Can't Take Much More!

[JediMindTricks]

I best start at the beginning.

 

I started smoking cannabis when I was ~16, and by 18 was smoking habitually 24/7. Around the age of 20 I started getting negative neurological effects. The first I remember was body dysmorphia but I continued smoking until I was ~22 when I started showing symptoms of psychosis; and finally quit when I started thinking that people could read my thoughts. I pretty much didn't leave my house for a year but finally managed to get a job and all the really bad psychosis subsided, I was left with very bad social anxiety though. Around this period of time I noticed that my stools were very loose with lumps of fat, I suffered from dry skin mostly on my arms, face and scalp. At some point I also changed from sleeping with two pillows to sleeping with one (may become relevant later).

 

Since then to now I have developed many symptoms :- social anxiety, anxiety mostly manifested as a fear of aliens (worse when dark), fatigue, pinguecula, blurred vision (seems to correlate with my anxiety, more anxiety = more blurred vision), sleep problems, loose fatty stools, dry skin, lose of labido, dysphoria etc (the list goes on).

 

The last few years I have pretty much tried all antidepressant, anti-anxiety and anti-psychotic medication to no avail. 2 weeks ago I came across something about celiac disease and found what I read very relevant and decided to start a gluten-free diet straight away. The first week was the best week of my adult life and all my symptoms seemed to be greatly reduced, I even went to the beach by myself with very little anxiety and had a conversation with someone while sitting on a bench; this is the first time this has happened since I was ~18, now 30. This may be a pure coincidence but after ~4 days gluten-free I felt the urge to start sleeping with 2 pillows again. I can also find correlations between my diet and the onset of my symptoms; around 16 - 22 my diet would have been mostly (95%) gluten filled food like pizza, bread, cakes and lots of lager etc which may have some relevance. I haven't drank lager for years as it just makes me very fatigued, angry and the hangovers were hell, I tried gluten-free lager after 5 days gluten-free and didn't get any negative effects and the hangover wasn't half as bad which leads me to think that what I was experiencing from gluten containing lager was poisoning.

 

Sadly the second week gluten-free has been the opposite of the first, all my symptom are back with a vengeance and I fear I may have experienced some sort of placebo. I had complete blood work done today for celiac, thyroid etc, but fear another dead end.

 

Another coincidence worth mentioning is that last year I went on holiday and the first 4 days I suffered with chronic diarrhea (I ate all the same food as the rest of my family and nobody else was ill), for the 6 weeks prior I went on an atkins diet (90% meat) and would have cut my gluten intake a lot, Didn't eat any fruit or veggies and was taking benzo's at the time, so I wouldn't of noticed any decrease/change in symptoms so didn't make any connection at the time.  

 

I don't really have any questions, I just felt like venting my frustration.

 

If anyone has anything to add or questions then please fire away .    

[Lisa]

Well...I would think that it would be worth your time to revisit your gluten free diet and make 100% sure you are eating *clean* on the diet.  It took me several months to master the diet in 2005, so it's not so easy to begin and to learn all the ins and outs.

 

Begin simply with meats, fish, fresh veggies, eggs, rice and potatoes and fresh fruit.  Stay away from processed foods and be careful about shared equipment in your home.  Check you meds to make sure they are gluten free.  And make sure everything that can come into contact with your mouth, is gluten free.

 

Hope this helps.

[Celiac Mindwarp]

A week isn't lmg gluten-free, and some people get withdrawal from gluten, which might be what you experienced.

Atkins is a way into realizing a gluten connection for quite a few people.

If your tests are negative, it is worth considering Non Celiac Gluten Intolerance NCGI which doesn't come up on tests but has many of the same symptoms.

Good luck, glad you found the board

[JediMindTricks]

Thanks for the replys. I've only been eating meat, fish, fruit and veggies and a gluten/dairy/yeast free multivitamin since going gluten-free 2 weeks ago. CC is a possibility , I have been very careful though.

 

After years of thinking that my problem was brain damage from cannabis and then for all my symptoms to go in the first week gluten-free, it was hard to not pin all my hopes on my problem being celiac disease/GI. I did have something that resembled a normal stool today for the first time in years, so that's a positive sign.

[Celiac Mindwarp]

Sounds encoraging, let us know how you get on.

