Gallbladder?Dioverticular? Collagenous Colitis?

[endrun]

First of all I read the posts on colonoscopies and that one person who requested no sedation I do not understand.  I have a redundant colon and they had the same issue of reaching, the sedation was insufficient and it was quite uncomfortable.  "Pain amnesia"? They invented a new condition that has reality only in their own minds, well "bully for them."  I recently was told the common practice of adequate sedation is much better than it ever was but I see that this is not always the case.  My first colonoscopy was done with no sedation at all and therefore qualifies as the most barbaric.  
With that lengthy introduction let me state my current problems:pain for two consecutive nights, sharp, upper right quadrant, suggesting gallbladder.  Ultrasonography showed no stones.  In the last few months very frequent colon symptoms suggestive of colitis.
  I am also a confirmed Celiac but one who does follow the diet stricty, so this seems not to be directly related to that at least insofar as the last 6 years are concerned(I am 51).
  My colon is about as dysfunctional as one can experience now, with a loose stool/mild diarrhea presentation--mostly constipation but now we have this.  I also feel at night a weird sensation, like a grew an extra lung on my right side, such that it feels like that "third lung" has a respiratory infection.  Of course this cannot be real but those are the only words I can find to describe it.  
  I have gone over the list of probabilities--Diverticular disease, obstruction,collagenous colitis.  My question is does anyone possibly have any insight into this presentation that may help us get to the finish line of correct diagnosis sooner than if we go off on a relative wild goose chase, or is a "torturous diagnostic road" the only way to do things anyway?  

[CalGal]

There is an excellent fecal antibody test put out by enterolab.com that can detect celiac and genetically test (and check for casein problems) that appears to be better than any blood test around. And it will find gluten intolerance if it is there even if you've been very, very strict in staying away from gluten. My husband was off of gluten for a full year - off of oats, too, and off of anything that could be cross-contaminated including enriched rice, corn, etc - and they were able to detect antibodies to both gluten and casein. You still have low levels of circulating antibodies and those are picked up. Plus the allele testing confirmed what we already knew.

The problem with removal of the gallbladder without the presence of stones is that the statistics for post surgical problems - celiac being present or not - are really bad. The incidence for SOD ranges between 10-40% depending on the study you read. And trying to 'fix' it after it occurs? More problems there. I hope that doc that linked celiac and gallbladder issues has better results that most reports show.

It's possible some probiotics might be helpful. They're certainly not going to hurt unless you're severely immunodepressed.

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I appreciate your interest but as for Celiac you are preaching to the choir, as I experienced it for most of 45 years without a diagnosis and truly understand from experience even more than what you state including brain issues.  However I have not been ingesting gluten at all. I am an expert in where it is and can make that statement.
I think that it needs to be assumed that is true in order for a meaningful answer to come out...not attacking anyone's sincerity or caring, only the methodology of forming a good answer...
I do react to casein too.  That is ruled in.  In finding a lab resource which doesn't rely on a blood test--which at that point would never have been positive as I started to strictly cut gluten from my diet--which no doctor helped me with and instead in their ignorance pushed a blood test at the wonderful teaching hospital which still needs teaching itself on this subject, I discovered that fact.  So it is a fact.  You are sharp.
I have in fact ingested some of this recently.  As I have done so in the past without such severe symptoms--those were caused by gluten, I tend to not believe THIS ALONE is at work here.  I could be wrong too about that.  
What you say about the HIDA scan with CCK injection according to my research is also correct.  That is my plan especially when a doctor, an Osteopath in Colorado, asserts a Celiac-Gallbladder connection.  Philosphically he apparently is staunchly pro-prevention anti-surgery, but asserts that in all cases where abnormal results are found in terms of supranormal ejection fraction rates found in the above scenario, there is a diseased gallbladder in Celiacs and pathologic exam once the gallbladder is removed confirms this every time.  Not all Celiacs have this but it happens enough that is apparently a valid concern.   The literature also speaks a great deal of many things including abnormal gallbladder function returning to normal after struct gluten free diet, and not much at all about treated Celiac and gallbladder aside from the other autoimmune conditions including neurologic and hypothyroid which do continue after institution of gluten free diet.  That would be the next test, ie, the HIDA with CCK injections.
  Diverticulosis can lead to diverticulitis, the latter of which is an emergency condition.  There can be a bacterial or viral infection as well.  What is known is this stinks.  Your answer was very good overall.  The uncertainty remains for now.

[CalGal]

If you have celiac, it is possible that many of your GI issues could be the result on not being strictly compliant - at least as far as the constipation/mild diarrhea goes. Not everyone with celiac has 'just diarrhea.'  You are essentially 'poisioning' the cells of your GI tract with the ingestion of gluten, and as a result cells are going to die off, your intestinal tract is going to react and you're going to have a problem absorbing nutrients. You may not see the symptoms each day, or an overall change, but in the long run what your seeing as 'colitis' may very well be the outcome of unregulated celiac disease. Please consider that many with uncontrolled celiac go on to experience symtoms that can mimic severe MS complete with demyelination problems.

Many of those with gluten-problems also are known to cross-react with casein, the major protein in diary. So please consider ruling out that possibility.

The ultrasound is not the only test that should be done to check for gallbladder issues. You should also have a HIDA scan with CCK injection done if the pain continues.