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Has Anyone Had Severe Face Pain As A Result Of Gluten?

holiday16

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holiday16 Enthusiast
holiday16
Posted

I had an episode a few weeks ago where the entire left side of my face was in terrible pain. It was like all the nerves on one side were hypersensitive. Even blinking on that side would hurt. It really was the entire left side of my head and not just the face. It went away after a couple days and I had had an extended period of having gluten the previous week which I didn't realize until my daughter also reacted. It must have been something that had very low levels of gluten and we were having it every day so it was building up. Removed it and we were both fine.

I wasn't sure of the connection until I accidentally had a small amount of gluten and I noticed when I washed my face that night the left side was more sensitive again.

Anyone else have anything like this happen?

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MySuicidalTurtle Enthusiast
MySuicidalTurtle
Posted

My Mom had terrible migraines from gluten including some hurting her face like that also numbness and just very odd things.

jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

When I first went gluten-free--like the end of the first week--I got really bad numbness and a very odd feeling in general on the left side of my face and in my left arm.

I remember it was a Friday evening, but I was concerned enough to call my doctor. Talking to her on the phone, and hearing that it didn't sound like anything urgent calmed me down somewhat. Even now, if I'm glutened, I get slight numbness on the left side of my face.

WW340 Rookie
WW340
Posted

There is a condition called Tic douloureux or trigeminal neuralgia that may be what you are describing. I kept having terrible bouts of this prior to diagnosis and going gluten free. I have not had it since.

I read an article somewhere that there was some relationship to celiac disease, but I can't find it now. It can affect the face only, or the face, jaw and neck.

You might look it up and see if it sounds like what you are experiencing.

Aligray Apprentice
Aligray
Posted

I have not had a specific side numbness or pain. What i do have is this...when i am glutened, my face will become bright red w purple tints and it will burn and hurt terribly. My friends and coworkers know this about me. It will show up within the first 30 minutes and will stay for 3-4 days until the gluten is out of my system.

holiday16 Enthusiast
holiday16
Posted
  • Author

I guess it's good to know I'm not the only one that gets this and it could be associated with gluten. Bit relieved as it was such an odd symptom and very relieved that it went away! This is the kind of thing that would happen before going gluten free. I would get all these weird symptoms, but nothing was ever consistent. By the time one thing went away something else weird would show up. I can understand why as a Dr. it's so hard to trace down the cause when the symptoms are so sporadic and who would ever trace things like this back to a dietary issue!

holiday16 Enthusiast
holiday16
Posted
  • Author
There is a condition called Tic douloureux or trigeminal neuralgia that may be what you are describing. I kept having terrible bouts of this prior to diagnosis and going gluten free. I have not had it since.

I read an article somewhere that there was some relationship to celiac disease, but I can't find it now. It can affect the face only, or the face, jaw and neck.

You might look it up and see if it sounds like what you are experiencing.

I looked it up and this sounds an awful lot like what was going on. I have a Dr. appt. coming up and I'll mention it, but I think it will just fall in the category of odd symptoms I've had. I'm so thankful that it stopped because it really is incredibly painful. The description of wind blowing hurting the face really fits. We were in a store where the air was blowing and even that was painful. I ended up with a huge headache and taking Advil when we got home.

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      Contact them.
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