Celiac Disease

Around 2 years ago I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which In my case was odd since I had never shown any symptoms beyond being constipated and having diarrhea more frequently. But as of the past half a year, it's been way more noticeable with cramps, and has been causing issues more frequently. I've never had any sort of incontinence issue before, but could these cause a form of incontinence? I might be a DL, but that doesn't mean I want to be incontinent :frown:

Hello!

I actually had all sort of testing because of my terrible stomach. I was diagnosed with IBS-D. So I understand your stomach troubles. I don't have any trigger foods, so any food can set my stomach off. This in turn increases my anxiety when it comes to eating food. To limit this I don't eat when I know I need to go out, and when I'm out I don't eat.

With celiac all you need to do is cut out wheat/gluten and you will be alright. This will be hard, it means eating a lot more fresh foods. When it comes to incontience I understand the fear. I had issues when I was driving long distances to and from work and had a few very close calls. I'm a DL but I never wanted to have to wear a diaper to prevent accidents. I still haven't but I spoke to my doctor and he said in the future it may happen. As you get older you sphincter muscles weaken and if can make accidents happen more. In your case however if you eat properly, you should avoid all problems.

I know all of this because I went through years of testing and had to keep a food journal when they told me to cut out wheat and gluten. To get your diagnosis did they do the blood test or the scope? I wouldn't worry about it too much, the incontience side of things. If you need hep or support don't hesitate to DM me. I know the struggles! It takes a lot of work but once you start eating healthier you will feel much better!

I have a friend that has celiac disease, at first I was like oh okay, I didn't really understand it, I knew that gluten would make him sick, The more I hung around him and saw what he would eat the more I would look at what I eat, to some extent he became my food role model, him and his family would only eat fresh whole foods that were mainly vegetable base with either a chicken, pork or red meat. I started to eat like them, and man I feel so much better, since I changed my diet I have way more energy, I'm not as hungry and I digest everything so much better. I love eating pasta, I switched to a gluten free pasta, the taste is pretty much the same, the cooking time is slightly longer but it doesn't settle like a boat anchor in my stomach. Don't get me wrong, I still love eating bagels and bread but I don't eat as much of it and a pretty much stay away from processed foods now. I encourage everyone to give it a try, you will notice how much crap food is out there, and for slightly more effort you will feel so much better.

To be honest I have cut gluten for my diet for a long time now, in fact I almost exclusively eat at home where I know I have rice flower, and I won't cross contaminate anything. I just found it odd that these issues where still prevalent. Sorry about that I probably should've clarified a bit more

Celiacs (? not sure if that is a word lol) tend to be lactose intolerant for the first while until the gut heals. I have every single symptom (major gut issues, skin rashes, asthma symptoms, severe joint pain and swelling etc) of celiac disease but have tested negative through blood and biosy .... boo! I also test negative for food allergies through RAST blood tests so there is no official diagnosis - I just have to stay away from wheat and dairy (I react severly to both, even the lactose in most medications bother my gut massively).

cross contamination is very very possible and happens all the time, "gluten free" food only have to be under 20 ppm (parts per million) to be labelled gluten free. I definitely react under that ... which sucks. Your gut may react under that even if you get no symptoms (if your gut is unhappy that is a symptom). Basically anything processed in a warehouse, mixed together or made in a restaurant I react to and get sick off of.

Another possibility is you have leaky gut from the celiac and it needs some help recovering. Using digestive enzymes, strong probiotics and lots of superfood and greens (there are some great superfood supplements for smoothies or a brand called juice plus that is amazing).

You need to look at EVERYTHING you eat and I can almost guarantee there is something with wheat you are still eating. look for wheat, wheat starch, wheat grass, malt extract, malt anything, vegetable starch can be wheat (but more likely corn). Chicken broth and canned soup is one item that doesn't normally label gluten but almost always uses gluten in preparing it. Oats can also be either contaminated with wheat OR some celiacs also react to the oat gluten itself and cant eat even gluten free oats.

hope that helps. food allergies definitely cause fecal leakage for me .... got to experience that when I was in the hospital for a migraine - stupid hospital food - and I was too embarrassed to ask for help (just threw out my undies - went through all 4 pairs in one day or diapers :'( I reaaaaaally wanted to go home so I could wear my diapers and not have to worry.

hope that helps!!

I have a friend who has Celiac disease. Even though she avoids all foods with wheat, she went to Outback Steak House and told them about her gluten intolerance. She ordered a steak and got sick. She went back the next day to complain and found out that they used soy sauce to cook their steaks. Soy sauce acts the same way as gluten, so that can be problematic.

She and her discovered they both had been infected by tick bites with some disease I can't remember. It wasn't lime disease, but now they can't eat any meat that had four legs, which means they can eat fish or fowl, but no pork or beef.