Could Depression/anxiety Issues Be Due To Gluten?

[costellosfriend]

reading this thread is very encouraging! I've been diagnosed as mentally ill for almost half my life and am just now on the way to being diagnosed as celiac. I'm known as being medication resistant because meds have never helped my mental health symptoms. I'm so excited to go gluten free and see if it helps! thus could be a real lifesaver - literally!

question: how long did it take for your symptoms to go away?? what symptoms did you get from gluten withdrawal?

Hi badlass:

I'd be interested in hearing how the diet works for you. My son is dx'd with sz. We've been trying the gluten-free diet to see if it helps. We started March 16, but we've had some set backs. So far the longest we've managed to go without an accidental glutening is 8 or 9 days. He says the diet helps but can't specify in what way. He does seem to sleep better and have less anxiety.

Good luck to you.

[kathleenp]

Wow-the link with the symptoms of magnesium deficiency is eye opening. I have quite a few of those symptoms...

[Hamster101]

I haven't read through this whole thread yet, just want to add my experience in here.

When I was eating wheat before I realised what was causing my symptoms, I was a very neurotic individual, easily disturbed and plagued with nightmares. I was also an insomniac, and as such I was very unwell. Even with sleeping pills I was constantly depressed and very negative.

I could safely say there was a connection between wheat consumption and depression for me.

[RosieRose]

Hi everyone.

I was just recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance. Before that, I have had a diagnosis for depression, anxiety, and social phobia. I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. Have your mental health concerns gotten better, or even gone away? I have heard people say that gluten intolerance/Celiac's can cause anxiety and depression, but I do not know if my anxiety and depression are gluten intolerance related or if they are due to chemical imbalances.

Thanks!

[mushroom]

I would put my money on gluten

[peeptoad]

I am not a diagnosed celiac, but at the very least I have a sensitivity to gluten (no full diagnostics were ever done though). I just did a trial gluten-free diet for 2 months and then re-introduced gluten and about 5 days into the glutening I was starting to feel depressed. I have a history of mild depression (as well as insomnia) from childhood, but have not felt depressed in years, so I was a little taken aback when this happened last week. It wasn't just mild either. I felt like I could barely drag myself out of bed and I wanted nothig to do with work, friends, etc.

Not sure if this is directlty related to gluten or something else? I wonder if a person's body can get used to gluten over the years and the body chemistry might change in some ways in order to "ward off" depression? (since once eliminated and reintroduced my experience with gluten was more pronounced than before).

[mushroom]

Yes, it is a very common experience. While we are consuming gluten the body is fighting heavy battles constantly,trying to deal with the load. Then the load is lifted and the body experiences relief that it can get on with the normal lthings it is supposed to be doing. When gluten is reintroduced, those who are sensitive to it usually feel much worse than they did before because the body mounts what is like a frantic attack to get rid of it and go back to feeling good. This applies equally whether the symptoms are neurological or gastrointestinal. The body just wants to be rid of the stuff.

[peeptoad]

Thanks a lot mushroom. After I posted I actually found an article on this site about depression and gluten that was quite informative. Interesting that gluten may block the absorption of tryptophan. I also suffer from insomnia and tryptophan was recommended to me once to help with that.

[norcal-gf]

There's a really great article about this topic from Dr. Andrew Weil called the The Depression-Inflammation Connection. Gluten causes inflammation. It was posted on the Huffington Post on 11/4/11. You can search the site to find it. Not sure if I can post the link or not? Is that breaking the rules?

[mushroom]

There's a really great article about this topic from Dr. Andrew Weil called the The Depression-Inflammation Connection. Gluten causes inflammation. It was posted on the Huffington Post on 11/4/11. You can search the site to find it. Not sure if I can post the link or not? Is that breaking the rules?

Providing references for where you obtained your information is certainly not breaking the rules, it is highly desirable; the rules are mainly to prevent self-promotion or spam.

[cougie23]

Wow...thankyou everybody...Its amazing all the symptoms I never even atrubuted to celiacs let alone lactose intolerents( cesein)....I allways wonderd how depression could just come out of the blue like this....I could be having the most wonderful day ,everything going right...and be so god allfull depressed like a huge black cloud...depressed beyond possible for no apearent reason...defying all logic!!! This makes soooo much sense...(I allways sespected saretonen...but hell...chalk one more up to Celiacs!!! It's amazing what I learn everyday from you guys...keep on writing!!!

This is better than any pill!!!

[Rick-O-Shay]

This is a very interesting post. I have suffered from severe anxiety since youth and have been on many medications, including: Paxil, Cymbalta, Buspar, Setraline, Wellbutrin, and Klonopin. (Klonopin works the best, but boy is it addictive. And don't every let anyone prescribe wellbutrin for anxiety...)

Anyway, I have only recently gone gluten free so I am interested to see the effectst that it has on anxiety. I know I must give it some time. Also, I am currently taking the Klonopin, so we will see how this goes.

[biancanera]

I'm still newly diagnosed, but I had no idea about this until I read this thread today! I have had agoraphobia for a long time now, and sometimes it would get so bad that I wouldn't be able to leave the house for a few months (that was a really bad time!). Now that I look back on what I thought was a previously random experience to have gone through, I realize that every day I was eating pasta and bread because my grandmother was cooking that for me. I think my body was even trying to tell me something since at the time I was so sick I stopped eating solids and ended up resorting to tomato soup and ensures and things like that just to eat. Being off gluten for a month, I generally feel really good emotionally now! I haven't even had a moment when I was too upset to go out once, or been unreasonably upset either.