Are There "mental" Symptoms Of Celiac?

[horsesjapan]

I'm new here and not diagnosed with celiac, but I have an uncle who was diagnosed a few years ago, and lots of digestive issues in my family (dad, brother, sister, myself). I have a son that is IgG reactive to wheat, dairy, soy, egg, and malt, and who also seems to react to spelt. He has not been tested for celiac and at this point has been gluten free for several months so probably would come up negative anyway I think.

I find lists of symptoms of celiac and they don't seem to include things like "brain fog" that I have heard people mention. Are there truly mental symptoms of celiac? I feel like I'm walking around in a fog most of the time, sometimes I feel like I can't think straight. I have a hard time sometimes remembering stuff, and it's not the usual "gee what did I walk into this room for" it's more of a thing where I just can't get my brain to recall information (like what to buy at the grocery store or thinking of the word I want to use in a sentence). I find myself sometimes using the wrong word but catching myself once it is out of my mouth. I'm college educated but lately I just feel like a dunce. I also have GI symptoms that may be celiac/gluten related. Gas, stools that are not formed, and sometimes (out of nowhere, with little warning) an urgent need to find a bathroom.

I think my husband thinks the celiac thing is all in my head. I wonder too. I've gotten really weird about food since dealing with my son and his allergies (started shortly after birth, and then last year found out additional allergens at the age of 6 yrs). I also suffer from anxiety and wonder if that could be related. I have not tried gluten free latley as I want to get myself checked out by a dr, but I did go wheat/gluten for a couple weeks in early Fall I think and I would swear the anxious/depressive feelings were gone. But then the holidays rolled around and I went back to eating wheat. And then we moved and ate out a lot (and here, our options were limited to Burger King, Taco Bell, Popeye's chicken, and Anthony's pizza~~we are on a military base overseas) and it was esier to just eat whatever. I'm not even sure how a good a job we did avoiding my ds's allergens, depends what Taco Hell puts in their meat....

Anyway, I'd love to hear any stories about anyone with brain/mental symptoms and if they resolved with a gluten free diet.

[missy'smom]

Here is one Celiac organization that officially recognizes "mental" symptoms.

Open Original Shared Link

What you describe is very typical and common. Some of the "mental" problems can be caused by vitamin/nutrient deficiencies that come with a damaged intestinal tract caused by celiac disease. Makes sense-our mind needs proper nutrition to function well, just like any other part of our body. They are sometimes caused by other food intolerances as well. And then some are part of the immune reaction to gluten.

There have been studies that strongly link celiac disease with certain mental illnesses like schitzophrenia.

[ravenwoodglass]

Oh gosh yes, in fact for some of us the neurological effects are quite severe and present for a long time before GI stuff is more than an annoyance. There is an article on this sites home page this month on the connection between celiac and depression but there is often other impacts as well. If you do a search on neurological and celiac, depression and celiac, anxiety and celiac, autism spectrum disorders or schitzophrenia and celiac you will find lots of info from reliable sources like PubMed and the NIH.

[Ursa Major]

Yes, absolutely! You sound pretty typical for somebody with celiac disease. But you are right, if you want to get officially tested, you need to keep eating gluten until the testing is done. Mind you, negative blood work and even negative biopsies can't rule out celiac disease, as they aren't all that reliable.

It is up to you to just go on the gluten-free diet and feel better, or do the testing first. But do the gluten-free diet even if your results are negative.

There are so many poor kids with ADHD who are on Ritalin, who should be on a gluten-free diet instead, because their symptoms are caused by undiagnosed celiac disease.

In people who are gluten intolerant, the gluten will often act like an opiate on the brain. Just imagine yourself on street drugs, and that is the way you would feel. Spaced out, not being able to think clearly, forgetful, some people will even hallucinate and will be promptly diagnosed with schizophrenia and put on powerful psychotropic drugs, when all that is needed is to take the gluten away!

[itchygirl]

The mental effects of celiac can be so bad they have been mistaken for the fatal brain disorder

Creutzfeldt-Jakob

(your DH should accept this, its from the Mayo Clinic )

Open Original Shared Link

Mayo Clinic neurologist Keith A. Josephs, MD, MST, tells WebMD that he first made the connection when examining a patient suspected of having the fatal brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

The patient did not have CJD, but he did have celiac disease. He also had rapid-onset dementia, which coincided with the onset of diarrhea and other well-recognized symptoms of the digestive disease

as everybody said, lots of info online.

Oh yeah...and here is a link on

Creutzfeldt-Jakob (mad cow disease)

Open Original Shared Link

[horsesjapan]

Thank you for the info! I will check out the links and do more googling.

My oldest son (not the one diagnosed w/food allergy/intolerance) has a diagnosis of ADHD and I've wondered if dietary changes might help him. It's like he's addicted to certain foods (like mac n cheese) and can't get enough. I just can't control what he eats at school, the school allows kids to trade and share foods, which I am not used to. The school in TX before we moved didn't allow this. But maybe I will talk to him and see if he's willing to give it a try for a few weeks. If I tell him I'll give him his playstation back it might be convincing enough! We don't currently have him on meds, we did try Strattera but all it did was make him too tired to be a PITB lol. I'm hesitant to try the stimulant meds w/out ruling out other things first. Take the more benign route first. But we've got to do something soon because both my husband and myself are losing our minds trying to deal with his behaviors.

