Is having through the roof anxiety after a period of increased gluten consumption a sign of celiac disease?

[jaebowie]

I’m 18 and have had very bad anxiety for the past 5 years. Around 4 months ago I started eating a ton of cookies and small snacks that are packed with gluten. Coincidentally this is around when my GAD and OCD shot through the roof. I kept eating more and more and the anxiety is getting to unbearable points. I don’t recall ever eating this much gluten based foods as I have in these past months. I am still eating a lot of cookies and have overwhelming anxiety. This is just a correlation I noticed. The anxiety was really really bad before the cookie binges but it’s now extremely severe. Is this a sign that I have celiac disease?

[knitty kitty]

jaebowie,

It can be a sign of Celiac or something else.  We don't know all the details about you.  You would do well to have a complete panel blood test for Celiac Disease. 

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease.  Your body recognizes gluten as a harmful invader and launches an attack against it the same as if you had an invading bacteria.  Unfortunately, the body mistakes parts of itself as being a harmful invader, too, and attacks itself, too.  This can result in intestinal damage.  Your damaged intestines can't absorb enough vitamins and minerals that your body needs to function properly.

Your body releases histamine as part of the attack on gluten.  Your body can release a lot of histamine.  High histamine levels can cause disruption in brain function.  

You need certain vitamins and minerals to make neurotransmitters.  High histamine levels can disrupt these neurotransmitters. 

So you can end up with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and OCD.  

I suffered from GAD and OCD and depression before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  Celiac caused me to have vitamin and mineral deficiencies which caused the OCD, GAD and depression.  My doctors missed the Celiac Disease and the nutritional deficiencies.  Pharmaceutical antidepressants never worked for me because I wasn't deficient in pharmaceuticals, I was deficient in vitamins and minerals because I wasn't absorbing them because of the damage caused by undiagnosed Celiac Disease.

Once I got on the gluten free diet and started taking certain vitamins and minerals, the OCD and GAD and depression went away.

Changes in mental health are often the first signs of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  

Iron deficiency and B12 deficiency can cause depression and restless leg syndrome.  Thiamine (vitamin B1) and Niacin (vitamin B3) deficiencies can cause anxiety and panic attacks, and with Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) deficiency, can cause OCD.  

There are eight B vitamins that all work together.  They need to be replenished every day because they can't be stored for very long.  They are water soluble and can be lost quickly with diarrhea or stress or illness or malabsorption.  

Thiamine is my favorite B vitamin.  It works with magnesium.  Thiamine deficiency usually occurs in alcoholism.  My doctors totally dismissed the possibility I had thiamine deficiency because I rarely drank.  But anybody can become deficient in thiamine, especially if they eat a high carbohydrate diet  (like lots of cookies).  

Thiamine is needed to turn carbohydrates into energy for the body.  Without enough thiamine, your brain doesn't have enough energy to work properly.  Your "fight or flight" response trips on and doesn't turn off, hence the anxiety and panic attacks.  

Thiamine needs magnesium and Niacin.  B6 works with tryptophan (another form of niacin) to make neurotransmitters.  So, long story short, you need all eight B vitamins together.  

I took a B-Complex supplement that had all the B vitamins in it.  I also took extra Thiamine (Lipothiamine) and extra Niacin (nicotinic acid - the kind of niacin that makes you flush and tryptophan) and magnesium.  I took Vitamin D and A and Vitamin C as well because they work with the B Complex vitamins.  

Talk to your doctor about getting a complete panel of blood tests for Celiac Disease before quitting gluten.   If you quit gluten, you won't make the antibodies that the blood tests test for.  

Get checked for vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  Talk to your doctor about supplementing vitamins and minerals.

Discuss a gluten free diet like the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol diet with a dietician.  

Keep us posted on your progress.  

Let us know if you have any more questions.  

Take care of yourself.  I understand what you're going through.  

 

 

[Celiawithceliac]

On 10/26/2020 at 1:40 AM, jaebowie said:

I’m 18 and have had very bad anxiety for the past 5 years. Around 4 months ago I started eating a ton of cookies and small snacks that are packed with gluten. Coincidentally this is around when my GAD and OCD shot through the roof. I kept eating more and more and the anxiety is getting to unbearable points. I don’t recall ever eating this much gluten based foods as I have in these past months. I am still eating a lot of cookies and have overwhelming anxiety. This is just a correlation I noticed. The anxiety was really really bad before the cookie binges but it’s now extremely severe. Is this a sign that I have celiac disease?

I had horrible anxiety too with gluten exposure. It went away on strict grain and dairy free!