Huge TMI but…

[discocherry]

I have always had stomach problems literally my entire life. I’m coeliac but I definitely don’t eat gluten and to be honest it’s still not great. I suffer fairly regularly with needing to go to the toilet a lot, not really diahorrea but not solid either. I’ve had mucus from time to time as well. I also feel
at least mildly sick most days.

The past few weeks I’ve felt it’s got a bit worse and the past few days I’ve had a really sore stomach and today I’ve passed just dark brown mucus when I went to the toilet. I don’t think I’m constipated as I have also been able to have more normal BMs yesterday. I also find often when I go it smells like food I’ve eaten only a few hours before. No blood at all.

I take probiotics every day but it’s just so frustrating. I thought when I was diagnosed with CD that this would all go away.

Looking online it suggests IBS or IBD (and colon cancer but I’m 30 and feel that’s pretty unlikely). Has anyone experienced anything similar?

Or a food intolerance. Have you ever looked into whether other foods cause you issues?

No I never have, I don’t notice any patterns but then I didn’t even realise I was coeliac for long enough!

You won't necessarily notice any patterns when you are constantly exposed to foods that make you generally unwell. And, as it can take some time for your body to recover from the effects of a food, you may not notice an immediate improvement when you don't eat it. As you no doubt found out when you went GF for the first time.

My gut instinct (ha ha) would be to cut out dairy in the first instance. Be as pedantic labout it as you have to be about gluten. Give it a month. If that doesn't help, go on to a low FODMAP diet.

But before you try either of these suggestions, have you gone back to your doctor? There is always the possibly that you have an infection or other treatable illness.

Also, are you pedantic about avoiding gluten? Is there any risk that you are being affected by cross-contamination? My pedantically GF FIL was on the verge of being diagnosed with refractory coeliac when I commented on him drinking Marmite. He had not realised that Marmite was no longer considered GF. He cut out Marmite and by the time of his next checkup he was fully in remission.

I'd say be very careful about cross contamination as even tiny amounts of gluten can affect you with coeliac disease. Do you have support from a specialist? If your symptoms are not controlled by cutting out gluten alone, there are other treatments available.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coeliac-disease/symptoms/

@Dilbertian Yes. my first port of call before I cut anything out will be to see the GP. I’m going to make an appointment asap. I know it’s probably not the same but I obviously had to keep eating gluten when I was waiting for an official CD diagnosis. I’m very clued up on what I can and can’t eat as I have a family history of CD sadly. Glad to hear your FIL is better! I miss proper marmite.

@Noseybookworm Yes, I’m very careful. My mum is coeliac and was diagnosed when I was little and my partner is also coeliac so I’ve both grown up with it and knowing it’s severity and sensitivity, and also there’s very little chance of cross contamination at home. Obviously you run a gauntlet of some risk when eating out at places that aren’t 100% gf but I assess that on an individual basis. It’s such a pain! I hope you don’t know this from experience! I don’t go to a dietician but I don’t feel the need to really.

I would try cutting out the prebiotics for a while and see if there’s a difference - I can’t eat gluten either and prebiotics make me feel awful.

Omg I’ll be so annoyed if they’re making it worse because my DP nagged me to take them for ages when I was worried about side effects! 😂

I would also consider cutting dairy out for a few weeks and see if that helps. My DS is coeliac and dairy intolerant. Can have butter in cakes but not on bread. No milk, yogurt or cream or he is the same and on the toilet constantly

I really hope that’s not the culprit as cheese is my favourite food but I definitely think this could be possible. My DP is also lactose intolerant so we are a very allergic household!

I'd wonder about a stomach ulcer/ h pylori infection from the description of mucus/stomach pain

I have IBD and used to get mucus in a flare. You need to ask your GP to do a faecal calprotectin test to check for inflammation and then they can go from there. It could be your coeliacs though...

Yeah I’ll ask for one when I have my appointment. It’s just really upsetting me - I’m on holiday (to somewhere with lots of knowledge of coeliac disease and loads of gf food) and I’m just feeling a bit tearful about it. I already have anxiety about feeling sick etc from childhood due to when I was undiagnosed and suffering so it’s just rubbish.