Help! Depression, Drained, Fatigue/ Brain Fog/ No Concentration And Irritable

[Golden Girl]

I am very disgusted with Dr.s I need help I am on a Medical leave from work due to depression/bloating/brain fog/irritability/no concentration/drained with fatigue. I could sleep all day don't want to get out of bed. I tried to get my Dr. to diagnose Candida but he said my blood work would show this my iron level was 47 under range 59 - 158 - B12 1263 range 211 - 946. I try to avoid sugar. Can't eat fruit/dairy/soy I have had a couple of accidents with cross contamination of gluten. I have been gluten free since June 2009. I use coconut oil, I have quit taking Prilosec and started using Betaine Hydrochloric Acid with Pepsin for low stomach acid to see if this helps it has only been a week though.

Karla

[Skylark]

Hmmm.... Some ideas.

High B12 can make you feel ill and yours is VERY high. I assume you have stopped supplementing?

What is your Dr. doing to address the low iron? It can be given IV.

Usually with sytemic candida you'll have thrush or recurring vaginal yeast. Coconut oil is great, but for me it takes a probiotic as well to get candida under control. I also like Zand Candida Quick Cleanse. Threelac is controversial but I find it helpful, as long as you can tolerate the trace casein in it. You'll also want a basic acidophilus probiotic if you can find one without gluten/dairy/soy.

Have you had a thyroid workup and was your TSH below 3.0?

Acupuncture helped me a lot with depression this winter. I'm also taking ginseng which has helped me have a little more energy in the mornings.

[dilettantesteph]

Is it possible that you have gotten sensitive to lower levels of gluten? Maybe your gluten free diet is no longer gluten free enough. I don't know what you eat. It would be a simple thing to try a diet of produce and meat for a few days to a week to see if you notice any change.

That is, of course, only one possibility, but it is the one that worked for me.

[Golden Girl]

Thank you for all your replies. My TSHR was 0.27 the range listed is 0.50 - 6.00 they stated it was low but not concerned told me get an iron supplement and will recheck in 4 months. I stopped taking B12 since that was high. Where can you buy the candida cleanse? Thanks again for all your help!

[Skylark]

I found the Zand stuff at a local Vitamin Shoppe. I'm sure you can find it online as well. Open Original Shared Link It does contain a little oat seed fiber, which may have trace gluten so pay attention to how you feel if you take it. I tolerate it fine but it might not be OK for someone who is super-sensitive.

Looks like your thyroid is OK, as long as you don't have symptoms of hyperthyroidism. Your heart doesn't race when you first wake up, does it?

I'm having brain fog myself and exploring additional food sensitivities. Dairy makes me tired and I'm on a food chemical elimination diet at the moment that knocks out amines and salicylates. Don't know if it's going to help.

I also forgot to mention I'm finding red Korean ginseng mildly helpful. You only want to take it in the morning. I got that at Vitamin Shoppe too.

[GottaSki]

Good Morning-

You sound very, very similar to me. All the items you mentioned along with pain in joints/muscles was me until I did a very strict elimination diet last August. I removed all grains, legumes, nightshades, dairy and citrus. Started with three days of green (vegie/fruit) smoothies and was out of bed by the third day and have improved since. I still have some rotten days while trialing foods or when I ingest one of my food intolerances.

In July of last year every one of my vitamin and mineral blood tests were extremely low normal or below normal. In October my blood tests were high normal. I had never had a B12 above 200 in my life and it is now 796! Same deal for iron, D, etc.

Have your docs run B6, B12, D, K, iron, copper, ferritin and zinc? I would guess they are all low indicating you are not absorbing enough nutrients due to leaky gut caused by gluten damage.

Good Luck...I know first hand how bad you feel and I wish you much improved days

[Golden Girl]

I found the Zand stuff at a local Vitamin Shoppe. I'm sure you can find it online as well. Open Original Shared Link It does contain a little oat seed fiber, which may have trace gluten so pay attention to how you feel if you take it. I tolerate it fine but it might not be OK for someone who is super-sensitive.

Looks like your thyroid is OK, as long as you don't have symptoms of hyperthyroidism. Your heart doesn't race when you first wake up, does it?

I'm having brain fog myself and exploring additional food sensitivities. Dairy makes me tired and I'm on a food chemical elimination diet at the moment that knocks out amines and salicylates. Don't know if it's going to help.

I also forgot to mention I'm finding red Korean ginseng mildly helpful. You only want to take it in the morning. I got that at Vitamin Shoppe too.

What do you eat for a food chemical elimination diet? My heart doesn't race when I wake up. I will pick up the cleanse and the ginseng asap , I am very anxious to try them. I have been using unsweetened coconut milk and coconut spread, dairy bothers me.

