# IBS vs Celiac Disease



## 23021 (Jul 24, 2006)

if anyone has been in the same boat, please lend me a paddle! its been 1.5 yrs now that i've been experiencing major problems! my dr. thought at first that it was IBS-D but i never had the runs. so she gave me a prescription but of course that didn't work. fianlly i thought that it was something that i was eating. so i stopped eating wheat products. i've been for a barium enima, blood test & now an endoscope to rule out a bunch of things. i think that wheat is still my enemy. but the endoscope came back normal. but i was on a wheat-free diet until 2 weeks before the test. now the dr. says to eat the wheat,go & get another blood test in 6 months to make sure it isn't celiac. does this make sense?


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Unfortunately eating gluten free makes it much harder to prove you have celiac.Now if you find gluten free makes all the symptoms go away, and if you do not care if you ever get a diagnosis, than you don't have to go back on it in order to get a valid test result.However usually if you want to know that you really have celiac you need to do the tests when eating gluten so you get results that prove it one way or the other.Some people find that diet cures them and will do it forever without a diagnosis because they do not want to risk being sick even if that means they would know for sure.I do know one of my friends with celiac would be extremely sick if he ate wheat for two weeks, but then if a spoon touches wheat then gets stirred into his food he will be sick, so he'd probably test positive with two weeks of wheat, if he survived the diarrhea, etc. A lot of people I know who claim they can't eat wheat eat small amounts of it most days and are fine, they just can't tolerate large amounts of the fiber and the starch and it is not the gluten part that bothers them at all. Most people I know with diagnosed celiac won't eat even a bite of baked goods because it kills them, but a lot of people find limiting wheat even if the do not elminate it helpful as it has to do with how your body deals with the gas from the carbs you cannot digest. These carbs feed bacteria in the gut and some of them make gases when they digest it.K.


----------



## 23021 (Jul 24, 2006)

thanks for the info kathleen! i feel a little better.







i think i might just cut it out all together without really ever knowing. if it makes me feel better then why wouldn't i do it! one more quick question, do you think it is possible that i have IBS-C and wheat products are my triggers?thanks again for your info!


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Wheat can trigger gas and bloating from the starches and that can bother some people IBS-anything.Probably wouldn't make you more constipated unless it somehow messed with the fiber amount your body likes (either too much if you eat whole wheat or too little if you replace high fiber foods with white flour foods).K.


----------



## 23021 (Jul 24, 2006)

constipation/bloating/crapping/stabs of pain are a result when i do eat that stuff.


----------



## 22518 (Jun 15, 2006)

Hi squeak831, Right now, many involved with celiac consider those that have problems eating glutens, positive blood test, AND positive biopsy as the "gold standard" for being a celiac. There are other doctors and researchers who believe that if you have a positive blood test for gluten and/OR problems eating gluten then you are gluten sensitive. So yes, it would not be uncommon for your doctor to tell you to eat wheat and glutens for a longer period of time, then retest. If you notice that you have problems with wheat, and you are going to just not eat it (no more testing) just make sure you do enough research and really stay away from all foods with wheat. Do you want to avoid gluten too (wheat, rye, barley, oats, and malt)? If so, this is a little more difficult (but not too bad), because the new labeling laws only have to say if the product contains wheat. Some cereals don't have wheat (corn flakes and rice crispies) BUT they do contain gluten. Be careful of the hidden barley and malt in cereals, granola type bars, and rice milk are some of the things I can think of.Make sure you READ, read, read the labels eveytime you pick something up. And yes, the problems you described can come from a gluten intolerance. Some people even have trouble with glutens and sugars.Take care.


----------



## 14826 (Jul 20, 2006)

I have given up gluten and dairy and found it very helpful - my symptoms are mainly the bloating, gas and constipation. I started gluten free about a month after having my gallbladder out last fall since I still felt like ####. I was reaching for anything but is has helped. Check out www.celiac.com for more info.


----------



## 23021 (Jul 24, 2006)

hey snowbrdgrl! thanks for the info! i was acutally pretty much on a total gluten-free diet before i went to see the specialist & i thought that maybe i shouldn't be the one diagnosing myself. that is when he sent me for the endoscope, but i had only been back on gluten for 2 weeks. so for now since i haven't been eating it for the last couple of days, i feel really good. maybe i'll try it again & eventually go for another blood test. but again thank you very much for the info!


----------

