26 replies to this topic

[revenant]

depression, anxiety diagnosed. Aspergers strongly suspected by parents/self since childhood until removing food allergens and some other things in the diet. Looking back on it now, I'm almost positive I had slight aspergers. Also anger problems, suicidal tendencies, paranoia and auditory/visual distortions. Mother is also intolerant to gluten and other foods and I have seen her on and off of the diet (90% of the time she is off of it). She has diagnosed depression, ADHD, OCD, and she very easily could get diagnosed for bipolar if she were to bring it up to a psychiatrist. Important to note that when she stays away from dairy and gluten she is a completely different calm and focused person.

[Adalaide]

I haven't had a healthy relationship with food since I was about 12 or 13. I just try to be aware of that and make healthy choices or change things in the house that will help me. I did struggle with depression a few years ago, but since it was following a miscarriage I'm sure it has nothing to do with anything else. I've dealt with OCD since forever. I showed symptoms from the time I was a toddler, but it doesn't have any serious negative impact on my life.

[IrishHeart]

I'm not too knowledgeable about all this, but I've read in a few places that the gut actually deals with a lot of the body's serotonin. If this is true, then could the damage caused by celiac disease also affect the body's serotonin levels/regulation? More importantly, is this intestinal serotonin the same kind that keeps the brain stable and happy?

In answer to your questions about seratonin? YES! And all the other neurotransmitters and amino acids that are made in the gut that regulate mood.
Also, vitamin and mineral deficiencies that result from malabsorption will affect you neurologically as well.

I had anxiety and depression develop so intensely in me when I was very ill from celiac that I thought I was losing my freakin mind. I had had some depression post- multiple miscarriages many years before, but it had resolved in time. So, it was a nightmare to have all that start up again. I had to stop driving because my brain was so fogged from gluten, my reflexes were shot. I was dizzy and out of it. It caused me to become quiet and fearful. NOT at all my personality.

I had one conversation with a psych doc (upon recommendation by my PCP who gave me xanax but it just made me sick) and I told her, I am NOT an anxious person by nature --something is CAUSING this in me. Please believe me. I feel sick all the time and I am losing weight, blah blah blah.

She asked me if I had any food intolerances (I had no clue back then) and I started researching and I figured it out eventually. I had full blown celiac all along.
I called her recently and told her that celiac causes anxiety and depression and a variety of mental health issues and she thanked me for telling her, citing perhaps some of her anorexia patients were actually gluten intolerant. I said: I think it is worth investigating! I certainly did not mean to lose 90 lbs. like I did and become so skeletal.

Off gluten, all that weirdness disappears. Accidentally glutened? Comes right back with a vengeance.

[domesticactivist]

Have you read the Gut and Pyschology Syndrome book? Over the past year our family has been doing the diet, which is aimed at restoring the gut flora to a healthy balance, getting nutrient dense food, and reducing inflammation & further damage.

As for my mental "health:"
Bipolar including major depressive and manic episodes with suicidal ideation, delusions, and hallucinations. It was worst when I was in my late teens/early twenties. With counseling, reduction in life stress, and reduction in some other food triggers, I was able to live with it and get to the point where I only had hypomanic and depressive episodes with very occasional delusions and hallucinations which I could experience but usually realize (at least in retrospect) were not reality. I have some OCD tendencies and tendencies to get stuck thoughts. Anxiety. ADD as well. Sensory integration issues.

My son had ADHD, anxiety, and extreme dyslexia which all resolved gluten-free & on GAPS and come back when he gets glutened. My daughter, while not celiac, has seen improvement in ADD off gluten.

My symptoms got much better off gluten. They were not 100% better and I did start stuttering which I hadn't done before. Maybe some sort of withdrawal?

When I did my gluten challenge after a year gluten free and 9 months on GAPS, I could handle the physical symptoms (not fun), but within two months my mental health went so far downhill that I had to quit. People here even noticed my moods and brain function had reverted to a moody adolescent state, taking everything personally and defensively.

What you couldn't see was that when I got upset I looked like the Tourette's Karaoke guy when he has an autism flare up. My brain gets stuck on things like "needing to line everything up," I can't communicate, I lose control of my body, I repeat one word (or part of a word) over and over... My sensory issues flared up, and I felt depression coming on as well.

