Indigestion

Whitewave you may very well have Coeliacs, have you been tested?

The other thing to consider in this debate, is the self-fulfilling prophecy and the placebo effect, both extremely powerful forces. The human mind is ever powerful and works in mysterious ways.

So what would you suggest my problem is if it isn't gluten intolerance? jing All I know is that since cutting it out I have been physically 100% better. Free of mouth ulcers, stomach pain , skin is clearing etc. What would be the point of eating it?

I find wholewheat difficult to digest. I eat Kingsmill Oatywhite, which is fine for me.

I also have strong suspicions about the gluten intolerance thing, apart from with actual Coeliac disease.

I was advised to raise the head of my bed to combat reflux. I couldn't manage that but did add an extra pillow which seemed to help - or maybe that was the Ranitidine and Gaviscon Advance last thing at night.

Yes HOOLAHOOP I get that pain round the chest up the sides of my neck and into the upper back. i had had home made soup soup with a lot of garlic and onion, never again.

Thanks welshwife, I'll give that a go. At least it's a natural food. Jinglbellfrocks, sorry, why is it irresponsible to put that on a forum? As someone said, doctors will give out all sorts of tablets for many reasons. Working in a pharmacy years ago a lot of women found that their contraceptive pill had been changed and everyone was being prescribed the same one. Reason, the doctors were getting BIG benefits from the company supplying them and the rep, well he was salesman of the year! I'm taking Omeprazol, I've since heard that once you're on it, it is almost impossible to stop taking them, and they are chemicals and have long-term bad effects. A doctor, on the radio had been taking them and was finding it impossible to get off them. I've lowered my dose from 20mg to 10mg but I know that if I want to stop taking them I've just got to change my diet. Two members of my family died from stomach cancer, very nasty, I don't want to go down that road. I remember when I was young, there were a lot of older people that would say something like, "oh I love fried onions, but they don't like me", thought they were daft beggars but our bodies change and we should change with them, simples!

Coeliacs is an autoimmune disease and not an intolerance and there's no dispute about the existence of this condition. Testing involves a blood test and duodenum intubation, where a sample of the small intestine is taken for analysis.

Researchers have noted that other ingredients in wheat flour or wheat-based products may actually be the cause of some digestive symptoms rather than gluten sensitivity. It could be fructans, or another component in wheat that is the issue. Fructans, or Fructose is the sugar found in some products, including wheat and is similar in some ways to a lactose intolerance.

Some schools of thought argue for seeing your doctor before introducing any elimination diet, as is can be harmful to restrict your diet. Many products which are good for us contain gluten. I personally think this is good advice. As I said before there is an explosion of interest in gluten free foods and many people actually believe going gluten free is a healthier option for all. For most of us it isn't, so perhaps it's wise to be cautious.

Off the subject of gastrics,how are the carpets Elegran

Well NFK I can eat everything without any reaction whatsoever except products containing gluten. So stuff like soy sauce etc. causes an immediate reaction as well as the obvious stuff. It isn't a question of a slight stomach pain, but I get that, mouth ulcers, achy joints and skin reaction as well as obvious toilet troubles. So no question of a band wagon - wish it was!

I have been on Omprozel for a year and started to think it was making me worse. I was getting urgent needs to run to the toilet. I decided to stop about 2 weeks ago and the heartburn came back horribly. However I stuck it out, and I'm much better now. I know what triggers the heartburn (cream, pastry, cake, white wine etc) all the unhealthy stuff anyway, so I avoid them. I found I could eat anything while on the tablets, but that was making me put on weight. I feel better being drug free now and controlling my diet.

I get pain which travels around chest and back and up sides of throat I am taking lanzoprazole daily I drink tonic water which seems to help feels like trapped wind but pain can be horrendous does anyone else get this if so what do they do ?

Quite possibly there's a connection .Nfk just as there's been an explosion in the amount of wheat based products we eat now that everything is freely available in supermarkets.

