# Gluten and IBS?



## JGR1983 (Apr 13, 2009)

I've had IBS for about 3 years now, and 2 weeks ago I finally saw a doctor about it. She ran a bunch of tests (for celiac disease, parasites, etc.) and they were all negative. However, 5 days ago I realized that all of my recent diarrhea attacks were after eating wheat bread or pasta, so since then I have cut out gluten and been eating only meat, fruit, vegetables, cheese, yogurt, and gluten-free cereal and crackers. And my symptoms have actually improved a lot, even though the celiac test was negative. I have known for a long time that stress, caffeine, and too much alcohol cause attacks, but it wasn't until last week that I realized gluten might also be a trigger food. Has this happened to anyone else? Do other people have problems with gluten?


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## Lookin'foraLife (Jan 2, 2009)

I have IBS-C and I also find gluten just makes things worse although my blood tests came back negative for celiac disease.


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## Concerned lady (Oct 14, 2007)

Dear Folks,I know there can be many causes of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), and one of these causes definitely can be GLUTEN SENSITIVITY.Sometimes, when people are "sensitive" to gluten, it can cause symptoms that are similar to IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).It has been found fairly recently, that most people who are "sensitive" to gluten, DON'T HAVE CELIAC DISEASE! This means these gluten-sensitive people have NON-CELIAC types of gluten sensitivity. And this "non-Celiac" form of gluten sensitivity may be as common as one out of every 3 people! (where Celiac Disease strikes only about 1 out of 100 people, plus or minus).Gluten is a protein-like substance found in WHEAT, RYE, BARLEY, "cross-contaminated" oats, "cross-contaminated" buckwheat, ancient forms of wheat such as spelt or kamut, cereals like farina, wheatina, a middle eastern salad ingredient called "bulghur" wheat, and also the glue on envelopes & stamps, gravies made from glutenous flours, etc.Brown (and white) RICE are "gluten-free", unless cross contaminated with gluten, by "scoopers" in bulk bins at grocery stores, where the scoopers get moved around.Symptoms of NON-celiac gluten sensitivity can include any of the following:--gastric reflux (with or without heartburn, & with or without "regurgitation")--any symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome --auto-immune reactions (to the incoming dietary gluten), where the immune system mistakenly attacks different parts of the body, such as:------ joints (causing rheumatoid arthritis), -------brain (causing seizures), -------small intestine (causing damage that causes mal-absorption, but doesn't show the "villi" as being damaged, and this damage can cause diarrhea or constipation)-------pancreas (causing type I diabetes &/or indigestion)-------skin (causing a rash called dermatitis herpetiformis)-------thyroid gland (causing either overactive or underactive thryoid & can cause enlargement of thryoid gland)-------stomach (causing GASTRIC REFLUX)An easy way (and not terribly expensive) to find out (with high reliability) if a person is "sensitive" to gluten, is to get a (non-invasive) stool sample test done by "EnteroLab", which is a lab made by a gastroenterologist (stomach & digestive system doc) named Dr. Kenneth Fine, MD (in Dallas, Texas).Dr. Fine's website about "EnteroLab" is at this link: http://www.finerhealth.com I get no kickback! My hubby and I got tested by EnteroLab some years back, and my hubby found he was gluten sensitive (non-Celiac type), and my hubby was annoyed that I came out negative! However, I try to eat gluten-free as much as possible, to avoid tempting my hubby to eat gluten, which he pays for, if he cheats!I first learned about Dr. Fine, and his "EnteroLab", a few years ago, from a wonderful woman ("JCC") on a Mass. General patient forum about peripheral neuropathies/PN (nerve damage to those nerves outside of the brain & spinal cord), and then, when the gluten sensitivity forum was formed by JCC, there on that big "Braintalk" forum.Since those earlier days, I wrote a lot about reflux and gluten sensitivities in my website (see webpages 5 & 10, etc.), at http://cantbreathesuspectvcd.comI also learned (but not when I had been in nursing school, many years ago, because it hadn't been known about way back then) that a MILK PROTEIN SENSITIVITY can cause a pretty much identical "syndrome" to Celiac Disease! (and this includes "villi" destruction, blunting, flattening, etc.)Dr. Fine's "EnteroLab" can test (non-invasively) a person's SINGLE stool sample, (any age) looking for abnormally large numbers of antibodies to the following proteins (showing likely "sensitivity" to these food proteins):--gluten--milk proteins (casein, whey, etc.)--soy proteins--yeast proteins (dietary yeasts, not disease yeasts such as Candida albicans)--egg proteinsDr. Fine is working on creating a corn protein sensitivity stool test.This IBS website here, has great advice, about keeping a journal of what is eaten, etc., to see what agrees, and what doesn't agree.In case of an intestinal infection called C. diff (Clostridium difficile) that is often gotten as a result of taking antibiotics, I agree with another post here, about using "Florastor", as long as a person is not "sensitive" to yeast proteins, since the Florastor is actually a friendly form of yeast called S. boulardii (Saccharomyces boulardii). More about this is in my website (and I tell my sources, since I didn't invent this stuff---I've learned it the hard way---I had C. diff., and conquered it using Florastor, and later, the less expensive version of this "probiotic" yeast, namely S. boulardii by the Jarrow company--from a health food store.)Good luck to all!Sincerely,Carol/Concerned Lady


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## Kangachick (Jul 19, 2009)

how much does this cost? how can he actually tell? Does it work ?


