Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Brain Fog

Irishjoe

Recommended Posts

Papa-Hen Rookie
Papa-Hen
Posted

Joe & the rest,

I'm brand new here and writing for the first time.

Brain fog, Chronic Fatigue, forgetful,

"Tired, cranky, irritable, and miserable...and sometimes I enjoy it". :)

In retrospect, my worst days were Pancake Saturdays with the kids...Imagine that!

...did I mention forgetful?

Over the past 10+ years, I have done well losing weight on low-carb diets, and even better at gaining it back when I sought to go back to a "normal" diet. I am one of the souls that can lose up to 6lb of water weight the 1st day. Silly, me, I didn't believe enough in what I was doing, and allowed myself a little of a friends B-day cake...Several years later, and I was back & beyond my previous high weight.

Now down 45 lb from 260 since quitting bread/cakes/etc. in November. Recently read "Dangerous Grains" and came to learn it's gluten sensitivity, and that barley, rye, and others also have gluten. Since then, much more gluten free. The weight just comes off without even thinking about it. No struggle!

I also now know that I'm only one donut away from going back.

(Thank God it wasn't alcohol that I was so addicted to--I would have been a real mess.)

Last time, I got down to 185. I'm more than 1/2 way there.

The weird thing is that I am now to the point where I prefer fruits & fresh veggies to a huge pile of mashed potatoes! Considering similar claims elsewhere at this site, I'm optimistic that I'm really on to something.

I'm also scared as I had a very rough 2+ weeks that I hope are now over as of this afternoon.

Was it just anxiety causing everything, including the stomach aches, or could it have been my body releasing many toxins that had accumulated over my lifetime?

Most on this board indicate that they get much better right away, so this does not seem to be the norm.

Has anyone else had to go through hell to get to heaven?

I look forward to hearing from you and being part of this group.

Thanks,

- Henry

  • 5 years later...
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Februaryrich Rookie
Februaryrich
Posted

I also can't make eye contacts with people, for some reason my eyes just go WOOHOO and I can't focus on prints when I read. It goes away after a while on the diet!

Twinklestars Contributor
Twinklestars
Posted

I will be so glad when I don't turn around in circles in my kitchen anymore, trying to remember which cupboard something is in! :lol:

Ollie's Mom Apprentice
Ollie's Mom
Posted

I've been wondering about that no eye contact thing a little more. I wonder if there's any connection to that same behavior in autism (which I know may have some connection with celiac and other food problems)? Like maybe people with celiac and people with autism have a problem with the same area of the brain. I know they say that with autism they can become overstimulated and withdraw. I wonder if it's the same process?

I have diagnosed myself with Asperger's (sounds strange, maybe, but I was too old to have been screened for it when I was going through school, and diagnosing adults with autism is difficult because adults have had time to develop coping mechanisms). Anyway, my family and husband all agree I am a Asperger's "poster adult"

(I also self diagnosed my gluten issues... aren't doctors useful? *sigh*)

When I get glutened, my inability to look people in the eye gets much, much worse. I can't talk properly (like someone else here mentioned, it's like I lose control of my tongue). I stutter. My sensory issues (noise, smells, lights, the feeling of the material of my clothing) gets so much worse. The last time I was glutened, I almost ran screaming out of a public washroom because someone turned on an air hand dryer, and the noise was too much for me to handle.

Basically, when I get glutened, I tell my husband that I feel much more "autistic" than when I haven't been glutened. I makes me wonder how I survived before I went gluten free, because I felt that "autistic" all the time before (I do remember how hard it was... but thankfully that is almost completely behind me, unless I get glutened, of course).

So yes, I am convinced there's a link in some cases to autism and gluten / other food intolerances.

