Anxiety, difficulty breathing- wheat/gluten problem?

[Jgrace88]

Back in august I had my first ever panic attack, no idea what caused it but since then I have had bouts of anxiety but what I’ve discovered if my indigestion is horrible every time I have the anxiety. Starts like a pressure middle of chest and like I’m having a hard time breathing. I burp and feel relief for a couple seconds then it happens all over again and can last an hour to two hours. Usually always after I eat as well. I randomly stumbled through google to gluten and wheat allergies and I read someone’s post that had very similar symptoms to mine. My doctor thinks it’s just gastritis and put me on prescription PPI for a month. Been over a week and it’s not working as it should be. Sometimes I wake in the morning and I have this shaky feeling for the first couple minutes. The breathing is what really worries me especially when it gets my anxiety going. I’m gonna try to cut out gluten and wheat for the next couple weeks and see if it gets better. Anyone else with my symptoms? 

[Wheatwacked]

Hi Jgrace88 and thanks for your post.

Yes, the panic attacks and gastroenteritis are symptoms often mentioned here and that are eventually diagnosed as Celiac Disease.  Any other symptoms?

If you need a medical diagnosis to validate a gluten free diet then before starting gluten free you should request from your doctor to run a full Celiac Disease set of blood tests and a Celiac Disease endoscopy and biopsies . If it is Celiac Disease, once you remove the gluten from your diet the antibodies decline and the villi begin to heal, possibly giving a false negative test.  You should continue eating 10 grams of gluten every day until testing is completed.

Your doctor is correct that gastritis and anxiety are related.  If simple gastritis one would have expected the PPI to help.  Something you are eating is causing ongoing issues. Celiac Disease can cause malabsorption by damaging the small intestine villi where about 20 essential vitamins and minerals are absorbed. End result is more symptoms caused by vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Common deficiencies related to your symptoms are B1 Thiamine for the panic attacks, low vitamin D causing general mood disorders and compromised immune system. Celiac is an autoimmune disease. And Choline for the gastritis caused by gallbladder dysfunction.

Gastritis causes panic attack and the ensuing hyperventilation causing burping and gas in your gut.  What caused the gastritis?

Could be gluten.

Panic Attacks, anorexia, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, are very common in patients with Wernicke’s encephalopathy.  Mild thiamine deficiency may have only gastrointestinal symptoms.  Anxiety disorders are significantly more common among adults with a diagnosis of gastritis. Gastritis is associated with an increased prevalence of panic attacks, social phobia, any mood disorder and major depression, compared to those without gastritis.

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Wheatwacked

[Carmen22]

11 hours ago, Jgrace88 said:

Back in august I had my first ever panic attack, no idea what caused it but since then I have had bouts of anxiety but what I’ve discovered if my indigestion is horrible every time I have the anxiety. Starts like a pressure middle of chest and like I’m having a hard time breathing. I burp and feel relief for a couple seconds then it happens all over again and can last an hour to two hours. Usually always after I eat as well. I randomly stumbled through google to gluten and wheat allergies and I read someone’s post that had very similar symptoms to mine. My doctor thinks it’s just gastritis and put me on prescription PPI for a month. Been over a week and it’s not working as it should be. Sometimes I wake in the morning and I have this shaky feeling for the first couple minutes. The breathing is what really worries me especially when it gets my anxiety going. I’m gonna try to cut out gluten and wheat for the next couple weeks and see if it gets better. Anyone else with my symptoms? 

Ive got panic attacks, anxiety and really bad digestion, also breathing issues as well and more issues that became worse over time. PPIs did not work for me at all and even made it worse. I just got diagnosed 2 weeks ago still not doing better, because my body went through a lot I guess. I got tested 1,5 years ago but then it did not came back positive and now it did. But talk it over with your doctor and make sure to at least get tested! Do not take no for an answer this is your health! 

