Other Symptoms?

[maura101]

Hello all! Nice to meet you.

I have ended up on this message board after years of searching for a cure for my severe brain fog. I notice many of you mention brain fog as a problem.

I have not been diagnosed as a celiac, nor do I have any intestinal symptoms. However, I just have this gut feeling that if I stop eating gluten, my problem will clear.

My question: Is it possible to have celiac disease WITHOUT any of the intestinal symptoms? What other symptoms might appear?

Thanks so much in advance for all of your great replies.

[CarlaB]

Welcome!

Yes, it is possible. I would have the celiac panel done BEFORE you try the gluten-free diet. Many celiacs are asymptomatic.

There are other things that cause brain fog, too, so if the gluten-free diet doesn't help, please keep looking until you find the cause. I'm sure there are many illnesses that can cause it, but the two I'm familiar with are celiac and Lyme Disease. Maybe someone else will have other ideas you can research.

[ravenwoodglass]

Hello all! Nice to meet you.

I have ended up on this message board after years of searching for a cure for my severe brain fog. I notice many of you mention brain fog as a problem.

I have not been diagnosed as a celiac, nor do I have any intestinal symptoms. However, I just have this gut feeling that if I stop eating gluten, my problem will clear.

My question: Is it possible to have celiac disease WITHOUT any of the intestinal symptoms? What other symptoms might appear?

Thanks so much in advance for all of your great replies.

Welcome to the boards.

Yes, I had neurological symptoms for over 20 years before GI problems were severe and not intermittent or thought to be normal - ie. gas and tummy rumbling. You may want your doctor to do a celiac panel, stress a full one, and also a panel to register your B12, folate and iron levels at the very minimum. Ask for a copy of your full results as these will give you the reference range. Some doctors, if you are only a point or two into the positive, will call it negative. There are also folks who do not show up positive on tests even when it is clearly a problem. You may also want to look into Enterolab testing.

After you do that get some sublingual B12 that is gluten free, and give the diet a try. Do not go gluten free if you plan on trying to confirm celiac with intestinal biopsies.

Other symptoms are countless, everything from problems with balance and nerve conduction, hair loss, tooth enamel problems, fibro type discomfort, arthritis, severe PMS, infertility, skin problems of many kinds, mood disorders such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenic type problems. It can cause or be linked to problems with gallbladder, pancreas, circulatory system. Many doctors think of celiac as only a GI problem but in reality it is a whole body toxin.

[maura101]

Other symptoms are countless, everything from problems with balance and nerve conduction, hair loss, tooth enamel problems, fibro type discomfort, arthritis, severe PMS, infertility, skin problems of many kinds, mood disorders such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenic type problems. It can cause or be linked to problems with gallbladder, pancreas, circulatory system. Many doctors think of celiac as only a GI problem but in reality it is a whole body toxin.

Thanks, this helps a lot. I am glad to hear that you were finally properly diagnosed.

[maura101]

"There are other things that cause brain fog, too, so if the gluten-free diet doesn't help, please keep looking until you find the cause."

Thank you, I appreciate it. At the very least, I may have a wheat allergy, becuase I feel a tiny bit better after one week. And I did not realize you had to be eating gluten to be tested! Since I am already in one week, I will continue eating gluten-free for a while to see my results. If questionable, I will look at testing.

Thanks again!

[CarlaB]

If you decide to be tested later, it will take months of eating gluten daily. If you think you want to be tested, you should do it now since it's only been one week. You can go back to eating it until your appt. for the blood test. If you feel bad and if your blood test is positive, then you can skip the biopsy and go back to eating gluten-free.

There are many here who are diagnosed with dietary response, so that's valid, too, but if you think you might want to be tested at some point, I'd do it now.

[mm&j]

Hello all! Nice to meet you.

I have ended up on this message board after years of searching for a cure for my severe brain fog. I notice many of you mention brain fog as a problem.

I have not been diagnosed as a celiac, nor do I have any intestinal symptoms. However, I just have this gut feeling that if I stop eating gluten, my problem will clear.

My question: Is it possible to have celiac disease WITHOUT any of the intestinal symptoms? What other symptoms might appear?

Thanks so much in advance for all of your great replies.

Hi, I was just diagnosed last week and never had one intestinal symptom. I always figured that was my one area of least concern because on a medical history I never checked off anything in the gastric area. My main symptoms were(are) extreme fatique and sleepiness, bone pain and weakness. I do, also, experience brain fog, forgetfulness and irritability. The way I was diagnosed was my husband suggested to get my vitamin D level checked because someone where he worked had similar symptoms and had a very low vitamin D level. Mine turned out to be extremely low (so his gut feeling was correct...never disregard a gut feeling) after that my Dr. tested me with more blood-work and found that I have Celiac (although I haven't had the intestinal biopsy, yet) When your intestines are damaged by eating gluten (if you are Celiac) I guess there are so many ways it can present itself depending on what your body hasn't been absorbing due to the disease. I am FAR from an expert, being 1 week into this so if anyone else has any more experienced ideas, let me know, also. Hope this might help a little. It can't hurt to be tested.

MM&J (Susie)

[maura101]

Hi, I was just diagnosed last week and never had one intestinal symptom. I always figured that was my one area of least concern because on a medical history I never checked off anything in the gastric area. My main symptoms were(are) extreme fatique and sleepiness, bone pain and weakness. I do, also, experience brain fog, forgetfulness and irritability.

Thanks so much! That helps a lot; it sounds very similar to my situation. I wish you the very best as you learn to live with the condition.