I've been off gluten for 3 days now and already my mind is starting to clear up! It's not completely better, and maybe never will be, but it's clear to me there is a link.

As others mentioned, the research is starting to back us up on this one!

[ChristenDG]

I was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease and I have been gluten-free for one week! I can never remember not being depressed and not fantasising about suicide (including a few attempts). I've been medicated since my early teens. I have severe anxiety and have to take additional medications before going anywhere other than work or the grocery store (which is an improvement!) I was diagnosed Bipolar in 2010, and with ADHD in 2011. I've also always had OCD symptoms (and I've become a clean freak over the past year or so!), paranoia, and severe insomnia. I might also add that Celiacs does not run in my family, but mental health issues do (some of my past family that I never knew were actually hospitalised most of their lives, and some have committed suicide). This is all so interesting...

[dani nero]

Thank you for this post. I have mild ADHD and OCD as well as amenorrhea and a few digestive issues. I didn't know that the OCD could be linked to the intolerance as well.
Anyone know how long it takes exactly for the neurological symptoms to subside?

[UnicornTaco]

It's so weird to think all of my problems are linked..well most are, anyways.
I was diagnosed with celiac yesterday. As far as I can remember I've had terrible mouth ulcers. I've been diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis arthritis, Anxiety disorder, aspergers, ADHD, and now celiac.
I'm also being tested for diabetes and Crohn's.
I was wondering if-at all- how long it will take on a gluten free diet for me to experience less OCD and such? And can anyone provide me with information on how this is connected? On how gluten effects people with celiac in more ways than bowel issues, how it increases anxiety?

[tuxedocat]

My symptoms are *dominantly* neuro/psychiatric. I have to have been on gluten for a while before I start noticing dramatic physical symptoms - otherwise, my physical symptoms tend to be the "nagging minor complaint" variety that tends to make other people think I'm a malingerer.

I was in a psych day program for three weeks when I broke out with a bad, full blown case of DH and finally it started to look like... "oh, this isn't all in my head".

My neuro/psych symptoms are the following:

* A form of dissociation. Feeling spacey or disconnected from my body.
* Feeling emotionless or numb.
* Not being able to string two coherent thoughts together.
* Bad ADHD symptoms.
* Sensory issues
* Feeling like my brain has been wrapped up in a blanket
* feeling confused and like I don't know who I am
* being able to basically sit there in a corner and stare at a wall and drool
* NO energy.
* bad coordination
* seeming like I'm drunk or on drugs
* zero libido. I didn't even figure out what my sexual orientation was for a long time because I was so "delayed" in this department. No feeling of connection to my body

I was dx'd with Asperger's, but then the diagnosis was reversed by a different professional who saw me after I'd been on Atkins for a while. The funny thing is that on Atkins, I felt completely normal.

I dropped out of high school at 15, have often had severe learning issues (sporadically - would do very well sometimes but inexplicably, badly at other times), I had trouble learning to drive and had frequent car accidents, and at 38, it's only now I'm getting control of my life (am a full time college student now, doing well) after a lifetime of failed classes and lost jobs.

When my diet is under control - I feel like a HUMAN BEING and nobody can ever believe that I've been through what I have.

The psych symptoms for me happened long before physical symptoms set in. I had suffered with those most of my life, but only had DH in 07. I now also have Graves Disease and severe periodontitis with bone loss.

[GF Lover]

Hi there. I am bi polar, major depression, ocd, add, anxiety disorder and social phobias. Aslo have many physical and neurological things going on. For most of my life I've had ibs type stuff, reflux stuff, you know, the nasty stuff. When I went gluten free, all of my digestion issues resolved. As of yet, all the others are still with me. I do, however, have plenty of hope that I will keep resolving at least some of the other issues. There are so many disorders that can be effected by celiac. I think it's just a wait and see. In the meantime, I am thrilled about the relief I have received and it makes the other stuff easier to tolerate. Any improvement to ones health is one to be celebrated.