In the past it was more likely that bread, pies, cakes, biscuits, etc were made at home. Not only did we know exactly what went into them but we didn't have so much of these because it had to be made not bought.

I have had bouts of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) since my late 20s and whenever it has been bad I have dropped wheat from my diet and had an immediate improvement. Now that I am getting older I am finding I am less tolerant to wheat so have been following a gluten free Low FODMAP diet for the past year and have felt so much better for it, though I do struggle with the restrictions of this diet. It's a diet that is now being recommended by NHS dieticians though you should be following their precise recommendations (and not go it alone as I have done).

When I am out I just try to avoid certain foods, but am reluctant to make a fuss if I am with other people as I realise gluten won't harm me as I am not celiac, I just suffer the consequences later and hope I am on my own!!

I do wonder if a lot of the problems being blamed on gluten aren't down to one of the other myriad of ingredients now added to bread and wheat products. I'm not saying whitewave that you aren't gluten intolerant as you obviously have identified it. (It took me ages to find I'm garlic intolerant!), but I find it difficult to believe that suddenly, half the population is gluten intolerant. I can't eat 'supermarket' bread or cakes, but that's down to the other stuff that gets added. Especially the raising agents which continue to do their job in my tummy until I nearly explode!

There's a heck of a lot which can go wrong with the digestive system, some things are only now being identified.

My DH has recently, after years or problems, been diagnosed with BAM - Bile Acid Malabsoption. Often previously diagnosed as IBS. The test is new and still unavailable in the USA. It can't be cured, but can be managed and our lives have improved considerably!

I had the dreaded endoscopy (not as bad as I feared) before Christmas and what I'd suspected was an ulcer turned out to be a small hiatus hernia (apparently very common in 'older' people - especially those slightly overweight - ie, me) and Barratts disease, which I had to look up (also common in the over 60'), and which has to be kept an eye on as it can develop into cancer.

So please, if you're worried about your indigestion do get it investigated.

Yes I am sure my gluten intolerance has gradually developed - now looking back. If I eat any gluten now unknowingly - I get an immediate and painful reaction which lasts for as long as it takes to go through my system. I have never bothered with a diagnosis - don't want to eat ANY gluten to prove it as it is so unpleasant.

Why do I think that PP doesn't know what I do jingl ? Because the proof of the pudding us in the eating. Literally!

I know that if I avoid gluten, I have no headtburn/reflux/indigestion. If I eat one piece of toast for eg. I can get away with it, but any more then I'm in trouble. I've proved this time and time again and I don't need any double blind clinical trial to tell me this.

I know that gluten intolerance is also a factor in other conditions, such as hyperthyroidism, and my daughter has been advised by her specialist to avoid it.

Further a friend in their 40s has just been diagnosed with celiac disease. He suffered ever increasing symptoms over the years before being diagnosed, suggesting that an intolerance had turned to a full blown version of the condition. This means the small intestine in hypersensitive to gluten leading to difficulty in digesting food and results in actual damage to the lining of the small intestine. This is not a condition which develops overnight.

There is much still to be learned about how our guts work as it's a very complicated subject. But if something works for you then I tend to apply the theory that if it quacks and has webbed feet then it's a duck

I remember years ago asking an Ed Psych 'are there degrees or different kinds of autism?' because a pupil was causing me to query the accepted understanding of the condition and being told 'no' - well we now know there are, and since then I've tended to go with my own gut feeling (no pun intended). Incidentally 5 years down the line when the condition was finally understood the boy was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.

I wish I could see this Dr.
Dr Karna D Bardham. He is at Rotherham hospital and talks the most sense I have heard on this subject.

Nothing's easy, is it?

No, bet it tastes vile.

Still wouldn't fancy it was though.

No. But DD says it can be made. So, not necessarily from urine.

Did you know that for the breath one you have to drink urea?

No. Not tmi. Interesting. There are three ways of testing for it then, breath, blood, poo. Wonder what makes them choose whichever.

I am being tested for h-pylori via a stool test. Sorry, folks, perhaps too much information?