Head/gut Connections

[Flor]

Hi all,

Two long-winded questions for you all:

1. My celiac symptoms emerged clearly at exactly the same time as I developed joint pain AND began to have serious problems with anxiety and depression. The research on autism seems to overlap here in terms of making sense of genetic predispositions that are triggered by environmental stressors into auto-immune disorders that affect both head and gut (in my case the environmental stressors I know about were: childbirth, multiple antibiotics, extreme sleep deprivation, long-term nursing, repeated mastitis, and rotavirus).

So I've wound up going down a road of diet changes (no gluten, soy, dairy, or much starch or sugar of any kind) and anti-depressants/anti-anxiety drugs (Zoloft, Lexapro, Effexor -- terrible drug, and now Wellbutrin). The drugs, by the way, seem to have absolutely no effect on the gut symptoms. But I understand that we have way more serotonin receptors in our guts than we do in our brains AND that there's some connection between auto-immune disorders and oxidation within the cells (leading to free radicals, etc) -- so that things like Co-enzyme Q10 might be helpful -- something about being a glutathione precursor and glutathione being something essential to gut functioning AND to neurotransmitter functioning?

It all seems so CONNECTED but I haven't read anywhere about this connection being spelled out for people with Celiac and other chronic gut problems. SO: I'm curious about other people's experiences with anxiety/depression as part of their celiac symptoms. Is there an area on this message board where people talk just about this head stuff? Is there anyone here who knows more about this brain/gut connection? The autism folks are consulting with some pretty interesting doctors at the frontiers of this stuff -- involving de-toxification, chelation, supplements/diet changes. (side note: pretty interesting article in the recent Discovery magazine about new autism research/treatment -- seems very relevant to celiac stuff as well).

2. My second question is: what have people's experiences been with the "Guts and Glory" diet (the link is here: Open Original Shared Link .com/Restoring-Your-Diges.../dp/0758202822). It seems to be a refining and improvement on Elaine Gottshall's stuff. But I tried it for a few days and it made me incredibly sick -- maybe that was detoxification? They swear by the use of liquid CLAY for detoxification, something called HSOs which sound like probiotics that live in the soil (I haven't found any in stores yet), and avoiding all sugars and starches that aren't vegetable or fruit-based. A lot of the gluten-free foods would NOT be recommended by them, for example.

I've found that when I eat a lot of the specifically gluten-free foods -- which are often processed substitute grains -- that I feel less well than when I just eat very little starch of any kind and stick with simple forms of protein and vegetables. Anyone else have experience with this diet? They claim to address problems from Celiac to Crohn's to IBS to candida etc etc.

[MO3]

Hi all,

Two long-winded questions for you all:

1. My celiac symptoms emerged clearly at exactly the same time as I developed joint pain AND began to have serious problems with anxiety and depression. The research on autism seems to overlap here in terms of making sense of genetic predispositions that are triggered by environmental stressors into auto-immune disorders that affect both head and gut (in my case the environmental stressors I know about were: childbirth, multiple antibiotics, extreme sleep deprivation, long-term nursing, repeated mastitis, and rotavirus).

So I've wound up going down a road of diet changes (no gluten, soy, dairy, or much starch or sugar of any kind) and anti-depressants/anti-anxiety drugs (Zoloft, Lexapro, Effexor -- terrible drug, and now Wellbutrin). The drugs, by the way, seem to have absolutely no effect on the gut symptoms. But I understand that we have way more serotonin receptors in our guts than we do in our brains AND that there's some connection between auto-immune disorders and oxidation within the cells (leading to free radicals, etc) -- so that things like Co-enzyme Q10 might be helpful -- something about being a glutathione precursor and glutathione being something essential to gut functioning AND to neurotransmitter functioning?

It all seems so CONNECTED but I haven't read anywhere about this connection being spelled out for people with Celiac and other chronic gut problems. SO: I'm curious about other people's experiences with anxiety/depression as part of their celiac symptoms. Is there an area on this message board where people talk just about this head stuff? Is there anyone here who knows more about this brain/gut connection? The autism folks are consulting with some pretty interesting doctors at the frontiers of this stuff -- involving de-toxification, chelation, supplements/diet changes. (side note: pretty interesting article in the recent Discovery magazine about new autism research/treatment -- seems very relevant to celiac stuff as well).

2. My second question is: what have people's experiences been with the "Guts and Glory" diet (the link is here: <a href="Open Original Shared Link .com/Restoring-Your-Digestive-Health-Transfom/dp/0758202822)" target="external ugc nofollow">Open Original Shared Link .com/Restoring-Your-Diges.../dp/0758202822)</a>. It seems to be a refining and improvement on Elaine Gottshall's stuff. But I tried it for a few days and it made me incredibly sick -- maybe that was detoxification? They swear by the use of liquid CLAY for detoxification, something called HSOs which sound like probiotics that live in the soil (I haven't found any in stores yet), and avoiding all sugars and starches that aren't vegetable or fruit-based. A lot of the gluten-free foods would NOT be recommended by them, for example.

I've found that when I eat a lot of the specifically gluten-free foods -- which are often processed substitute grains -- that I feel less well than when I just eat very little starch of any kind and stick with simple forms of protein and vegetables. Anyone else have experience with this diet? They claim to address problems from Celiac to Crohn's to IBS to candida etc etc.

Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Cambell-McBride This book covers many illnesses that involve both the brain and gut.

[wowzer]

I think I may have been set off by a rotovirus. I also had a lot of joint pain. I also have the yeast problem going on since going gluten free. One of the first things I noticed going gluten free is I felt calmer. It is also possible that you aren't absorbing the drugs properly too. I think many more symptoms are connected with celiac than you can imagine. The more I read on here, the more I see symptoms that I've suffered for years. I only went gluten free the beginning of the year. I have many symptoms that have disappeared. I'm still working on the yeast one though. I also read somewhere that anyone with immune disorders should also be food allergy tested. I'm still working on that one.

[eleep]

I have nothing useful to add here, but I'd be interested in hearing more about the efficacy of Co-enzyme Q10 for such things.