[Skylark]

Lisa, how did you choose your foods? How did you tell what you're intolerant to? I'd do anything to be rid of this fog and mental trouble. GAPS was giving me migraines so I'm doing RPAH Failsafe at the moment. Fruit and veggies you would put in smoothies are totally off the list. (I doubt you made green bean, pear, and cabbage smoothies!) Failsafe relies heavily on grains and legumes, fresh meat, and has a very restricted list of vegetables.

I don't want to hijack Golden Girl's thread but it sounds like we're coping with a lot of the same issues. I don't have the bloating or GI issues but I'm dizzy and tired all the time and I can't concentrate or remember things.

[Golden Girl]

Lisa, how did you choose your foods? How did you tell what you're intolerant to? I'd do anything to be rid of this fog and mental trouble. GAPS was giving me migraines so I'm doing RPAH Failsafe at the moment. Fruit and veggies you would put in smoothies are totally off the list. (I doubt you made green bean, pear, and cabbage smoothies!) Failsafe relies heavily on grains and legumes, fresh meat, and has a very restricted list of vegetables.

I don't want to hijack Golden Girl's thread but it sounds like we're coping with a lot of the same issues. I don't have the bloating or GI issues but I'm dizzy and tired all the time and I can't concentrate or remember things.

Hey it is OK to hijack my thread hopefully we can get this under control together.

[GottaSki]

Hey it is OK to hijack my thread hopefully we can get this under control together.

I can send you my food log that I started on August 10...it has a bunch of info about what I did and where to find more helpful info.

PM me your email if you'd like me to email the file to you.

PS>>>some of my smoothies were indeed very close to green bean, pear and cabbage...but I removed green beans too so more like spinach, pear, blueberry and kale

PSS>>>>I have not eliminated chemicals and hormones in food yet...except where costs are low...feeding a family with teenaged boys is just not possible for us until I am back to work full time. Good news is I know my health improved while buying the cheapest possible fresh meat in bulk -- so when we can afford better meat we will be buying it, but seems the hormones and chemicals were not as big of an issue as I once thought they might be as part of my health puzzle.

-Lisa

[Skylark]

PM sent. I'm really curious to see what you did. On the bright side, I only feel 50% crummy today and I'm 5 days into Failsafe. I did figure out my celiac with elimination but then I had clear GI problems to guide me. Problem foods gave me a stomachache within hours. Now that my stomach is happy off gluten and the only signals are delayed fog and fatigue it's horribly difficult to tell what's going on.

[GottaSki]

After three days of green smothies I continued to detox on meat, vegies and fruit for a couple weeks then trialed each of the remmoved foods individually without adding any back during challenges.

I was amazed with all the crazy and diverse reactions to the different foods - it is not easy - but the gains outweigh the hardships - except when I have a fit because I need a salty crunchy snack

[cavernio]

Thank you for all your replies. My TSHR was 0.27 the range listed is 0.50 - 6.00 they stated it was low but not concerned told me get an iron supplement and will recheck in 4 months.

...

The doctor's mad to NOT be concerned about your thyroid being outside the range. Like seriously...why do they have a range if they don't even pay attention to it? It's not even borderline, it's definitely low. Thyroid problems and celiac disease go hand in hand. I wouldn't be clamouring for all these detox things just yet, not until you get your iron up and your thyroid looked after. These are 2 very accepted, good, 'makes sense' reasons why you feel the way you do, both iron and thyroid problems explain it.

However, yes, even just low iron can explain ALL the symptoms you've listed. Still no excuse to ignore your thyroid, but I at least see where they're coming from...especially since treatment for thyroid problems isn't simple...it's possible your thyroid will be better if you get more iron. Just because most people with low iron don't seem debilitated, it doesn't mean that you must have something else wrong with you. (well, you do, your thyroid's out of whack, but that's besides the point)Iron's as necessary for your survival as water, it just doesn't have to get replenished nearly as often.

Open Original Shared Link has a lot of info about thyroid disorders that doctors don't care to share/didn't bother to learn. There's a list of articles at the bottom all pertaining to the topic, some will be more pertinent to you than others.

As for your iron, make sure you supplement with enough. Most iron that I see on store shelves is hopelessly low for what's actually a therapeutic dose. Doctors, when they prescribe iron, tell you to be taking 300mg (or is it ug? Whichever one makes sense) minimum of ferrous sulfate/day, often twice or three times a day. (My friend the doctor tells me) Only a portion of each pill is actually digested.

Personally, I can't even find ferrous sulfate on drugstore shelves though. I take iron chelate, which, as far as I can tell, seems to be absorbed more readily than ferrous sulfate, so I take much less of it. (Also I'm only borderline low iron, and at least these days, I feel much better than you currently do.)

