Activated Charcoal As A Sleep Remedy For Insomniac Celiacs

[kendira]

Hello,

I am new to this board and my heart really went out to those people who are having trouble sleeping. For me, I've noticed that trouble with sleep is an indication that I've been "glutinated" inadvertently. My doctor, who is also a celiac, told me to take Activated Charcoal after an accidental glutination (signaled by a sleeping problem, or headache, or GI symptoms, etc). I use the Solaray brand which comes in 280 mg. capsules. I'm sure any brand will do. When I can't sleep, I'll take one or two capsules, maybe a couple of advils, and a lot of water, and then I sleep well through the night. This works so much better for me than Ambien, Lunesta, Ativan, and every other sleeping pill they have thrown at me. Activated Charcoal works by soaking up the molecules of gluten hanging out in your intestines, and letting your immune system calm down from overdrive.

My doctor did hasten to add that usage of Activated Charcoal is no excuse to cheat on the diet, because while it soaks up the bad stuff (gluten) from your intestines, it also soaks up the good stuff, like vitamins and other nutrients. Use it only infrequently. Also, don't take it with milk products, which lessen its effectiveness.

Does anyone else have any experience with this? Do you have any tips for using Activated Charcoal when you get glutinated? When, and how much works for you?

Best,

Kendira

[Guest Robbin]

Hey, thanks for this thread! I had never heard of this and it does make sense. I will definitely get some to keep on hand. Welcome to the forum btw Also, that is so fortunate to get a dr. who knows first hand about this!! Are you in the U.S. and is he a gastro dr.?

[kendira]

Here's a correction to my message above -- IT'S BEST NOT TO TAKE ADVIL WITH THE ACTIVATED CHARCOAL. JUST TAKE THE ACTIVATED CHARCOAL ALONE. (Sorry about the caps, but I wanted to be very clear.) It seems that the Advil decreases the effectiveness of the Activated Charcoal by getting soaked up by it, and therefore interfering with the capacity for the Activated Charcoal to adsorb (as opposed to absorb) the gluten in the intestines. BTW, Activated Charcoal is a standard treatment for accidental poisoning and is considered extremely safe. (Gluten is certainly a poison for us celiacs!) Check out the profile for Activated Charcoal at Open Original Shared Link. My guess is that the amount of Activated Charcoal you need will be dose-dependent on how much gluten you have in your intestines. The more gluten, the more Activated Charcoal you'll need. In any case, I apologize for any confusion I might have caused in my previous posting.

I had personal experience with this "advil interference" last night. Despite my best efforts, I was again inadvertently "glutenated" at a restaurant in town. I took the 2 caps of the charcoal when we got home, and felt pretty good an hour later. Paranoid me, I decided to take a couple of Advil just in case my headache came back, and well enough, the all-over body pain came back within half an hour, and I was tossing and turning for a couple of sleepless hours. I couldn't sleep until after I took 3 more Activated Charcoal caps. Then I slept like a baby for 7 hours.

The reason my doc is so helpful is that he and his whole family are all celiacs themselves. He knows it's not all in your head. I hope this info is helpful to someone out there.

[ms-sillyak-screwed]

I have noticed when I eat BBQ grilled food I feel better. I haven't tried this as a method to sleep.

[Clark Bent as Stupor-Man]

My nutritionist (whose son is a celiac) also recommended taking activated charcoal... not specifically for sleep, but just generally speaking after having a gluten or food reaction..

when you take it at night, do you wake up feeling off at all? I know it will theoretically deplete vitamins as well so I'm just curious as to if there is any grogginess or whatnot? I'm planning on picking some up and trying it next time I feel like I'm having a food reaction..

[plantime]

I have noticed when I eat BBQ grilled food I feel better. I haven't tried this as a method to sleep.

Activated charcoal and grilling charcoal are not the same thing.

[ms-sillyak-screwed]

Activated charcoal and grilling charcoal are not the same thing.

I don't know anything about the difference.

Can you educate us?

[Guest BERNESES]

This is REALLY good to know as one of the first symptoms i have when I have been "glutaminated" is that I can't sleep or fall asleep and wake up at like 3 or 4. I wish I was one of the sleepy Celiac's (I guess the grass is always greener) but i am DEFINITELY not.

Ms Silly Yak- I'm pretty sure that grilling charcoal is poisonous (obviously) but maybe somehow the charcoal grilled food has a similar effect on you. I don't really know anything about it.

[plantime]

"Charcoal is carbon. (See this Question of the Day for details on how charcoal is made.) Activated charcoal is charcoal that has been treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores between the carbon atoms. According to Encylopedia Britannica:

The use of special manufacturing techniques results in highly porous charcoals that have surface areas of 300-2,000 square metres per gram. These so-called active, or activated, charcoals are widely used to adsorb odorous or coloured substances from gases or liquids.

The word adsorb is important here. When a material adsorbs something, it attaches to it by chemical attraction. The huge surface area of activated charcoal gives it countless bonding sites. When certain chemicals pass next to the carbon surface, they attach to the surface and are trapped.

Activated charcoal is good at trapping other carbon-based impurities ("organic" chemicals), as well as things like chlorine. Many other chemicals are not attracted to carbon at all -- sodium, nitrates, etc. -- so they pass right through. This means that an activated charcoal filter will remove certain impurities while ignoring others. It also means that, once all of the bonding sites are filled, an activated charcoal filter stops working. At that point you must replace the filter."

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

The second one was most interesting, proving that ms_sillyak_screwed is right on. They are different and the same!

[mylady4]

I never even thought of this using for acidental glutening, DUH. When I first started having problems about 1 1/2 years ago (before I knew what it was) I went to GNC and told the guy about my gas problems (I had just switched from atkins to BFL) and he sugessted to try activated charcoal and it did work for a while. I am so going to try it again. It makes sence though. They use activated charcoal when people overdose.

It would have been so helpful Friday night. We went to applebees to eat. I know that they do not even try to promote any gluten free foods there and I was eating at my own risk. I ordered asiago chicken and double vegis and the vegis showed up with bread crumbs. Who the *&#9 wants bread crumbs on their brocolli? I could not beleive it. Because I do not want attention drawn to myself and since they do state they are not a gluten free friendly I just scraped the crumbs off. Next time I will know better.

Nicole

[ms-sillyak-screwed]

.... I ordered asiago chicken and double vegis and the vegis showed up with bread crumbs. Who the *&#9 wants bread crumbs on their brocolli? I could not beleive it. Because I do not want attention drawn to myself and since they do state they are not a gluten free friendly I just scraped the crumbs off.

My eyes are BUGGED OUT READING - "SCRAPED THE CRUMBS OFF"

.... oOpS did I say that?

[Guest BERNESES]

I finally tried some when I goy "soyed" and it really did help. But I would be cautious using it because it also absorbs meds, nutrients etc. Thanks so much for letting us know about this!!!!

[David]

Hey All:

I didn