How can you tell the difference betweeb IBS and Celiac Disease?
David July 31st, 2008
My stomach has been very weird since I was stationed in VA.
I saw a show about Celiac Disease and swore up and down that I was going through the same things.
I am always tired, I have constipation/diarrhea in alternation, sometimes I’m bloated, my allergies change (one minute I’m allergic to wheat and can eat dairy and then I am lactose intolerant and can eat wheat), my body really shuts down at times,…
It’s not so bad now but I begged my doctor to test me for Celiac and he told me I was overexaggerating and it’s just lactose intolerance. I wanted to smack him because I don’t even eat a lot of dairy products and I knew it was the wheat doing those things to me. Ironically, some months later, dairy products tore me up but the symptoms weren’t the same.
I had a colonoscopy, everything and all my test results came back negative. SO, how can you REALLY tell whether it’s IBS or Celiac?
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- Comments(11)
- Tags: Allergies, Dairy Products, Lactose Intolerant
Have an endoscopy. They go in and take a biopsy of your stomach lining. That’s the only way to know for sure if it is celiac disease.
If you are using DOD insurance see if your GP will give you a reference to a gastroenterologist (good luck last I recall DOD Dr.’s were a pain in the ass to deal with).
Hopefully you have a PPO and free choice. Go to the gastro tell them the symptoms and concerns and get their opinion. Ask about IBS, Celiac, Crohn’s Disease, ileitis, ulcerative colitis as well.
Having Crohn’s myself I can fully understand the concerns and annoyances that you are going through right now and the great frustrations.
Definitely check out a gastroenterologist though and get their opinion since this is the kind of thing they went to school for and not a generalized medical degree.
While many people with IBS are intolerant to wheat bran, and whole wheat, this is not at all the same thing as the total gluten intolerance caused by celiac. It is possible to have BOTH celiac and IBS, but it’s also very common for celiac to be misdiagnosed as IBS.
An initial screen for celiac disease will check your blood for antibodies to gluten, and if the results are positive, a small bowel biopsy will follow.
So – what exactly is celiac disease? Celiac is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate a grain protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten can also be found in stamp and envelope adhesive, medicines, and vitamins.
Celiac runs in my family, and most (if not all) of my family members that have it were misdiagnosed. My sister finally realized she had celiac simply by abstaining from wheat for a while. Try it for a few months and see if it helps. If you still feel this way, then you probably don’t have Celiac. Another possibility is that you have an allergy to both gluten and dairy. If this is the case, then sometimes you might react more to one or the other depending on your diet for that week. For instance, if you are allergic to gluten or dairy (or both), you might be able to eat one or the other for weeks before it builds up in your system and then seemingly randomly affects you. This is one reason why it so hard to diagnose. Hope this helps.
Celiacs is a gluten intolerence. Eat a sandwich made of white bread if you don’t go to the bathroom it is probably celiacs and if you do it is probably IBS. Celiacs may cause someone to have bowel movements shortly after eating products that contain Gluten. Eat something without it and if you don’t have to go after a couple hours then it is probably celiacs. Hope I could help.
