Can I eat bread and pasta again?

November 10, 2009 10:14 AM

Warning: kinda gross question about bowel movements, bleeding, and wheat/gluten intolerance! In the last year (I'm in my late 20s), I've noticed that if I eat wheat products (bread, pasta) or oatmeal, my bowel motion the next day will be so difficult that I'll experience bleeding or tearing.

I've done some reading online about celiac disease, but I find that if I just don't eat too much wheat flour in one sitting, I'm fine. Especially if I supplement a meal where I eat wheat with a lot of soluble fibre like some lentils or beans.

Prior to the last year, I've been able to eat bread and pasta, just fine.

Has anyone ever experienced a similar change? Besides not eating wheat, were you able to go back to enjoying bread and pasta?

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (24 comments total)

Have you been to see a gastroenterologist? Celiac disease has more effects than the obvious ones - it can, for example, affect your bone density because your intestines no longer absorb calcium very well.

(I don't appear to have celiac, but I'm gluten-intolerant - it makes all my joints swell up. I can pretty much get away with little doses occasionally, but the effect is cumulative.)
posted by restless_nomad at 10:21 AM on November 10

Also, I totally understand the desire to get away with it. I'm currently aching because I just *had* to order pizza last night. It's going to take a long, long time before I get totally used to it.

But there are some fairly serious health ramifications, and you should definitely get checked out by a doctor.
posted by restless_nomad at 10:23 AM on November 10

As restless_nomad says, see a doctor.

And if you're going to eat more gluten than usual (pizza party, dinner at a friend's house who's known for her pasta, birthday cake, etc.) take a stool softener before and after the gluten-rich meal. And drink lots of water. That will, at least, address the painful bowel movement issue.

I'm not gluten-intolerant, but I am gluten-sensitive, and it's gotten more pronounced over the last ten years. So keep an eye on it.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:24 AM on November 10

Are you drinking enough water? Try drinking more water throughout the day and see how it feels.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 10:25 AM on November 10 [1 favorite has favorites]

By all means discuss this with your doctor, but I have a feeling that this isn't so much "oh no celiac disease" as much as it's "my body is getting older".

It sounds like you experience trouble only when you have too MUCH gluten, as opposed to having problems if you have ANY gluten. Which is what makes me suspect that it's celiac.

But, again, this is a change in your body's habits, so it's worth checking in with your doctor for a just-in-case.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:29 AM on November 10

I have Celiac Disease, and what you are describing is pretty much what happens to me when I get gluten. It isn't fun. If I get just a little bit, like from cross contamintaion, the effects aren't too bad. If I eat a whole meal, the next day is torture.

Cutting out the gluten didn't just stop the toilet torture, it made me feel healthier in other ways. My depression improved, my skin looks better, and I don't get sick as often as I did. I also have more energy.

One thing to keep in mind: If you are going to be tested for Celiac Disease, you need to keep eating the gluten. Going off the gluten before the tests can cause some false negatives. Don't go on a gluten-free diet until after you've been tested.
posted by TooFewShoes at 10:35 AM on November 10 [2 favorites has favorites]

You might just need more fiber in general, or healther bowel habits. But a doctor will know better than I.
posted by kathrineg at 10:38 AM on November 10

This sounds a lot like me - I'm not gluten intolerant, but have intolerances toward carbohydrates known as fructans, found in grain and soy products.

I've found that if I go a long time without eating any of the things I know cause trouble, I can occasionally have a small - I mean, *small* - serving of, say, a wheat product, without causing symptoms. Small as in 1/2 of a small bagel, or a couple bites of pie crust.

I would recommend that you at least get the blood test to rule out celiac, though, because as already mentioned, celiac can cause a whole host of other problems than bowel issues.
posted by chez shoes at 10:49 AM on November 10

I do not have Celiac, or bowel issues, but I have a bowl of bran cereal (Raisin Bran in my case) and a cup of pro-biotic yogurt every morning, and I drink as shitload of water every day, which I think are generally good ideas for everyone.
posted by BobbyDigital at 10:54 AM on November 10

I do not have Celiac, but I experience similar + additional symptoms if I don't supplement wheat/gluten meals with digestion assistance. In my case, it's gall bladder related (first as an advance symptom of imminent issues, and since because it is no longer present). Apple cider vinegar works wonders for me in this regard, and it's pretty easy to find it in tablet form. Might be worth a try.

See a doctor anyway, to make sure there's nothing really dire going on, though.
posted by Pufferish at 11:34 AM on November 10

Gluten intolerance and gluten sensitivities are very much the gastrointestinal conditions du jour. Actually, they are becoming alarmingly faddish: search for "self-diagnois" and "gluten free" on google and you'll net a bajillion results. In some cases this is an update/rebranding of the low-carb dieting craze from a few years ago (a lot of snack manufacturers are repackaging with just this idea in mind), and in some cases it has to do with a heavy dose of political advocacy from vegetarian/vegan/local-organic-sustainable lifestyle media and anecdotal evidence. As chez shoes say, there are tons of intolerances, conditions that could be operating behind your sensitivities. The only way to find out for sure is to hit up a gut doctor. Get the bloodwork.
posted by mr. remy at 11:35 AM on November 10

I became wheat/gluten intolerant in a timeframe that seemed quite rapid to me, over the course of about a month; one day it seemed like I could digest it fine and then I couldn't digest anything at all. I was 25 and had eaten gluten all my life.

