Chest tightness only symptom of being glutened?

[Ruba md]

5 hours ago, trents said:

How do you know it's the gluten and not some other component found in wheat. You say corn affects you the same way and there is no gluten in corn. 

I don’t know ! But suddenly one year ago I can’t have all grains, corn, wheat, oats ( even gluten free) .. but corn and oats ( I have only nose congestion ) while wheat flour ( chest tightness)

[KarenJD]

I am new to this forum but was interested in the people who have experienced chest tightness or pressure. I am awaiting blood results to test for gluten intolerance but sometimes I feel like my bra is so tight. Its not painful just an uncomfortable sensation. It comes and goes with no apparent reason and tends to be worse when I am standing up. I also had spasms im my abdomen but these have subsided since I stopped eating gluten although the pressure is still there . Anyone any ideas or had similar symptoms? 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, KarenJD!

Had you stopped eating gluten before the blood draw for testing? If you stopped gluten weeks or months before the blood draw you may have invalidated the test results. The blood tests are designed to measure antibody levels from the gut's autoimmune response to the ingestion of gluten. It takes time, weeks or months for these antibody levels to build up to the point where they are detectable. When you stop consuming gluten they begin to subside.

Your physician may want to follow up the blood antibody tests with an endoscopy/biopsy to check for physical damage to the villous lining of the small bowel caused by the celiac inflammatory reaction to gluten. This too would require you to have been consuming gluten before the test.

[KarenJD]

1 hour ago, trents said:

Welcome to the forum, KarenJD!

Had you stopped eating gluten before the blood draw for testing? If you stopped gluten weeks or months before the blood draw you may have invalidated the test results. The blood tests are designed to measure antibody levels from the gut's autoimmune response to the ingestion of gluten. It takes time, weeks or months for these antibody levels to build up to the point where they are detectable. When you stop consuming gluten they begin to subside.

Your physician may want to follow up the blood antibody tests with an endoscopy/biopsy to check for physical damage to the villous lining of the small bowel caused by the celiac inflammatory reaction to gluten. This too would require you to have been consuming gluten before the test.

Hi ,

No I only stopped eating gluten 2 days before test. Dr told me that gluten will stay in system for upto 6 weeks. Still waiting on results. Should come back in next week. I have decided to do this to see if it stops the chest pressure.  Dr has also ordered scan on ovary for pain ....another reason I've cut it out as I feel it's digestive related not to do with ovaries but I guess they are just ruling things out. The test also testing for H Pylori.  

[trents]

Actually, it's the antibodies that persist in your system, not the gluten. Thanks for the response. If the doctor wants you to have endoscopy with biopsy you would need to go back on regular amounts of gluten (at least two slices of wheat bread or the gluten equivalent daily) for at least two weeks before the procedure.

[DynamoCappo]

Interesting to see all the comments very similar to my experience. 

I've had lower stomach pains for a couple of years now on and off but they were generally manageable. Around two years back, I also had a night in the ER related to chest pains where I was cleared for any heart attack worries with an EKG and chest X-Ray

After initially being given Buscopan by a doctor, things got worse in September last year to the the point I saw a Cardiologist and had a heart monitor, treadmill test and further EKC and heart strength tests. These all came back clear and I started searching for Non-Cardiac Chest Pain issues. 

Late last year the pains were getting worse and, I had a stool sample which showed an inflamed bowel and was scheduled for a colonoscopy. After that, when biopsies were taken, both the scope and the results of the biopsies showed no issues. 

I'd been proscribed Mebeverine and Alverine over that period also and these made zero difference to my symptoms. 

I was having chest pains, what can be described as "bubbling / air" in my small intestine, and pain between my shoulder blades. If it wasn't for having been cleared by the Cardiologist, I'd have been right back at ER thinking I was having a heart attack again. 

I've been cleared from having Chrons, Colitis from the scops and now Celiac and Diabetes too after (my umpteenth) blood tests show no issues with C-Diff, E Coli, Campylobacter, Shigella or Salmonella

Having now seen another Gastro specialist, he's asked that I remove Wheat from my diet for a month before I go and have an endoscopy (and potentially an MRI too) and I've had a recent chest X-ray done again too. 

