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At 01:59 PM 11/22/99 -0500, Rosa Olshevsky wrote:

>I've received about 50 emails; almost everybody confirmed
>they had this kind of pain.  Most people had the pain between the
>rib cage and in the low back, but in some cases it's on sides,
>upper back, etc.  90% told the pain disappeared on gf diet.
>
>Some people have this pain after eating, especially fat food
>(it's true for me too).

I'm posting this to the list because the question is so common. A lot of
the pain around the ribcage and back, especially that just below the
sternum would, I guess, be mostly due to painful gas pressure when you have
a slight gluten accident.

The pain in the middle of the chest associated with heavy fat is another
question. Here is my doc's explanation of that. Alcohol and fat both relax
the sphincter between the stomach and the esophagus, which is supposed to
keep the acid from backing up into the esophagus. Once this sphincter is
relaxed, especially after lying down, the acid is allowed to back up the
esophagus and causes the spincter to spasm, like a cramp in your muscle.
And that can be very painful and feel much like a heart attack, even
causing pain in the left arm and jaw. Celiacs, because of all the gas
pressure generated so often, are also prone to hiatal hernia, which
exacerbates this process, causing even more acid reflux and more pain.

I find that when I avoid alcohol and fat with the evening meal, I have
little problem this way. If I plan to drink a couple of martinis and have a
steak, especially prime rib, I take two Zantac 75 before the meal, then
take two more about an hour before bedtime. I have never had much of a
problem when I do that. But I don't think it would be wise to do it often.
It would be better to avoid the offending  stuff in the evening especially.

-vance