Does Stress Cause Celiac Relapses For You?

[MmmBread]

To be completely honest, after all the research I have done, I am not entirely sure that Celiac is just a sensitivity to Wheat.   I mean, it is.  But I am not convinced anymore that its the original cause.  The root cause.  My celiac didn't "start" until after I had a new CMV infection as an adult.   CMV incorporates itself into every cell in your body.  Muscles, and primarily the Gut.  It creates ongoing, reactivating, low-grade inflammation wherever it resides.  And just like most Herpes Viruses, it reactivates anytime you run yourself down.

That being said, I can resolve 90% of my symptoms by going Gluten Free, but the fact that I have to be so careful with food all of a sudden, is very strange.   Its like it happened on a dime, at the same time I was diagnosed with a new CMV infection.

Also, why would stress be such an influential factor in the symptom occurrence?  Well it is for me.  Episodes of prolonged stress (usually due to a new symptom that causes intense health fears that create extreme anxiety in my stomach and mind for a week or more), will completely ruin me.   Im usually fine during the stress, and fine for the most part when it finally lifts, but its the 2-4 weeks after the stressful event that I am in for a world of hurt.  And the entire time, I wouldn't have had a crumb of gluten.   I almost wonder if the CMV is simply reactivating due to a suppressed immune system (which stress is known to cause), and then it takes weeks for my body to handle it and re-suppress it.

Honestly this seems very viral to me.   A lot more "intelligent" and "multi-faceted" than just a simple wheat protein could possibly cause.  

Does stress cause "relapses" for you?   Do you have any opinions on why?

[kareng]

28 minutes ago, MmmBread said:

To be completely honest, after all the research I have done, I am not entirely sure that Celiac is just a sensitivity to Wheat.   I mean, it is.  But I am not convinced anymore that its the original cause.  The root cause.  My celiac didn't "start" until after I had a new CMV infection as an adult.   CMV incorporates itself into every cell in your body.  Muscles, and primarily the Gut.  It creates ongoing, reactivating, low-grade inflammation wherever it resides.  And just like most Herpes Viruses, it reactivates anytime you run yourself down.

That being said, I can resolve 90% of my symptoms by going Gluten Free, but the fact that I have to be so careful with food all of a sudden, is very strange.   Its like it happened on a dime, at the same time I was diagnosed with a new CMV infection.

Also, why would stress be such an influential factor in the symptom occurrence?  Well it is for me.  Episodes of prolonged stress (usually due to a new symptom that causes intense health fears that create extreme anxiety in my stomach and mind for a week or more), will completely ruin me.   Im usually fine during the stress, and fine for the most part when it finally lifts, but its the 2-4 weeks after the stressful event that I am in for a world of hurt.  And the entire time, I wouldn't have had a crumb of gluten.   I almost wonder if the CMV is simply reactivating due to a suppressed immune system (which stress is known to cause), and then it takes weeks for my body to handle it and re-suppress it.

Honestly this seems very viral to me.   A lot more "intelligent" and "multi-faceted" than just a simple wheat protein could possibly cause.  

Does stress cause "relapses" for you?   Do you have any opinions on why?

Infections are one of the triggers for Celiac.  

Stress is always hard on the GI tract, even for people without Celiac Disease.

[ravenwoodglass]

CMV and celiac reactions share many of the same symptoms. When under stress we don't sleep or eat as well as we do on days that we are not. This might allow the CMV virus to rear it's ugly head again for a bit until you recover. In other words I don't think the symptoms you are experiencing after stress are gluten symptoms (unless of course under the stress you are less careful with your gluten-free diet) but instead a reappearance of the CMV.

 

[CeliacBurger]

On 9/6/2016 at 7:47 PM, kareng said:

Infections are one of the triggers for Celiac.  

Stress is always hard on the GI tract, even for people without Celiac Disease.

I want to look more into this. 

Open Original Shared Link

This article postulates that intestinal viruses which create ongoing, low-grade inflammatory responses can trigger celiac-like behavior in the body.  I know that CMV incorporates itself into the intestinal tract very freely, and very commonly.  I would be extremely interested to see a study testing Celiac patients for CMV and see how many of them are positive.  The notion that CMV is 100% inert after initial infection is, of course, absurd, but its one of the many absurdities believed by the medical system.  CMV just like every other herpesvirus reactivates countless times based on many factors.  Its called sub-clinical reactivation, and its exactly the sort of thing that would cause intestinal inflammation that would result in many of these symptoms. 

In any case, she repeatedly mentions "Gastrointestinal viruses" in that article, but only mentions one (rotavirus).   Now I'm curious to get myself tested for all the possible gastro viruses. 

I also have unexplained "erosions" in my stomach and inflammatory gastritis that worsens significantly from using PPI's.  I dry up like a bone (eyes, skin, throat, stomach, etc) and then the pain comes.  Granted, they are pinhead sized (or they were a year ago).  The doctor only thought to biopsy one for H Pylori.  Now I see they can be biopsied for CMV.