Headaches In Celiac Patients

[jebus]

Hi everyone, since I'm new here, can anyone tell me if headaches are a common symptom? I've been treated for migraines and tension headaches for years and was diagnosed with Celiac disease on September 1st. Thanks for the input.

Jebus

[Guest cassidy]

Headaches are a common symptom. I suffered from them for years. They were the type where you just wanted to curl into a ball and squeeze your head because it hurt so bad you couldn't do anything. Now, when I'm glutened I get a headache that starts about a day after the glutening and lasts for up to 24 hours.

I went to a chiropractor before (after trying all sorts of things) and he could get rid of the headaches. He called them liver headaches and would push near my liver and it would start gurgling and the headache would go away - it was a little more complicated than that. I haven't tried this since being gluten-free since they only last for a day and I would have to be worked in right away. I guess it makes sense if our bodies are being poisoned and the liver clears toxins from the body.

[Matilda]

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[Corkdarrr]

I was at my wit's end trying to find a trigger for my migraines when I went gluten free as a last resort.

While it only cut my headaches back a little bit, I realized that my stomach felt great!

Courtney

[Guest adamssa]

hi jebus,

before going gluten free, i would get headaches EVERYDAY. it was some kind of hell...but now, i am o.k. as far as headaches go except for terrible sinus problems. but, to help with it you may want to consider taking calcium and/or magnesium. i also had to detox my liver with silymarin. your liver can get toxic from so much time of bad digestion and detoxing it will help a lot. i am willing to bet that gluten free living will help you, but additional treatments can really help repair the damage giving you the problems. a good nutritional balancer or holistic doctor might be able to help you even more to figure out what areas you specifically may need to address.

best,

sara

[georgie]

WOW I am impressed ! Do you mean my 30 years of DAILY headaches could be a Gluten symptom ? And the migraine I had yesterday could be related to the gluten I had 4 days ago ????

My migraines started about 15 years ago. I used to get about 3 or 4 attacks a year of those plus the daily headaches.

How long does it take to be gluten free to be rid of the headaches.?

[mandyann]

Hi-

I'm going on 6 weeks gluten free and am still having migraines. Last spring when I went off gluten the first time, my migraines were awful in the first two weeks but by about 8 weeks I started feeling better. I did go back on gluten over the summer for the blood work which came back positive. I'm hopeful that my migraines are caused by gluten, I'd give up just about anything to make them go away.

[Guest adamssa]

ahh, i'm not sure exactly when the headaches started to go away, because i had both tension -migraine headches and sinus headaches that remained after i got rid of the other kind. but, i've been gluten free since the spring...by the summer i had gotten rid of all but the sinus. it will vary from person to person, but i bet a few months would make a difference. i also noticed that i start getting headaches again when i stop taking calcium and magnesium.

good luck

sara

[Jennifer111]

I am completely on the same page as everyone..i was diagnosed with migraines when i was about 15 but previously always had headaches....and lately they have been outrageous... same with back in the spring the summer was more hear and there but im not sure how i was eating...

anyways I was recently diagnosed with Celiac and so now I am curious if all this time instead of being on imitrex..bc most doctors fix everything with pills...i should have been watchin my diet all along....its amazing how you connect the puzzle pieces after the fact....we will see how long mine last im hoping not much longer take care everyone

[Audiori J]

Its amazing how the puzzle pieces fit, I just last week found out about celiac disease so I just stopped eating Gluten this week. I am 98% I have thes without even going to the doctor, because I have almost all symptoms everyone talks about here, and I've always thought it was food related.

I suffer from Migraines as well and take Imitrex injections which work most of the time, if the migraine is really bad it might not work. About two weeks ago I went to the doctor because when I get migraines I vomit, and i always thought it was drainage from sinus problems. I had sinus surgery which cleared most of my sinus issues. And I still vomit with a headache, I had the thought that my vomitting was not drainage but bile. My doctor agreed. Now...if your liver cleanses toxins from your body, this makes even more sense.

