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I Immediately Think Every Symptom Is Caused From Gluten...

Happyw5

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Happyw5 Explorer
Happyw5
Posted

I have been gluten free for about two years, and it has made a dramatic change in my life. (I won't get into all the symptoms and issues I had) I have five kids and they each have there own set of issues and I believe that most of their symptoms stem from gluten intolerance as well. I also have brothers and sisters that I believe have issues. I was never diagnosed celiac, so I think that is why I never completely take my kids off gluten. Our home is gluten free, but they eat lunches at school and so on. Does anyone else feel like they jump to gluten being the cause of symptoms?

My son came home from basketball practice tonight (12yrs) and said he could hardly run, because his body and head hurt so bad. He has many stomach issues that come and go and is sent home from school often for headaches. He does have many other unrelated issues, like a kp rash on his arms and face (but maybe they are all related) Dr's don't seem to worry, because he is overall a healthy child! My other son won't eat for days at a time because he feels like something is stuck in his throat (had throat study done and came back fine) My girls all have different issues as well.

Just thought I would see if anyone else has become obsessed with gluten symptoms?

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nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

I don't think I became obsessed... I saw the symptoms more often in people but I could be right. Right?

I saw GI symptoms in 2/3 of my kids. I made them gluten-free and those symptoms have largely improved. I think the only way to know if your kids are celiac is to test them, and likewise the only way to know if they are non-celiac gluten interant is to follow the gluten-free diet strictly. Perhaps give it a try and you'll be able to stop wondering. :)

Best wishes to you and your five.

Cara in Boston Enthusiast
Cara in Boston
Posted

I have one son with celiac and one without. My celiac son complained for a YEAR of not feeling well (fatigue, joint pain, etc.) and I assumed it was from gluten - somewhere in our gluten-free house. We restricted his diet even more (no processed foods that were not specifically gluten-free), no eating out, etc. etc. I was at the point were I was going to hire someone to come in to my kitchen and find the elusive gluten. Turns out he had lyme disease. Now I know better than to just assume it is the gluten.

My poor older son, I am constantly asking about his bathroom habits. He still gets tested every two years, but sometimes I feel we need to go in sooner. Mood swings, headaches, fatigue, etc. All PERFECTLY NORMAL for a 10 year old . . . but I still wonder.

Cara

roomorganizing Rookie
roomorganizing
Posted

I totally understand how you could relate every symptom to gluten! After reading hundreds of posts and stories on this forum as well as dozens and dozens of medical articles, I have come to understand that celiac disease can be the ROOT of so many other conditions and symptoms. And it can be so frustrating when most doctors want to treat superficially and only what they see on the surface. We were fortunate with our oldest son -- our primary care physician was in the early stages of TRULY learning about celiac when I took our 16-yr-old for his physical. He was 5'3", in the 10th percentile of his peers, was not growing, had delayed puberty, but no other symptoms (that we recognized at the time). My concern was the short stature (pituitary? thyroid? just the card he was dealt?). Our doc wanted to run blood work, but emphasized that he was ordering a celiac panel. Tests showed tTg of 70 (<20 negative), so endoscopy was ordered. The GI doc said visually everything looked normal -- but the biopsies came back positive. We immediately went gluten-free with him and he grew over 7 inches in less than two years!

In the last two weeks, our daughter has presented with itchy blisters on her legs that broke open, got progressively larger and more angry looking, and now look like open sores. Of course, our new doc (we moved last summer), says it may be impetigo. I insisted that she be tested for DH, but he wanted to give it a week of treatment and go from there. I said I didn't want to wait a week. So we are moving ahead with the antibiotics in case they are infected, and I take her back in in a few days for the skin biopsy. Personally, with our family history, I prefer to rule out celiac before we run the gamut of every other condition it COULD BE! He was not as convinced, obviously, but reluctantly agreed to what I wanted.

That's a long story just to say "go with your gut!" Even with just a little bit of research on celiac disease, it's hard to not to see every symptom as related. I share your obsession Happy!