In the last week or so, it had felt like it's all subsiding to some degree (this eased in the couple of days before I stopped any wheat intake) so I'm beginning to wonder if it's all just passed but I'd really like to know what's causing it.  

[trents]

@DynamoCappo, you mentioned you had a colonoscopy and that after that biopsies were taken. Were the biopsies taken of the large intestine or the duodenum/duodenum bulb (upper small intestine area right below the stomach outlet)? Celiac disease cannot be diagnosed with a colonoscopy or biopsy of the lower bowel. It damages the small bowel which can only be accessed by an endoscopy and the biopsies must be taken in the duodenum/duodenum bulb area.

Also, have you had any blood tests done that are specific for celiac antibodies? 

Finally, if you eliminate wheat from your diet before you have proper testing done for celiac disease and then decide to get proper testing done for celiac disease you would need to go back to eating significant amounts of wheat/gluten daily for weeks/months before being tested in order to render the tests as valid. It takes time for the antibodies produced by celiac inflammation of the small bowel lining to build up in the blood to levels that are detectable in testing.

There is also the possibility that you have NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) for which there is no testing. It shares many of the same symptoms with celiac disease and is 10x more common. Celiac disease must first be ruled out in order to arrive at a diagnosis of NCGS.

Edited May 8, 2024 by trents

[DynamoCappo]

Just now, trents said:

@DynamoCappo, you mentioned you had a colonoscopy and that after that biopsies were taken. Were the biopsies taken of the large intestine or the duodenum/duodenum bulb (upper small intestine area right below the stomach outlet)? Celiac disease cannot be diagnosed with a colonoscopy or biopsy of the lower bowel. It damages the small bowel which can only be accessed by an endoscopy and the biopsies must be taken in the duodenum/duodenum bulb area.

Also, have you had any blood tests done that are specific for celiac antibodies? 

Finally, if you eliminate wheat from your diet before you have proper testing done for celiac disease and then decide to get proper testing done for celiac disease you would need to go back to eating significant amounts of wheat/gluten daily for weeks/months before being tested in order to render the tests as valid. It takes time for the antibodies produced by celiac inflammation of the small bowel lining to build up in the blood to levels that are detectable in testing.

 

Hey, thanks for the reply. I can find out where the biopsies were taken from specifically. I'm not entirely sure. 

With regards to Celiac, it was ruled out as part of the blood tests I had done. Sorry if that didn't come across the way I typed it all out in terms of what had been ruled out when.  

My endoscopy is in a few weeks. I'm assuming that's when the gastroentoroligist will check a couple of things. My guess is just now, based on everything that's happened is he's thinking it's a wheat intolerance...or that's at least his starting point and he's asking me to remove that to see whether the symptoms subisde altogether in that period. 

I tihnk I already feel better in part to not taking the Alverine which was really giving me a dry mouth and generally making me feel sluggish on top of any pain I had. I think I was on both it and the Mebeverine to show that they weren't helping to any degree ( period of 4-5 weeks each) so I suppose that rules out anything they're meant to fix as a "simple" stomach issue. 

I'd love a diagnosis of sorts but do have the feeling that the endoscopy is going to rule out any major issues too and I'll be left with more guess work. Given that my stool sample showed as being inflamed back in early January, I'm pretty sure it's not just a throat related issue. The pain was all in my sternum and shoulder blades when my small intestine felt like it was bloated / had cramps. 

 

[cristiana]

Hi @DynamoCappo

Your post caught my eye as I, too, have found myself in the Accident and Emergency Department, as we call it in the UK, with pain between my shoulders, and awful burning pain in my chest, where the stomach lies just under the ribs.

