Strange Abdominal Pains

[Darwin]

Has anyone else experienced this? Just curious....

I had accidentally eaten gluten several times over the Christmas holiday, mostly cross-contamination issues at the in-laws' house, but also got a little complacent. Anyway, I had a weird burning sensation above and to the right of my belly button for 3 months or longer. Because it started with the gluten, I did not go to the doctor, but then it went on and on. I went to the doctor (finally) and he told me to watch my lactose intake and take lactase if I have any dairy, but did not seem too concerned. I took it one step further and started taking digestive enzymes (gluten-free, of course). It started to get a lot better and the pain went away. A couple of weeks ago, I went to a Mexican restaurant and got what I usually order: cheese enchiladas, rice, and beans. I always ask about the sauce and if it contains flour, I just tell them to add salsa to the enchiladas. This time, I immediately started to puff up and get massive cramps in the middle of my meal.....I think the tortillas were not all corn or something....a risk you take by eating out. Since then the pain has come back, some days worse than others, but some days it can be really annoying. It is also a little larger area this time. I am going to assume that since the doctor was not concerned, I should not be, but I thought I would ask all of you if you experience this as well. Could it be something else? Maybe another intolerance? Or may H Pylori?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[mommida]

Keep a food journal to help you determine if it is another food intolerance or trigger. It would also help determine what type of reaction you get. The journal can also help the doctor determine better testing options for you.

Keeping a food journal helped my figure out I had a contaminated bottle of vanilla. (adding a teapoon to different recipes was making me sick)

[cavernio]

Well, *I think* where you're describing is where the start of your small intestines are, the area where the doctors take biopsies from, and where villous atrophy is supposed to first show up. If you're getting the antibody reaction strongly from glutening, then your intestinal flora can get all messed up too, and I see no reason why only some sections of your intestines can be out of whack in terms of what lives there; they're like an entire continent to the microbes that live there, and some will thrive only in some places.

H pylori sounds like a possibility.

Also, since you are eating dairy, that could well be a part of it. A lot of people here have to give up dairy not for the lactose but for the casein in it. (Unlike what your doctor says). My personal experience isn't clear yet, however, I was gluten-free for 2.5 months and I didn't feel a whole lot better. I went lactose free only though, not dairy free. Now that I'm finally back to gluten-free (had to eat it for scope and biopsy), I'm completely off dairy as well as gluten, and I'm hoping that 3 months from now I'll notice more of a difference than I did then.

Best article I can find regarding casein and celiac disease: Open Original Shared Link

Unfortunately, you can only get the first page of it, but the title and abstract say enough; IgA, the antibodies responsible for celiac disease, also react to two types of casein found in cows milk, not just gluten.

[Darwin]

Actually started taking prilosec (suggestion by my doctor) and the pain has mostly gone away. I am going to say that it was likely an issue with the damage from the gluten being highly effected by degestive acids.....not sure, though. The pain does pop up here and there, but I feel a lot better! I am going to eventually look into the possibility of more intolerances. Thanks for the paper link. I work at a university, so I will likely be able to download the full text pdf for free.