[Lfrost]

I have had all of them thrown at me at one time or another - they told me I was Bipolar for over 23 years.Came to find out I had Celiacs the roundabout way (quite a story really). I went to a wonderful Mayo clinic endocrinologist that diagnosed my Celiacs, I have horrible hypoglycemia and secondary adrenal failure. I never had much gut problem in the way of diareaha or hurling just neurological and behavioral. Later I found out I have Occipital Lobe epilepsy causing complex partial seizures (thus all the freaky stuff) and a enzyme disorder called Hyperhomocysteinemia where I cannot process Folic acid. Luckily I just recently found a wonderful Neuro-Psychiatrist and I think I cried when she told me I had never been Bipolar of Schizophrenic - and not crazy, just sick.

I do really, really well. Been gluten/grain/sugar free now for about 4 years. I take 300 mg Lamictal for seizure and now Deplin for Folate deficiency.

I honestly still harbor a pretty nasty grudge against a lot of modern psychiatry - and I wonder how many folks who are put through the psych wringer actually have Celiacs. Breaks my heart sometimes. I cannot tell you how I have been shamed and treated just monstrously, mostly by doctors who are completely ignorant of Celiacs. If you have a lot of psych/neuro issues you really have to stick to your guns, have courage, and shop around to find a really good doc.

Thanks for letting me share.

Peace!

ElitaSue,
The mention of your epilepsy piqued my interest. My oldest daughter also has Complex Partial Seizures, however they found that her focal points are from the frontal lobe. (Originally they weren't sure where the focal points were since her entire brain was showing 'severe seizure activity' on the EEGs). She was diagnosed when she was 5 years old. Her seizures were mainly nocturnal, or when she was sleep deprived, but her 24 hr. EEGs showed she was having seizure activity up to 7 seconds long while awake throughout the day, but not showing obvious outward signs. At the same time she was also diagnosed on the autistic spectrum (PDD-NOS), OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), ADHD, and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). Interestingly, when her seizures were finally controlled, a lot of her other behaviors improved or went away (probably since the frontal lobe has a lot to do with behaviors). She has not had a seizure in years and she is no longer medicated. She still suffers from pretty high anxiety, some OCD (especially germs), and is a bit socially awkward. Oh, and she is always VERY gassy (the child farts everywhere, all the time, and does not care who is around)! We have even tried giving her Beano, but it does not help.

I have never had any idea where her seizure activity came from, we have no family history, etc. and MRIs showed nothing wrong. We do, however, have family history of bowel issues. My mother has ulcerative colitis and hypothyroidism. We have a family history of severe and chronic canker sores (I personally have 'ulcerated to the bone' on my gums) going back MANY generations. My son was just tested through partial bloodwork for Celiac due to vomiting and constipation, but since we found he has allergies to wheat and other foods we have just gone gluten-free with him. My doctor just sent my bloodwork off to test for Celiac, anemia, hypothyroidism, etc. All of my children (and myself) suffer from eczema, but my daughter also gets other skin issues. She currently has pityriasis rosea that she has had for a year now (although we are down to just one patch left). I could go on and on.

So my questions for you...Do you think the epilepsy could have been caused by gluten/Celiac? Should I insist on her being tested? Is your epilepsy currently controlled? Did the diet help? I want my daughter to try the gluten-free diet, but she is the most resistant to it. She is currently 15 and can be very difficult! I want to find ways to convince her to give it a try, but if it is not 'her idea', she would go out of her way to NOT eat gluten-free.

[robertwilburn35]

sometimes I think gluten causes the problem of mental illness and sometimes I think my symptoms caused my mental illness. now anytime I go someplace there is food I get anxious so now i wonder if worrying about the gluten causes my anxiety. then other times my anxiety causes me to be anxious. I know it sounds funny but thats the way I feel at least right now , I think

[BarBlume]

I've been diagnosed with Bipolar, Depression, anxiety disorders, ocd, adhd, and tourettes. I'm sure there are more, but they've all been overlapping for so many years I can't be sure what I truly "am". I just recently gone gluten-free. I didn't take any of the tests and I don't intend on doing so at this time. I am strongly urging my adult children to be tested. They have depression, ocd, nervous disorders, and tourettes.