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## Concerned lady (Oct 14, 2007)

Dear Kangachick,Dr. Fine's "EnteroLab" costs are in his website, at www.finerhealth.comYou can also phone "EnteroLab", at this number: 972-686-6869, to ask about costs of various stool tests (non-invasive) done by EnteroLab. Results are usually a lot more reliable than blood tests, regarding "sensitivity" to gluten &/or milk proteins, &/or soy protein, &/or yeast protein, &/or egg protein.Dr. Fine is working on making a corn protein sensitivity test. Until that test is available, I recommend avoiding corn of any kind, for a few months, to see if this helps.Dr. Fine's "EnteroLab" tests stool samples, using "bioassay" tests, looking for excessively large numbers of "antibodies" to parts of the proteins listed above. The reason this type of testing (for various protein "sensitivities") is more reliable than blood tests, is that it is the LARGE INTESTINE, that MAKES the antibodies to gluten, milk proteins, etc., and the antibodies are FIRST found IN the large intestine---AND:It is in the large intestine that STOOL is also made, so, if the antibodies don't escape into the blood stream, a person who IS "sensitive" to gluten, for example, would get a FALSE NEGATIVE blood test result, but would get a reliable POSITIVE stool test result for gluten sensitivity.If this is somewhat confusing, you can phone "EnteroLab", and they can explain more about the stool testing (non-invasive). EnteroLab also offers a cheek swab genetic test, to see if you have the gene(s) for gluten sensitivity or not.Good luck in figuring out what you have!Carol (concerned lady)http://cantbreathesuspectvcd.com


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## nw0528 (Apr 17, 2009)

What did you mean that your doctor "ran a test" for Celiac? Bloodwork is often done in the beginning, but followed by an endoscopy with biopsies to show whether the villi lining the small intestine have been damaged. (That is what celiac disease does when you injest gluten, it damages the villi.) Many people have negative bloodwork for celiac and then have the "gold standard" for diagnosing celiac, which is the endoscopy, and find out they do have celiac. (And others like me, have negative bloodwork, negative endoscopy w/ biopsies, negative allergy testing for all grains, but still have some sort of sensitivity to it.) For me it was important to know if what I was dealing with was a sensitivity vs. Celiac Disease. With celiac, injesting any amount of gluten can cause damage to your small intestine, wheras a sensitivity may have quite unpleasant symptoms, but you aren't actually damaging the villi. And, there can be a genetic component, and I wanted to know if I had Celiac so I would know whether or not to have my children tested.So, I just wanted to mention this so you don't assume you do not have celiac based on bloodwork your doctor did.Good luck!Nicole


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## Hilly1981 (Dec 14, 2008)

I have changed my diet to gluten and dairy free and ahve felt alot better than what I did before


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## ziggy7 (Oct 24, 2009)

heres a link for gluten free foods i just found it has recipes toohttp://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/493-going-gluten-free.htmlalso as for dairy i seem to only be able to eat feta cheese which is a very hard cheese and maybe some other hard cheeses as well but every other dairy food gives me problems even the medium hard cheeses can give me slight problems. but i have heard some people are so very senseitive to lactose that they can't eat any dairy at all. also i have heard some people who are lactose intollerant and or have bad reactions to dairy can drink raw milk and eat dairy made with raw milk so if you can get some raw milk it would be worth a try drinking some.also this link sounds very helpful for gluten free too it talks about gluten free and how it helps heal the gut and also what gluten free things to avoid that would prevent your gut from healing.http://www.westonaprice.org/soy-alert/1968-the-little-known-soy-gluten-connection.html


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## lotty (Sep 18, 2010)

JGR1983 said:


> I've had IBS for about 3 years now, and 2 weeks ago I finally saw a doctor about it. She ran a bunch of tests (for celiac disease, parasites, etc.) and they were all negative. However, 5 days ago I realized that all of my recent diarrhea attacks were after eating wheat bread or pasta, so since then I have cut out gluten and been eating only meat, fruit, vegetables, cheese, yogurt, and gluten-free cereal and crackers. And my symptoms have actually improved a lot, even though the celiac test was negative. I have known for a long time that stress, caffeine, and too much alcohol cause attacks, but it wasn't until last week that I realized gluten might also be a trigger food. Has this happened to anyone else? Do other people have problems with gluten?


I have had it for about a year now, and my doctor suggested I tried cutting bread and gluten products after I discovered also it flares up after eating white bread and pasta. It has made a difference but I still am troubled from time to time. I also have been only having meat, veg/fruit and gluten free products. It has helped considerably, but the thing I find hard is how costly it is to get the gluten free products and more veg and fruit. And I was a lover of bread...!Does anyone know any cheaply, easily made good recipes to make gluten free bread? Because the gluten free bread I've had is awful!


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