Celiac & Ibs ?

[theloper1]

I have been a diagnosed celiac for about 2 years. My blood work and endoscopy results have returned to normal months ago but I still have no releif in my symtoms. Mainly I suffer from nausea, loss of appetitie, pain and cramping after a bowel movement, feeling of imcomplete b.m., lower abdominal cramping,ect. Some of these things are not consistant with celiac( like the bowel pain after b.m. ect), lead me to beleive there is another problem besides celiac. Just had a endoscopy,colonoscopy,capsule endoscopy,and blood work. Dr. says everything has pretty much returned to normal. He doesnt understand why I am not feeling better. Also went on a dose of Flagyle for 10 days thinking its bacterial overgrowth. Still feel horrible everyday. ALWAYS have this heavy crampy pain after every b.m.(3-4 a day). Pain can last for hours..........and I always feel this preasure in my rectum after a b.m. and never feel like I am done. Anyone have ths??? Is it possible I am suffering from IBS even though my celiac seems to be under control?

[jmengert]

I still have nausea and cramping and am gluten-free and very careful. I also have IBS, which I was diagnosed with 5 years ago, well before being diagnosed with celiac disease, and I recommend going on an anti-spasmodic drug to see if that helps. I'm on hyoscyamine (generic for levbid, levsin, etc.), have been for 5 years, and that helps somewhat. I also have a prescription for pamine, which I haven't tried yet, but it's supposed to be stronger than hyoscyamine to help with the pain and diarrhea.

I hope the medicine will help get your symptoms under control--if you have other questions, definitely let me know.

[Carriefaith]

Is it possible I am suffering from IBS even though my celiac seems to be under control?

I totally understand your situation... I have been gluten-free for over 1 year now and I still have problems. Although I was a lot worse about 4 months ago. My doctors say I have IBS in addition to celiac. My GI doc says that celiac disease caused my IBS by making my intestines more sensitive... or something like that.

I have narrowed down some of the problems, which may or may not help you:

-Any amount of lactose makes me very sick. I have to avoid lactose just like gluten. For example, if I have milk chocolate or something baked with lactose I get sick.

-Too much sugar makes me sick, I had to cut back. If I have too much I get really bloated and gasy. eww

-I've recently discovered in the last few months that I was eating something (Humpty Dumpty corn chips to be specific) on a regular basis that was contaminated with gluten. I know that sounds bad, but my sorces at the time said they were gluten free... and they were... however, they were contaminated. I found that once I eliminated those chips that I had a lot of improvement in my health.

If I avoid all these things I usually free great!

[flagbabyds]

Yes you could and probably do have IBS also, Even though we celiacs think that every case of it is really celiac disease, it is still a disease and a lot of people have it, yet a lot of people are getting treated for it and not for celiac disease. You should go to your doctor and talk to him about it because they could give you the right IBS medications, and that combined with the gluten free diet you can probably start to be feeling a lot better. It is great though that your doctor actually diagnosed you with celiac because if he jst thought that it was IBS you would be in the same situation, you are on the medications but you were still feeling sick. Hope you feel better soon!

[katyjo1954]

I have just read about this for the first time. I had heard about it before but never thought to check out the symptoms. I am a diabetic. I had my gall bladder removed over a year ago and so a lot of the symptoms I have had I attributed it to that. I got a little better after the gall bladder was removed. I just had an endoscopy and it just showed acid reflux. I plan to have my gastro specialist check for celiac disease at my next visit. I am addicted to cereal and bread so this will be interesting on removing that from my diet. I have really suffered with the symptoms a lot the last 6 months. I have also gained weight, not lost it. But the cramping is the worse part and the bloating. I will check this site for new info and I hope I find the answers to my health problems.

[jenvan]

Wow--that is not fun. I was diagnosed with IBS about 13 years ago! Those symptoms ranged from diarrhea to constipation, gas, painful cramping (always in lower abdomen), would usually have to sleep the pain off. Meds unfortunately never really worked for me--usually made me feel disoriented. Before I went gluten-free I took zelnorm on occasion, worked somewhat.