So yes, that can happen, but YMMV.
posted by urbanlenny at 11:43 AM on November 10

In some cases this is an update/rebranding of the low-carb dieting craze from a few years ago (a lot of snack manufacturers are repackaging with just this idea in mind), and in some cases it has to do with a heavy dose of political advocacy from vegetarian/vegan/local-organic-sustainable lifestyle media and anecdotal evidence.

And in other cases, people pay attention to the connection between their food choices and their bowel symptoms on an ongoing basis, and start to figure out which foods cause them which bowel symptoms.
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:43 AM on November 10

There's gluten-free pastas and bread mixes, too, if your GI workup indicates celiac or related issues.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:44 AM on November 10

Okay, what you're describing matches up pretty well with some symptoms of celiac disease (which I have) and some other non-optimal things.

There can be astoundingly bad results from ignoring it. If you only get symptoms from eating large amounts of wheat it may mean that small amounts is just damaging your intestinal lining too little for you to notice for now.

You may be able to get away with eating low amounts of bread/pasta for now but if you have celiac disease you may be doing yourself long term harm that will become gradually harder and harder to reverse.

This is definitely a 'see your doctor' thing, as other people have said. Any time you get blood coming from your digestive tract non-recreationally, it's a good time to check in with your doctor.

That said, it's a lot easier to have celiac these days than it was even 3 years ago. I live in the Seattle area and there's a wide range of stuff available and it's becoming the case in other places as well.
posted by corprew at 11:44 AM on November 10

And yes, you can eat bread and pasta again - gluten-free bread and rice pasta. As long as you're willing to take advice and try new things with an open mind, your life will be just like it was before you became gluten intolerant, just a little less mindlessly convenient.
posted by urbanlenny at 11:47 AM on November 10

I can't stress enough how important it is to get a diagnosis for celiac disease, Chrohn's disease, and/or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). These are all linked to an increased risk of colorectal (bowel) cancer. This means that, should you be diagnosed with any of these disorders, your doctor will start cancer screening at a younger age and is more likely to be aggressive in investigating any potential cancer signs. This can make a huge difference in how early cancer is detected, and bowel cancer is very treatable in the early stages.

My husband was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 30. He's since been diagnosed with IBS, which he has probably always had but never wanted to go see a doctor about due to embarrassment. I'm absolutely positive that had he gone to a doctor for his IBS in his teens or twenties, he and his doctor would have recognized the warning signs at an earlier stage and he wouldn't have needed so many treatments.
posted by Ildeth at 11:49 AM on November 10 [1 favorite has favorites]

I would go to a doctor but it sounds like not enough fiber and not enough water. Also how much coffee do you drink and how much soda do you drink.

Caffine causes your bowels to not work right and will cause what you describe.
posted by majortom1981 at 12:10 PM on November 10 [1 favorite has favorites]

PS his description i think sounds the opposite of what everybody else thinks.
posted by majortom1981 at 12:10 PM on November 10

Another Celiac here (and yes, it's doctor confirmed with fancy tests) I have the exact same problem when I'm exposed to gluten. Sometimes things move "too fast" but other times things slow down and I have the same kind of damage to the lower region.

You've got to get to the doctor to figure this out, the sooner you know the better.
posted by Maude_the_destroyer at 1:58 PM on November 10

There's a good book about controlling serious GI disease with diet. It's called Collitis and Me by Raman Prasad. He is very smart and besides a lot of really good recipesthis is a personal story of triumph over adversity. He's also got a book of recipes for the specific carbohydrate diet. Good luck with this.

http://www.amazon.com/Colitis-Me-Recovery-Raman-Prasad/dp/0972706100
posted by dorcas at 5:05 PM on November 10

I had bowel problems for many years. I stayed off gluten for perhaps a year because I thought that was the problem. On a whim, I tried Sun Ray Multidolphilus 12 and most of my problems disappeared. No more stomach distress, no more bowel movements at inappropriate times, even no more heartburn. I'm not sure why it worked, but am so glad that it did.
posted by psc1860 at 6:42 PM on November 10

Caffine causes your bowels to not work right and will cause what you describe.

I've never heard of caffeine causing constipation and hard stools. Of course, every body is different and this may well be the case for you, but the majority experience is that caffeine triggers defecation and/or contributes to diarrhea.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:44 PM on November 10

I became wheat/gluten intolerant in a timeframe that seemed quite rapid to me, about a month

Just dropping in to note that this happened to a friend of mine this year. She had to press to get the doctor to run the tests because it seemed so weird that it was so rapid-onset, but the tests came back positive. So, worth getting checked out.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:53 PM on November 10