Those pains come in particular when I have gastritis/reflux.   I find taking a few days Omeprazole and/or following a simple diet for a while (gastritis/reflux diets, there are lots of examples on line) really helps.  Sometimes I take Gaviscon after a meal which also helps.  Sleeping with a wedge under my pillow at night means that the reflux can't burn my throat, and that makes a big difference.  Trying not to eat too close to bedtime (allow about 3 hours if possible).

These flares can be caused by bad eating - too much spicy, fatty food for example but also by glutening. 

Also, I get rib pain if I lift heavy weights or do too much driving.  This has been diagnosed as costochondritis.. There is also another syndrome called Tietze Syndrome which affects the sternum - another doctor told me I had that.  Worth googling both conditions.

If I have a flare of costochondritis with gastritis/reflux the combination is horrendous, hence the trip to hospital!  I was convinced it was a heart attack -  I can definitely relate!

 

Edited May 9, 2024 by cristiana

[DynamoCappo]

17 hours ago, cristiana said:

Hi @DynamoCappo

Your post caught my eye as I, too, have found myself in the Accident and Emergency Department, as we call it in the UK, with pain between my shoulders, and awful burning pain in my chest, where the stomach lies just under the ribs.

Those pains come in particular when I have gastritis/reflux.   I find taking a few days Omeprazole and/or following a simple diet for a while (gastritis/reflux diets, there are lots of examples on line) really helps.  Sometimes I take Gaviscon after a meal which also helps.  Sleeping with a wedge under my pillow at night means that the reflux can't burn my throat, and that makes a big difference.  Trying not to eat too close to bedtime (allow about 3 hours if possible).

These flares can be caused by bad eating - too much spicy, fatty food for example but also by glutening. 

Also, I get rib pain if I lift heavy weights or do too much driving.  This has been diagnosed as costochondritis.. There is also another syndrome called Tietze Syndrome which affects the sternum - another doctor told me I had that.  Worth googling both conditions.

If I have a flare of costochondritis with gastritis/reflux the combination is horrendous, hence the trip to hospital!  I was convinced it was a heart attack -  I can definitely relate!

 

Thanks for the reply, Christiana. Sorry to hear you've got pretty much exactly what I have. It's really debilitating at this point. 

I've been on Omeprazole (after initially taking Nexium) for reflux for a good few months. Apparently that can also cause issues with your stomach so my latest Gastro doc has advised that I come off both that and the Alverine as they're not making a difference to me. 

My reflux hasn't been as bad recently but I'm likely restricting my diet a bit anyway due to having less of an appetite so that might be helping that. 

I was advised, a few weeks back when I was still on both sets of pills, to take Gaviscon after each meal and before bedtime and it possible did reduce the sternum pain but at the point I need both Omeprazole and Gavison my concern is that there's an issue which needs properly addressed instead of another medicine on top of it that only alleviates things at times and doesn't in any way solve the problem. Can't do that for the rest of my life. 

The more I hear about glutening, the more it rings true with my issues. I've been wheat free for a week now but yesterday was the first time I had symptoms like the sternum pain in that period. It came on after I felt severly fatigued midafternoon. 

The doc has initially ruled out Costochrondritis for me as the pain is inside my sternum rather than being sore to touch on my chest but I'm going to ask again about that. I'll definitely look Tietze Syndrome up. 

I really hope your pain eases up soon. It's awful to deal with. 

 

[cristiana]

Hi @DynamoCappo

I nearly posted this in my first post to you and should have: I find that taking Gaviscon and Omeprazole actually made me really gassy in my stomach and added to the sensation of pressure in my chest and so I rarely take them together for long. 

Iron supplements also made make me very bloated in the same area.  I remember once when I was on heavy iron the bloating was so severe I thought I was about to have a cardiac - I recall crossing the street and wondering if I'd make it to the other side!

If they discover you are a coeliac you may find that once you are completely gluten free your symptoms will fade away, or lessen considerably.  Unfortunately, up until you have your biopsy you will need to keep gluten in your diet( has your gastroenterologist told you about that?), so if gluten is causing these problems,  it will go on for a bit longer.

