Anyone Improve On Autoimmune Neuro Diseases

[Eric J]

Hey everyone and my first post here. I have CIDP which is an autoimmune disease very simular to Multiple Sclerosis. I really believe ny possible Celiac disease has caused this. Has anyone else who has Celiac and a autoimmune disease and after changing their diet and seen their disease improve.

Thank you !!

eric..

[Bink]

Hey everyone and my first post here. I have CIDP which is an autoimmune disease very simular to Multiple Sclerosis. I really believe ny possible Celiac disease has caused this. Has anyone else who has Celiac and a autoimmune disease and after changing their diet and seen their disease improve.

Thank you !!

eric..

Hi Eric,

I am also new here. Don't know what I'm doing yet. I have Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Osteopenia and anemia. All are possibly related to my newly discovered Celiac. I am also very curious to find if these underlying conditions might improve as well.

I'm relatively certain that my Mom has celiac (advanced) but has not been tested. She has had rheumatoid arthritis since her late teens. I'd love to know how these diseases all interrelate. Good luck to you, and I'll be watching for responses.

Bink

[Eric J]

Thanks for the post Bink!! From my research it looks like it will be a slow process as it takes time for the lining to heal.

Take Care !!

eric

[GFinDC]

Hi Eric,

I have celiac and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. I can't say that the thyroid has improved, but it hasn't gotten a lot worse since I started going gluten-free. In my case, I developed a lump on my thyroid in about a months time. It has stayed about the same size though and hasn't grown. I consider that an improvement since it was getting big fast and just kind of stopped growing. I have read post by other people saying their thyroids have actually returned to normal.

I don't know if related conditions generally clear up. I tend to think they don't go away but perhaps stabilize some. That's just my guess, I ain't no doctor-head. But for me my digestion issues and related symptoms have cleared up a lot. It's definitely worth doing the gluten-free diet for me. I hope it works out well for you!

[Bink]

Hey Eric and GFinDC,

How long have you guys been doing the gluten free thing? I know GFinDC is feeling better some, but what about you, Eric? Do you feel that you've been educated enough so far that you are pretty sure you've been able to be completely gluten free?

I wonder if the lining heals at all in spite of getting a little amounts here and there. Say you find out that in spite of 'thinking' you have not had any of the dreaded "G word" you find that little things actually had them afterall. Get this: I read on the label yesterday that the Beano I've been taking to help my digestive system has some small amt. of wheat. Nice!

So, if I've been getting tiny amounts here and there, is my lining not healing? I'm starting to get a little freaked out. Anyone know if it's really an "all or nothing" thing? I would hope that since I've had 99% less gluten than before, I'd be doing 99% less damage. But, is it possible that we won't heal if we get even a tiny bit?

It's been 6 weeks since I found out. The first 2 weeks I was really trying, but we went on vacation and I know that I got a little here and there, breading on the chicken at Disneyland, etc., but I thought I had been perfect since then (except one beer) until I found out about the flippin' Beano! Now I wonder how many more things I'll discover that I'm doing wrong. This must truly be a never-ending learning process. No wonder they say it takes about 2 years for the lining to heal!! I'm not feeling any better yet . . . just more hungry. Anyone else feeling discouraged?

On the bright side, after getting the news, I am actually very happy that there IS something that I can do, and hopeful that I will eventually feel better. In the past, there was really not much hope for help for my fatigue and pain.

Oh yeah, and do ya know if we can like . . even. . 'touch' stuff like bread -- to make a sandwich for someone else? Sheesh

[Bink]

Hey gluten-free,

Can you tell me more about this Hashimoto's thyroiditis? I read that thyroid problems can come as a result of the celiac, and I'm wondering how long you've had the thyroid problem, if you're on any medication, and what prognosis the dr. is giving you.

is this like a goiter (sp?) that could eventually lead to Graves disease? I hope I'm not mixing up my limited knowledge from vague memories of my brother-in-law and niece's conditions.

I do feel somewhat better after going on my thyroid meds, and also getting my hormones more stablized, and anemia cleared up. I'm just curious about the whole thyroid connection, because I really believe there is one!

Take care,

Bink

[Bink]

Whoops. Sorry GFinDC, the editor changed my shortened "gluten-free", which is how I addressed you, to "Gluten Free" . What a crack-up! I'm not always an idiot, but I'll always be a blonde. I'm sure I'll get used to posting soon . . . or not. LOL

[Bink]

WORD!! It did it again even when I had the quotes on it. Maybe I'd better just read rather than post.

