Constipation Issues

[SJD]

My 8 yr old daughter (undiagnosed celiac) has had a few bouts of sudden severe constipation and I'm wondering if it's celiac related or if we are dealing with a whole new thing? Her main reaction to gluten is sudden severe constipation which then causes pain and also brings her moods way down and causes her to be very slow moving and depressed. I eliminated gluten a year ago April and she's done AMAZING, however a few months ago she started having the same symptoms of gluten exposure, but wasn't exposed. I figured out that she reacts the same to apples. She can have juices that have apple in them, but she can't have plain apple juice nor can she tolerate applesauce or apples. So, for about 5 months we've eliminated them and things have been great...until about 4 weeks ago I put out a bowl of plain potato chips for her and her two brothers and without realizing it she ate almost all of them herself (it was a BIG bowl!). Well, sure enough she got very constipated and had all the same symptoms. I'm thinking that the salt from the chips maybe dehydrated her so that could explain that particular day, but now this past Sunday we were at a graduation party and I let her have a can of Orange Crush. She very rarely has pop, if ever, so for her to drink a whole can was out of the ordinary. On top of that she had a few smaller gluten free crispy bars, so she consumed a lot of sugar, which is really out of the ordinary. That is the only thing different that she ate, but within an hour or two she was so constipated that she was crying and in pain on the toilet. While we were at the party she had attempted to have a bowel movement twice without any success and then the last time is when I was made aware of what was going on and she was on the toilet for about 45 minutes and was in pain. We were out of town otherwise we would have just gone home, but that wasn't an option at the time. She eventually was able to stand up and get off the toilet, but still not able to go. I had her drink a LOT of water and got her as comfortable as I could until we could get home about two hours later, where I gave her a large dose of Miralax and then continued giving her doses each day. She finally was able to go yesterday. I'm just concerned that her symptoms are now not just gluten related and why do her symptoms come on so fast and severe. I don't want to waste my time with more doctors and all there unnecessary testing. She's been through so much, but I also don't want to be overlooking anything. Any ideas, suggestions or answers are very much appreciated!

Thank you!

[gluten free overseas]

I am not an expert because my son is going through this right now too, but I think you should keep exploring other food allergies. Lots of people with celiac disease are allergic to yeast--which is in a lot of foods. Potato, corn, soy, and citrus are very common allergies for people with celiac disease.

Can she tolerate quinoa? Quinoa helps me break my constipation without using laxatives.

So sorry your daughter is suffering.

[SJD]

Gluten free overseas - Thank you for your info. I am not real familiar with quinoa, is it like oatmeal? I was thinking it was a flour, how do you eat it?

Thanks!

[Brenna'sMom]

I found probiotics to be very helpful for my daughter's constipation issues, even before we knew about the celiac. It's a bit odd that all of that sugar made her constipation worse. Typically, sugar helps loosen bm's. I know it's stating the obvious, but keep pushing the fluids. With all the fiber our celiac kids consume, it's difficult to get enough water in to balance it out. I'm sorry she was so miserable, bless her heart. It may be worth mentioning to her physician the next time you have an appointment.

[ElseB]

Constipation is my predominant symptom. Without fail, if I've get glutened, 4 weeks of constipation and lethary will follow. Same if I eat apples. The birth control pill does it too. After eliminating all of those things, I'm okay most of the time. But, I still go through some periods of constipation in the absence of having been glutened (I know this, because I have no stomach ache or night sweats). I've put it down to hormones. When it happens, I take probiotics and avoid milk. Magnesium pills also work wonders. Magnesium promotes absorption of water by the intestines, so drawing water in helps alleviate the constipation.

[weluvgators]

Is it possible that the sudden and severe issue/pain is gas? If I get glutened, even by very small amounts, I can get horrible gas pain. In the past, I have sat on the toilet . . . not producing anything, but wanting to produce something to relieve the pressure. The only thing that helps is staying in a fetal position (really the toilet is one of the most comfortable positions), but my DD likes to use a heating pad on her belly for similar belly pain issues. Of course, the gas episode is typically followed by constipation issues, so it can get confusing.

Both times that you describe the pain, she consumed a rather large amount of something. I have to be particularly careful with foods that are eaten in any quantity, as even at very low levels of gluten contamination, enough quantity of low contamination can hurt very badly. It could also be something other than gluten, but in our family's experience, we have found it pretty effective to do lots of double and triple checks to make sure something is gluten free. Our family is also utilizing probiotics, among a few other supplements, to help us on our road to recovery.

I hope that you can find relief for your daughter soon.

[SJD]

Constipation is my predominant symptom. Without fail, if I've get glutened, 4 weeks of constipation and lethary will follow. Same if I eat apples. The birth control pill does it too. After eliminating all of those things, I'm okay most of the time. But, I still go through some periods of constipation in the absence of having been glutened (I know this, because I have no stomach ache or night sweats). I've put it down to hormones. When it happens, I take probiotics and avoid milk. Magnesium pills also work wonders. Magnesium promotes absorption of water by the intestines, so drawing water in helps alleviate the constipation.

Thank you so much for sharing your story, I'm so relieved to hear that someone else has the same reactions to not only gluten, but apples too. I've been wondering if it's all in my head! Have you ever figured out why the apples and birth control pills affect you? My daughter is quite a trooper with all this, but I just hate to see her struggle at all. Thanks for the magnesium tip, I didn't know that. Thank you again!

[SJD]

Is it possible that the sudden and severe issue/pain is gas? If I get glutened, even by very small amounts, I can get horrible gas pain. In the past, I have sat on the toilet . . . not producing anything, but wanting to produce something to relieve the pressure. The only thing that helps is staying in a fetal position (really the toilet is one of the most comfortable positions), but my DD likes to use a heating pad on her belly for similar belly pain issues. Of course, the gas episode is typically followed by constipation issues, so it can get confusing.

Both times that you describe the pain, she consumed a rather large amount of something. I have to be particularly careful with foods that are eaten in any quantity, as even at very low levels of gluten contamination, enough quantity of low contamination can hurt very badly. It could also be something other than gluten, but in our family's experience, we have found it pretty effective to do lots of double and triple checks to make sure something is gluten free. Our family is also utilizing probiotics, among a few other supplements, to help us on our road to recovery.

I hope that you can find relief for your daughter soon.

Thank you. I do think some of her pain is gas, but the thing I can't figure out is that she can have normal soft bowel movements (which is a daily discussion in our house)every single day, but when she is glutened or has apples (and now these past couple of episodes) she immediately has BM's the size of raisins. And this change can happen from one BM to the next usually in less than a day and it would continue for weeks if I didn't use Miralax. Does that seem weird to anyone else, or is this normal for celiac's??

Thank you!

[SJD]

I found probiotics to be very helpful for my daughter's constipation issues, even before we knew about the celiac. It's a bit odd that all of that sugar made her constipation worse. Typically, sugar helps loosen bm's. I know it's stating the obvious, but keep pushing the fluids. With all the fiber our celiac kids consume, it's difficult to get enough water in to balance it out. I'm sorry she was so miserable, bless her heart. It may be worth mentioning to her physician the next time you have an appointment.

Thank you, I will mention it the next time we go in. I appreciate your response.

[SJD]

I am not an expert because my son is going through this right now too, but I think you should keep exploring other food allergies. Lots of people with celiac disease are allergic to yeast--which is in a lot of foods. Potato, corn, soy, and citrus are very common allergies for people with celiac disease.

Can she tolerate quinoa? Quinoa helps me break my constipation without using laxatives.

So sorry your daughter is suffering.

We've done all the allergy testing and everything was negative, however we never tested for yeast I'll have to ask about that one the next time we go. My son has 24 food allergies so unfortunately I am very familiar with allergies, but I just can't figure her out yet. We do probiotics but not as much as we should, I hate using the Miralax because her colon did have damage from the laxatives the doctor had her on last year, which we found out from her Upper GI & Colonoscopy, so I am going to look into the Quinoa. Thank you!

[shadowicewolf]

prunes are natures ah 'plumbing fixer' fruit. Can she have those?

[gluten free overseas]

Quinoa is a grain--I make it in a soup a bit like barley soup (except with quinoa, not barley). You can find it at health food stores. You have to wash it really well in a sieve under water to get the film off or it can give you a stomach ache. Some people with celiac can't digest it well, but for me, I eat it just about everyday to stay regular.

[SJD]

Thank you for the info on Quinoa, we will give it a try!

And yes, the prunes would probably work if she'd eat them. Every once in awhile I can get her to drink some prune juice, she doesn't like it, but she knows it helps so sometimes she'll do it. Thank you to everyone who is responding, I really appreciate it!

[domesticactivist]

I got horrible constipation when we were first gluten free (have always been prone to it, though). After eliminating all grains and packaged gluten-free foods and being on GAPS for a while it got much better.

[ptandy]

Hi, I just joined the group again (I have been a member in the past). I highly recommend Peter D'adamo's Eat Right 4 Your Blood type diet for its emphasis on highly beneficial foods for a particular blood type. This works well for me, because I'm O and he says blood type O shouldn't touch wheat. By cutting out everything else he says to avoid, and adding the beneficial ones, children and adults alike should have success with soluble fiber foods. In my frustration, I have started posting recipes on Associated Content using D'Adamo's principles for blood type O.

Good luck, and if you try the recipe, I'd love some feedback.

Pam