Shorty
Has anyone asked you to eliminate wheat and gluten from your diet? Everyone who has GI symptoms – GERD, Acid Reflux, Gall Bladder Disease, Barrett’s Esophagus, Hiatel Hernia, Irritable Bowel, Constipation or Diarrhea should try a gluten free diet. IT may make many painful symptoms dissappear in days or weeks. The only ‘downfall’ is that if you try this without a diagnosis from your Doctor, they will not be able to officially test you for GI tract damage and antibodies until you are painfully eating gluten products again. In the last year I suddenly developed – severe case of Asthma ( off work for 10 weeks) terrible painful bowel symptoms, gas, abdominal bloating, reflux and belching. The pain at times was so severe I was doubled over. Thankfully through my work I heard about gluten intolerance and the severe and disabling symptoms. 21 July 08 – I decided to adjust my diet and just see. The next day I felt so much better and the day after I felt like a new person!! One week of no symptoms my family had worked in the yard late into the day. My husband said lets just order pizza. I knew I would be crossing back over but I always preferred the thinnest crusts… so I thought I would just take this leap and see. Within one hour I was having pain. The worst to come was about 6 hours later, the intensity was so dramatic I was doubled over holding my abdomen. The bloating and gas was overwhelming. One other truth telling experience was a local spicy food that is served over pasta. I had always had ‘indigestion’ from this food. I never had it the evening before a work day even though my entire family loves this as a meal. After my gluten free days started they asked for this food for dinner. I didn’t work the next day and figured I could improvise. I had my dinner with a baked potato and they all had pasta. The heavily spiced local favorite had no effect on me that day! So it had nothing to do with the spices or even fat content …. alll along it was the PASTA ! All the pain for nothing … all the years! Even though I read labels like a fiend now .. things still sneak by and .. OUCH. Surprising locations ….. some popular artificial sweetners use gluten products to keep it from being sticky?? Some vitamins and supplements(could have started my ‘asthma’ symptoms) ….Some rotissierre poultry is infused with spices or broth with gluten products ( ouch – you think its chicken but there is wheat lurking inside!) Try it … I am sure many many people will find happy bellies!
JUst remember if you want to be diagnosed … all testing must be done while eating wheat and gluten .. trust me I will never be tested becaue I cannot torture myself with those foods knowingly.
I was diagnosed with ibs at 18 after years of suffering with eventually got worse after giving birth to m first child. i was given peppermint oil tablets and colofac which i took religiously for 2 years. after seeing no beneficial effects from the treatment i stopped taking the medication. i have been off it for nearly 3 years trying to deal with it in my own my own way, to no avail i mite add. i have all the symptoms of ibs and yet at a closer inspection i have all the symptoms of coleiac disease as well. so how can i tell the difference and how can i get my doctor to listen to me and take mer seriously?
I second what shorty says. Two summers ago, I thought I had celiac. But when I did some research and found out how gluten affects celiacs, I knew for sure, I did not. It sounds like gluten gives celiacs instant diarrhea. They are REALLY sick.
IBS can be debilitating, but not hospital-worthy.
I went to my doctor and had a blood test done. I came out as negative for celiac. She informed me that it is possible that I’m simply intolerant to gluten. There are many of us who are intolerant, who are not celiacs.
Gluten definitely does not help digestion, so it’s a good idea to stay off it anyway.
I was diagnosed with ibs 7years ago after years of pain, since I was young. 5 years ago I had my appendix out to which they weren’t infected. To this day I still believe it was symptoms from my ibs but over the past year everything has got worse it’s definateky the “d” for me but I’m concerned it may be celiacs, I’m a single parent and the expense of it all scares me if I try the diet then can’t go back, how would I cope if I couldn’t stuck to it. I’m seriously concidering going to the doctors for testing as all the comments iv read tell me I should and have I right too. It’s nice to know I’m not alone with this.
I noticed some saying that Celiac causing diarrhea. While that is a true statement it may also cause constipation or vacillate between the two. If your doctor doesn’t want to listen or tesst you just remove gluten from your diet and live a healthy happy life. It is MUCH easier today than 2 years ago. Mainstream grocery stores are providing gluten free food areas. Many major food labels are offering gluten free foods – Chex, Betty Crocker, and more. Restaurants offer gluten free menus.
A simple list of symptoms can be located at http://www.myoptumhealth.com search Celiac and read about the disease and likely comorbid diagnoses.
Lactose deficiency affects 1 in 4 of us to varying degrees so it is very common. Gluten intolerance is also very common, much more so than Celiac disease. However, Celiac disease is becoming increasingly diagnosed so appears more common and this is because of the advent of the blood test we use, called the anti-endomysial antibody. This antibody is raised in the majority of Celiac patients who can experience symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, bloating, tiredness, rashes, anemia and much more. If negative, it is always worth having your antibodies checked as 3% of celiacs have immunoglobulin deficiency and hence the blood test can be a ‘false-negative’.
You can read more about this at: http://www.ibs-help-online.com/coeliac-disease.html
Good luck!