Hello! I read one of your messages to someone else on this board and I was hoping that you might be able to help me. Very briefly, I have been living with abdominal pain - sometimes severe - for over three years. I have had every test done known to man (seemingly)...CT scan, general X-rays, upper GI with Small Bowel, cholangiogram, DESIDA scan, liver and pancreatic function tests, ultrasounds, endoscopy, liver biopsy, stress test, holter monitor, exploratory surgery, and even had my gallbladder removed. I've been to nine different doctors (two internal med., two gastroenterologists, two surgeons, two cardioologists, and even my OB/GYN for good measure!); and have exhausted our financial resources, to say the least!

NO ONE has offered me a reason for my pain. Gallbladder removal was a joke.

I realize you are not a dr., but I'm desperate to talk to someone who has knowledge about celiac disease, and that's why your message struck me. So here's my story...

I have just in the past week come across information on celiac disease, and it seems like it might be closely related to - if not the cause of - my problem.

My main symptom is abdominal pain (many times severe) in the upper abdomen (mostly towards the upper center, but also to the right). Pain occurs after eating. Also accompanied by heartburn. After the initial "attack" (which lasts for hours, usually), then I have residual pain for a few days.

This all started two months after my first child was born.

I never connected the pain with a specific food until two weeks ago. Until then, I kept eliminating the wrong foods. First I thought it was nut butters, then tomato-based products, then seafood, then soy, then dairy, then sugar, then "wheat", then, then, then...!!! It never registered that the common denominator in all of those "triggers" was gluten. (And I didn't realize that gluten was in everything from vitamins to envelope seals...not just the obvious "bread" products.) If celiac disease has been my problem, there's no wonder I couldn't trace it!

But two weeks ago I had two events that clued me in (hopefully). One, I had a bowl of "plain-old" grape nuts. Couldn't even get through half of the bowl before I was doubled over in pain and breaking out in a sweat.

A few days later the same thing happened when I ate a whole wheat biscuit.

That's when I began my quest and came across celiac disease. I've tried for the past week to eliminate gluten from my diet, but I keep finding out it's in everything. So I've technically only been gluten-free for about two days.

I can't request a biopsy right now because I'm pregnant and they won't do anything like that until I have the baby. I know they could do a blood test, but I've heard they aren't always positive even in positive cases, and I can't eat anything with gluten in it just to get a positive result. The last two episodes did it for me, and I surely hope that I have at last found my trigger food! I can't keep living with these horrendous attacks of pain.

Celiac disease just makes so much sense to me with all of this. Other unexplainable problems I've dealt with for years (problems with the enamel on my teeth, mouth ulcers, heart palpitations, infertility - I know, that one sounds odd since I'm telling you I have a child and another on the way, but these are blessing babies...TOTAL answers to prayer from God! - and various other things I never had an answer to).

And through all of this, pain meds usually made my pain WORSE. EXCEPT for the time they gave me some in the ER...via a shot (probably no gluten in that one). So it just makes me wonder...you know?

So I say all that to ask...
What do you know about Celiac disease?
Am I on a wild goose chase, just desperate for answers?

I've searched for answers for three years, and this seems to be the only plausible answer that I HAVEN'T yet been tested for. You can e-mail me any web sites, too, if you know of anything that might be helpful. I found a forum the other night that I've been trying to mull through. But I'll take all the help I can get.

Hope I didn't overwhelm you (or anyone else)
Thanks for "listening" - if anything!
Anna http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/redface.gif/

I put a list below of the symptoms of coeliac disease. The big one you seem to be missing is diarrhea because it is a food intolerance (I have a friend who will tell you all about it). It si difficult to believe that doctors did not consider coeliac disease but then again anything is possible. It could be IBS which is what doctors tell you when they can't work it out (I have IBS). I think your methodology with food selection is all wrong. Putting aside the pregnancy, I would eliminate all foods but one (my choice is white rice) and then start introducing other foods one by one. That way you know immediately if there is a culprit food without jumping to conclusions.

Abnormal appearance of the teeth
Abdominal distention
Abdominal pain
Bloating
Bone pain
Bone tenderness
Breathlessness (due to anemia)
Depression
Diarrhea
Fatigue
Irritability
Muscle cramps
Tiredness
Vomiting
Weight loss
Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:
Nosebleed
Swelling, overall
Floating stools

Hi Little Bear,

I'm a Celiac and I'm here to tell you there is tons of info on the web re Celiac Disease. There is a Celiac (or Celiac Sprue) Assc. I was a childhood Celiac, but you can become a Celiac later in life..that is the Sprue part of Celiac. There is probably a chapter near you and they are very helpful and supportive. The blood test should be taken BEFORE you go gluten free or the test will simply reflect "no active Celiac disease", simply because you have eliminated the gluten from your diet already. The test is not a black and white sort of thing, but will indicate whther you have a "tendency" of allergy to gluten. If that shows positive you would then undergo an endoscopy which would show that the upper or small intestine is not absorbing nutrients account the disease. Throughout the small intestine there are villae (spelling?) that absorb nutrients, If you are Celiac and ingesting gluten they flatten out and believe it or not you may actually be malnourished. If you are indeed Celiac you will become very good at reading the ingredient labels on everything you put in your mouth! Gluten hides in many different and surprising foods and medications. (ie gravy, soy sauce, food colouring, medication "fillers".) Your local Celiac chapter would have booklets that you take with you when you shop because there's no way you could remember all of the gluten containing ingredients in your shopping basket! Celiac Disease is one of the most underdiagnosed diseases around so it might be worth the blood test. In Canada the test is free at hospital labs but not at public ones. Not sure about the U.S. If you are a Celiac cheer up, no needles, invasive surgeries etc. It is simply controlled by carefully watching your diet. Any health food store has a "gluten free" section as do (recently) most large chain gocery stores. It's a "back to basics" diet as fast food and pop in the microwave foods frequently contain gluten. You would also learn about "cross contamination". French fries cannot be gluten free if they are cooked in the same oil as breaded fish for example. Hope you can get this all figured out. Gastro problems can be so miserable and as the previous posting says there are so many side effects (even depression!) of this disease. No harm in getting on the web and finding a Celiac chapter near you, you'd be surprised at the size of the membership! Be proactive with the docs and get the blood test even if to validate your pain.

Take Care, Tagger