Bipolar And Celiac Disease

[DeniseJarvis]

Bipolar and Celiac Disease

Does anyone know of a correlation of Bipolar Disorder and Celiac? Does anyone know of any information of people diagnosed as bipolar, but really having Celiac disease, and no longer needing their medication for bipolar disorder any longer?

Thanks.

Denise.

[celiacgirls]

I don't know of any studies. I do know my daughter was probably, according to her therapist, on the path to getting dx'ed with bipolar. She was diagnosed ODD/depression. Another doctor suggested she had Intermittent Explosive Disorder. She is not off from her antidepressant yet but we are tapering very slowly. The only time she acts that way now is when she has had gluten or casein.

I'm convinced there are people diagnosed with bipolar who really have gluten and/or casein intolerance. My daughter looks bipolar to me when she has had casein. One minute she is happy and within 10 minutes she has turned into an aggressive, mean, unreasonable person. If I didn't know she reacted to casein, I would think it came out of nowhere. Gluten doesn't cause a reaction as quickly but does make her more irritable.

This isn't for bipolar but I was able to go off my a/d starting 2 days after going gluten-free.

[The One]

I don't know if this is what you are looking for, though they don't talk about Bipolar in this article, they talk of a way to reverse psychiatric disorders caused by Celiac or other diseases. I would think that if schizophrenia can be reversed this way, then bipolar could too. There's even people who don't need a treatment other than a strict gluten free diet, it will take a long time though, possibly years until you see a difference.

Open Original Shared Link

[confused]

Bipolar and Celiac Disease

Does anyone know of a correlation of Bipolar Disorder and Celiac? Does anyone know of any information of people diagnosed as bipolar, but really having Celiac disease, and no longer needing their medication for bipolar disorder any longer?

Thanks.

Denise.

I would love to hear more this, My grandma was bi-polar and so was her twin. We also have a few that are on dperession/anxiety meds, and would be interested to know if their is an connection, or if their problems could lessen if they got rid of gluten. my grandma passed away 2 yrs ago, so i will never know, but it would have been nice to know more about celiac years ago

paula

[eLaurie]

Bipolar II or 'soft' bipolar is my diagnosis. I've had alternating anxiety/hypomania/insomnia and non-situational depression since childhood.

I've only been gluten free for 7 months; from what I understand from others, it can take 18 months gluten-free for symptom resolution. Then others have told me they're much improved years out, but still feel they have some permanent neurological damage with associated psychiatric symptoms.

Here's a link to an old thread which has a link in the last post to yet another related thread.

Open Original Shared Link

[DeniseJarvis]

This is just unbelievable, to find all this information. I just want to thank everyone so much, for the info, and links you posted. I have just been reading and reading and reading, taking it all it.

It just makes you want to cry. For what everyone had to go through unnecessarily, just because of

[sherylj]

Denise, I am diagnosed Bipolar Type II and I would love the wheat free diet to make that go away. I felt intense joy when first diagnosed that I finally had "control" over my disease.

Yes, I do have control over my diet. But my Bipolar diagnosis is still there and I am still taking my meds. The first post I wrote was asking "can I ease off my meds now??" And the answer was it would not be a good idea. I did arrange to cut back on one of my antidepressants and feel really good about that.

I don't know what your situation is..it sounds like you are feeling really great right now and the gluten free diet is working for you. I have only been gluten free for three weeks and I've been having those "Quaker" rice cakes which I hear are contaminated,,,so even though I have no gastro symptoms,,my mood is subdued right now and I have other stuff going on in my life which is putting me on the blah side.

Try researching bipolar and celiac and see if there is are any clinical trials being done..Hey at this point I would volunteer to be in a trial (ha,,as long as I get to be in the gluten free control group)!!!!!!!!!! We all know ingesting gluten makes us feel worse so It only makes sense no gluten makes us feel better but with bipolar is a whole different ball game!

Keep up with the gluten free...you will continue to feel better.

I wish all the best for you. Keep us all posted. Sherylj

[DingoGirl]

Hi Denise, adn welcome to the forum!

I am bipolar type II also and have had a really crazy life. I was diagnosed a little over a year ago. Within six days of gluten removal, I lfelt quite literally as if I'd emerged from a dense and bleak fog....it was incredible. I maintained this surge of energy for several weeks or months - can't remember now. I was severely malnourished at time of dx - had no energy at all and was sleeping at least 14 to 16 hours every day. I remember in the beginning having some ups and downs - - but was also going through a terrible breakup.

Over the summer I got a little sloppy with the eating, and fell into a deep pit. It lasted a couple of months but felt like an eternity. I had cut back on my antidepressant, then resumed taking them. I'm on a maintenance dose now.

