Aches And Pains

[happypoole]

Does anynoe know if eating wheat can cause joint pain?

I stopped eating wheat about 8 months ago due to being bloated having migrains and getting IBS. I've decided to start eating it again in order to do a celiac test. I've been eating it for a week now and have started getting pains in my hips, Shoulders, neck and back. I used to get these pains but have only just realised that they stopped a while after i gave up wheat.

Is it just a coinsidence or is it linked? Can anyone help?

[HAK1031]

Yes, gluten can aggravate joint pains. I would reconsider eating it for the test- your response to it is enough to convince me that you have problems with gluten. Do you really "need" an official diagnosis?

[happypoole]

I don't know really, I suppose not but it would be nice to find out exactly what is wrong with me. do you konw why it can cause joint pains?

[HAK1031]

I have no idea actually. Gluten does weird things to our bodies...I would guess it's some kind of inflammatory response? I don't know, but when I eat gluten I feel like I'm 90...and I'm 16!!! I've had joint troubles all my life, and have already had one knee surgery and am looking at another. But gluten affects my entire body (as it does to most) and I feel like my limps are heavy and sluggish and I get really run down.

If you feel like you need a test to stick to the diet, and are willing to suffer the consequences, then that's ok. But you might also want ot consider enterolab testing (enterolab.com) which is a private company (out of pocket unfortunately, $150) that is much more accurate and is good even when you have been gluten-free for a year. It's a home stool test.

[mushroom]

Does anynoe know if eating wheat can cause joint pain?

I stopped eating wheat about 8 months ago due to being bloated having migrains and getting IBS. I've decided to start eating it again in order to do a celiac test. I've been eating it for a week now and have started getting pains in my hips, Shoulders, neck and back. I used to get these pains but have only just realised that they stopped a while after i gave up wheat.

Is it just a coinsidence or is it linked? Can anyone help?

Gluten has a definite connection with joint pain. Gluten can cause an autoimmune response in the body of sensitive individuals, i.e., our immune system treats "normal" things as invaders and sends out all these little histamines to fight them, which causes inflammation, swelling, joint pain. In me it caused psoriatic arthritis, which is psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis together. Even though I have not been eating gluten for a while now I am still fighting this--shoulders, neck, hips, wrist. I would never go back to gluten for the sake of a test, personally, due to the amount of disability it has caused me over the years and the terrible meds to combat it.

[MyMississippi]

Fibromyalgia can cause pain in those areas you listed.

[itchygirl]

I have Sjogren's syndrome and gluten exposure will send me into a "flare". Don't forget to tell your doc your full range of symptoms, maybe they will want to do a sed rate and C-reactive protein etc while you are glutenated. Those are tests measure inflamation. If you're going to gluten up you might as well get your money's worth out of the awful experience

I did the challange back in the day. My C-reactive protein goes right up when I'm on wheat. Its pretty fun to observe. Except I feel like bleah.

Hope you feel better soon!

[mushroom]

Fibromyalgia can cause pain in those areas you listed.

But is fibromyalgia really a disease, or is it just another of those wastebasket diagnoses like IBS when they don't know what you've really got?

[happypoole]

I'd never heard of fibromyalgia. It seems to fit alot of my symptoms but then so do alot of things.

I've decided to come back off the wheat after a week as i'm aching too much and feel exhausted! It was nice to have a donut or five though.

I hadn't even considered that back problems I've had for years could be agrivated by a wheat problem.

Thanks for all the input. This sight is great, I only came across it by chance the other day.

[susieg-1]

effects of celiac on body are due to nutitional deficiencies I beleive. I suffer great muscle fatige, bone and joint pain to the extent of barely being able to walk. If glutened accidently, these are my symptoms when most complain of stomach ailments. I finally self-diagnosed celiacs after drinking 1/2 beer caused severe reaction in muscle bone and joint within 30 minutes of drinking beer. I had suspected food reactions were causing my physical discomfort and this episode confirmed my suspicions. After many tests, e.g. colonoscopy, MRI, gall bladder, and more diagnosis e.g. IBS, osteoarthritis, shingles, and hot-tub rash ( I also suffer from DH) to name a few, my own research and food log helped me to diagnose myself, which has now been confirmed w/blood tests. I find vitamin b12 in addition to gluten-free diet helps to relieve my pain and discomfort. Good luck to you and use this forum to help manuver the gluten-free lifestyle.

[Wonka]

Good question. I have the diagnosis of fibromyalgia and I'm curious to see if more of those symptoms decrease the longer I am off gluten. The first time, after an elimination diet, that I stopped eating gluten (I was as careful as now and didn't know as much so I'm sure I was only gluten reduced) my fibromyalgia pain and fatigue reduced by 1/2. The thing with fibromyalgia is that it is NOT an imflammatory condition. I have muscle pain (anti-inflammatories do not touch this pain) that is mainly at the insertion areas. But it is interesting how many of the fibromyalgia symptoms are described here as celiac symptoms. I am on meds to sleep, if I over do it in a day I am in pain the next day and have severe brain fog that is not connected to gluten ingestion. I find the cross over symptomology very hard to interpret. Time will let me know. If my pain and fatigue disappear I guess I will have my answer.