Actually, I'm a little confused about the tshr...how do they measure the receptors? did you get a biopsy or something? did you mean to put tsh? or maybe TRAb's?

[Skylark]

Actually, I'm a little confused about the tshr...how do they measure the receptors? did you get a biopsy or something? did you mean to put tsh? or maybe TRAb's?

It's gotta be TSH. 0.5-6.0 is the standard old reference range. Slightly low TSH may or may not be a problem. Usually Graves' will suppress it to more like 0.1 but Golden Girl does need to be aware of the signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism and probably does need TSHR. Early AM pulse is a decent indicator.

[Sara S.]

Skylark and Golden Girl, have either of you figured out what was causing the brain fog, lack of concentration, fatigue, and mood disturbances?

I've been gluten free for 10 months, since my diagnosis, and while my IBS-style symptoms have improved dramatically, I am still suffering from brain fog, difficulty concentrating, general fatigue, and irritability. My inability to concentrate is interfering with my ability to do my job at work. I just met with my gastroenterologist who wants to do a colonoscopy to check for lymphocytic colitis, and I'm going to meet with an allergist next week to see if there are any other food intolerances I'm missing. I did an elimination diet for a few months, but didn't notice any non-gluten food intolerances when I added foods back in one at a time, but I was pretty focused on the glutening symptoms, so maybe I just missed it.

I'd love to hear if anyone with these issues has figured it out.

[frieze]

I am very disgusted with Dr.s I need help I am on a Medical leave from work due to depression/bloating/brain fog/irritability/no concentration/drained with fatigue. I could sleep all day don't want to get out of bed. I tried to get my Dr. to diagnose Candida but he said my blood work would show this my iron level was 47 under range 59 - 158 - B12 1263 range 211 - 946. I try to avoid sugar. Can't eat fruit/dairy/soy I have had a couple of accidents with cross contamination of gluten. I have been gluten free since June 2009. I use coconut oil, I have quit taking Prilosec and started using Betaine Hydrochloric Acid with Pepsin for low stomach acid to see if this helps it has only been a week though.

Karla

was that B12 run when you were actively (daily) supplementing? need to stop sup. at least 5 days to get accurate level...and yours isn't reallt high, what happens sometimes is that the ratio is off....have your folate checked. also, it could be that you arent methylating properly, so perhaps searching out methylated B vitamins would be fruitfull

[Skylark]

Nope, still sick dammit. This has been going on for two years. I'm sitting here today with my head swimming, subtle visual disturbances, mild vertigo, and a feeling of pressure around my head. I'm trying to decide if it's a low-level migraine or what?

I think for me it's partly a consequence of my Hashimoto's autoimmunity becasue the fog got really bad when my antibody titer was very high, >400 (don't remember the exact number). It also seems to be migraine-related as I'm getting them a LOT. Migrelief seems to be helping, low-amine helps a little, dairy-free helps, ginseng helps a little with fatigue, but I'm still dazed, fogged, and apathetic. I've been sick so long I'm forgetting what normal feels like.

I've tried GAPS and Failsafe with no relief. GAPS is somewhat worse because it's so high in tyramine and natural MSG. Failsafe gave me a lot of inflammation from too many grains and I'm wondering about lectins. I need a good naturopath but I live in a town of cortisol-prescribing, adrenal-fatigue pushing scary naturopaths.

[mamajchis]

Skylark and Golden Girl, have either of you figured out what was causing the brain fog, lack of concentration, fatigue, and mood disturbances?

I've been gluten free for 10 months, since my diagnosis, and while my IBS-style symptoms have improved dramatically, I am still suffering from brain fog, difficulty concentrating, general fatigue, and irritability. My inability to concentrate is interfering with my ability to do my job at work. I just met with my gastroenterologist who wants to do a colonoscopy to check for lymphocytic colitis, and I'm going to meet with an allergist next week to see if there are any other food intolerances I'm missing. I did an elimination diet for a few months, but didn't notice any non-gluten food intolerances when I added foods back in one at a time, but I was pretty focused on the glutening symptoms, so maybe I just missed it.

I'd love to hear if anyone with these issues has figured it out.

Sara I had the brain fog, confusion, etc with the celiac but when I went off wheat, that was one of the main things that improved great, even the next day. Do not know why they would start after quitting gluten.

Gluten free since March 19 2012

[Bubba's Mom]

Nope, still sick dammit. This has been going on for two years. I'm sitting here today with my head swimming, subtle visual disturbances, mild vertigo, and a feeling of pressure around my head. I'm trying to decide if it's a low-level migraine or what?

I think for me it's partly a consequence of my Hashimoto's autoimmunity becasue the fog got really bad when my antibody titer was very high, >400 (don't remember the exact number). It also seems to be migraine-related as I'm getting them a LOT. Migrelief seems to be helping, low-amine helps a little, dairy-free helps, ginseng helps a little with fatigue, but I'm still dazed, fogged, and apathetic. I've been sick so long I'm forgetting what normal feels like.