For the most part, I've never felt better. But, there are life situations and things I grieve that I never had because of life being so up and down for me for so many years - - lack of stability in oneself makes many things very tough, as you probably know. So, I do feel better than ever, have great mental clarity and energy; I think the times when I become low have to do with life issues and not so much chemical imbalances. Unless, of course, I ingest gluten - - and then I plummet quickly for a day or two.

I do just want to warn you that there may be ups and downs while your body adjusts. Also, it helps to eat little to no processed foods. I really don't ingest chemicals of any kinds, artificial or processed anything.....that has made such a huge difference.

Yes, wheat is EVIL. I am angry that I lost so many years of my life to the ups and downs, the exhaustion of it all.....

Enjoy your gluten-free life.

[cyberprof]

This is just unbelievable, to find all this information. I just want to thank everyone so much, for the info, and links you posted. I have just been reading and reading and reading, taking it all it.

It just makes you want to cry. For what everyone had to go through unnecessarily, just because of

[Guest cassidy]

My father was diagnosed as bipolar. I know I got celiac from my mother, but as a child it was my father who had the exact same symptoms as I do. So, I don't know how improbable this is, but I think my father may have celiac as well. His mother also had stomach cancer and was institutionalized so who knows if it runs in both sides of my family.

He was also very abusive so I haven't talked to him in years and did my best to make it so he couldn't find me, so I couldn't warn him about celiac if I tried. It would be strange if all of his mental problems were due to celiac; my childhood would certainly have been different.

I also get anxiety when I'm glutened. I realize that isn't as severe, but it is definitely a psychological symptom that comes from gluten. I'm not anxious at all when I'm not glutened. Sometimes it gets so bad that I feel paranoid. I have a prescription for xanax which makes me feel much better but I only need it the first couple days after being glutened.

[DeniseJarvis]

Thank you so much for all your posts. I really appreciate it.

My mother was diagnosed as bipolar about 50 years ago. Me being a little girl having to grow up in that, was really hard. She was more schizophrenic/bipolar. I was told I had a learning disability as a child. When I became 12, I had my first depression. I wrote a suicide note, and I didn

[boroboy77]

I used to wonder about the possibility of coeliac disease being related to autism and/or Asperger's, and then when I learned about bipolar disorder I came up with a triangle which linked all 3. amateur mumbo-jumbo but maybe someone will find it interesting...

from what I gather Asperger's and bipolar have been found to be comorbid, and it seems coeliac disease and bipolar could also be linked. so is it reasonable to say then that coeliac disease could be linked to autism and/or Asperger's by way of this triangle?

just a thought

[jacqui]

Bipolar and Celiac Disease

Does anyone know of a correlation of Bipolar Disorder and Celiac? Does anyone know of any information of people diagnosed as bipolar, but really having Celiac disease, and no longer needing their medication for bipolar disorder any longer?

Thanks.

Denise.

I don't have an answer, but I have read that a gluten-free diet is very helpful in psych diagnoses, autism and MS. I mean look at some of us on this forum who have gone through serious mood swings, temper tantrums, anger, depression...all related to gluten sensitivity/intolerance or celiac disease. Dr. H worte an article about celiac disease being brain only symptoms and no GI symptoms. Of course, I had to have both and my neuro symptoms do not want to go away.

[Flor]

Hi all,

I just posted with similar questions under the Celiac and Behavior section -- about the links between autism, celiac and other chronic head/gut illnesses that seem to be a combo of genetics triggered by enviromental stressors.

Latest issue of Discover magazine has an interesting piece on autism research that seemed relevant for Celiac as well.

In my case, I can trace latent signs of head/gut problems back into childhood, but it wasn't until having a child and a bunch of specific physical and emotional stressors that followed from that...that I became loud and clearly symptomatic. And for me the anxiety, depression, inflammation, and diarrhea/bloating all started together. They feel like all the same thing and I'm trying to figure out how to address is systematically.

But I've been down two separate roads -- anxiety/depression drugs and diet changes. Neither road has succeeded entirely yet, though small improvements.

I'd love a regular thread to talk about these head/gut connections. Is there one?

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I think for many bipolar people, caffeine/coffee may be just as strong a factor as gluten. There are even some studies on this, but since we never hear about them, I guess the coffee industry has as much political clout as the wheat and pharmaceutical industries...

When you think about it, caffeine (in the form of coffee and sodas) is a legal DRUG. It's a central nervous system stimulant, like Ritalin.

