Will gluten cause my esophagus to spasm?

by David
(Ohatche, Al. - USA)

For 6 years I have been having pain in my chest, abdominal Pain, diarrhea and nausea. The chest pains would be all over my chest, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, in the middle, in my back and from shoulder to shoulder. After all the heart test ever given and test on my lung, for arthritis and several other test, (7 months worth.

My Doctor even said that she just knew any day she would get a call that I just fell over dead), they called in a gastroenterologiest and he said I had Esophagitis and Diverticulitis.

I never had these problems until after I started eating better which including more whole grains. I have also had several infections in my digestive systems. Could all of this be caused by gluten?

Comments for Will gluten cause my esophagus to spasm?

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Gluten can cause odd things to happen...
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi David,

While I can't say for sure if gluten is causing these problems for you, It's not out of the realm of possibility and I would suggest that you give it a try!

You may also want to try taking some magnesium as the Cause of Heart Palpitations and the Cause of Muscle Cramps and spasms can both be from magnesium deficiency.

Since you get diarrhea, though, it would be better for you to use epsom salt baths, as outlined on the Epsom Salt Uses and Transdermal Magnesium Gel as topical sources of magnesium as one of the common Magnesium Side Effects is loose stools, so going the route of taking oral magnesium is probably not the best choice for you.

Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

Same Issues
by: Ryan

I have been suffering from the same chest pain and difficulty swallowing. My mom and sister both have celiac. I have done many tests as well, without the Dr. finding anything. My mom and sister have finally convinced me to try a gluten free diet, just started today.

I'll post again if it works. Please post again if you find out what you are suffering with, if it is something other than gluten intolerance.

Esophageal spasm and or nutcracker esophagus
by: Tony

I feel your pain. Been there done that.
For 12 years, I had debilitating spasms in my esophagus the pain would radiate through my chest, sometimes out my back. They happened day or night, sometimes they would wake me up in the middle of the night and last for hours. The only thing that helped me was sipping cool water. The sensation is similar to when you gulp water too fast and get an air bubble spasm??? Eventually the pain began to radiate down my side...I had periods of nausea. I got tested for celiac and a host of other things...negative. I did some food elimination. Milk, grains, etc for a week at a time. I got scoped and found out I had an irritated looking stomach but NO diagnosis. I eventually decided I would have to live with what ever this was. I quit taking antacids and proton pump inhibitors since they didn't work anyway.

A few years later I found myself getting the middle age spread (still suffering with the original problem although not every day) so I randomly decided to give up bread as a way to cut carbs. After about 3 weeks I realized that I had stopped having spasms. I love bread and pizza so overtime I experimented with reintroduction. What I found was, if wheat is a regular part of my diet and I quit eating it, it can take as long as two weeks for occasional symptoms to subside...also it takes a little while for eating wheat to cause me detectable symptoms... That was it, after years of suffering I found that I have a sensitivity to grains...Ironically, whole grains can be the worst offenders because excessive processing of grain probably deteriorates some of the offending proteins

For those in the medical community that think wheat/grain (I say wheat/grain instead of gluten because there are a host of lectins in grains that are problematic) sensitivity is BS and recite the same old "only 1-2% of the population has celiac line" Better take a second look. My doctors were stupefied by my conditions and never did figure it out they were not even close.

I figured this out backwards before the whole gluten free thing became a thing. Since then I have adopted Paleo eating principles and have been symptom free for better than 2 years. The spasms are just the overt symptom the real trouble is the chronic inflammation you cannot see.

In addition, I no longer suffer from exercise induced asthma or use an inhaler. My chronic nagging nasal congestion and swollen nasal passages are clear. Seasonal allergies reduced by 80-90%. Toe nail fungus died and I grew a new healthy nails. All of these are conditions that have plagued me for 30 plus years. Hell, I can't even believe it but its true. Sounds crazy right?

Remember, at one time in our history nearly everyone on the planet lived their entire life thinking the world was flat...all that belief just meant that everyone was wrong for a really long time.

Good luck, I hope you find healing.

same here
by: Anonymous

I suffered also for years with a host of different symptoms. After a ripped esophagus from a piece of food lodged in my throat, the doctor tried to push the food through and ripped it. ICU for 4 days, hospital for 7. Almost died. I did the gluten free diet and noticed after a few weeks that my spasms only reoccurred when I became glutened. I no longer have spasms or food lodged in the narrowed, strictured, esophagus. Last scope looked better. It's been 4 years, I've lost 50 lbs, have energy, no more achy joints, restored menstrual cycles, no headaches, and an overall sense of health.

Gluten, gliadan, wheat, barley, and rye showed up on my IgG blood work as off the chart severe allergy. I really could care less if someone argues with me that gluten is not the reason all this has helped me - I know my body.

Comments sound familiar
by: Anonymous

Since I was 18, I suffered for 18 years with a narrow esophagus, food getting temporarily stuck almost daily. Trips to ER. And like the above user, on one occasion, a doctor tore my esophagus, resulting in 3 days ICU, plus 7 in hospital.

For years doctors threw pills at me (some too big for me to swallow). The last doctor had me eliminate milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, etc. Everything BUT gluten!!! With no change. Went back to old diet, but eliminated gluten, and a miracle occurred: no more problems, for 3 years now. And still the docs aren't convinced!

Gluten/celiac
by: L.M.

I suffered most of my life with panic attacks, stomach cramps, depression and anxiety, inability to gain weight (in my younger years). As I grew older, symptoms became worse. I've had two upper and lower endoscopies done.

The results were negative for pathology of any sort. Still, they put me on proton pump inhibitors for 12 years. Then I've read that these sort of meds were meant to be only for a few weeks, so I took myself off. The heartburn and acid bubbling up my throat was very severe. I went to bed fatigued and woke up fatigued. Food did not seem to give me any energy. I wasn't absorbing anything.

However, the doctors then decided that my problem was depression because I did have some childhood issues. My antidepressant medication nightmare lasted approximately 15-20 years! I won't go into that anymore in this writing except to say that too was not what was causing my stomach, esophagus and intestinal pain. Eating food became more and more painful. I would have severe pain in my back and back muscles after eating. Long story short...I went to a nurse practitioner who tested me for IgG-gliadin. That test was a high positive.

For the first time in decades, if I do not eat gluten, I don't have severe pain. I am very thankful for that nurse practioner who outsmarted all the physicians I ever went to about this problem.

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