I've tried GAPS and Failsafe with no relief. GAPS is somewhat worse because it's so high in tyramine and natural MSG. Failsafe gave me a lot of inflammation from too many grains and I'm wondering about lectins. I need a good naturopath but I live in a town of cortisol-prescribing, adrenal-fatigue pushing scary naturopaths.

I hear ya! I've tried numerous restrictions with no relief.

I'm still having an off-balace feeling, sometimes ear pain/fullness and brain fog. Can't figure out how to get rid of it either. If it helps you feel better about not going to Dr.s and getting put on steroids, etc..I was put on them and they don't help one bit! They're making me hungry..but figuring out what to eat is a trick!

I know I'm gluten-free. I still wonder about SIBO, yeast, things like that. I dunno?

[Skylark]

I've found an Aussie naturopath in town who looks to be competent. I may raid my savings and pay for visits and testing. Unfortunately my HMO will not cover it and I don't have flex spending so the cost is going to be painful.

[inspired421]

Skylark & Golden Girl,

Thank you for haring your symptoms. I feel for you---literally. I have very similar symptoms.

I'm new here, sensitive to many foods. I signed up because I am encouraged by so many supportive posts.

I'm not looking forward to eliminating more foods, but maybe that's what will be required to improve mood, brain fog, and focus.

[Skylark]

I hate hearing other people are suffering with this but at the same time it's a little comforting to not be alone. Let us know if you find something that works!

[Sara S.]

I'm sorry to read that so many of you are having the same problems. At least we know that we're not alone, and maybe we can compile a list of avenues to try, based on our collective experiences.

I saw an allergist today (and the allergist has been talking with my gastroenterologist to try to figure out what's going wrong with me). They think most likely the lingering brain fog and fatigue stems from under-treated asthma. I have an albuterol inhaler but I don't always take it. They want me to take fluticasone proprionate (a corticosteroid) inhaler and nose spray regularly for a few months to reduce inflammation in the lungs and sinuses and see if that helps clear things up. Maybe I have some self-perpetuating inflammation that I just need to clear up.

Here's my list of things I've tried, am currently trying, or will try in the future if the current things don't pan out.

Some other things that I've tried and ruled out:

• blood sugar regulation problems/hypoglycemia/pre-diabetes
  
• hypothyroid/hashimoto's thyroiditis
  
• other (true) food allergies (I could still have food intolerances, but nothing they can test for)
  
• nutrient deficiencies/anemia (except I haven't had B vitamins tested)
  
• cortisol regulation issues/adrenal fatigue
  
• trace gluten still in my diet
  

Things I'm currently testing:

• under-treated asthma
  
• estrodiol/progesterone ratio (I have a home test kit for hormone levels
  
• insufficient vitamin D (I'm supplementing and expect to reach good blood levels in a couple more months)
  

Things I haven't (yet) tested:

• B vitamin deficiencies
  
• Other infections (e.g. SIBO, parasites, etc)
  
• Fructose malabsorption and other gut irritants
  

I'll report back if anything pans out, but hopefully this list helps give others ideas for avenues to explore.

Good luck!

Edit: for formatting

[Bubba's Mom]

I hear ya! I've tried numerous restrictions with no relief.

I'm still having an off-balace feeling, sometimes ear pain/fullness and brain fog. Can't figure out how to get rid of it either. If it helps you feel better about not going to Dr.s and getting put on steroids, etc..I was put on them and they don't help one bit! They're making me hungry..but figuring out what to eat is a trick!

I know I'm gluten-free. I still wonder about SIBO, yeast, things like that. I dunno?

I have been suffering from the balance issues/brain fog/inabilty to concentrate/short term memory loss since a cleaning spree on March 20. I know I didn't eat any gluten, but I think I inhaled it while cleaning the cabinet that I used to store my flour in? I could see a fine layer of white dust in there.

I was glutened with cc from deli lunch meat in Jan. and the neurological effects lasted about 6 weeks, so hopefully it will go away soon?

I had started eating sunflower seeds every day so I could gain some weight. I had a really odd thing happen. I was eating the seeds in the car on the way to an appointment for a mammogram. When I got there and was changing into a gown I saw my chest, back, and arms were absolutely covered in a very red rash. By the time I was done with the test and went to get dressed it was completely gone. I decided to skip the seeds for a while, since I thought they might be the cause? My ear ache/fullness went away.

I've never had a reaction to anything with symptoms like that before.

Just thought I'd mention it. I never would have guessed it was sunflower seeds causing the ear problems. The ataxia, etc. continues though.

Sooo...food intolerances can cause ear issues.