Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Cramping And Fainting?!

Kirstie

Recommended Posts

Kirstie Apprentice
Kirstie
Posted

Hey everyone, I've been so busy the past few weeks, but been sticking to my gluten-free diet fine! Although last night I felt rather uncomfortable, bloated and constipated, I put it down to stress and took a Senokot tablet (Dual tablet which aides bloating and constipation)

I've never had a problem with Senokot before and doubted anything would happen. This morning however I felt extremely painful cramping and an urge to use the bathroom, but the cramping persisted and I didn't actually need to go. That passed and I felt a little shaky but fine.

In town the same happened again, but this time I felt more like I was going to vomit. I left town and felt cramps on the way home. Upon arriving home I rushed to the bathroom, felt extremely painful cramps and a desperate urge to relieve myself, but again, nothing! The cramps got so bad I was crying out in agony, broke out in a cold sweat and my ears began ringing. I stood up and tried to wash my face with cold water, and passed out onto the floor from pain!! I must have been unconscious a few minutes.

Now about 10 min later I'm still suffering from slight cramping and shaking, but thats all.

I'm pretty worried, has anyone else had this? The pains in my lower stomach and its excruciating. Should I seek medical help or wait and hope it passes?

Thanks everyone!

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I think you should contact your doctor right away. It is possible that you have developed an intestinal blockage which needs to be attended to promptly. Not wishing to be unnecessarily alarmist, but it could be a serious problem.

tracijo Newbie
tracijo
Posted

What you're describing is actually how I found out that I had Celiac. I knew I never really felt all that well, and had some stomach issues, but aside from acid reflux, they couldn't find anything wrong with me until I passed out in the middle of a crowded shop. The ringing in the ears is, I think, a pain response. I didn't get the sweating and shaking until after I came to, but that's definitely vasovagal pain response to a T.

Not to say you shouldn't go see a doctor (you definitely should, in case it's something bad), but it could also be that you're reacting to gluten.

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I, too, have had the sweating, ringing in the ears and fainting as a gluten response But never accompanied by such severe cramping. That is what alarmed me. And the fact she thought she was passed out for several minutes. My vasovagal syncope was always just a momentary thing, just long enough for me to hit the deck :rolleyes:

tracijo Newbie
tracijo
Posted

Same for me. I was only out for a second. I'll never forget the pain, though. If I felt it again, it would most certainly be cause for concern. When it's a new symptom, I'd imagine that would be even more so.

Kirstie Apprentice
Kirstie
Posted
  • Author

What you're describing is actually how I found out that I had Celiac. I knew I never really felt all that well, and had some stomach issues, but aside from acid reflux, they couldn't find anything wrong with me until I passed out in the middle of a crowded shop. The ringing in the ears is, I think, a pain response. I didn't get the sweating and shaking until after I came to, but that's definitely vasovagal pain response to a T.

Not to say you shouldn't go see a doctor (you definitely should, in case it's something bad), but it could also be that you're reacting to gluten.

Hi everyone, thanks for replying so quickly! I didn't see a doctor because after that horrible episode I calmed down a lot, cramping but not more fainting or excruciating pain!

I'm wondering if it was the laxative (although I've not had those reactions before) or gluten!? I may have eaten some gluten the night before too, pretty harsh reaction but I've been off the stuff for quite a while now.

I haven't passed out from pain since getting the absolute worse period pains when I was 14. Horrible, horrible. I'm just glad I can talk to you all about it, everyone else acts like I'm overreacting :( its awful not being taken serious.

Much better today, just a little weak, how I normally feel after eating gluten :(

Kirstie Apprentice
Kirstie
Posted
  • Author

I, too, have had the sweating, ringing in the ears and fainting as a gluten response But never accompanied by such severe cramping. That is what alarmed me. And the fact she thought she was passed out for several minutes. My vasovagal syncope was always just a momentary thing, just long enough for me to hit the deck :rolleyes:

It easily could have been a gluten response, just the worse one ever! Maybe there was even gluten in Senokot? The website said no but I'm not so sure now.

I though I was out for a few minutes, it felt like ages but maybe it wasn't I was just so dizzy, sweaty and confused I couldn't tell.

Does this happen to you quite often after eating gluten? Worrying!

Thanks for your reply :)

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

It used to happen to me quite often, after both corn and gluten, maybe 20 times in all. I don't do it any more. When you've passed out it is always hard to tell how long it has been. I came to once just as my head hit the floor - I was sitting on the floor saying "I've got to lie down before I pass out" and then I was (passed out) with a thud before I could get my head all the way down :blink: This was before I wised up to what was causing it :rolleyes: A good reminder to check everything for gluten!!

LauraB0927 Apprentice
LauraB0927
Posted

I would have the vasovagal syncope/fainting episodes but I could never link them to right after I ate gluten. Granted, these happened before I was diagnosed and I never had GI symptoms, so it could have been but I never realized it. Not surprisingly, I never (knock on wood) had a syncope episode since going gluten-free!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      128,037
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Ant
    Newest Member
    Ant
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121k
    • Total Posts
      70.6k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      Celiac or Addison's complications? Can someone share their experience?

