. I have ran the gammit of medicines, Prilosec 5 yrs, Prevacid 3 yrs, Nexium 1 yr, Zergerid 6 months, Aciphex 2 yrs and even have Carafate for ulcer repair (even though I don't have an ulcer) and finally liquid lydicane. Yet here I sit dying with acid !! Just curious if anyone else suffered the acid with Celiac ! Thanks ! Mike

[Roda]

My main gi complaint before diagnosis was horrible heart burn. At one point I had to sleep elevated because it was coming all the way to the back of my throat. I would even get it bad after drinking water. My pcp at the time just wanted to throw pills at me and when I refused he seemed taken aback. I did have an UGI series done that showed nothing. I just went on and avoided things that I knew triggered it and ate lots of tums. Two years after this I finaly got diagnosed. In hindsight I had other gi symptoms just didn't think about it. I had always had bloating and constipation since a baby but just figured it was normal for me. The heartburn was the first symptom to go away after going gluten free.

[Wolicki]

I have had GI issues for 20 years. Numerous colonoscopy and upper scopes performed. Five in the past 6 years. Each scope reveals no abnormal issues ! Yet I have suffered from terrible acid pain in my chest area for years. 3 Months ago I had cervical fusion surgery on my neck. Since the surgery, I have suffered even worse acid excursions and now it is up into my throat and esophagus. These attacks last for at least a week at a time. I saw a specialist at Baylor Gastro Clinic in Houston yesterday. He is running bloodwork and a nuclear scan next week to see the stomach liquids empty and how fast this is occurring. He said he is checking me for Celiac, but has anyone else had so much trouble with the acid reflux before the Celiac diagnoses ? I do have many of the other side effects contributed to Celiac. Soft bones, arthritis, seizures, etc. But I am just amazed that I have seen a Gastro doctor for 10 years and he has never mentioned Celiac desease. I have ran the gammit of medicines, Prilosec 5 yrs, Prevacid 3 yrs, Nexium 1 yr, Zergerid 6 months, Aciphex 2 yrs and even have Carafate for ulcer repair (even though I don't have an ulcer) and finally liquid lydicane. Yet here I sit dying with acid !! Just curious if anyone else suffered the acid with Celiac ! Thanks ! Mike

I had terrible reflux before DX. 10 years of acid meds, Aciphex 40 mg worked the best, but sitll needed lots of Tums. Now I only get it when glutened. Until they get you fixed up, have you tried Gaviscon? It bubbles up and coats everything to stop the burning. I hope you feel better soon.

[Gfresh404]

YES! I had severe GERD for about 3 months before I realized it was gluten. Of course everyone is different, but I believe a lot of people's main complaint at first is indigestion or heartburn.

So it very well could be Celiac. But even if you do test negative, I urge you to try a gluten free diet for a couple of weeks anyway. I actually tested negative for Celiac, so technically I am classified as being gluten intolerant, which is a diagnosis of exclusion where virtually everything else has been ruled that. You could very well be in the same boat as I am. So give it a try and definitely use as much of this site as you can! It is a great reference.

[chiroptera]

I was on Prevacid for over 10 years for GERD but once I went gluten free I rarely have it anymore and have stopped taking meds for it. Sometimes it was so bad I would vomit and even the Preacid wouldn't help.

GERD was the main symptom for one of my 9 year old daughters. The ped and gastro just wanted her to take pill after pill (NO WAY) but guess what? Since she is gluten free her GERD is gone too!!!!! She is also egg and casein intolerant and those cause her acid reflux as well.

I'm no doctor, but in our family going gluten free has been great and really helped!!!

Hope you feel better, you have been through a lot

[GFPamela]

I'm on a Gluten Challenge, 6 weeks now, and my acid reflux is back with a vengence. I had minimal problems during my 2 yrs gluten-free. Did some searches yesterday and to me it appears that gluten is often the cause of GERD if one is gluten sensitive.

[Crash]

One of my major symptoms is non-heartburn GERD symptoms: waterbrashing, extreme nasal congestion, dry cough, gagging/regurge feeling.

[GFPamela]

One of my major symptoms is non-heartburn GERD symptoms: waterbrashing, extreme nasal congestion, dry cough, gagging/regurge feeling.

I did have major nasal congestion and a dry cough (which others found very 'irritating') for years; these have not come back yet. It took several months but a gluten-free diet did take care of these also. Hope you have the same results.

[GottaSki]

My 15 year old's symptoms were GERD, Reflux, lung and nasal issues for about six or seven years. Docs tried meds, nothing helped. All have improved in the past months...not all the way, but enough that it has convinced him of the need to stay gluten-free.

[plumz64]

My 15 year old's symptoms were GERD, Reflux, lung and nasal issues for about six or seven years. Docs tried meds, nothing helped. All have improved in the past months...not all the way, but enough that it has convinced him of the need to stay gluten-free.

These forums are such a wealth of information. I have had really bad GERD for the last 6 months, maybe longer. I have had a dry hacking cough that comes and goes. I am waiting on results of blood tests, but I'm convinced that it's all coeliac related.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Yes, GERD was my main symptom for decades before adding other fun ones like autoimmune thyroid disease and DH. I underwent 2 endoscopies--but they never looked for celiac, they were only looking for Barrett's Esophagus.

You need to be aware, also, of the major risk for B12 deficiency.

Celiacs are at risk for it in general because of decreased intestinal absorption, so even if you are taking a multivitamin, if you have celiac, you are likely not absorbing any of it.

Long-term use of acid blockers, such as Prilosec, is at the top of the list of risks for B12 deficiency on every site I've seen for B12 deficiency. All that acid-blocking effect? It also blocks the acid needed to properly absorb B12.

Many of us here on this board take sublingual methylcobalamin ( B12) tablets, which are absorbed under the tongue and don't need to be absorbed by the intestines.

Most of us found that our doctors knew NOTHING about any of this. I hope yours is more on top of things than most. Please do a lot of research on your own, in case he is not.

[Darn210]

Acid Reflux was my daughter's main sympton. It got better but did not go away with medication which sent us to the pedGI which led fairly quickly and suprisingly to a Celiac diagnosis. We just got lucky that the doctor screened her with a blood test which was positive. I know it wasn't even on his top three possibilities list, it's just an office policy to screen for it there when kids present with somewhat general (longterm) symptoms.