 

Have you spotted the gluten inolerance and beahaviour section? It might be of interest to you

 

https://www.celiac.com/forums/forum/52-gluten-intolerance-and-behvior/

[JediMindTricks]

Sounds encoraging, let us know how you get on.

 

Have you spotted the gluten inolerance and beahaviour section? It might be of interest to you

 

https://www.celiac.com/forums/forum/52-gluten-intolerance-and-behvior/

 

Thanks for the reply .

 

Well FML. After 2 weeks of the worst time of my life, I finally realized I was suffering from hypoglycemia. I couldn't figure out why my symptoms were worse at night. I was getting paranoid delusions about aliens (beam me up scotty). I was eating a fruit smoothie for breakfast, meat and veggies for lunch and meat and veggies for dinner. Anyways I've balanced out my sugar intake and I'm having glasses of orange juice throughout the day. I'm feeling much better.

 

I'm convinced that my problem is caused by malabsorption after feeling how bad low blood sugar can make me feel. My stools have improved from before I went gluten free and it's really clear now to see that my stool are full of raisin sized lumps of fat. I just got some cod liver oil so I'll see if that makes any difference . I'm still waiting on my celiac tests but apparently my thyroid is normal.

 

Any comments or/and questions are welcome.

JMT. 

[nvsmom]

I would not discount withdrawal yet. I felt worse during the second and third week too. I was tired, grumpy, had shakes and a wicked headache; it was a bit like hypoglycemia. Never the less, I am glad you are starting to feel better. 

 

I wanted to suggest getting copies of all of your tests, including the thyroid. Doctors are sometimes not very good at reading lab results and applying them to a patient's symptoms. A TSH at the top of the normal range for a healthy person might be perfect but for someone with symptoms, it could indicate hypothyroidism.

 

Best wishes.

[JediMindTricks]

I would not discount withdrawal yet. I felt worse during the second and third week too. I was tired, grumpy, had shakes and a wicked headache; it was a bit like hypoglycemia. Never the less, I am glad you are starting to feel better. 

 

I wanted to suggest getting copies of all of your tests, including the thyroid. Doctors are sometimes not very good at reading lab results and applying them to a patient's symptoms. A TSH at the top of the normal range for a healthy person might be perfect but for someone with symptoms, it could indicate hypothyroidism.

 

Best wishes.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'll request a copy of all my results as soon as my celiac blood work results get back which I'm hoping is Monday.

[Celiac Mindwarp]

I seemed to be really sensitive to all sugars for a while after going gluten-free, and couldn't even handle fruit. A few months in, I am improving but still can't handle anything with refined sugars. The body does weird stuff!!

Hope you carry on working it out

[JediMindTricks]

I think I may have had my first glutening today. I can't be sure, I'm not even sure celiac/gi is my problem.

 

Can someone please post if they experience the same when glutened? Hopefully it will ease my mind. I had corned beef hash which was cooked in a pan which my housemate cooks pasta in. The pan was washed well and I did eat some yesterday with no effect but today I finished off what was left and scraped it from the pan.

 

Immediately after eating I had heartburn followed by a more serious pain in my chest which lasted a few minutes, then I had to lay down, after an hour I felt okay. About 6 hours later I went to the shop and experienced the worst anxiety possible without having a panic attack. Now that I've got home, I've got a mild headache and just feel weird.

[JediMindTricks]

Okay, It's been 3 hours and now I feel really depressed and I just had a poo and my housemate said it smells like beer. I haven't drunk any alcohol for weeks. Any Ideas on this? 

[JediMindTricks]

Well, I woke up this morning from a horrible nightmare and my mouth was very dry/sticky, my tongue was covered in a white coating and I felt so ill I went to the hospital. The doctor prescribed Nystatin for yeast infection. I'm now thinking that what I experienced in week 2 and 3 was a Candida die off and not Hypoglycemia. It would explain why I felt better after eating more fruit and fruit juice. I felt okay on week 4 and then I think I had a massive increase of yeast from all the sugar I added to my diet.

 

Any ideas why this happened? Is it possible that I've had a yeast infection for the last 12 years and not celiac? Is this common for people new to a gluten free diet or maybe a weakened immune system?

 

Any help and/or ideas would be great.

JMT.