But in the meantime you might like to try a reflux diet:  for me, this works:

• Avoid: spicy, citrus, fatty foods, and don't drink alcohol, coffee or strong tea;  Eat: small, regular meals rather than large ones.
• Try to go to bed 2-3 hours after eating, and use a wedge pillow so your head is raised when you sleep.
• I make a large crockpot of chicken, carrots and potatoes, with a few herbs and cooked in water.  Slow cook for a few hours until the meat is falling off the bone - it can be eaten as a comforting stew or made into a soup.
• Do drink: still water.  Camomile tea.  Another helpful drinks is slivers of ginger in hot water.

I hope some of this helps.  

Lastly, if bloating is a factor, note in a food diary what makes it worse.  Prior to my diagnosis dairy was a factor in this.  Once my gut healed, I could eat/drink it again.

 

 

 

 

 

[trents]

As strange as it may sound, low stomach acid can actually be the culprit instead of excessive stomach acid such that taking proton pump inhibitors and frequent antacid over the counter remedies are actually counterproductive. PPIs increase stomach PH and inhibit digestion of food and the assimilation of vitamins and minerals. They are way over prescribed and way under monitored. They can be very helpful as a temporary healing agent but most of the time docs put people on them and leave them on them indefinitely. On label usage is like 8 weeks.

[cristiana]

I think that is very true, Trents, and suspect that's why my bloating is a lot worse when I take Gaviscon and Omeprazole.  I had a friend who was taking large doses but wasn't adjusting her diet, and was still drinking strong coffee, etc.  It really pays to try a gastritis/reflux diet.

[Wheatwacked]

Alka-Seltzer is an effervescent antacid and pain reliever first marketed by the Dr. Miles Medicine Company of Elkhart, Indiana, United States. Alka-Seltzer contains three active ingredients: aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) (ASA), sodium bicarbonate, and anhydrous citric acid.

Salicylic acid is used as a food preservative, a bactericide, and an antiseptic.

Speedy Alka-Seltzer has been around for a long time.  The advantage is the aspirin is disolved in water before you swallow so there is no medication burning your stomach while it disolves.  The bicarbonate neutralizes the stomach acid for a few hours while the analgesic effects last about 4 hours. For me it works almost immediately. True to its early commercials on TV, it is Fast Fast Fast Relief.  Originally derived from Willow Bark and used by American Native Americans to reduce fevers.  Salicylic acid was  essential vitamin B11 until around the time Bayer patented acetyl salicylic acid as an analgesic.  

In general though while you are healing it is best to avoid any food that causes you symptoms.

 

[DynamoCappo]

On 5/11/2024 at 7:07 PM, cristiana said:

I think that is very true, Trents, and suspect that's why my bloating is a lot worse when I take Gaviscon and Omeprazole.  I had a friend who was taking large doses but wasn't adjusting her diet, and was still drinking strong coffee, etc.  It really pays to try a gastritis/reflux diet.

@trents

 

Yeah, I think I'm actually better for having stopped taking the Omeprazole. I do begin to wonder, having been on it pretty much constantly for a year whether that's flared up the tummy issues for me and everything is a knock on from that. 

I've had a couple of days recently where I've maybe taken a swig of Gaviscon if I felt heartburn coming on but that's stopped it immediately whereas in the months before now, the Omeprazole was barely keeping it all at bay. 

 

 

On 5/10/2024 at 7:22 PM, cristiana said:

Hi @DynamoCappo

I nearly posted this in my first post to you and should have: I find that taking Gaviscon and Omeprazole actually made me really gassy in my stomach and added to the sensation of pressure in my chest and so I rarely take them together for long. 

Iron supplements also made make me very bloated in the same area.  I remember once when I was on heavy iron the bloating was so severe I thought I was about to have a cardiac - I recall crossing the street and wondering if I'd make it to the other side!

If they discover you are a coeliac you may find that once you are completely gluten free your symptoms will fade away, or lessen considerably.  Unfortunately, up until you have your biopsy you will need to keep gluten in your diet( has your gastroenterologist told you about that?), so if gluten is causing these problems,  it will go on for a bit longer.