My doctor said that it was normal for migraines to vomit bile, I thought it maybe normal for migraines but its not normal for humans. There has to be something causing it.

[breann6]

i have migraines as well, and also before was having daily headaches. after about 2-3 weeks gluten lite the headaches were still the same, but when i went gluten free- they tapered down after about the first week. i am only two weeks gluten free so this week has been my first without headaches (the daily there just enough to put you in pain, but you can still function, not a migraine) it feels so great. also this week it seems my thinking is sharper. i am quicker to say what i am thinking and less forgetful. 'stress' on -less- forgetful....

i haven't had a migraine yet. i was having those about once every other month or so, i am not quite that long since my last...

best wishes!!

[jerseyangel]

Thankfully, I don't get migraines. But I used to wake up every morning with a headache that started at the base of my skull. It caused me to be nauseous, and often woke me up.

When I went gluten-free, those headaches went away. I've only had a couple since, and it's been almost a year and a half. I don't know exactly what they were, but I'm so glad they're gone!

[julie5914]

I get terrible headaches as well. I think they may be classified as migraines, but they connect to tension in my neck and shoulders. They seem to worsen with cold weather and other things that would change the size of my bloos vessels like wine or caffeine.

I too hoped they would go away with the gluten-free diet, but it has been over a year, and I still get them, sorry to tell you. I suspect it may be a separate autoimmune problem - I also get reynauds - so my blood vessels seem to overreact to stimuli.

[Sophiekins]

Hi Julie - have you talked to your doc about your hormones? I get migraines from gluten - but I also get virtually identical migraines when my hormones do the wacky once a month (and not necessarily at that time). . .my doc put me on hormone supplements which has pretty much eliminated the migraines (although it took a while to work out the right dose), though I still get one occasionally when I accidentally get glutened, or when I forget to eat the whole day and my blood sugar crashes.

[sparkles]

I suffered from migraines and other headaches from the time I was 13 until I went gluten-free in June of 2002. It was several weeks after going gluten-free and I realized that I had not had a headache. I usually had 2-3 headaches a week. I can even eat the things that triggered migraines before such as wine, cheese, chocolate! I am 60 now and suffered a lot of years with those headaches!!!!! Occasionally I will get a headache but I don't even need to take an aspirin now because the pain is NOTHING compared to the headaches I used to have! Lots of great things happen when you go gluten-free! ... plus you don't have to know where the bathroom is every time you go out!!!

[georgie]

I have been gluten-free for 4 months and still have the headaches. So ...another reason ? I think they are a bit better but I still get the daily dull pain type. When I was glutened last month I got a migraine the next day. I normally only get 2 migraines a year so I thought that was significient.

[Rebecca47]

Heres my 2 cents worth, I have been having migraines for about 20 yrs and I thought it was because of weather change etc., I used to wish that I could just rip out my eye and I would feel better. The sick stomach , turn all the lights off close my eyes only helped so much. They would last anywhere from 1 day to 3 days. I have been gluten free for 3.5 months and not one migraine, knock on wood. I used to get them at least once or twice a month. I love it

Rebecca

[mandyann]

I too have had headaches for at least 20 years and have recently gone gluten free. My headaches have persisted but are getting better. The one other big trigger for me I'm finding is chocolate . Now that gluten is not a factor it seems that it's easier to pin point the other triggers or sensitivities.

[owka4u]

Hi,

I started getting the headaches in my 30's long before I was diagnosed with celiac. I went through 2 nasoplasty surgeries thinking they were sinus related. The headaches got progressively worse over the years and would last 3 days and I would be noushsous as well. My doctors tried Imitrix but the only thing that helped was Demerol and it only helped the first day then the headache was right back. Finally I went to an Urgent Care clinic with a full blown headache with nausea to get a shot of Demerol and a doctor who normally headed a pain clinic asked if he could try something else which had to administered by IV drip at first. I said yes thinking it probably would not work. But after about a half an hour, I walked out with no headache or nausea.

The medication is DHE 45 and the generic is Dihydroergotamine Mesylate Injection, USP. It has to be injected inter-muscular in the thigh at the onset of the headache, but it is the only thing that has worked for me.

