Depression

[sleepy1]

I am new to this and not one that normaly talks about my problems but is depression a normality with celiac i have been down for so long and it's only getting worse i have an appoinment with my doctor wensday but i really just want to go to sleep and just not wake up in the morning sorry to put this on any of you but no one around here to talk to that even comes close to understanding anything about celiac most don't even know what glutten is I have only been glutten free since March 23 2007 so it hasn't even been a month yet will i feel better soon both physicly and mentaly

[ravenwoodglass]

Yes, gluten is a neurotoxin and for some celiacs depression, especially the kind that comes on quick and leaves suddenly, can be a dominat feature for years before the GI stuff shows up.

The good news is that after the gluten reaction leaves your system this should be relieved without drug therapy, in fact many celiacs are not helped by meds but made worse.

My family now recognizes the clear connection, it is one of the first signs that we got something we shouldn't. It is an awful feeling but it passes.

[Jestgar]

Yes! Depression was one of my big symptoms and I didn't even realize how bad it was till it went away. Hang in there and give your body a chance to remember how it's supposed to feel.

[BamBam]

Yes, depression was a huge factor in my life. The one thing that you have to remember though, is you will feel better and better as long as no gluten gets into your diet. I didn't understand how much that meant until I searched the ingredient lists on my lotions, hair products, soap and makeup. I thought that was foolish, to have to worry about gluten in those items. Well, it is not foolish. I have done the best I can, but as far as I know I don't have any gluten in my life and my depression is gone. If I get gluten into my life, I do feel depressed again. I had the suicidal depression. I spent a week at a clinic several years ago dealing with my feelings, needs and emotions. Since I've been gluten and dairy free, I have no depression.

BamBam

[yellowbird22]

I have had serious problems with depression and mood disorders all my life. At one point I was even diagnosed manic depressive. But that doctor was stupid because I am not manic depressive. Once I stopped taking all the meds I was on (which were actually making me worse) and changed my diet I started to get much better. I started eating really healthy (completly cut out sugar, reduced alcohol, didn't eat processed foods, cut down on meat, ate more veggies and fruits) but I was still eating gluten because I didn't know about the Celiac then. I was still depressed, just not crazy with manic symptoms. I have recently gone gluten free and now my depression is completely gone. It is really, really important that I also eat NO sugar in addition to no gluten. If I get even a little of either my depression comes back.

[JerryK]

I'll cast a whole hearted yeppers to depression being caused by gluten. In my case it's within 4 hours of eating it and it lasts at least three days. It's like being drugged and now knowing it.

Now I'm not one that's been diagnosed with intestinal damage, so your results my vary.

[sleepy1]

I am new to this and not one that normaly talks about my problems but is depression a normality with celiac i have been down for so long and it's only getting worse i have an appoinment with my doctor wensday but i really just want to go to sleep and just not wake up in the morning sorry to put this on any of you but no one around here to talk to that even comes close to understanding anything about celiac most don't even know what glutten is I have only been glutten free since March 23 2007 so it hasn't even been a month yet will i feel better soon both physicly and mentaly

i just got back from the doc. and he gave me lexapro for depression but not being the expert on celiac he could not say for sure if it was glutten free does anyone else take this or know anything about it he also took some blood to test my thyroid i don't know much about this anyone have any info. on this I also wanted to thank all of you for these forums i would be totaly lost without it

sleep1

[dionnek]

lexapro is gluten-free, so is zoloft. Hypothyyroid often causes depression - I have Hashimotos (where my thyroid goes back and forth from hypo to hyper), but even with my thyroid regulated my depression didn't get better, so I just started taking 25 mg of zoloft per day, and it has really helped. I've heard that it can take a few weeks for the antidepressants to work, so don't give it up if it doesn't work right away.

[heathen]

just be careful when you don't need the meds anymore. i was taking a small dosage of celexa to take off the edge pre-diagnosis, and just quit taking it when i the doctor told me i didn't need it anymore. i know better, but i didn't taper the dosages. instead, i stopped cold turkey. HUGE MISTAKE that culminated with me telling the bf that i needed a couple of months for my hormone levels to return to normal while simultaneously sobbing uncontrollably for no reason. not a fun time. so taper off--no cold turkey.

[gfp]

just be careful when you don't need the meds anymore. i was taking a small dosage of celexa to take off the edge pre-diagnosis, and just quit taking it when i the doctor told me i didn't need it anymore. i know better, but i didn't taper the dosages. instead, i stopped cold turkey. HUGE MISTAKE that culminated with me telling the bf that i needed a couple of months for my hormone levels to return to normal while simultaneously sobbing uncontrollably for no reason. not a fun time. so taper off--no cold turkey.

Thanks for saying that... I was going to post a similar warning..... and like many have said if you can actually find you can cure it by going gluten-free (or at least manage it much better) it might be better than using psychotropics....

[Mtndog]

I'm in this club too! I had very severe depression before going gluten-free and although I still take meds, at least they work now! My depression was very treatment resistant but it has gotten SO much better in my 2 years gluten-free that I rarely even think about it anymore.

Of course, until I get glutened and then it's more mood swingy and grumpy and anxious than it used to be. It used to be a very dark pit of despair.