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Summary 1 of 2
Thanks to everyone for the responses! A gallbladder attack was the most
common suggestion, along with IBS, and agreement that people had had
similar experiences after being glutened. The range of responses is
represented below.
God bless,
Deb
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Regardless of a history of Celiac, whenever you have intense abdominal
pain, you need to be checked out by a healthcare provider (or ER) right
away. There are a variety of processes that could cause that, and some
of them are very dangerous (such as a cardiac event, ruptured aorta, etc.).
[Additional response follows below, after emailing back with additional
info re the spacing of the events (3 mos apart) and that the ER ran
cardiac tests]
Yes, I'm glad to hear that you got prompt attention for the first
attack. You're obviously aware that women can have "atypical" cardiac
symptoms. I know that an ER visit can be frustrating, though, since
they are there to stabilize you, not necessarily diagnose.
The time between attacks, and the variety in locations, does seem to
point away from an acute cause. I know that if I get gluten
contamination, the intestinal pain can be quite severe. And since your
small intestine takes up quite a bit of real estate in there, it
certainly seems possible to have migrating pain.
It might be worth having a CT scan sometime just to make sure that there
isn't the beginnings of something else. Occasionally pain can be
referred to different parts of the gut. Earlier this year, after very
strange pain (for months, on a daily basis, mind you) under my right
upper ribcage, I had my gallbladder removed. It was essentially
"spastic," although not diseased. So occasionally these strange little
dysfunctions do arise.
Aren't bodies fun? I'm sometimes amazed that they work as often as they do!
I hope that you find some answers. I've never eaten at a Panera, but
I'd imagine that the potential for cross-contamination is there, as you
said. Gas pain can be excruciating, though, so you may just be right.
-----------------
I have had something similar. Woke in the middle of the night with
intense pain in the middle of my chest. I wasn't sure if I was having a
heart attack or not, but drove myself to emergency. (Yes, I'm
stupid.) Each time given an EKG and each time no heart problems.
Eventually, after 3-4 trips which were always in the middle of the
night, I had my gall bladder removed learning that a single immense, for
the gall bladder, stone was trying to get free. Ouch! No problem since
then.
My suggestion is to schedule a trip to your doctor's and get a physical
to find out what else might be the problem.
--------------
I would check with your GI doc to ensure that you don't have
diverticulosis. The ab pain could be a bought of diverticulitis (which
is an inflammation of one of the "pouches" formed in the intestine if
you have the aforementioned disease....) Just sounds like classic signs
we see at our hospital here.
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I have experienced something similar, but it was not related to Celiac,
not directly anyway. With our diet not including the gluten grains we
don't get enough fiber to keep things moving as they should and
therefore must go looking for other foods high in fiber.
In my case I had an intestinal blockage in the portion of my large
intestine runs right up near the edge of the ribcage. As the Dr. in the
emergency room put it, the intestinal tract is parasympathetic, a pain
in one place can cause a sympathetic pain in another part of the tract.
How did I get to that point? Not enough fiber and too much lettuce
(salads). Seems that lettuce, once the water is removed, just wilts
down and compresses in the gut. Mine just settled into the large
intestine at the curve where it goes up and over causing everything to
come to a halt.
Not fun.
As I recall, the hospital helped with some meds at that time. It did
not require surgery, but anything I got from the drugstore wasn't going
to work either. The upper portion of my colon was impacted all the way
across my midsection. Since then, I try to regulate how much salad I
eat, and get LOTS of fiber. Some on the list take OTC fiber products,
but for me I prefer to eat lots of brown rice or other fiber with my meals.
Some more thoughts... if the pain was bad enough to wake you up it would
be a real good idea to go to the Dr. and make sure it is not something
serious. Also, if you are Diabetic you could be suffering from
decreased motility.
Either of these can be serious if left untreated and are something to
get a handle on with the Dr.
------------
Also, do you use an senstivity protection formula of toothpaste? The
potassium nitrate in that is poison & I also did myself after long term
use/abuse. First symtpoms were skin problems on bottom on foot & palms
of hands, and I eventually had a few severe attacks of gastritis...Not
fun. After too many-to-count0trips to multiple doctors/specialistss &
all kinds of test, I waas the only one to figure out the problem. While
I'm much improved, I'm still get noticeable reaction from even a trace
so I exposure to nitrates/nitrites in food (roots, stems & leaves of
plants contain variable levels of naturally occuing nitrates--potato
starch seems esp. high), drugs & topical stuff.
If using the toothpaste (brands don't matter--It's the nitrates...)
---------------
I have had similar symptoms but can't say for sure why. one instance I
had eaten a Carinos lemon rosemary chicken dinner at 6:00p.m. or so & at
the end of the meal floating in with the sauce & garlic was a small
piece of pasta. That night I woke up with severe upper gut pain, was
awake about 2-3 hrs. with pain, but never had diarrhea, nausea,
headache, or achiness which I usually get from gluten The pain was
severe & doubled me over. I used a heating pad to relieve my discomfort
a little.
Before I was diagnosed w/celiac disease, I had these pains occur
intermittently for many years & they would last sometimes for more than
24 hrs. & were disabling. 2 different Drs. had thought at the time,
that it was gall bladder problems. I've only had that 2-3 times since
I've been gluten free (since2003).
------------
I have had similar symptoms, which I realized after many many tests were
due to panic attacks. I have issues with anxiety :-P
------------
This sounds like my pre-diagnosis "attacks", however my attacks were
accompanied by severe vomiting and bowel issues that went on for hours
until I went into a state of shock. Very intense.
Either you are getting some gluten somewhere or there is something else
going on...
---------------
It sounds like it could be a gall bladder attack. Here is a list of symptoms
http://www.gallbladderattack.com/gallbladdersymptoms.shtml
I had them about the same frequency as you for 5 years or more until one
night, I thought I was having a heart attack and it sent me to the ER.
They did an ultrasound scan where they found one large gall stone that
was large enough to have surgery. It still took another attack so bad
that I had to pull my car over. I was in the middle of nowhere. That
convinced me to have the surgery.
Don't believe the gall bladder cures you find on the internet. They are
bogus.
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