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the forum, @KRipple! Sorry to hear of all your husband's health problems. I can only imagine how anxious this makes you as when our spouse suffers we hurt right along with them. Can you post the results from the Celiac blood testing for us to look at? We would need the names of the tests run, the numeric results and (this is important) the reference ranges for each test used to establish high/low/negative/positive. Different labs use different rating scales so this is why I ask for this. There aren't industry standards. Has your husband seen any improvement from eliminating gluten from his diet? If your husband had any positive results from his celiac blood antibody testing, this is likely what triggered the consult with a  GI doc for an endoscopy. During the endoscopy, the GI doc will likely biopsy the lining of the small bowel lining to check for the damage caused by celiac disease. This would be for confirmation of the results of the blood tests and is considered the gold standard of celiac disease diagnosis. But here is some difficult information I have for you. If your husband has been gluten free already for months leading up to the endoscopy/biopsy, it will likely invalidate the biopsy and result in a false negative. Starting the gluten free diet now will allow the lining of the small bowel to begin healing and if enough healing takes place before the biopsy happens, there will be no damage to see. How far out is the endoscopy scheduled for? There still may be time for your husband to go back on gluten, what we call a "gluten challenge" to ensure valid test results.
    • kate g
      Are they close to a drug that will help celiacs with cross contamination

      By kate g · Posted

      Ive read articles that there is stage 2 research being conducted for drugs that will limit damage to celiacs through cross contamination- how close are they to this will there be enough funding to create a mainstream drug? 
    • KRipple
      Celiac or Addison's complications? Can someone share their experience?

      By KRipple · Posted

      Hello, My husband has had issues with really bad diarreah for over nine months now. In mid November, he went to the doctor for what they thought was a bad cold, which two weeks later was diagnosed as bronchitis. A week later, in December, I had to take him back to urgent care and from there, to the emergency room cause his vitals were too low. They said he was having an Addisionan crisis and he spent five days in the ICU. Since my husband has Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome Type II (type 1 diabetes, Addison's and Hashimoto's), I fought for a blood test to determine if he had Celiacs. Given the results of the test, he was told to go to a gastro for an endoscopy. It took two months to get his first appointment with the gastro. Still waiting for the endoscopy appointment. He stopped eating gluten in the hospital and has followed a gluten-free diet since. His diarreah continues to be as bad as before he stopped eating gluten. Still has a horrible cough that makes him hack. His energy is so depleted he pretty much goes to work, comes home and goes lie in bed. He is having issues regulating body temperature. He is barely eating (he's lost 20 pounds since mid-December). Body aches. Totally run down. He has been taking more prednisone lately to try to counter the symptoms.  Today, we went to his endo to discuss these things. She said to continue taking increased amount of prednisone (even though I explained that the increased dosage is only allowing him to do the bare minimum). According to the endo, this is all related to Celiacs. I am concerned because I know that both Celiacs and Addison's can have similar symptoms, but don't know if he would still be having these many symptoms (worsening, at that) related to the Celiac's after stopping gluten two months ago. If anyone in this group has a combination of Celiacs and Addison's, could you please share your experience? I am really concerned and am feeling frustrated. His primary care provider and endocrinologist don't seem to consider this serious enough to warrant prompt attention, and we'll see about the gastro.  Thanks.
    • cristiana
      Celiac pain relief

      By cristiana · Posted

      Hi @Karmmacalling I'm very sorry to hear you are feeling so unwell.  Can you tell us exactly what sort of pain you are experiencing and where the pain is?  Is it your lower abdomen, upper abdomen etc?  Do you have any other symptoms? Cristiana
    • trents
      How many people here are aware that there are 9 types of gluten that Celiacs should be aware of?

      By trents · Posted

      The NIH article you link actually supports what I have been trying to explain to you: "Celiac disease (celiac disease) is an autoimmune-mediated enteropathy triggered by dietary gluten in genetically prone individuals. The current treatment for celiac disease is a strict lifelong gluten-free diet. However, in some celiac disease patients following a strict gluten-free diet, the symptoms do not remit. These cases may be refractory celiac disease or due to gluten contamination; however, the lack of response could be related to other dietary ingredients, such as maize, which is one of the most common alternatives to wheat used in the gluten-free diet. In some celiac disease patients, as a rare event, peptides from maize prolamins could induce a celiac-like immune response by similar or alternative pathogenic mechanisms to those used by wheat gluten peptides. This is supported by several shared features between wheat and maize prolamins and by some experimental results. Given that gluten peptides induce an immune response of the intestinal mucosa both in vivo and in vitro, peptides from maize prolamins could also be tested to determine whether they also induce a cellular immune response. Hypothetically, maize prolamins could be harmful for a very limited subgroup of celiac disease patients, especially those that are non-responsive, and if it is confirmed, they should follow, in addition to a gluten-free, a maize-free diet." Notice that those for whom it is suggested to follow a maize-free diet are a "very limited subgroup of celiac disease patients". Please don't try to make your own experience normative for the entire celiac community.  Notice also that the last part of the concluding sentence in the paragraph does not equate a gluten-free diet with a maize-free diet, it actually puts them in juxtaposition to one another. In other words, they are different but for a "limited subgroup of celiac disease patients" they produce the same or a similar reaction. You refer to celiac reactions to cereal grain prolamins as "allergic" reactions and "food sensitivity". For instance, you say, "NIH sees all these grains as in opposition to celiacs, of which I am one and that is science, not any MD with a good memory who overprescribes medications that contain known food allergens in them, of which they have zero knowledge if the patient is in fact allergic to or not, since they failed to do simple 'food sensitivity' testing" and "IF a person wants to get well, they should be the one to determine what grains they are allergic to and what grains they want to leave out, not you. I need to remind you that celiac disease is not an allergy, it is an autoimmune disorder. Neither allergy testing nor food sensitivity testing can be used to diagnose celiac disease. Allergy testing and food sensitivity testing cannot detect the antibodies produced by celiac disease in reaction to gluten ingestion.  You say of me, "You must be one of those who are only gluten intolerant . . ." Gluten intolerance is synonymous with celiac disease. You must be referring to gluten sensitivity or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). Actually, I have been officially diagnosed with celiac disease both by blood antibody testing and by endoscopy/positive biopsy. Reacting to all cereal grain prolamins does not define celiac disease. If you are intent on teaching the truth, please get it straight first.
×
×
  • Create New...