[Fiercelaststand]

Just like to add my experience. My story is unique. I only figured out i have celiac disease about 4 months ago. I believe i inherited celiac disease from my mom's side of the family - full of auto-immune disorders. I have two grandfathers that killed themselves - one in a mental hospital and one out of a mental hospital. I have a psychotic grandmother who terrorized my mother, who then grew up, had my brother and I, and terrorized us. My mom has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and fibromyalgia and has always been on a heavy list of medications which she often abused or overdosed on. My brother struggled with depression all his life, as well as years of alcoholism and drug abuse, until the age of 29 when he overdosed on cocaine and passed away. As for myself, when i think back to being little, remember always feeling sick. Stomach aches were a frequent, almost daily affliction. My mother wasn't much of an eater - but the house was always full of cookies, sugary cereals, cakes, pies, and carbs. At the age of 12, i stopped sleeping. By high school, i never slept through a night and gained so much weight i wore a size 21. I always had headaches, always had stomach aches. I left home at 19. By the time i was 22, i had my own apartment. I was going to change my life, I had decided. I was going to be different than my family. Only a week after i moved into my new home, i received the phone call that my brother had passed. I believe THIS is when the disease was fully triggered. Although i know that grief had a large part to play in the immediate physical sufferings i went through, six months later i had lost 60 pounds and could hardly hold any food down. By the time i was 24, i had the runs every day of my life. I was so used to it. Just figured it was a part of the bi-polar life. I thought about killing myself all the time. My friends all knew i went in cycles. Some days i was okay, but most of the time i was an absolute wreck. I struggled with alcoholism, i cried all the time. I was moody and impossible at work. I had anger issues up the wazoo. Sometimes i would not get out of bed for three days or so. Eating always made me feel sick. I carried around soda crackers and ginger ale like my life depended on it - but never felt better.

Recently, within the last four months, i stumbled upon an article describing the physical symptoms that had been getting increasingly worse - the runs, extreme fatigue, vomiting. It was here i discovered my celiac disease. Four months later, i am a different woman. I have not had one panic attack. I haven't had ONE day where i can't get out of bed from depression. I haven't had episodes of crying that leave me on the floor and are so intense that i think i might throw up. My entire life is different after going Gluten-Free. I know this has been my problem, and I can't believe it all came down to what i have been eating. Because of the disease being untreated, and my post-grief desires for beer and cake, i of course suffer from many deficiences.

For anyone suffering from bi-polar, i highly recommend testing for celiac disease. It changed my life. I only wish i could have known before my brother passed away, but i hope that my experience can help someone else who suffers the way i did, or knows someone who is.

[Tina B]

This is just unbelievable, to find all this information. I just want to thank everyone so much, for the info, and links you posted. I have just been reading and reading and reading, taking it all it.

It just makes you want to cry. For what everyone had to go through unnecessarily, just because of 'gluten'. If only everyone would be aware of gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease. It causes so many illnesses.

I had depression mostly all my life, it was very bad. Such black, darkness within my heart. And to only be gluten-free for 28 days, and have no depression at all anymore. And the brain fog, gone. And having such clear thinking now. And the 'happiness'.

It is just all unbelievable and sort of hard to take all in. The change that happens to you. It's like going back to a time that once you knew of some happiness, some clear headedness, and to be at that place again. It's almost like a miracle, feels like a miracle took place.

It's unbelievable, you want to tell EVERYONE about this. I think the whole world suffers from eating grain (gluten). I don't believe grain was meant for human consumption, I really don't. I think it was only meant for maybe certain animals to digest. Not for humans. The damage it causes to us, the neurological damage, there is no way grain could have ever been meant, for us humans to eat it.

Just thanks again for your posts. You have all helped me so much. I am still just overcome with finding out about gluten intolerance and celiac. It is unbelievable

[Skylark]

Fiercelaststand, your story is not as unique as you think. Mine's in my profile. Lifelong stomach trouble, anxiety, canker sores, borderline anemia, fatigue, thyroid problems, depression in my early 20s. Prozac made me bipolar and I ended up on lithium and depakote which barely worked. (Obviously I know now that's because the underlying cause was gluten.)

I had to do a lot more than go gluten-free because the Prozac seems to have permanently damaged me. I am on a LOT of vitamins/minerals and supplements to maintain my mental health.

@TinaB I was screened for celiac as a baby and came up negative. That did DAMAGE as I never got a proper diagnosis. Screening is no good when the tests are no good.

[ravenwoodglass]

Maybe some day it will become a standard newborn screening test like PKA is.

IMHO it would be a rare infant that was born with celiac, not that it could never happen but Celiac normally requires a trigger, an illness or stress that causes it to become active.

In countries that screen children, with or without symptoms they are tested at about 4 and again at puberty or at any point when they become symptomatic.