Happyw5 Explorer
Happyw5
Posted
  • Author

I am taking my oldest son to his dr tomorrow. I am going to have them run a cbc and a celliac panel. He comes home constantly with headaches and bellyaches. He is constantly in the bathroom, and says its normal bm, but i no it's not... He also has had little bumps on his arms and face for the longest time. It may be nothing but I need to know!!!

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    • cristiana
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      By cristiana · Posted

      Hi @Scatterbrain Thank you for your reply.   Some of these things could be weaknesses, also triggered by stress, which perhaps have come about as the result of long-term deficiencies which can take a long time to correct.   Some could be completely unrelated. If it is of help, I'll tell you some of the things that started in the first year or two, following my diagnosis - I pinned everything on coeliac disease, but it turns out I wasn't always right!  Dizziness, lightheaded - I was eventually diagnosed with cervical dizziness (worth googling, could be your issue too, also if you have neck pain?)  A few months after diagnosis I put my neck out slightly carrying my seven-year-old above my head, and never assigned any relevance to it as the pain at the time was severe but so short-lived that I'd forgotten the connection. Jaw pain - stress. Tinnitus - I think stress, but perhaps exacerbated by iron/vitamin deficiencies. Painful ribs and sacroiliac joints - no idea, bloating made the pain worse. It got really bad but then got better. Irregular heart rate - could be a coincidence but my sister (not a coeliac) and I both developed this temporarily after our second Astra Zeneca covid jabs.   Subsequent Pfizer jabs didn't affect us. Brain fog - a big thing for people with certain autoimmune issues but in my case I think possibly worse when my iron or B12 are low, but I have no proof of this. Insomnia - stress, menopause. So basically, it isn't always gluten.  It might be worth having your vitamins and mineral levels checked, and if you have deficiencies speak to your Dr about how better to address them?    
    • knitty kitty
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      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @NanceK, I do have Hypersensitivity Type Four reaction to Sulfa drugs, a sulfa allergy.  Benfotiamine and other forms of Thiamine do not bother me at all.  There's sulfur in all kinds of Thiamine, yet our bodies must have it as an essential nutrient to make life sustaining enzymes.  The sulfur in thiamine is in a ring which does not trigger sulfa allergy like sulfites in a chain found in pharmaceuticals.  Doctors are not given sufficient education in nutrition (nor chemistry in this case).  I studied Nutrition before earning a degree in Microbiology.  I wanted to know what vitamins were doing inside the body.   Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   Not feeling well after starting Benfotiamine is normal.  It's called the "thiamine paradox" and is equivalent to an engine backfiring if it's not been cranked up for a while.  Mine went away in about three days.  I took a B Complex, magnesium and added molybdenum for a few weeks. It's important to add a B Complex with all eight essential B vitamins. Supplementing just one B vitamin can cause lows in some of the others and result in feeling worse, too.  Celiac Disease causes malabsorption of all the B vitamins, not just thiamine.  You need all eight.  Thiamine forms including Benfotiamine interact with each of the other B vitamins in some way.  It's important to add a magnesium glycinate or chelate supplement as well.  Forms of Thiamine including Benfotiamine need magnesium to make those life sustaining enzymes.  (Don't use magnesium oxide.  It's not absorbed well.  It pulls water into the intestines and is used to relieve constipation.)   Molybdenum is a trace mineral that helps the body utilize forms of Thiamine.   Molybdenum supplements are available over the counter.  It's not unusual to be low in molybdenum if low in thiamine.   I do hope you will add the necessary supplements and try Benfotiamine again. Science-y Explanation of Thiamine Paradox: https://hormonesmatter.com/paradoxical-reactions-with-ttfd-the-glutathione-connection/#google_vignette
    • Wheatwacked
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      By Wheatwacked · Posted