[GFinDC]

Hi Bink,

Snow problem on the spelling changes. The site does some automatic spelling changes and replacements. It never seems to auto correct my spleeing misteaks though, dang it.

And oh yah, beano - meano! I was surprised by that too. All those years taking beano thinking it would help me and it was making the problem worse. It really is worthwhile reading the ingredients on everything that you consume. Vitamins, medicines of any kind, and all foods, sodas etc. It is really surprising how many foods have gluten added to them in some form or other. I have bought lactaid before that has gluten also.

I think healing time depends on each person's body really. It takes time though. I started felling better in a weeks time after getting off the poison. But it took me a couple months to feel much better. I had some exciting intestinal convulsions for the first month and a half. Things seemed to get frisky as they were healing up. I had pain for years in my abdomen, on the left side and that it pretty much gone now. I have read others saying it takes a couple years for them. Everybody is different.

I am still learning after 8 months. Hashimoto's is a condition where your bodies immune system attacks the thyroid. My rather simplified theory is that the gluten gets past the intestinal wall into your bloodstream and floats around the bloodstream util it latches onto something. Like your thyroid. Then your bodies immune system attacks that organ. It's what they call an autoimmune disease. There are other autoimmune diseases associated with celiac, like arthritis, diabetes, and others. Associated as in there is a higher than normal occurrence of those autoimmune diseases in celiacs than in the general population.

I made the mistake of eating a salad a few weeks ago and ate the italtian dressing the had. My thyroid went into overdrive and I was up all night, couldn't sleep. I've read that the thyroid cells can overproduce when they are attacked by the immune system. I guess that's what happened. I make most of my food now. I make a big batch of rice each weekend and freeze some. You have to watch out for spices also, as the sometimes use gluten to keep them from sticking together.

Here is a page with a bunch of scientific sounding words saying something about the occurrence of autoimmune diseases and celiac. If you do a google search on autoimmune celiac, you'll get lots of hits on it.

Open Original Shared Link

Oh yeah, blondes are ok. My last 2 wives were blond, and they were both smart enough to leave me!

[ShayFL]

Use dots. G.F.

[Bink]

Thanks for the tip ShayFL. Dots eh? . . . hmmm never heard of doing THAT for abbreviations. I still wish it would "preview" what it is actually going to post.

[Bink]

G.F.inDC

Thanks for your response. So I'm going to trust the invaluable tip from ShayFL and see if I can fool the editor. I'm feelin' just sneaky enough today that I might just pull it off too.

Thanks for the link. I am facinated by the two theories presented, however I have not yet had time to read all the arguments for each. I think it would be interesting to ask my Mom a few more questions about her own symptoms of both tummy trouble and when she was first troubled by the rheumtoid arthritis. I have a gut feeling that we are simply predisposed to having various autoimmune disorders, and given the right circumstances, they will develop regardless of what you do to suppress them individually. It will be interesting to do some research on it though.

So, which came first -- the diagnosis of the thyroid problem or the celiac?? What are your tests showing - too high (apart from surprise instances like that dreaded Italian dressing!) or too low so that you have to take meds to increase your levels? I've personally found that the physician should not automatically assume that all is well just because your TSH is in "the range". Found out that supposedly my TSH was fine, yet I was quite low on the free T3. They started giving me Armour (only one without the fillers) and then my OTHER Dr. felt like my T4/T3 ratio was out of balance, and convinced me to take Cytomel and Levothyroxine.

Have you only known about the celiac for 8 months then? What made them suspect it? Mine was diagnosed by my new Female Gynecologist. She is really a sharp one. She took a look at my records, and ordered the blood tests (along with pages of others). I was so blown away when she came back with that diagnosis! I expected her to tell me some estrogen imbalance or something, but celiac??? Go figure! Actually, the constant G.I. problems were the least of my complaints. It just totally took me by surprise. I'm so grateful for her diagnostic excellence, because at least now there is some kind of hope that I will actually feel better . . . maybe even have some energy some day . . . just imagine!!!!

Yikes! I just looked at the clock and have company coming tonight. As usual, I'm unprepared. Hope to talk more soon.

Bink

Btw, you crack me up: