Coeliac Disease Or Ibs?

[Ilovehorses]

Hi, I'm new. I live in the UK and am a 36yr old female. No one in my family has coeliac disease as far as I'm aware. I have always had a sensitive stomach in the respect of if I ate a big meal late and especially if it was spicy I'd have stomach cramps then diahh, as soon as that happened the pains would go and I'd feel fine again. This prob happened once or twice a year.

In the six months or so my symptoms have got worse and are getting progressively more so in that time. I now have some form of intestinal problem daily. It's got much worse since June when I had four very stressful events happen within 10 days of each other. Daily to some degree I have stomach pains (can just be a dull ache or bad cramps), urgency to go to toilet, diahh or loose faeces that float (not hard to flush though), naseous, excess wind which sometimes smells awful, tired, feeling dizzy (not faint really though), gurgling abdo, burping. Where before the stomach pains would go after I'd been to the toilet now they don't, the feeling is always there and I always feel bloated. I've not lost weight.

I went to my GP on wed and had a blood test for anaemia, thyroid, kidney and liver function, and coeliac disease so just got to wait for results.

Just confused as to whether it's coeliac or IBS, worried that blood test will come back negative because as weird as it sounds I desperately want it to be something as can't go on like this!! Also confused as I could eat a high gluten meal one day and have fairly mild symptoms and eat the same thing the next day and feel dreadful?????

Help pls xxxx

[Bubba's Mom]

It sure sounds like Celiac or at least gluten intollerance?

If your blood test comes back negative you could still have a gluten problem. It isn't always 100% accurate.

It gets tricky with gluten reactions. Sometimes it can cause symptoms right away and sometimes can have a delayed effect. It's one of the things that makes it tricky to figure out.

IBS is a symptom..not a diagnosis. It's the term a lot of Drs use when they don't know the cause of your problems.

I hope you get the answers that will put you on the road to better health.

[Ilovehorses]

Thank you for your reply, I feel very alone at the moment! Just want to get results back ASAP but coeliac one can take two weeks.

Can stress make the symptoms of coeliac worse? I know they think that stress can trigger it to start. Also can you become a coeliac, even if as far as you know no-one else in your family has it? Xxxx

[ravenwoodglass]

Thank you for your reply, I feel very alone at the moment! Just want to get results back ASAP but coeliac one can take two weeks.

Can stress make the symptoms of coeliac worse? I know they think that stress can trigger it to start. Also can you become a coeliac, even if as far as you know no-one else in your family has it? Xxxx

Celiac usually requires a trigger which could have been the 4 stressful events you suffered right before you symptoms got pronounced. For some women childbirth is a trigger and for some of us it is an illness. Some of us never figure out the trigger.

Since celiac tends to have been underdiagnosed you could well have celiacs in your family and not realize it since celiac or gluten intolerance can have many presentations.

You do sound like you could be one of us. Since there is a high rate of false negatives with both blood and biopsy do try the diet when all your testing is done.

If I remember correctly in the UK some companies use Codex Wheat starch so do avoid those items and many of us cannot handle it. Also avoid even gluten free oats at first. Wait until you have healed before you see if you can tolerate them. At first go with a whole food unprocessed diet as much as you can.

Do know your not alone. There are many of us who have had to deal with the frustration of being diagnosed (especially the folks who are false negative) and the changes that we need to do. Ask any questions you need to and read as much as you can here so when you are ready to start the diet you have a good idea of what you need to do.

[Ilovehorses]

Thank you so much, I have to say this forum has been a huge help. My GP said that even one of the events could of triggered it!! Let alone four :-( Basically my best friend nearly died of septicaemia, then my fianc

[Ilovehorses]

I ate half a White baguette yesterday for lunch, had stomach pains all night and feeling sick :-(