Just now, Carmen22 said:

Ive got panic attacks, anxiety and really bad digestion, also breathing issues as well and more issues that became worse over time. PPIs did not work for me at all and even made it worse. I just got diagnosed 2 weeks ago still not doing better, because my body went through a lot I guess. I got tested 1,5 years ago but then it did not came back positive and now it did. But talk it over with your doctor and make sure to at least get tested! Do not take no for an answer this is your health! 

and the pressure I have that as well as heartburn. But symptoms can vary per person

[Scott Adams]

Before you cut gluten out you may want to first get a blood test for celiac disease. Once you go gluten-free you cannot be tested for celiac disease.

Here is more info about how to do a gluten challenge for a celiac disease blood panel, or for an endoscopy:

Quote

"...in order to properly diagnose celiac disease based on serology and duodenal histology, doctors need patients to be on gluten-containing diets, even if they are causing symptoms, and this is called a "gluten challenge."

• Eat gluten prior to celiac disease blood tests: The amount and length of time can vary, but is somewhere between 2 slices of wheat bread daily for 6-8 weeks and 1/2 slice of wheat bread or 1 wheat cracker for 12 weeks 12 weeks;
• Eat gluten prior to the endoscopic biopsy procedure: 2 slices of wheat bread daily for at least 2 weeks;

and this recent study recommends 4-6 slices of wheat bread per day:

 

 

[Jgrace88]

10 hours ago, Wheatwacked said:

Hi Jgrace88 and thanks for your post.

Yes, the panic attacks and gastroenteritis are symptoms often mentioned here and that are eventually diagnosed as Celiac Disease.  Any other symptoms?

If you need a medical diagnosis to validate a gluten free diet then before starting gluten free you should request from your doctor to run a full Celiac Disease set of blood tests and a Celiac Disease endoscopy and biopsies . If it is Celiac Disease, once you remove the gluten from your diet the antibodies decline and the villi begin to heal, possibly giving a false negative test.  You should continue eating 10 grams of gluten every day until testing is completed.

Your doctor is correct that gastritis and anxiety are related.  If simple gastritis one would have expected the PPI to help.  Something you are eating is causing ongoing issues. Celiac Disease can cause malabsorption by damaging the small intestine villi where about 20 essential vitamins and minerals are absorbed. End result is more symptoms caused by vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Common deficiencies related to your symptoms are B1 Thiamine for the panic attacks, low vitamin D causing general mood disorders and compromised immune system. Celiac is an autoimmune disease. And Choline for the gastritis caused by gallbladder dysfunction.

Gastritis causes panic attack and the ensuing hyperventilation causing burping and gas in your gut.  What caused the gastritis?

Could be gluten.

Panic Attacks, anorexia, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, are very common in patients with Wernicke’s encephalopathy.  Mild thiamine deficiency may have only gastrointestinal symptoms.  Anxiety disorders are significantly more common among adults with a diagnosis of gastritis. Gastritis is associated with an increased prevalence of panic attacks, social phobia, any mood disorder and major depression, compared to those without gastritis.

My biggest symptom is the feeling short of breath after eating and it can last hours. Other than that and anxiety, excessive burping and I get this fuzzy feeling behind my eyes almost like light headedness. 

 

3 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

Before you cut gluten out you may want to first get a blood test for celiac disease. Once you go gluten-free you cannot be tested for celiac disease.

Here is more info about how to do a gluten challenge for a celiac disease blood panel, or for an endoscopy:

and this recent study recommends 4-6 slices of wheat bread per day:

 

 

Thank you very much for this I will contact my doctor and talk to her about it.

[Jgrace88]

6 hours ago, Carmen22 said:

Ive got panic attacks, anxiety and really bad digestion, also breathing issues as well and more issues that became worse over time. PPIs did not work for me at all and even made it worse. I just got diagnosed 2 weeks ago still not doing better, because my body went through a lot I guess. I got tested 1,5 years ago but then it did not came back positive and now it did. But talk it over with your doctor and make sure to at least get tested! Do not take no for an answer this is your health! 

and the pressure I have that as well as heartburn. But symptoms can vary per person

Thank you I am definitely going to follow through with my doctor and get tested