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Celaic Is Acting Up (We Think)

tross

By tross
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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tross Newbie
tross
Posted

I hope its ok to post on this board, I'm not sure what board to post on.

My grandfather has had celiac disease for about 35 years now. He has been extremely sick since February with the same symptoms as if he were consuming gluten. He has not changed his diet (which is completely gluten free) and has even cut out all dairy in his diet.

He cannot eat without feeling tremendous pain in his stomach and when he doesn't eat, he still experiences pain. He is also not moving his bowels normally. He has lost about 25 pounds. We had him switch doctors because his wasn't really doing much for him. He had an x-ray last week where he ingested barium and his doctor photographed him as he ingested it, and we are still waiting on the results. He is getting a biopsy done on the 22nd.

We did find out that he has Barett's Disease, which of course I am still researching to fully understand.

My big question is this: Why is he having this awful pain and is there anything he can do to alleviate the pain? Any insight is very appreciated.

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Welcome to the board. I am sorry he is going through so much. I don't know if he can take it but Pepto Bismal liquid helps me with the pain when it is in the stomach. When it is intestinal I haven't found anything that helps other than a hot water bottle and being curled up.

Is he on any meds or OTC stuff? If he is it is important that the pharmacist check his meds for gluten statis if they are not already. If the meds are generic they have to be checked at each refill. Name brand only need to be checked once as they can't change the binders until they go generic. Also check any vitamins or supplements he may take. If any have barley or wheat grass those should be dropped for now.

Another possiblity is that he has an additional intolerance. Does he consume much soy? A lot of stuff is loaded with soy protein and for some of us it can cause symptoms similar to gluten. You may want to try eliminating that also for a while to see if it helps.

I hope he is feeling better soon. Ask any more questions you need to and read as much as you can here. By the way, you and your other family members have been screened for celiac right? If not all should be even if they don't think they have symptoms.

tross Newbie
tross
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for you response and your concern ravenwoodglass, after reading your post and another post on here about being allergic to gluten free products, I called my grandfather and told him to stay away from anything with soy, corn flour, rice, and dairy (he was just sitting down to eat a bowl of rice crispies, cornflakes with milk, oy)

I had to convince him to do so because he loves to eat, but he said he would try it. The only thing that he is currently taking is similar to prevacid (it begins with a K, but I can't remember the name of it) and we already had the doctor double check to see if it had anything gluten in it. This medication is to treat his Barret's esophagus.

He was also taking i-caps for about a month when this all flared up, which had geletin in it. His doctor took him off of this medication immediately, but he still continues to have the same problems- so we are not sure if this trigered it or not.

Thank you!

Wolicki Enthusiast
Wolicki
Posted

are you sure he is adhering to the diet? Because most rice krispies and cornflakes contain gluten.

i-geek Rookie
i-geek
Posted

are you sure he is adhering to the diet? Because most rice krispies and cornflakes contain gluten.

Yep. If he eats these daily, that might be the problem. I wonder what else he's eating that might be problematic. For example, I don't eat Campbell's soups and had no idea that none of them were gluten-free until my mom put a can in one of her recipes and we had to play detective to find out what made me sick. Also, if he's changed any brands of foods that he usually eats, that could be a culprit as well (for example, I'll eat Lundberg rice cakes, but not Quaker ones since the latter are manufactured in a facility that manufactures wheat and I don't think they're all gluten-free).

tross Newbie
tross
Posted
  • Author

I know he is adhering to his diet to the best of his knowledge.. he'as always eaten those cereals. I will have him look at the ingredients snd let him know about this!

As for canned soups- he doesn't eat or make anything with anything canned. He makes his own broth and soups because of the gluten that is in most of them.

This is good stuff- thanks for the tips! I love this website and wish I would have found it a long time ago!

lele123 Newbie
lele123
Posted

I hope its ok to post on this board, I'm not sure what board to post on.

My grandfather has had celiac disease for about 35 years now. He has been extremely sick since February with the same symptoms as if he were consuming gluten. He has not changed his diet (which is completely gluten free) and has even cut out all dairy in his diet.

He cannot eat without feeling tremendous pain in his stomach and when he doesn't eat, he still experiences pain. He is also not moving his bowels normally. He has lost about 25 pounds. We had him switch doctors because his wasn't really doing much for him. He had an x-ray last week where he ingested barium and his doctor photographed him as he ingested it, and we are still waiting on the results. He is getting a biopsy done on the 22nd.

We did find out that he has Barett's Disease, which of course I am still researching to fully understand.

My big question is this: Why is he having this awful pain and is there anything he can do to alleviate the pain? Any insight is very appreciated.

Oh boy, thats rough! Here's my suggestion. If he can do it, get off all processed food and eat brown rice and veggies to start with and see if things calm down. What gives me pain is eating fruit.

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Thanks for you response and your concern ravenwoodglass, after reading your post and another post on here about being allergic to gluten free products, I called my grandfather and told him to stay away from anything with soy, corn flour, rice, and dairy (he was just sitting down to eat a bowl of rice crispies, cornflakes with milk, oy)

Thank you!

Does he know he also has to avoid barley, rye and oats? Make sure he understands that the barley malt in most cereals is an issue and is also an issue in stuff like beer and malt liquors, some candy etc.

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