I was not diagnosed with celiac until being treated for Hepatitis C which caused the celiac to become full blown and put me in the hospital. After this I had some really bad episodes of headaches; the worse lasting for about 15 days. It was a very stressful time in my life and occurred in the months of June and July, so I think it was a mixture of allergies and celiac aggregated by stress. Usually at their worse the headaches came once or twice a month. At the time I had a job where I could take time off without pay or use vacation time or I would have been let go.

When that job left the state, I finally had to apply for disability and the judge was amazed I was able to work as long as i did. The headaches have gotten less frequent with age and strict dieting, but I still get them. If I take the shot as soon as I feel a headache coming on, it will stop it after a couple of hours and the next day it will be gone.

If you have high blood pressure you may not be able to use this medication. I hope this information helps.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

I've been gluten-free for about 2 months. I still get headaches, but not as often. I've had maybe 1 or 2 migraines since going gluten-free. Mine headaches alway start above one of my eyebrows and if it goes into a migraine, goes from my eyebrow down the side of my head to my ear. Always the same. They seem to be worse around my period or when barometric pressure changes.

They are, however, better since going gluten-free. So yay for that. Also, I just feel a whole lot better since going gluten-free, just waiting for my energy to return.

[Lisa16]

The headaches I got were absolutely bar none the worst symptom, as in most debilitating. And I am factoring in multiple bouts of cramping diarreah. They were the most painful thing. I would be on my knees, pulling my hair with tears streaming down my face. Nothing would touch them. Nothing. Even when I had my gallbladder out or my hysterectomy, they gave me morphine. Morphine did not touch that headache. That is bad.

And they were getting worse-- more frequent. I was missing work. I was missing life.

And it happened that at the end I was down to eating "simple starches" and getting sicker and sicker.

For example, I would eat spaghetti and get sick. So I would think-- wow! It must be the spices or tomto sauce. I guess I won't eat those any more. Or I would eat a salad and get sick. So I would think-- wow! I must not be able to digest lettuce! I guess I better stop eating that. In the end I would eat toast, crackers, noodles in broth-- that sort of thing. My God! I went for over 20 years like this.

And I was getting these hideous headaches five times a week. I might only have one of two good days. Life stank. I almost lost it.

But since going gluten-free (Dec. 1 will be one year!) tyhe headaches are gone. I never once, never ever, got a bad one like that again. For that alone I will never eat another bagel.

Good luck!

[Sahara]

Hi, I am the same age, 60, and have had great relief from headache since going gluten free. Of course every now and then, when out and being sociable I eat something containing gluten and within a day or two wham! with the headache. Just wondering whether others notice an immediate reaction to gluten re headaches or like me, a delayed one.

[Cara in Boston]

Before going gluten free I would buy a bottle of Advil about once a month.

I went gluten free in March 2011 and have not needed to buy any since then - still have half a bottle left. I get occasional headaches (usually sinus related) now and then, but nowhere near what was "normal" for me in the past.

I was also diagnosed with GERD - supposedly from taking too much advil - but those symptoms have gone away since being gluten free as well.

Cara

[kittty]

I had both migraine and sinus headaches, usually multiple times per week. Since I went gluten-free about 4 months ago, I've had two headaches. I used to go through so much Excedrin that I'm sure it wasn't healthy.

I was also treated for GERD, and haven't had any of those problems since going gluten-free either.

Seems to be a common theme.

I used to suffer from extreme anxiety too, and that has lessened since going gluten-free, but I still get mild anxiety. Hopefully it will go away completely once my body is totally healed.

[Ranne10]

I've had migraines for 20 years 3-5 times per week. I've been on numerous meds to control them but nothing worked long. I carry Shots with me in case it gets bad at work.

I started my gluten free journey 6 weeks ago and I've had 3 migraines in that time. Thing is I can point to accidental gluten ingestion each of those times. Although its challenging and I do miss bread I will gladly stay gluten free to rid myself of the migraines!