41 replies to this topic

[cherries]

I have had depression since I was about 15, Stomach problems since I was 13, and anxiety since about 15.

 

My family thought my stomach problems were in my head so I stopped complaining about them. With in a week of going gluten free all of those symptoms were gone. My mom even said that if she would have even thought that all of this was because of something in food she would have acted sooner.

[JesikaBeth]

Yes I have. I am DX with Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, Generalized Anxiety, and OCD.

[cristiana]

It was the anxiety which took me to the doctor.  I have never felt so ill in my life, it came from nowhere and was so alien to me I didn't know what it was at first!  I had this incredibly, heavy feeling, on my shoulders - really odd.  Just for a few hours a day.  Then it started to take over the day.  My doctor tested my blood - raised immunoglobulins and iron anemia.  But she was mystified.  It wasn't until six months later that the gastro symptoms started.  Repeat blood test.  Same elevated globulins.   Then the celiac test came through positive  Confirmed by endoscopy.   Now I am gluten-free that anxiety has gone, I know it was caused by celiac, without a doubt, and blood is back to normal, I am thankful to say.  Although now I feel like I am on board a boat most of the time - a new symptom -    I am hoping that will get better in time.  This is such a strange disease.

[moosemalibu]

I definitely have struggled with ED (never diagnosed -doing good now) and also I've had insane mood swings since I've been eating gluten for my gluten challenge. I'm not normally all over the place and angry, losing patience easily, and crying at the drop of a hat.It's making me feel crazy!

[Curious9]

Hello,

I have not been diagnosed with celiac disease. I will be tested in December. I am fairly certain I have some form of gluten intolerance as I experienced a huge improvement in GI symptoms while removing gluten from my diet for two weeks.

Since late childhood/adolescence I have suffered from depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic attacks, severe anorexia with OCD (1.5 years in recovery), and an annoying sensation of not being real, feeling detached from my self/life. I have been hospitalized several times because of the anorexia.

It is impossible to talk to my family about my physical symptoms because they automatically say it's in my head. I find this rather hurtful. I have never been drama queen when it comes to pain/suffering. It's as though they think the two are mutually exclusive. I cannot be physically ill because I have suffered from mental illness. I also find it rather silly as my head is a part of my body. Seems logical to me to think that problems in one's head could be caused by problems elsewhere in the body. 

[bartfull]

My 04 Years old son has been very recently diagnosed with Celiac disease.  For the last 06 days, he is on a Gluten Free diet & we are convinced to continue with it, for the rest of his life.

 

Some of the symptoms related to neurological disorders are:

1. Speech Disorder – Around 06  months back, he use to speak Rhymes & alphabets. Now it appears, he has forgotten everything. He is speaking only to an extent which is required. For example, he may speak few sentences that too, only if required , but he is not able to respond properly as may be the case for a 04 Year old kid.
2. Attentiveness – For the past 06 months, he is unable to concentrate on activities like colouring and sometimes doesn’t respond to our calls.
3. He prefers to stay alone rather than mixing with other kids.

Can anyone share their experiences as to whether these symptoms are related to Celiac.

I think your post is going to get lost in this thread. You should go to the "parents of children with celiac" section and start a brand new thread. That way everyone with kids who have similar problems will see it.

 

For what it's worth, I think it's possible that gluten has at least made these symptoms worse, but you'll get better answers from folks with kids.

 

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

[GF Lover]

I have started a new topic for celiacinfo02.  It can be found here:  http://www.celiac.co...gical-symptoms/

 

Colleen

[ceceliac]

i used to have horrible panic attacks, i thought i was crazy or that i had schizophrenia!! it was horrible, i couldnt convince myself that everything was ok, i spent 3 months feeling strange creature wanted to hunt me, i knew i had a problem but i couldnt do anything.

panic attacks come back when i get glutened! thats one of my worse symptoms and never thought it was caused by gluten until now

[askalice]

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?

So, for anyone who has been diagnosed with celiac disease or suspects having it: have you struggled with depression or anxiety in the past? Maybe obsessive-compulsive disorder or even an eating disorder? Or any aspies out there?

...I have an appointment with a gastroenterologist next week to figure out the source of severe gas cramping, and I was thinking that maybe I could pin down some chemical cause of my struggle with anorexia nervosa and obsessive behaviors, too.

The guy who wrote this book won a Nobel prize in science, it's called "The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understanding of Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine" by Michael Gershon. It explains how the gut has nerve synapses just like the brain. It actually has more than the brain. The GI tract operates independently of the brain which is why people with spinal cord injuries still have digestion operating. It explains why when you take a medication for brain disorders the gut show a similar response. An example would be the way most people become constipated after taking codeine. It stops pain and stops or slows digestion in the same way. It's a fascinating book but it gets into some very technical explanations that many would find boring.

[cherries]

Depression, Anxiety, Mood swings.

[lihaoqing]

i have gone to pyschiatric ward for some time too because they thought i was crazy. but it's actually gluten and other food sensitivity triggered problem

 

i don't want to talk or share what i have been going through because it's much more severe than anything people would put their mind onto. it's very true that gluten could turn people into all kinds of craziness, and there is no fun with it. there is always deteriorating or severe damaging to your body functions accompanying those pyschological disorder. 

 

gluten changes people. pretty sure there is someone out there in the prison or mental facilities shares what i been through, whether they know it or not.  and pretty sure too there is people who died prematurely because of the food sensitive, whether chronic illness or suicide. 

 

currently i havn't found anyone who could make me see myself, but sure there will be someone who could understand what i am saying.

 

there is nothing to talk about, yet there is too much things to talk. 

[ch88]

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.

If you still reading this forum. People with asperger's syndrome, or high functioning autism have intense and narrow interests (like they may be totally and completely interested in frogs). DId you have narrow interests? I used to have all of the symptoms of high functioning autism, but they completely went away after I went gluten free.  I am seeing of your experinece is the same as mine.