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

I have diagnosed myself with Asperger's (sounds strange, maybe, but I was too old to have been screened for it when I was going through school, and diagnosing adults with autism is difficult because adults have had time to develop coping mechanisms). Anyway, my family and husband all agree I am a Asperger's "poster adult"

(I also self diagnosed my gluten issues... aren't doctors useful? *sigh*)

When I get glutened, my inability to look people in the eye gets much, much worse. I can't talk properly (like someone else here mentioned, it's like I lose control of my tongue). I stutter. My sensory issues (noise, smells, lights, the feeling of the material of my clothing) gets so much worse. The last time I was glutened, I almost ran screaming out of a public washroom because someone turned on an air hand dryer, and the noise was too much for me to handle.

Basically, when I get glutened, I tell my husband that I feel much more "autistic" than when I haven't been glutened. I makes me wonder how I survived before I went gluten free, because I felt that "autistic" all the time before (I do remember how hard it was... but thankfully that is almost completely behind me, unless I get glutened, of course).

So yes, I am convinced there's a link in some cases to autism and gluten / other food intolerances.

Wow. Makes ME wonder. I get the hairdryer thing. My doctors call it "overstimulated adrenals" in my case - supposedly temporary from corticosteroids and gee - gluten and salicylates. I couldn't take a shower because that involved feeling something on my skin and hearing the water run. I can't imagine feeling that all the time. Kudos to you for figuring it out and learning to manage the situation.

cougie23 Explorer
cougie23
Posted

I will be so glad when I don't turn around in circles in my kitchen anymore, trying to remember which cupboard something is in! :lol:

Yeah..me too!!! I thought the eye contact thing was just a QUIRK on my part!!! WEIRD...chalk another bizzarre symptom up to CELIACS...and people just thought I was CRAZY!!! LOL :lol:

I HATE forgetting what your talking about in mid conversation...or not remembering pin #'s...Or intructions involving more than 3 things!!! not to mention the "clasic" why am I in this room?! OR this is another "classic" having someone looking you in the eye...being really serious..(not being able to look back)... and a second after they finish talking and its YOUR turn...its like ..what??? no clue whatsoever!!!? :blink:

Stuttering too...just out of no where...!!! <_<

This was what it was like last March for me...Its gotten alot better...but I am still acused of being VERY HYPER!!! Among OTHER persistant problems...I tend to TYPE like I THINK!!! LOL :lol::lol::lol::D ........LOL :P

Twinklestars Contributor
Twinklestars
Posted

Wow. Makes ME wonder. I get the hairdryer thing. My doctors call it "overstimulated adrenals" in my case - supposedly temporary from corticosteroids and gee - gluten and salicylates. I couldn't take a shower because that involved feeling something on my skin and hearing the water run. I can't imagine feeling that all the time. Kudos to you for figuring it out and learning to manage the situation.

And your post just made me go wow PP. One of my children is extremely sensitive to noise. I had just put it down to her being 3, but she gets hysterical if she has to have a shower (but a bath is fine), she bursts into tears if a game get noisy etc. I'll watch her a bit more closely I think. Obviously if I'm diagnosed I'll get all my kids tested, but will be more watchful in the meantime.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


bodhizatfa Newbie
bodhizatfa
Posted

Gluten intolerance affected me in a lot of ways including my brain activity. When my sensitivity was triggered 3 and a half years ago I developped some OCD...something I hadn't experienced before. My mind wouldn't shut-down, I was stressed to the max, I had anxiety, I had racing thoughts to the point where my wife thought I was loosing my marbles. She patiently listened to me while I explained what was going on in my head and reassured me that it was only the OCD talking. I really thought I was going crazy. The brain fog...wow....concentration was null. It got so bad that I started to get really embarassed, because I knew that things were not normal. It took a great deal of effort just to function every day. I did my research and I went on a gluten free diet nine months ago and it all went away. All of my other symptoms went away too. I am so grateful to have found the answer. My symptoms come back to life when I get any gluten in my diet....intentional or not. Even the smallest traces now affect me. Gotta be careful..:)

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,480
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    radster47
    Newest Member
    radster47
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      What should I expect from a UK restaurant advertising / offering "Gluten Free" food

      By trents · Posted

      What is a Michelin star restaurant? 
    • cristiana
      What should I expect from a UK restaurant advertising / offering "Gluten Free" food