But in the meantime you might like to try a reflux diet:  for me, this works:

• Avoid: spicy, citrus, fatty foods, and don't drink alcohol, coffee or strong tea;  Eat: small, regular meals rather than large ones.
• Try to go to bed 2-3 hours after eating, and use a wedge pillow so your head is raised when you sleep.
• I make a large crockpot of chicken, carrots and potatoes, with a few herbs and cooked in water.  Slow cook for a few hours until the meat is falling off the bone - it can be eaten as a comforting stew or made into a soup.
• Do drink: still water.  Camomile tea.  Another helpful drinks is slivers of ginger in hot water.

I hope some of this helps.  

Lastly, if bloating is a factor, note in a food diary what makes it worse.  Prior to my diagnosis dairy was a factor in this.  Once my gut healed, I could eat/drink it again.

 

 

The recent bloods taken at my GP seems to have ruled out Coeliac (though having read a few more posts on here since, it might need more than the one test and more than just a blood test - is there a breath test too? - I might be mixing that up with something else)

Having been told to avoid Wheat for the month, initially, until I go back to the Gastro Specialist, I'm essentially following that sort of meal plan anyway. I don't drink a lot of coffee and my alcohol intake isn't massive. I had a few drinks on Saturday over the weekend for the first time in a while and felt fine for it. 

I've been keeping a food diary in the meantime too. It's maybe coincidence but twice when I've felt bloating since noting it all, it's been after eating a couple of slices of packaged ham. I wonder if it's the salt content / processed food or just so happens that it is purely coincidental. 

I had a bit of bloating yesterday later in the day and hadn't had the same ham on that day and had only had eggs and beans in the morning (with a coffeee) and a cod fillet and rice later on. 

Might be that dairy is something that I have to look at as well. Losing cheese from the diet would be harder than cutting out wheat, I think. 

I think the Wheat free option was with keeping gluten in my diet initially as you say. He didn't mention that specifically but would imagine it's a consideration if my symptoms haven't improved hugely come the end of the month. I'm scheduled for an MRI and endocsopy in that period too soimagine there'll be a conversation about all those results and how I'm feeling, generally, come the start of June. 

Thanks for all your replies. It's been very enlightening and quite heplful to know others are in a similar position.  

 

 

 

[Scott Adams]

On 5/11/2024 at 12:00 PM, Wheatwacked said:

 Originally derived from Willow Bark and used by American Native Americans to reduce fevers.  Salicylic acid was  essential vitamin B11 until around the time Bayer patented acetyl salicylic acid as an analgesic.  

Salicylic acid is a naturally occurring compound found in plants, and it has been used for medicinal purposes. It is not classified as a vitamin. Vitamin B11, also known as salicylate, is a synthetic form of salicylic acid, but it is not considered essential in the human diet. The term "essential vitamin" typically refers to vitamins that are necessary for human health but must be obtained through the diet because the body cannot produce them.

Salicylic acid is not an essential vitamin like B11, which refers to a synthetic form of salicylic acid called salicylate. Both salicylic acid and salicylate are distinct compounds with different properties and roles in health and medicine.

[cristiana]

9 hours ago, DynamoCappo said:

Might be that dairy is something that I have to look at as well. Losing cheese from the diet would be harder than cutting out wheat, I think. 

Re: cheese.  Here a food diary is helpful.  Some people who are lactose intolerant, temporarily or otherwise, can often eat hard cheeses like cheddar in moderation, because these it is low in lactose.  So is butter and cream, by the way.  However, milk can cause issues.   Worth remembering before you cut out everything.  If you have a casein intolerance, then you will have issues with most dairy products.

When my lactose intolerance was at its worst I couldn't tolerate milky drinks, but a bit of grated cheddar was fine.

Strangely, even today, too much milk has a laxative effect on me, even though my gut has healed and my blood tests are now normal.

 

Edited May 13, 2024 by cristiana