# Gluten intolerance?



## tigerlily211 (Feb 7, 2012)

Just wondering if anyone here has experience on gluten intolerance and symptoms. Mostly, I'm wondering if mod-severe abdominal pain is a symptom. I have been dealing with burning pain, mostly around my navel. Sometimes I also have pain under my rib cage and in my pelvic area.I've been to lots of doctors and other health practitioners and had lots of tests (CT scan, endoscopy, xrays, etc.) They did a biopsy when they did the endoscopy and said it was negative for celiac's. I know there can be false negatives and gluten sensitivity wouldn't show up on that test. My only other symptoms are moderate abdominal distention and gas/belching. A few days ago I started an all-liquid diet and had been feeling better. I also noticed that everything I have been ingesting has also been gluten free, so I started to wonder if it could be a gluten sensitivity.


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## faze action (Aug 6, 2009)

As far as I can tell I have non-celiac gluten intolerance (my blood test for celiac was negative, but approx. 25% of blood tests are false-negative and I never had a biopsy done as a follow-up, so I could have celiac). My symptoms did not include pain, but I did have cramping, bloating, distension, incomplete evacuation,etc. The symptoms can vary between people though...You may want to try a gluten elimination diet since it takes longer than a few days to really be sure (gluten reactions are often delayed). What some health practitioners recommend is completely avoiding gluten (incl. items that may have "hidden gluten" like soy sauce) for at least 2 months and then reintroduce gluten back into your diet. If you do this you should eat the equivalent of 3-4 slices of bread per day for up to a week as a gluten challenge. If you have a reaction or symptoms return, then you know gluten is a contributing factor to your GI symptoms. For me I tend to react to an overall "load" of gluten, meaning that it takes about 72 hours for me to gradually have symptoms coming back and if I continue to eat gluten, then it gets worse and worse. Basically I figured out that I can eat a small amount of gluten food about once or twice a month without real issues, but anything else causes distress.edit: I should also mention that I have recurring bacterial overgrowth (so that also contributed to my symptoms). Bacterial overgrowth is a condition that is strongly associated with celiac disease/gluten intolerance (among toher things).


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