Do You Have Gluten Sensitivity or IBS? How to Know the Difference

Digestive problems include a litany of whispered afflictions that include gluten sensitivity, IBS, Crohn’s disease, acid reflux, ulcerative colitis, and others. According to a recent article written by an expert in the field, the digestive tract nurtures myriad problems that share common symptoms. The problem with these illnesses is that they share a wide range of symptoms. Therefore, differential diagnosis is difficult, especially when the symptoms just began to show up and cause you discomfort. Gluten sensitivity and IBS both affect a great deal of the population. To make sure what to do next about your health, you must see a doctor. Until then, let’s cover some basics, so you know where you stand.

Proper Diagnosis Is Crucial for Your Wellbeing and Quality of Life

It’s important to get a proper diagnosis by a medical professional like your physician or gastroenterologist specialist. Irritable bowel syndrome, known as IBS, affects 10 percent to 15 percent of the adult population, but only about 5 percent of cases receive the right diagnosis. IBS causes bowel pain and discomfort without causing inflammation or other abnormalities associated with any disease or chemical contamination. The symptoms include:

• Pain when defecating;
• Changes in the frequency of bowel movements;
• Alternating periods of diarrhea and constipation;
• A greater urgency to defecate immediately.

Differences between Gluten Sensitivity and IBS

According to an article from glutenfreeliving.com, gluten sensitivity can trigger pain and similar symptoms to those of IBS. Even small portions of gluten can cause gluten-sensitive people to experience severe pain and bowel discomfort. You might suffer from IBS, gluten sensitivity, or both disorders because the conditions might have a common connection. Stress is a common culprit linked to both conditions, and celiac disease runs in families.

Celiac disease patients can’t tolerate even small amounts of gluten because the compound triggers an immune system attack on the small intestine. The lining that normally absorbs nutrients suffer damages to the extreme. Moreover, the continued consumption of gluten, which is highly prevalent in most diets, can prove life-threatening. Not all gluten-sensitive people develop celiac disease, but those who face a major problem remove all gluten from their diets.

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity can be symptomatic of another gastrointestinal disorder called non-celiac wheat sensitivity or NCWS for short. That raises the number of similar conditions to four: IBS, celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and NCWS.

The patients who are allergic to wheat, which causes bloating and gastrointestinal distress (that many people confuse with irritable bowel syndrome), pose a diagnostic problem because the condition has no known biomarkers. The symptoms of both disorders include abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, and changes in bowel habits.

Further Diagnostic Complications

According to a post at webmd.com, some people can be sensitive to gluten without having celiac disease or non-celiac wheat sensitivity. Gluten sensitivity can generate discomfort and some symptoms of gastrointestinal distress, but not at the same level of celiac disease symptoms and even wheat sensitivity.

Gluten is a protein found in bread, cereals, and whole grains. Eating gluten while you have celiac disease can result in diarrhea, gas, stomach cramps, bloating, and weight loss, in addition to pain. Unfortunately, there are no biomarkers for wheat sensitivity, so it isn’t easy to diagnose. Hair samples, blood tests, colonoscopies, and stool tests don’t provide enough information to provide a substantiated diagnosis of wheat sensitivity.

Another problem arises in testing for celiac disease. If you eliminate gluten from your diet entirely, the tests for celiac disease won’t be accurate. Although useful for patients with gluten sensitivity, eliminating gluten skews the test result for celiac disease. For this reason, doctors recommend testing for celiac disease immediately.

Getting Treatment

When it comes to treating gluten sensitivity or IBS, you probably know that you will not follow some one-size-fits-all type of treatment. Instead, your gastroenterologist or family physician will work closely with internal medicine physicians, dietitians, nutrition experts, and other specialists to create a personalized treatment plan.

Modern approaches to such health conditions focus on multi-disciplinary teams. For instance, you can schedule Port Orange internal medicine treatments for any gastrointestinal disorder and benefit from acupuncture and physiotherapy, among others. The idea here is that you need to tackle such problems from all points of view. While you follow a healthier dietary plan to alleviate the symptoms, you can also work with a physical therapist and an acupuncturist.

Some experts recommend patients get professional massages for stress relief (since stress is a significant factor in digestive problems) and even have some psychotherapy sessions. Some therapies are effective in such cases, as the experts help you manage the stress better and cope with the disease’s symptoms, so they don’t lower your quality of life.

Final Thoughts

Ruling out gluten sensitivity, IBS, and celiac disease can narrow down the possibilities for a diagnosis of wheat sensitivity. Working with a specialist is your best option for diagnosing and getting the right treatment for celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, irritable bowel syndrome, and non-celiac wheat sensitivity.