Neg. Test But Dr. Says Try Gluten Free Diet

[rose-thorn98]

I've been having horrible chest pain and acid reflux symptoms. None of the acid reflux drugs work, heart is okay, so GI tested me for Celiac. Full panel test. He says test is negative but that I may still have gluten intolerence. So I started gluten-free diet today. He said try for one week and see if I improve. How long does it take being off gluten until I feel better?( if I'm intolerant of course.)

I feel so frustrated. I was diagnosed with GERD a few years ago and back then none of the GERD meds worked. Has anyone ever had chest pain and difficulty eating as Celiac symptom?

[ravenwoodglass]

I am glad your doctor said to give the diet a try. I wish mine had done that it would have saved me years of misery. Mine just went by the blood tests so it took a long time since I don't show up in bloodwork.

Do give it more than a week though. It also would be a good idea to drop dairy until you are feeling better.

Welcome to the board and ask any questions you need to and read as much as you can.

[txplowgirl]

Hi Rose, For years I have had chest pains as well as a LOT of other symptoms. I went gluten free in July. It took about 3 weeks to finally start feeling better. I will never go back to gluten .

On New Year's Day, we took my mother out to eat. Big mistake, It was either cross contamination or I got glutened somehow, and I was being extremely careful. Anyway, the next morning I woke up with up feeling really tired and foggy headed, which eventually turned into what felt like to me a massive heart attack. Chest pain, couldn't catch my breath, shoulders and back hurt. I finally got to the point I wound up going to the ER. They ran tests after tests. My heart was fine, my blood pressure was fine, my blood sugar was ok, gallbladder was ok, they even did a lung scan to see if I might have a blood clot. That was ok. When I told the Dr. about my gluten free status he nodded his head and said that this can be a reaction to gluten sometimes. He wound up giving me an IV with Pepsid and 4 tablespoons of Mylanta and sent me home. After about 4 hours I was ok. The next morning I woke up with a sore chest like someone had hit me and very fatigued but other than that I was fine.

I would give gluten free a try for at least a month. See if you feel any better. Good luck.

[rose-thorn98]

Hi Rose, For years I have had chest pains as well as a LOT of other symptoms. I went gluten free in July. It took about 3 weeks to finally start feeling better. I will never go back to gluten .

On New Year's Day, we took my mother out to eat. Big mistake, It was either cross contamination or I got glutened somehow, and I was being extremely careful. Anyway, the next morning I woke up with up feeling really tired and foggy headed, which eventually turned into what felt like to me a massive heart attack. Chest pain, couldn't catch my breath, shoulders and back hurt. I finally got to the point I wound up going to the ER. They ran tests after tests. My heart was fine, my blood pressure was fine, my blood sugar was ok, gallbladder was ok, they even did a lung scan to see if I might have a blood clot. That was ok. When I told the Dr. about my gluten free status he nodded his head and said that this can be a reaction to gluten sometimes. He wound up giving me an IV with Pepsid and 4 tablespoons of Mylanta and sent me home. After about 4 hours I was ok. The next morning I woke up with a sore chest like someone had hit me and very fatigued but other than that I was fine.

I would give gluten free a try for at least a month. See if you feel any better. Good luck.

Thank you both for your replies. I have been gluten free now for 3 1/2 days and I am feeling much better. For years I've had horrible fatigue and bloating after eating. Now that I'm not eating gluten I do not have those feelings after eating. I'm amazed that I can eat gluten free pasta and not feel like I need to go lay down after eating it, like I did with regular pasta. For years I was thinking I had chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia, but now I think that maybe it was the gluten. My plan is to stay gluten free for a month and then to test it and see what happens. Thanks for all the advise and support. Its good to know that others had symptoms like me.

[Mskedi]

Like you, my GI symptoms disappeared very quickly after going gluten-free (not having a gut-ache after gluten-free meals was the first, immediate benefit). After a month I found things that I didn't even realize were wrong were clearing up (it's amazing what we can convince ourselves is "normal"). I'm glad you're feeling better and I hope that keeps up.