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Abdominal Pain


bklynceliac

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bklynceliac Apprentice

Hello all. I've been on the gluten-free diet nearly two months now and am feeling a great deal of improvement. The one thing that hasn't gone away at all though is the abdominal pain. What bothers me most is I have no idea what it is. It feel like someone inflated a few long balloons and stuck them in various places in my stomach and pelvis. The most logical connection to me is gas, but I don't feel extremely gassy and don't have any problem retaining it. The pain is most noticeable at night when it's impossible for me to lie on my stomach, making it very hard to sleep. It doesn't seem to be made better or worse with different food choices. And the location of the pain seems to change daily. I'd love to hear if other people have a similar thing, and any thoughts on what it is or what I might do would be much appreciated. Thanks!


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covsooze Enthusiast

Hi there. It does sound like gas to me. When you say food choices don't seem to make any difference, have you actually tried cutting out any foods for more than a few days? I know that if I have beans or lentils I get painful wind and also if I have dairy. If there's a few things contributing to the gas, it will be difficult for you to see an obvious connection with what you eat - you might benefit from doing a food diary. The other thing is, my gas reduced significantly after going gluten-free. It takes time to get the diet right and to heal - maybe you just need time?

Finally, try a hot water bottle at night :)

kbtoyssni Contributor

My pain also moves around. Sometimes it's my stomach, which usually feels like I've swallowed some razor blades and makes me want to curl up in a ball to stop the pain. Sometimes it's more in my intestines, which feels more like bloating/gas and a dull ache.

penguin Community Regular

I get three types of pain: I get pain like you describe, the balloon feeling, and for me it's gas. I take phazyme when that happens and it works wonders.

The second type of pain is a burning in my stomach, which is usually because of too much acid and not enough food.

The third type of pain, the bain of my existance, is what I call the "crunching pain". For some reason (gluten-free or not) I periodically get pyloric spasms, and it feels like my stomach is trying to eat iself, it's the only way I can describe it. It's in the stomach itself and nobody has been able to tell me why I get it. I take phenergan and sleep for a few days when it happens.

IrishKelly Contributor
Hello all. I've been on the gluten-free diet nearly two months now and am feeling a great deal of improvement. The one thing that hasn't gone away at all though is the abdominal pain. What bothers me most is I have no idea what it is. It feel like someone inflated a few long balloons and stuck them in various places in my stomach and pelvis. The most logical connection to me is gas, but I don't feel extremely gassy and don't have any problem retaining it. The pain is most noticeable at night when it's impossible for me to lie on my stomach, making it very hard to sleep. It doesn't seem to be made better or worse with different food choices. And the location of the pain seems to change daily. I'd love to hear if other people have a similar thing, and any thoughts on what it is or what I might do would be much appreciated. Thanks!

This happened to me too. After i started the gluten free diet i thought things were getting better...but then a couple of weeks into the gluten-free diet i noticed there was still all of this gas pain...like something was alive and crawling around inside of me!! After eliminating Dairy it has gotten 75% better...i highy recommend trying to eliminate dairy. I've never had any dairy troubles until the last few months because of the damage i've done to my intestines due to the gluten overload. Are you dairy free now??

sspitzer5 Apprentice

I have an on and off knawing type of pain below my belly button on the left side. I don't have it for months and then it sort of flares up again. I think it's some type of ulcer. Hopefully I'll get some clues on what going on next month when I get another endoscopy and a colonoscopy. The doctor says he'll give me a camera capsule if nothing turns up with the other tests.

S

bklynceliac Apprentice

hey there, i'm not dairy free, and in fact have been having a lot more dairy lately, as it is one of the few gluten-free things I really enjoy. But I know it's a possible irritant. I've not eliminated it because I've never noticed any causal relationship with it and my pains. I can eat a pint of ice cream and they are no better or worse. But maybe if i cut it out completely they'll chill out?


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IrishKelly Contributor
hey there, i'm not dairy free, and in fact have been having a lot more dairy lately, as it is one of the few gluten-free things I really enjoy. But I know it's a possible irritant. I've not eliminated it because I've never noticed any causal relationship with it and my pains. I can eat a pint of ice cream and they are no better or worse. But maybe if i cut it out completely they'll chill out?

OH YES!!! I'm 28 and have NEVER had any dairy issues until the last few months. I was told that 8-9 out 10 people who are glutent intolerant (and never knew) will also become dairy intolerant temporarily because of the damage we've done to our intestines along the way. The ville (i think it connects the stomach to the large intestine?) has hairs that have been damaged because of the glutent consumption over the years. Once you are dairy and gluten free for a few months (my doc said it could take up to six months) you will notice a huge difference and you will eventually be able to re-introduce dairy again once your healed :D

Green Fingered Gaelic Newbie

I think we all get lactose intolerent, to a degree, when we get the aul glutonium in the diet. The villi house the lacto bacilli. I think. Over the years I've got allot of conflicting advice and so I'm just sayin what makes sense to me, based on my gut instinct :P ;-) . Sometimes if the villi don't get too damaged they will repair and repopulate the bacilli. If they get too damaged they won't be able to house them anymore and you will be permenantly lactose intolerent.

At the moment I've got bad numb constant pains in ma belly. I was on holiday two weeks ago and am still recovering.

Other than that some times I get sharp pains that feel like they run the length of my intestine, pretty much in an instant i get this internal electric shock. Its paralises me. I just hope it never happens to me when I'm driving.

So at the moment I'm suffering from this constant ache and I have to confess that at times like this I use a the herb mj to smooth over my pains, it also helps with the appetite I find.

Other than those pains I get muscle and bone aches at different times.

Peace,

Q

PS. Diagnosed aged 2, by my gran, despite several doctors critism, am 26 now, have recently become more sensitive and hence my interest in this forum etc.

eleep Enthusiast

You know, I didn't even realize I had ongoing abdominal pain until after I stopped eating gluten -- the first time I got glutened after that, I felt these shooting pains deep in my stomach that were incredibly familiar and made me realize how acclimated to feeling crappy I had been for years!

eleep

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