How To Tell If It Is Ibs Or Celiac?

[desperate]

I don't know if I am Celiac, have a wheat allergy or intolerance, or have IBS.

I went gluten free for two months and my bowel movements were fine. No cramping or diarrhea. But since reintroducing gluten and regular flours I have been having my typical bloating, cramping, and diarrhea. I don't know if this is from the gluten, wheat, or just the kind of fiber found in wheat products.

My blood tested negative for celiac and the biopsies from small intestine showed some villi flattening but GI doctor said it was just inflammation and was negative for Celiac. That confused me so I am not sure what that means. She told me to try a gluten free diet if I wanted to and see if it helped since so many people she said feel better without gluten. One GI doctor told me I have IBS but didn't say much about it. So I am trying to figure out what my problem really is.

I know after having wheat bread I get dizzy, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, loss of coordination, headache and pressure behind my eyes, nausea, fatigued, dry mouth and dry eyes, warm face, feel like my throat is being compressed. I get this way a little bit having gluten free bread but no way near as bad when I have wheat bread. And Ezekiel sprouted wheat bread doesn't affect

as bad as regular whole wheat.

How can I tell what is causing my problems? Is it the wheat, the gluten, or the fiber? Is it wheat allegy/intolerance, Celiac, or IBS?

[maximoo]

Pardom me but ur Dr is a QUACK! If u have villi flattening how the hell is that inflammation?? Flat villi only occurs when the antibodies attack & destroy it. What kind of Dr would call that inflammation? Sounds like malpractice to me!! Please go to another dr. If you feel better on a gluten-free diet then stick with it. You may also be reacting to something else in addition to gluten. Many people are dairy intolerant, citric intolerant, etc. You may have to eliminate other foods then slowly reintroduce to see what other culprits there might be. GOOD LUCK!

[Skylark]

IBS is usually a symptom, not a disease. As you notice, yours gets better off wheat. It's very rare for fiber to cause problems unless your digestive system is really messed up, and it wouldn't cause all the neurological symptoms you're describing.

Think of it very simply. If a food makes you sick, don't eat it. Play with your diet until you find something that works. Clearly you can't eat wheat so you're either allergic to wheat or gluten intolerant. Your reaction almost sounds more like allergy than celiac, especially with the throat feeling compressed. It doesn't matter much either way and there is no reliable diagnostic test for either. You probably shouldn't be eating wheat at all. If rye and barley bother you too it's probably gluten. If not, wheat allergy.

As far as the gluten-free bread you may be sensitive to grains in general. It could be allergic cross-reaction, problems with starch, or problems with lectins. You can either go grain-free and test individual grains by getting whole grains and cooking them, or try something like the the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Open Original Shared Link

[GlutenFreeManna]

Ibs is a set of symptoms, not a diagnosis. It's what they tell you when they don't know what is causing your digestive symptoms. Celiac can cause you to have IBS symptoms.

As for your biopsy, get the results to read them for yourself and take to another dr. SOMETHING is causing your villi to be flattened. With the reaction you have described to going gluten-free and trying to add it back in again celiac sounds very likely.

[3BoyMama]

When you say "IBS", do you mean irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease? If they found inflammation on your endoscopy and some villus flattening, I would ask for the pathology reports to be reviewed by a 2nd pathologist and seek a second opinion. Even though you should probably eat gluten free regardless, it would be important to know whether you are intolerant or if you truly have Celiac disease. Celiac disease to me is an inflammatory bowel disease. The only difference is that they know what causes it so instead of going on steroids and immunosuppresent drugs, you can avoid the culprit as a treatment which is a much better option!

We are tryinig to figure out if our son has Celiac or Crohn's based on his endoscopy. He has no GI symptoms but his growth and puberty are delayed. After a long road with an endocrinologist, we were referred to GI for an endoscopy since my son's blood work was not valid for Celiac testing since he is IgA deficient.

The symptoms can be very similar as can some of the endoscopy findings. You really need a doc knowledgable to find out. We had our son's pathology slides re-read by a second pathologist and analyzed by a second doctor. They have to keep this stuff and this is done all of the time. That may give you some more piece of mind!

Best of luck to you

[Roda]

I would go gluten free based on your findings on the biopsy. You deserve to feel better.