      By cristiana · Posted

      Hi Colin I share your frustration. My coeliac disease was diagnosed in 2013 and it took some years for my  TTG levels to settle to normal levels in  blood tests.  I had to make a few significant changes at home to make sure our house was as gluten free as possible (I share a house with gluten eaters) but time and time again I found I was glutened (or nearly glutened whilst eating out  - like regular bread being served with a gluten-free meal ).  Even eating in chains that Coeliac UK were recommending as safe for coeliacs.  So I gave up eating in restaurants for a while.  My blood tests normalised.  But here's the thing:  the lowest my TTG readings ever got to were 4.5 (10  and under being my local lab's normal levels) and now that I am eating out again more regularly, they've gone up to 10 again.  I am quite convinced this gluten is coming from exposure whilst eating out.  Small levels, that don't make me violently sick, but might give me a mild stomach upset.  My next coeliac blood review is in September and I mean to give up eating out a few months before to see if that helps my blood results get back on track. It seems to me that there are few restaurants which really 'get it' - and a lot of restaurants that don't 'get it' at all.  I've found one restaurant in Somerset and a hotel in East Sussex where they really know what they are doing.    The restaurant in Somerset hardly uses flour in any of their dishes; the hotel in East Sussex takes in trainees from the local college, so they are teaching best standards.   But it has taken a lot of searching and trial and effort on my part to find these two places.  There are certainly others in the UK, but it seems to me the only real way to find them is trial and error, or perhaps from the personal recommendation of other strict coeliacs (Incidentally, my coeliac hairdresser tells me that if a Michelin star restaurant has to have a separate food preparation so she has never been glutened in one - I can't say I've ever eaten in one!) For the rest, I think we just have to accept that gluten may be in the air in kitchens, if not on the surfaces, and there will always be some level of risk wherever one dines, unless the restaurant cooks exclusively gluten free dishes. Cristiana  
    • RMJ
      What should I expect from a UK restaurant advertising / offering "Gluten Free" food

      By RMJ · Posted

      Hopefully @Cristiana will see this question, as she also lives in the UK.
    • knitty kitty
      Pain in the right side of abdomen

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @Theresa2407, My Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFD), now called Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), cleared up, resolved, after supplementing with Thiamine B1 and Riboflavin B2.  "Specifically, higher intakes of vitamin B1 and vitamin B2 were negatively associated with the risk of NAFLD. Consequently, providing adequate levels of Vitamin B1 and Vitamin B2 in the daily diets of postmenopausal women could potentially serve as a preventive measure against NAFLD." Association between dietary intakes of B vitamins and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10621796/ High-dose vitamin B1 therapy prevents the development of experimental fatty liver driven by overnutrition https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7988776/
    • trents
      What should I expect from a UK restaurant advertising / offering "Gluten Free" food

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the the celiac.com community @colinukcoeliac! I am in the USA but I don't think it is any different here in my experience. In some large cities there are dedicated gluten free restaurants where only gluten free ingredients are found. However, there are a growing number of mainstream eatery chains that advertise gluten free menu items but they are likely cooked and prepared along with gluten containing foods. They are just not set up to offer a dedicated gluten free cooking, preparation and handling environment. There simply isn't space for it and it would not be cost effective. And I think you probably realize that restaurants operate on a thin margin of profit. As the food industry has become more aware of celiac disease and the issue of cross contamination I have noticed that some eateries that used to offer "gluten free" menu items not have changed their terminology to "low gluten" to reflect the possibility of cross contamination.  I would have to say that I appreciate the openness and honesty of the response you got from your email inquiry. It also needs to be said that the degree of cross contamination happening in that eatery may still allow the food they advertise as gluten free to meet the regulatory standards of gluten free advertising which, in the USA is not more than 20ppm of gluten. And that is acceptable for most celiacs and those who are gluten sensitive. Perhaps you might suggest to the eatery that they add a disclaimer about cross contamination to the menu itself.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.