Stuttering

[~alex~]

Has anyone noticed that they tend to stutter when glutened? I had a mild/moderate stutter as a child (as did my father) but it pretty much went away by the time I was a 8-9 due to speech therapy and my parents doing all the right things you're supposed to do with your stuttering child (ie don't rush them). Although I probably stutter a little more than the average person, I don't consider myself a stutterer anymore.

Between getting sick and being diagnosed and the couple of times that I have been glutened I stuttered to the point where I would consider myself to have a stutter. I figured it was just due to being fatigued and feeling unwell but I am just getting over a kidney infection that required a couple of days in the hospital and I didn't stutter that much despite feeling really sick and exhausted. This made me think that gluten may have indeed caused my increase in stuttering while I was undiagnosed.

Does this seem plausible? I don't want to fall into the trap of blaming everything on gluten but that seems to be where the evidence is leading me. Gluten can affect the brain right? I thankfully don't seem to have many neurological effects from gluten but perhaps stuttering is one effect I do have. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you

[ravenwoodglass]

Alex I get something similar but instead of someone hearing me stutter they hear nothing. It can be very difficult when glutened badly for me to talk, it is like the sentence is in my head but it won't come out. I also have trouble with finding words even for simple things. For example before diagnosis it was impossible for me to ask someone, for example, 'hand me the fork' by the time I could find the words I could have gotten it myself 10 times. Made it real hard to be a head chef who had to call for pulls from the frig.

I was very badly damaged at diagnosis, my brain just did not function any better than my body and was unable to communicate with it much of the time. If I had not hidden things like sitting in the car crying because I couldn't remember what to do with the key I shudder to think what I would have been diagnosed with. Having my brain function normally and being able to remember and communicate again are for me one of the best parts of my recovery.

[jerseyangel]

I don't actually stutter--but I definately have trouble speaking when glutened. I know what I want to say, but the words won't come out. I've described it before as my tongue feeling like it's too big for my mouth. Come to think of it, trying to get words out comes pretty close to stuttering.....

I sound "stupid"--is the best way to put it. Before I was diagnosed, I would also have a problem with finishing sentences. I would have a thought, begin to speak, and then abruptly stop in mid sentence, with no idea of what to say next. At times, people would finish my sentences for me--very embarassing

[kevieb]

i think this is plausible, especially since it is a problem you had as a child and had to "work" to get over it. you always hear that stress will affect different people differently because we all have different weak areas in our bodies. i would say that getting glutened for a celiac could definitely be stressfull and that since stuttering was a weak area for you it would make sence that a glutening could make you stutter. hope all that made sence!!!!

[~alex~]

Thanks for the replies.

Ravenwoodglass, it sounds like gluten gives you some pretty intense neurological symptoms -- very scary.

Patti, what you're describing sounds a lot like stuttering. Knowing what you want to say but not being able to get it out is exactly the feeling. I guess if you're not repeating sounds or words it wouldn't classically be considered stuttering but it seems basically the same to me. My main problem was/is starting words (eg. d-d-d-d-dog, ssssssick). One trick that works for me when I can't get out what I want to say is trying to say it in a sing-songy voice or in a voice different to my own, like I'm trying to imitate someone.

I know what you mean about feeling stupid; when I stutter around people who don't know me well I can tell that their assessment of my intelligence goes way down. I' feel fortunate that my stutter was never severe and that my parents raised me to have a healthy self-confidence. Some times I worry Ryan is going to physically hurt someone when they finish my sentence for me -- I know they're not trying to be inconsiderate but that's the last thing you're supposed to do when someone is stuttering.

kevieb, I think there's a lot of truth to what you say. I think it takes a lot of my higher thinking ability to speak fluently and not stutter (even though it's mostly subconscious now) and when I'm stressed from a glutening it takes some of my resources away from that.

Thanks

[GFhopeful]

I'm sure you know this but stress is a big factor in stuttering and stuttering is a thing that seems to come and go in people's lives. when your body is under stress (i.e. getting glutened) i think that it would be very likely that especially if you had a history of stuttering, it would emerge again.

i will have to think about the idea that gluten may have been the neurological cause of your stuttering all along. i am a speech therapist and found all these postings interesting for sure. the brain is such an amazing thing and i guess gluten in us people who can't handle it is truly a neuro toxin that can affect the speech areas of the brain - but hopefully just temporarily.

[x1x-Stargirl-x1x]

i don't stutter, but i do constantly mix up words, or say what i'm thinking. you know how everyone always is joking around -- 'oh you're such an idiot, oops did i say that aloud?'

well, for me, i actually do say it. no one will be talking, then i'll suddenly say something and someone will say 'what?' and i'll say 'did i say that aloud?' it's really embarrassing, especially when i'm alone and i start talking or when i'm around someone who doesn't know about my celiac.

only one of my many symptoms, and i usually only do that when i'm REALLY glutened and right before i have a hallucination. it's horrible, especially cause i already have a horrible habit of talking to myself and sometimes i don't know if its just me or because i'm glutened.

probly one help much, but i guess i'm just sharing my experience. 0-o

.::STARGIRL::.

[ItchyMeredith]

I stutter and I have not found a difference with my fluency on the gluten free diet. I wish I did. My only noticeable symptoms to gluten are DH.

I do think it is entirely possible that your speech can be affected by gluten. They are currently doing a medical trial on a drug for stuttering. The medicine just so happens to be for seizures and bipolar disorder as well- which leads many to believe that stuttering is definitely caused by chemical issues in the brain.

[~alex~]

i will have to think about the idea that gluten may have been the neurological cause of your stuttering all along. i am a speech therapist and found all these postings interesting for sure. the brain is such an amazing thing and i guess gluten in us people who can't handle it is truly a neuro toxin that can affect the speech areas of the brain - but hopefully just temporarily.

That is a very interesting thought. Definitely something to think about. I always figured that I didn't have Celiac until it was triggered as I was recovering from pneumonia last August, but I have toyed with the idea that perhaps I could have been asyptomatic for sometime up until then. Mostly because at diagnosis my B12 was low enough to require shots eventhough I hadn't been sick that long. That would be so weird if celiac/gluten could have been contributing to my stutter as a kid. I guess I'll never really know but it's definitely interesting.

Good for you for being a speech therapist; I loved my speech pathologist and her positive attitude was a big part of why stuttering didn't have a hugely negative impact on me. Her early intervention helped me to become a fairly fluent speaker most of the time.