      Your goal is not to be a good puppet, there is no gain in that. You might want to restart the ones that helped.  It sounds more like you are suffering from malnutrition.  Gluten free foods are not fortified with things like Thiamine (B1), vitamin D, Iodine, B1,2,3,5,6 and 12 as non-gluten free products are required to be. There is a Catch-22 here.  Malnutrition can cause SIBO, and SIBO can worsen malnutrition. Another possibility is side effects from any medication that are taking.  I was on Metformin 3 months before it turned me into a zombi.  I had crippling side effects from most of the BP meds tried on me, and Losartan has many of the side effects on me from my pre gluten free days. Because you have been gluten free, you can test and talk until you are blue in the face but all of your tests will be negative.  Without gluten, you will not create the antigen against gluten, no antigens to gluten, so no small intestine damage from the antigens.  You will need to do a gluten challange to test positive if you need an official diagnosis, and even then, no guaranty: 10 g of gluten per day for 6 weeks! Then a full panel of Celiac tests and biopsy. At a minimum consider vitamin D, Liquid Iodine (unless you have dermatitis herpetiformis and iodine exasperates the rash), and Liquid Geritol. Push for vitamin D testing and a consult with a nutritionist experienced with Celiack Disease.  Most blood tests don't indicate nutritional deficiencies.  Your thyroid tests can be perfect, yet not indicate iodine deficiency for example.  Thiamine   test fine, but not pick up on beriberi.  Vegans are often B12 deficient because meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy are the primary souces of B12. Here is what I take daily.  10,000 IU vitamin D3 750 mg g a b a [   ] 200 mg CoQ10 [   ] 100 mg DHEA [   ] 250 mg thiamine B1 [   ] 100 mg of B2 [   ] 500 mg B5 pantothenic acid [   ] 100 mg B6 [   ] 1000 micrograms B12 n [   ] 500 mg vitamin c [   ] 500 mg taurine [   ] 200 mg selenium   
    • NanceK
      My only proof

      By NanceK · Posted

      Hi…Just a note that if you have an allergy to sulfa it’s best not to take Benfotiamine. I bought a bottle and tried one without looking into it first and didn’t feel well.  I checked with my pharmacist and he said not to take it with a known sulfa allergy. I was really bummed because I thought it would help my energy level, but I was thankful I was given this info before taking more of it. 
    • Wheatwacked
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      By Wheatwacked · Posted

      Hello @Scatterbrain, Are you getting enough vitamins and minerals.  Gluten free food is not fortified so you may be starting to run low on B vitamins and vitamin D.   By the way you should get your mom checked for celiac disease.  You got it from your mom or dad.  Some studies show that following a gluten-free diet can stabilize or improve symptoms of dementia.  I know that for the 63 years I was eating gluten I got dumber and dumber until I started GFD and vitamin replenishment and it began to reverse.  Thiamine can get used up in a week or two.  Symptoms can come and go with daily diet.  Symptoms of beriberi due to Thiamine deficiency.   Difficulty walking. Loss of feeling (sensation) in hands and feet. Loss of muscle function or paralysis of the lower legs. Mental confusion. Pain. Speech difficulties. Strange eye movements (nystagmus) Tingling. Any change in medications? Last March I had corotid artery surgery (90 % blockage), and I started taking Losartan for blood pressure, added to the Clonidine I was taking already.  I was not recovering well and many of my pre gluten free symptoms were back  I was getting worse.  At first I thought it was caused a reaction to the anesthesia from the surgery, but that should have improved after two weeks.  Doctor thought I was just being a wimp. After three months I talked to my doctor about a break from the Losartan to see if it was causing it. It had not made any difference in my bp.  Except for clonindine, all of the previous bp meds tried had not worked to lower bp and had crippling side effects. One, I could not stand up straight; one wobbly knees, another spayed feet.  Inguinal hernia from the Lisinopril cough.  Had I contiued on those, I was destined for a wheelchair or walker. She said the symptoms were not from Losartan so I continued taking it.  Two weeks later I did not have the strength in hips and thighs to get up from sitting on the floor (Help, I can't get up😨).  I stopped AMA (not recommended).  Without the Losartan, a) bp did not change, after the 72 hour withdrawal from Losartanon, on clonidine only and b) symptoms started going away.  Improvement started in 72 hours.  After six weeks they were gone and I am getting better.  
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