Health A-Z

Medical Content Created by the Faculty of the
Harvard Medical School

Celiac Disease (Non-Tropical Sprue)

Symptoms

Symptoms and their severity can vary. Some symptoms come from inflammation in the intestines. Other symptoms come from a lack of nutrients, due to the failure of your intestine to digest food properly.

Children generally develop symptoms only after they start eating foods that contain gluten. Common symptoms include:

• Upset stomach

• Failure to grow normally (often called "failure to thrive") or delayed growth

• Weight loss

• Painful abdominal bloating or distention

• Pale, foul-smelling, greasy stools

• Chronic (long-lasting) or recurring diarrhea

• Irritability

In adults, symptoms may include:

• Chronic diarrhea that does not get better with medication

• Foul-smelling, greasy, pale stool

• Gassiness

• Recurring abdominal bloating

• Weight loss

• Fatigue

• Infertility, lack of menstruation

• Bone or joint pain

• Depression, irritability or mood changes

• Neurological problems, including weakness, poor balance, seizures, headaches, or numbness or tingling in the legs

• Itchy, painful skin rash (dermatitis herpetiformis)

• Tooth discoloration or loss of enamel, sores on lips or tongue

• Other signs of vitamin deficiency, such as scaly skin or hyperkeratosis (from lack of vitamin A), or bleeding gums or bruising easily (from lack of vitamin K)