Thanks again! I'm sure I'll be frequenting this site, even if it is just to find recipes for my food allergic guy!

Nancy

PS Just adding that the main reason I want an official diagnosis is so that people are more likely to take me seriously, kwim? My ILs had a hard time believing my ds's allergies were "real". "Oh, if it's just a little rash (eczema) then it can't be THAT big a deal" kind of stuff. Until the allergist said it was the same part of the immune system that is associated with things like rhumetoid arthritis, which my MIL has suffered from for over 20 years. They are big into dr's. My family would be more likley to be ok w/self diagnosis.

[tom]

I find lists of symptoms of celiac and they don't seem to include things like "brain fog" that I have heard people mention. Are there truly mental symptoms of celiac?

Like everyone's said, there are many.

I experienced many of them myself. Most went away w/ the gluten-free diet, but some stuck around until I was off dairy & soy too.

I don't know why 'brain fog', or some technical jargon for it, isn't listed.

So many of us experienced it.

. .. . it's more of a thing where I just can't get my brain to recall information (like what to buy at the grocery store or thinking of the word I want to use in a sentence). I find myself sometimes using the wrong word but catching myself once it is out of my mouth.

Ugh .. ..for a long time I dreaded the simple conversation w/ a checkout clerk. Couldn't even always really understand their sentences or properly form mine.

I think my husband thinks the celiac thing is all in my head. I wonder too.

It sure sounds like celiac to me. I think it's not easy for others to understand that a staple food can have such negative effects.

I also suffer from anxiety and wonder if that could be related.

Mine sure was.

I have not tried gluten free lately as I want to get myself checked out by a dr, but I did go wheat/gluten for a couple weeks in early Fall I think and I would swear the anxious/depressive feelings were gone.

This is a HUGE datapoint.

Whether Celiac is proven or not, you will go gluten-free won't you?

In people who are gluten intolerant, the gluten will often act like an opiate on the brain. Just imagine yourself on street drugs, and that is the way you would feel. Spaced out, not being able to think clearly, forgetful,

Wellllllllllllllll .. . . .. .not to come off as a negative nelly, but having self-medicated for decades I must respectfully disagree a bit.

W/ most recreational drugs, the effects you're speaking of are more when a frequent user is, at the moment, OFF the drug(s). "Burnt" is a term that comes to mind.

[ravenwoodglass]

.

My ILs had a hard time believing my ds's allergies were "real". "Oh, if it's just a little rash (eczema) then it can't be THAT big a deal" kind of stuff. Until the allergist said it was the same part of the immune system that is associated with things like rhumetoid arthritis, which my MIL has suffered from for over 20 years. They are big into dr's. My family would be more likley to be ok w/self diagnosis.

Just a quick note, I was close to death before I was diagnosed and could barely move from my arthritis. It wasn't until 5 years after diagnosis that I had my genes tested, long after all my autoimmune disorders went into remission. After the results were back and I started researching I discovered that if I had been gene tested before my celiac diagnosis and recovery the gene they found would have labeled me here with RA. In the US my celiac gene is thought to be a gene for RA not celiac. It is a recognized celiac gene in other countries but not here. If your MIL has been diagnosed with RA there is a chance she could go into remission or at least get a great deal of relief from the diet.

[Nancym]

Check out "The Gluten File" in my signature there's a lot in there on neurological involvement.

[CCM]

I just wanted to add that at least for me, gluten has turned out to be not the only source of brain fog. Dairy products and nightshades produce the same effect (in addition to other symptoms). But I was not aware of this until I went gluten-free at the start of this year.

I am really psyched to read more of the links that have been posted on this thread. Thanks, everyone!

[Panopticism]

I am Autistic as well as Celiac(minus the diagnosis, positive reaction to gluten-free-cf diet after 6 months or so). The two are commonly related...

I've got plenty of mental symptoms.

[nora-n]

There are even two forums about the neurological issues from gluten! Check them out and read through the pages, there are lots of links in the postings although the forum itself is not so busy right now....

(the one thing is antigliadin antibodies attacking the brain, search the web for Hadjivassiliou, and gluten ataxia, check out www.ataxiaalternatives.com and the other thing is opioids from gluten and casein, check out Reichelt )

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

I myself have neurological symptoms from gluten. I noticed I kept dropping things and then the floor seemed so far away. went away on low-carb which was gluten-free in effect. Came back on a gluten challenge. went away again off gluten.

nora

[fedora]

weird, I thought I posted on here, but it did not show up. I have many mental symptoms(I'll spare you all the details), some have completely gone away!!!!!!! Instantly. Some have seriously improved. I haven't had PMS mood symptoms either. I would have totally blamed that on hormones, not gluten. But it is true. I don't even bloat up before my period. It is a miracle. I would just get randomly stoned sometimes-hasn't happened since being off gluten. It would be like I smoked to much pot-which I do not do. Those crazy peptides.