Celiac Diagnosis With No Pain Symptoms, Just Lots Of Gas?

[Jennywenny]

Hi everyone,

I have not officially been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, but I've been suffering from excessive amounts of gas since I was about 14 years old and I am now 30. Recently, I did the South Beach diet (where you eat only vegetables and meat and eggs basically for a couple of weeks) and I felt great. Not 100%, but most of my gas went away and I was able to have somewhat of a social life again. When I started introducing grains and starches into my diet again, I started getting excessive gas again. So, from reading all the information on the web, I think I may be gluten intolerant or at least sensitive to it. The only thing I'm wondering about is that I very rarely have pain when I have the abdominal bloating and excessive gas. The gas is really the biggest problem. If I don't let it out, it comes back double fold and pretty much just explodes inside my rectum (since I'm holding it in) because it has nowhere to go, which is loud and embarassing (and pretty much sounds like i just let it out anyway, so i don't even know why i bother). Anyway, sorry for the novel, but my question is, can you have gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity without any pain, just bloating and lots of gas?? I'm going to talk to my doctor about the blood test and biopsy soon...

[eatmeat4good]

Yes.

You can have Celiac with no symptoms at all.

Or you can have Neurological, Dermatological and Gastrointestinal problems.

You have the gastrointestinal version of Celiac.

It can be one, two or no symptoms.

Also, testing can miss some Celiacs or those who are Gluten Intolerant.

The most telling thing in your post, is that it went away when you eliminated grains.

Elimination is 100% accurate.

Good luck with testing, but don't put too much stock in it. Many test negatively but do way better eating gluten free.

Welcome!

[Jennywenny]

Yes.

You can have Celiac with no symptoms at all.

Or you can have Neurological, Dermatological and Gastrointestinal problems.

You have the gastrointestinal version of Celiac.

It can be one, two or no symptoms.

Also, testing can miss some Celiacs or those who are Gluten Intolerant.

The most telling thing in your post, is that it went away when you eliminated grains.

Elimination is 100% accurate.

Good luck with testing, but don't put too much stock in it. Many test negatively but do way better eating gluten free.

Welcome!

Yeah, I'm thinking that even if I test negatively, I'm still going to do my best to live gluten-free. I've read some other things, like you can get deficiencies from celiac disease, like iron deficiency (like i have - taking Euro-fer currently) from damaged villi not being able to absorb the proper nutrients from food. Also, some people in my family have always had stomach problems, but are too stubborn to talk about it (genetics, which I read is an indicator as well) which has probably made me suffer for so long. My mom had ulcerative colitis and now has an ostomy bag, but I'm not sure if ulcers in the colon can be related to celiac disease. Also, i'm lactose intolerant (I can have a little bit of milk in my tea and my stomach won't go nuts, but if I have a whole glass, i pretty much can't leave the house for the rest of the day (lots of bubbling gas). The more I read, the more my symptoms and family history seem to point to gluten intolerance. I also read about people's acne clearing up after they went gluten-free, and since I've been suffering from breakouts since I was 12 to this day regularly, healing this would be a plus as well. I don't know many 30 year olds still suffering from regular acne breakouts. I actually really hope I test positive in the blood test, so I at least have some kind of medical diagnosis to back me up.

Thanks for your help eatmeat4good!

[eatmeat4good]

You are very welcome!

I do hope being gluten free helps you very quickly.

I too, had acne all my life. Then DH.

The acne cleared up quickly, the DH is very slow.

Hopefully you will get relief very fast Jennywenny!

[JonnyD]

Hi,

I was recently diagnosed with celiac and turn 37 next week. As for the gas, I can relate. My buddies still tease me about clearing out the weight room in high school lifting practice after having pizza the night before. So, I've had similar experiences with gas that you describe but it has been complicated with much more constipation in recent years. I also dabbled with the south beach diet a few years back and had a similar response too - felt better and alleviated many symptoms. In the meantime, life happened and I got back to the way I ate before trying south beach. Switching to gluten-free has made a big difference and I'm only about 10 days into it.

My brother was diagnosed celiac a year or so ago and I dragged my feet about getting tested but I'm glad I did. It was the tipping point and what I need to commit to gluten-free.

Good luck.

Jonny

[Jennywenny]

Hi,

I was recently diagnosed with celiac and turn 37 next week. As for the gas, I can relate. My buddies still tease me about clearing out the weight room in high school lifting practice after having pizza the night before. So, I've had similar experiences with gas that you describe but it has been complicated with much more constipation in recent years. I also dabbled with the south beach diet a few years back and had a similar response too - felt better and alleviated many symptoms. In the meantime, life happened and I got back to the way I ate before trying south beach. Switching to gluten-free has made a big difference and I'm only about 10 days into it.

My brother was diagnosed celiac a year or so ago and I dragged my feet about getting tested but I'm glad I did. It was the tipping point and what I need to commit to gluten-free.

Good luck.

Jonny

Thanx! And I'm glad it has helped you. I really hope this is what's wrong with me because I really don't know what else it could be. Everything seems to point to this. Thanx again.

[Jennywenny]

well i had the blood tests done and they were negative... just had my gastroscopy today and now i have to wait for the results. I was a little groggy after the gastroscopy because of the sedation and I remember her handing me a sheet of paper saying that my gastroscopy was normal, but then she handed me a prescription for Pantoloc, so i'll have to call them tomorrow and find out why... has anyone been given this after their gastroscopy?? i really don't think they should be giving people detailed information verbally after they've just woken up from sedation... i think everything on paper would be much better, but whatcha gonna do... i have a headache and i feel nauseous, my throat hurts, and i've had heartburn all day (more with eating anything today) with some pain in my upper stomach area too, but i think that's probably going to go away by tomorrow... she also mentioned that i should have a colonoscopy (based on my "loose stools") so i'm booked for one in 2 weeks... hopefully the results of my gastroscopy biopsy will get to my family doctor before then in case i have any questions for the GI doc...