9 replies to this topic

[Janadean]

Hi. My daughter (4) and myself are both diagonised with Celiac. Today, she was also diagnoised with having vitiligo. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks and kills the pigment cells leading to discoloration of the sign. Does anyone know if these two items are connected?

I feel at a lose. She was diagnoised Celiac earlier this year and now this? Her body is completly attacking her and it seems that there is nothing I can do to stop it. Neither one of this deiseases have a treatment available. Celiac is diet and nothing can be done to stop the vitiligo. There are steriod creams to bring back the color but that is not going to stop the body from attacking itself?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am really scared that this will lead to soemthing far worse!!! SOMEONE PLEASE, I NEED SOME GOOD ADIVCE!!!! Thank you. Janadean

[LKelly8]

My mother has both celiac and vitiligo. I have celiac and rheumatoid arthritis. If you have one autoimmune disease you are at a greater risk (than the general public) of developing another.

Celiac is a special case amoung the autoimmune disorders though - we know the trigger, the "irritant" that causes the immune dysfunction.

Being gluten-free won't cure her vitiligo but by removing the gluten trigger from her diet you can greatly lessen the chance of future immune system troubles.

[mouse]

Yes, there is a connection. There are several of us on here with Celiac and Vitiligo. My Vitiligo has not gotten much worse since I went gluten-free 2 1/2 years ago. As far as other auto-immune diseases, I would not be too concerned as she has her young age working for her. By being totally gluten free with no cross contamination you are helping her to have a much healthier and happier future. When I say I would not be too concerned, I mean do not put blinders on, but enjoy her life as she has gotten diagnosed so young in life that being gluten-free will help prevent some (if not most) of the other auto-immune diseases.

[2kids4me]

I second what LKelly8 said. Our family seems to have more than our share of autoimmune illness, we were told that by finding the celiac, chances went down of even more problems developing. The celiac was diagnosed last - their poor systems were on high alert (immune wise) for years with undiagnosed celiac...that may have been the trigger for the other stuff.
I know its scary - and I know exactly what you mean when you say 'What next!!"

My kids have been healthier and have had no new immune mediated diseases since they went gluten-free. Their body can heal and function properly - reducing the risk. It took me a while to relax.......

I am so glad for you that they diagnosed the celiac early. there is no cure for any of the autoimmune diseases, but lots you can do........ learn all you can about gluten-free diet. It's overwhelming at first and then to have second issue arise - it can seem almost too much. It will get better... lots of really smart people here PLUS the bonus is - someone , somewhere on the baord will know exactly what you mean

[Cazzy]

I second what LKelly8 said. Our family seems to have more than our share of autoimmune illness, we were told that by finding the celiac, chances went down of even more problems developing. The celiac was diagnosed last - their poor systems were on high alert (immune wise) for years with undiagnosed celiac...that may have been the trigger for the other stuff.
I know its scary - and I know exactly what you mean when you say 'What next!!"

My kids have been healthier and have had no new immune mediated diseases since they went gluten-free. Their body can heal and function properly - reducing the risk. It took me a while to relax.......

I am so glad for you that they diagnosed the celiac early. there is no cure for any of the autoimmune diseases, but lots you can do........ learn all you can about gluten-free diet. It's overwhelming at first and then to have second issue arise - it can seem almost too much. It will get better... lots of really smart people here PLUS the bonus is - someone , somewhere on the baord will know exactly what you mean

This is my first post...so Hi everyone!!

I have been a Celiac for 14yrs, and having stuck to the diet, I have not yet developed any other auto-immune diseases. However, I have recently noticed about 20 small (about 2-3 mm) splashes of unpigmented skin on my forearm, since this summer's tan.
I asked my doctor if this could be Vitiligo, but she said "No, nothing to worry about just skin changing with age". I'm not so sure. How did yours start?

[Nancym]

I know that some autoimmune diseases respond positively to gluten free diets, for instance quite a few people get a remission of Hashimoto's if they catch it and treat it with gluten-free diet, and the longer you have undiagnosed gluten sensitivity, the higher your risk of autoimmune diseases. So, I don't know if it is possible or not, but perhaps getting your daughter's diet squared away will slow down the vit.

I went undiagnosed for more than 40 years and have at least 2 autoimmune diseases.

[2kids4me]

Info on vitiligo

http://www.nvfi.org/...igoBasics.shtml

WHAT IS VITILIGO?
Patients with Vitiligo develop white spots in the skin that vary in size and location. The spots occur when pigment cells, or melanocytes, are destroyed and the pigment melanin can no longer be produced. Melanocytes normally occur throughout the skin, and in the hair follicles, mouth, eyes, and some parts of the central nervous system. In Vitiligo, pigment cells can be lost in any of these areas. Common sites of pigment loss are:


• Exposed areas: hands, face, upper part of the chest
• Around body openings: eyes, nostrils, mouth, nipples, umbilicus, •genitalia
• Body folds: arm pits, groin
• Sites of injury: cuts, scrapes, burns
• Hair: early graying of hair of the scalp, beard or other areas
• Area immediately surrounding pigmented moles
• Choroid of the eye

[annacsmom]

Hi I was just going through old posts on this site and came across yours. I learn alot this way. Anyway, my 18 yr old daughter was diagnosed with celiac three weeks before going away to college last month. Talk about a crash course in celiac! Anyway, I totally know what you are going through, but may I be bold enough to say that you are very fortunate in learning about the celiac/vitiligo connection with your young daughter. My daughter got vitiligo quite young - it began showing up right around 4 yrs. old. We knew it was autoimmune but that's about it. It got progressively larger (mostly on both knees, both elbows and both eyelids) until about middle school. In the meantime, she started developing incredible fatique, and a myriad of other symptoms. After about 3-4 yrs of undue suffering she was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism. But even natural thryroid supplementation has never really relieved her symptoms. A remarkable thing occurred with the vitiligo at this time -- it actually started reversing itself. It's almost as if her antibodies decided to start attacking her thyroid and leave her skin alone. Believe me, at the tender stage of puberty, this was a huge blessing, even though her health was steadily declining. Now, after six more years of suffering through middle and high school, we finally figured out it was celiac, after many different specialists not admitting that her symptoms were even real. I know that it is rare that vitiligo reverses itself, but looking back, I wish I had known about the gluten connection all along. I now believe my daughter has had celiac her whole life and that gluten has been poisoning her all this time. Her poor immune system. The best thing you can do is make sure gluten is totally eliminated in your daughter's life -- this will hopefully give her immune system a break, and maybe help the vitiligo calm down. But certainly have hope -- she is quite young and you've caught it pretty quickly by today's standards. Hope this helps.
By the way, all my daughter's remnants of vitligo are pretty much gone, although there is still a small white shadow in the corner of her mouth. I always am afraid that it will come back.

[nikki-uk]

My son has vitiligo.
He has also recently just has a positive blood for celiac disease.

I can't really remember when it started-it just sort of crept up on him.

I've noticed that it seems to wax and wane.An area that had no pigmentation last year now looks normal-but he has lots of new areas elsewhere

He has his biopsy for celiac disease next week, and I'm wondering if his vitiligo will lessen any once on the G.F diet

[georgie]

I was dx with Hashimotos Thyroid in May of this year. Next visit received news of a low B12 and poss Pernicious Anaemia. And gluten intolerence. Then noticed a patch of Vitiligo. Then a patch of Psorasis. I am taking natural Armour for the Thyroid and my Goitre is shrinking and Thyroid Antibodies reducing - so hope the Vitiligo doesn't get bigger.