New to GF

[alliegf14]

Hi all!

I am not quite diagnosed. I have been in constant pain since January in my right side right below my rib cage. Started out going to ob as I've had ovarian cysts in the past, next went to the er after a very bad episode with pain so bad I was in tears for 2 days. At the er I had X-ray, ultra sound, and ct scan all which showed nothing abnormal! Talk about feeling crazy! They sent me home with pain meds and was told to follow up with family dr. The family dr. sent me to a gastroenterologist who scheduled me for an endoscopy. I had the endoscopy done and all it showed was some gastritis. They took a biopsy while in there that came back negative for everything they checked for (no celiac). My most recent trip back to the gastroenterologist led him to suggest I start on a gluten free diet. So it has been 4 days. Today is day 5. I have to go get an MRCP done next week to check for a stone in the bile duct because I have no gall bladder, but in reality I looked up symptoms of

a bile duct stone and I don't really have any. I have a feeling it's the gluten intolerance and so does the gastroenterologist. I used to get very bad heartburn especially when I drank beer more frequently, but the pain only just started in January. I am a little nervous about the change in diet because I have never worried too much about what I eat. I have always tried to eat healthy, but never worried too much about specific ingredients. It is definitely a whole new way of life! Trying to be optimistic about how good I will feel once I get going. My goal is to eliminate almost all processed foods from our house as well, which my hubby is on board with. Hoping to get a lot of info from this group

[cott97]

My main symptom was always sharp cramp like pain under right breast - 10 x rays over a year and several diagnoses of probable rib fractures and I went gluten free to stop leg cramps... First thing that stopped was the chest pain! Now its an early warning sign along with wrist pain that I'm eating gluten somewhere. Even now if I am glutened by accident I suffer with sore ribs for a few days - tender to the touch just as if I'd bruised them. Never have worked out the connection but recognise it as a personal symptom. Hope the gluten free diet works for you.

[alliegf14 in reply to cott97]

Thanks! I hope so too. That's basically where my pain is as well, perhaps a little lower. My gastroenterologist was pretty quick with telling me to go gluten free. After all other tests showed pretty much nothing besides the gastritis, he suggested it. I'm only a few days in, but haven't had any bad episodes since. The pain is still there but not as severe. Now its just figuring out what to and what not to eat!

[cott97]

It does get easier - I found that losing the pain made everything worthwhile. I used to end up on the floor with people pushing fists into my side to try to stop the pain - I suffered for around 3 years before going GF and at that point the GI symptoms had also started but I didn't associate the two. I will warn you that once GF if you make a mistake I've found the pain feels more intense - not sure whether it is or not but it feels that way. However it does stop you slipping! Good luck

[tetloww]

That is exactly what happened to me started with rib pain. Referred to urology all test clear. Had scans on ovaries. Gallbladder etc. Ended up at A/E. With impacted bowel about 1 year after starting with the rib pain. Refered to gastro. Colonoscopy endoscopy and because food seemed to be causing my problem I had already started cutting lots out. Used to have to lie on the floor spread eagled to try to control pain. The diatician told me about starch food which improved my pain a lot but still kept getting odd attacks on a weekly basis. I'm still having odd attacks and wondering why and have to be careful with dairy as well. Have they checke your iron bloods cos mine are really low so they now have to do another colonoscopy and ct to rule out inflammatory bowel disease before commiting to coeliac disease

[alliegf14 in reply to tetloww]

When I went to the er they did a complete blood work up, iron was checked then and all was good. So far since starting I have had no bad attacks of pain, but it is still present. Hoping the longer I stick with it, the better I'll feel.

[Penel]

Good luck with going gluten free, it takes some getting used to, but the benefits can be considerable. Hope it works for you. Getting rid of as much processed food as you can is a good idea too, there's just too much rubbish in some of them.

My main symptoms were arthritic pains, which disappeared on a gf diet. The need to eliminate dairy is a fairly common, sometimes you can re-introduce it later.

Hope all goes well for you.

[alliegf14 in reply to Penel]

Thanks! The processed food is something I want to cut back on for everyone in my family because it's just so bad for us. I did have a price shock yesterday. I ran to the store to pick up a few things for a get together at my house. I got all beef hot dogs (gluten free) and thought maybe I would try out gluten free rolls to see how they were. 4 rolls in a package were nearly 7 dollars! I decided I didn't need a roll at all and instead ate salad. My only symptom was pain on my right side under my ribs and eczema on my upper arms. I have never had eczema in my life and my family dr. said it very well could be attributed to the gluten as well. Hope I don't need to eliminate dairy because that would be harder for me than gluten free.

[Penel in reply to alliegf14]

Several people on here make their own bread, keeps the cost down and you know what's in it. Thankfully there are a lot of websites with recipes out there. Have a look at Gluten Free Goddess if you haven't already.