Pain after bm is a little more atypical, usually the other way around. Sorry for the grossness, but... could it be severe constipation (feeling like you never go completely), hemmoroids or anal fissure? Have you tried an elimination diet--cut out other potential offenders? My big IBS triggers were alcohol, corn, chocolate and caffeine.

I think one of the best things for constipation, natural vs meds, is pysillium halls. It is basically the natural, not synthetic form of fiber. ie. I used to take Citricel, never did much for me. It is synthetic fiber. Anyway, I would definitely stick with a doc, trying to figure out those symptoms. But in the meantime, might be good to try a little 'good ol' fiber therapy. Psyllium definitely made me feel better when suffering from severe constipation, which used to be pretty chronic for me.

Forgive the length--but if you are interested, you could buy some at a health food store--powdered psyllium husks/hulls. We order ours from Frontier: Open Original Shared Link. We mix it with Hibiscus powder Open Original Shared Link. The psyillum hulls are straight fiber, bulk up and absorb stool, toxins and carry it out. The Hibiscus powder helps ease this process, has very mild laxative qualities. We put about a spoonful of each in a full glass of apple juice (use slightly more psyillum than hibiscus), and chase with a full glass of water. You may get a few cramps as it carries stool out a few hours later, but for me, it was alway worth it. Best to take in the morning for me. PS--A quick fix for helping go to the bathroom is a few capsules of Magnesium too.

Good luck--sorry for the the info !!

[katyjo1954]

Thanks for the info, but I am never constipated. I have constant diarreah and cramping with it each time. I tried the citricel because the doctor said it would regulate me more even with not being constipated...but it never has had any affect. I sometimes will wake up during the night and have a round of cramping and diarreah and then feel better for a while. I hope they find out if it is celiac or not. I am going in for blood work soon and will ask them to check for that also.

[shimma]

My doctor diagnosed me with IBS in addition to Celiac disease. I think it was his way of saying, "I have no idea why you still have symptoms even though you're on a gluten-free diet." (I've been gluten-free for two years now). I occasionally have pain after having a BM - I almost passed out at work one day in the bathroom after going! Luckily it's not usually that bad. My doctor prescribed hyoscyamine for my IBS symptoms, but I found that it made me go even more often - like every time I was in the bathroom - so I stopped taking it after a week of torture.

I pretty much despaired of ever having my digestive diseases under control until I read about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet on this website. I recommend that you look for the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall. I think it could be helpful for you, as it was for me and other Celiacs who still experience symptoms after being gluten-free. The main idea is that people with damaged guts are unable to digest most sugars (refined sugar, starches, etc), and in eating foods with those types of carbohydrates, we inhibit our intestines from healing. It's a pretty strict diet, but worth it if it heals your body.

Good luck!

[jenvan]

Shimma-

I just went out and read reviews for elaine's book. Wow-they were pretty compelling. I'm just starting to read about it. Have you used it yourself and success?

[jknnej]

I also still have IBS symptoms, even after going gluten-free. I just think I have stomach problems that will never entirely go away.

I tried Bently as an anti-spasmodic because of my pain and diarrhea but it just made me constipated. I also had a normal colonoscopy but have the same issues as you.

I think I need to go off sugar entirely. The sugar I eat now is not too bad, I don't eat any mainstream candy or anything like that, but I'll eat gluten-free cereal and cookies which even though they are natural sugars, are sugars nonetheless!

I don't really know what else to try. I have my food allergry test results coming in soon from ImmunoLab so I am looking forward to seeing that.

[shimma]

I just started the SCD diet last week, so it's really too soon to tell for sure. But I have felt better so far, and hopefully it should only improve from here, assuming I stick to it!......

I figured, what can it possibly hurt? What I was doing before (just gluten-free) obviously wasn't working.

[dea5508]

I've used dicyclomine, an anti-spasmodic, for years. Since I'm very sensitive to drugs, I literally nibble away at a pill throughout the day as needed. If I take too much I get stoned and useless. It really helps the pain and releases some of the gas.

[julie5914]

I have been diagnosed with IBS, trying to figure out if it is celiac currently. I have had that pain after a BM. Don't want to come back to my desk and sit down. And I don't have hemorroids. If you do have IBS, you might want to ask your doc about Zelnorm. It is hard to take as directed because it is centered around your meals and not a regular time once a day, but it does help me a lot.