Pain relief

[Kts84]

Hello,

Does anyone have any tips on what to take for pain relief for celiac pain? I am currently in excruating pain with hardly anything helping!!

Thanks

[Hidden]

Hi Kts84. Sorry to hear you're having pain. Couple of questions probably will help in refining down approaches:

- Digestive pain or joint/nerve pain?

- Are you currently gluten free or still on gluten awaiting tests?

[Kts84 in reply to Hidden]

Hi,

It's both, I have really bad stomach pain. But also shoulder and knee pain! It feels like its everywhere. I'm still awaiting more tests.

Thank you

[Hidden in reply to Kts84]

That does not sound pleasant.

I think the advice Gloria is giving is important re. stomach pain. GPs are good at fobbing off. If the pain is reasonably severe and GP pushing you from pillar to post it is your right to ask for proper, and immediate, investigation. As Gloria points out, everyone has different experiences on the pain front so best to forge ahead and make as much of a nuisance of yourself as you can to get proper investigation. When I get pain, if I've been glutened, and prior to going gluten free, the pain tends to be in my right lower abdomen below ribs, so no standards. There are a lot of organs in the abdomen area over and above gut so important you push on this one, particularly if female (?). Lots of 'female' conditions can manifest as digestive also.

In terms of shoulder/knee pain, I can give you input on my experiences of that and things I've done. I've had ongoing hip pain for a number of years and diagnosed with early osteoarthritis. I don't know if I can blame that on coeliac but found out last year that I have a wonky spine alignment (scoliosis) which is down to muscle weakness which theoretically could be blamed on years of undiagnosed coeliac. My right shoulder and right hip are affected, and the approach is to strengthen up the muscles (core muscles and glutes). My left knee got wonky earlier this year with pain and doc stated to strengthen up the quadricep muscles (front thigh) with cycling/weights. I do planking which is good for core and spine strength. The mistakes I have made, particularly with hip pain and knee, is to stop doing stuff when the pain started. That has the effect of making the muscles weaker and the pain gets worse because joint unsupported. There is an argument that a lot of joint issues are down to weak muscles.

However....recently diagnosed with early osteoarthritis in my thumb joints. These flair up when I've been glutened so I definitely attribute that to coeliac as once 'glutening' subsides, so does the joint pain. I've recently visited a nutritionist and taking out some other foods has got rid of the residual knee pain. Or, it could be just warmer weather.

Again, it's all very subjective. Practical things I could suggest for joint pain:

- Get a referral to a physio to check on the joints, muscle strength and your spinal alignment. If you can afford, maybe go private as NHS may be long waiting depending on your area of the country;

- If the pain is really bad ask for xray or MRI or your knee at least so you at least can put your mind at rest/know the state of play. Pain does not always mean damage;

- In the meantime, consider the muscle strengthening options;

- If this is down to inflammation caused by gluten/possible coeliac, it will take a change in your diet to tackle that;

- Be wary of GP fobbing you off with ibuprofen - this damages the stomach and only has short term benefits. Long-term use of ibuprofen can actually damage joints;

- Supplements I found really good when I had quite chronic hip pain were CBD oil (didn't take away all pain/inflammation, but took edge off), SAM-e (S-adenosyl-L-methionine) and Curcumin. Out of the three, SAM-e was the most effective and is regarded as a gold standard supplement in joint pain. Doctors not familiar with this, and if you do try it, use it with caution as it has a strong effect and should be used for 3 months, with a break, and then another 3 months. It is used as a mild antidepressant also. I would ask you to double check on this one with your doctor and don't take me on my word. The curcumin is very safe, but you do need to get a brand that includes some vitamin D and black pepper extract as does not absorb well on its own. I found curcumin reduced the final remaining inflammation in my hip joints after the SAM-e.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

One question not included - is shoulder pain on same side as abdominal pain? If so, reasonable to suggest they are connect, so not a joint/postural issue. Stomach ulcer pain can radiate into shoulder blade area.

[gloria_mundi]

Hey, if you are in excruciating pain for any reason, get it checked out by the doctor, or if you can't get an appt quickly phone 111.

A general comment about pain because I don't know if your pain is celiac-related or not; I've been GF for 4 months and still have pain in my lower abdomen a lot of the time. Was v worried about this and haven't had the best advice from docs so far. However one GP a few days ago suggested my bowel is just in overdrive from months of undagnosed coeliac disease and lots of going to the toilet. So it's still adjusting, and spasming a lot. I've been prescribed Buscopan 3x a day for 2 months just to help it settle down. However I am also having a pelvic ultrasound scan soon to check there's nothing else going on down there. I also have a bit of fresh ginger tea once a day, peppermint tea when I feel like it, small meals often and also Colpermin (basically peppermint oil) sometimes (though i will NOT be taking with this Buscopan bc I was told they might have bad interactions).

I really would recommend seeing a health professional on this and not relying on this forum full of people with bodies that might potentially be doing different things from yours!

[Kts84 in reply to gloria_mundi]

Thank you, I really appreciate your advise. I'm taking buscapan every day & paracetamol. The abdominal pain I have is mostly down my left hand side, do you know if this is quite a common area for celiac pain?

[gloria_mundi in reply to Kts84]

I don't know about specific Coeliac pain areas, but what I can say is that pain in the bowel/ lower abdomen can be v hard to locate due to how nerves are distributed in that area. So you can have trapped wind on the right back but feel it at the front left!

Like I said, keep talking to healthcare team and do seek urgent advice if its really bad! Good luck!

[Suit]

I like to sip on tea made of meadowsweet. Meadowsweet is the grandmother to a lot of painkillers.

It does give a relief for a couple of hours, hence one needs to sip throughout the day.

But then again, I am supposed to avoid most real painkillers (I think it can be counterproductive for me) and have a deficiency. So I don't know if meadowsweet is enough for others.

The pain is caused by inflammation that your immune system is creating. Perhaps something that brings down the inflammation helps?