Are These Symptoms Possibly From Gluten?

[Lymetoo]

I've had bad pain in the area of my kidneys for about a year. I had a CT scan several months ago and it showed that the kidneys were fine. My bloodwork is slightly abnormal on the BUN/creatinine.

I've been getting foot and hand cramps for several months. It seems to happen if I forget to take my calcium. So I was wondering if maybe I'm not absorbing the calcium?

Thanks in advance!

[BeckyW]

I get hand and feet numbness and tingling when my calcium levels are low. I had my thyroid removed in February and I am not producing calcium and have to take mega doses of calcium daily. Not sure about the kidney pain though. Have you had a blood calcium level checked? Hope this helps!

[Lymetoo]

I get hand and feet numbness and tingling when my calcium levels are low. I had my thyroid removed in February and I am not producing calcium and have to take mega doses of calcium daily. Not sure about the kidney pain though. Have you had a blood calcium level checked? Hope this helps!

Well, I just started on armour thyroid about 2 months ago. I wondered if the "kidney" pain might actually be from my colon??

Need to see about blood calcium levels. Thanks!

[Ursa Major]

I had excrutiating back pain most of my life (from the age of about 7), and nobody could figure out why. It went almost totally away the day after eliminating gluten! And my back is still the best it's been since I've been a little kid. The back pain comes right back when glutened (or if I eat rice, eggs or soy, but most with gluten).

So, it is entirely possible that your backpain is caused by gluten intolerance. I also used to get pain/cramping/tingling/numbness in my hands and feet, and don't any more.

[jerseyangel]

I had tingling and numbness in my face, left arm and both legs before going gluten-free. It has gone away, except for the facial numbness, which gets worse when glutened. My left arm would feel strange--I still don't know how to explain it--heavy, numb, like it didn't belong to the rest of my body. It was scary at the time--I had no idea about Celiac or what it could cause.

I still get cramping in my calves, especially at night. I am awaiting results of blood tests which included TSH, T3 and T4 to check my thyroid.

[Lymetoo]

I had tingling and numbness in my face, left arm and both legs before going gluten-free. It has gone away, except for the facial numbness, which gets worse when glutened. My left arm would feel strange--I still don't know how to explain it--heavy, numb, like it didn't belong to the rest of my body. It was scary at the time--I had no idea about Celiac or what it could cause.

I still get cramping in my calves, especially at night. I am awaiting results of blood tests which included TSH, T3 and T4 to check my thyroid.

Thanks! I was just thinking about the gluten being the cause of the back pain today. It would be a relief to get rid of that!!

[olalisa]

Before my dx I had intermittent back pain. A few months before my dx I began to have foot cramps multiple times daily. It was one of the symptoms that got me BACK to the doctor AGAIN and made me demand that they figure out what the heck was wrong with me! The foot cramps (and the back pain) resolved about 2 weeks after going gluten free. Now I only get them when I've been glutened--esp the foot cramps.

[Lymetoo]

Before my dx I had intermittent back pain. A few months before my dx I began to have foot cramps multiple times daily. It was one of the symptoms that got me BACK to the doctor AGAIN and made me demand that they figure out what the heck was wrong with me! The foot cramps (and the back pain) resolved about 2 weeks after going gluten free. Now I only get them when I've been glutened--esp the foot cramps.

Thank you! That gives me hope!!

[jams]

Very interesting... I just had a ct scan 2 days ago for kidney pain. They took my gallbladder out and thought it was maybe the pylop on that that was causing the pain. It is a dull nagging pain on the right side. I have had it for 2 years and I am gluten free. I won't get the results until Monday.

[wozzy]

It's hard to tell. Symptoms can be caused by so much. I start to drive myself crazy if I think about what's causing every one of my ailments.

[Guest Robbin]

It's hard to tell. Symptoms can be caused by so much. I start to drive myself crazy if I think about what's causing every one of my ailments.

I hear you on that score--I hurt at some point on my body continuously and I wonder sometimes how would I know I don't have cancer or something life-threatening? I try not to think about it too much unless I am unable to walk, talk or breathe . My back has hurt for as long as I can remember. I've had malabsorbtion probably since childhood for which I blame the scoliosis, then had a herniated disk and broken tailbone from a forceps delivery of my second child. I've been gluten-free since January and have had improvements everywhere except the back. You give me hope, Ursula.

I suggest that anyone with a back problem make sure that their dr. checks their gallbladder too. It can cause back pain-weird, but true. Also, have your feet and legs checked out. Sometimes foot abnormalities and one leg shorter than the other -even1/4 -1/2 of an inch--can cause problems too (I have those lovely conditions too ) Take care.

[andrew1234]

Dear Lymetoo,

your sympotoms could be caused by hypocalcemia (low blood levels of calcium) which is common in celiac sprue. For your body to absorb calcium you need to first absorb vitamin D. The main function of vit. d is intestinal absorption of Calcium. Hence if you're not absorbing vit. d then you're not absorbing Ca. Some people also mention that they have tingling, or bone pain. These are all signs of hypocalcemia because if Calcium is not absorbed from the intestines then the body tries to take it from the bone (the major source of Ca. in the body). Tingling is due to the fact that Ca. is needed for the function of nerves. Your kidney pain is probably due to "secondary hyperparathyroidism" which occurs after long term hypocalcemia. I hope I am not too technical in my explanation. I would talk to your doctor and have your parathyroid hormone levels checked.... I hope this helps....Andrew

[eKatherine]

I used to get foot and leg cramps that calcium didn't help. It turned out that they were cured by taking vitamin E caplets (d-alpha tocopherol only). If the calcium supplementation doesn't do it, you might want to try that.