Acne, Joint Pain, Swollen Glands And Headaches

[keacre]

I am new to the blog and haven't been diagnosed yet for gluten allergy/Celiac but I have a lot of questions about my symptoms.

For almost as long as I can remember I was always sick with cold-like symptoms but they got terribly worse after a death in my family and I began a vegetarian lifestyle. After a few months with worsening symptoms I stopped eating whole wheat and soy-based foods. Most annoying symptoms were sneezing constantly and a nose that wouldn't stop running. I went to a muscle-response doctor and he told me that I had an allergy to several grains and soy. I have gone back in forth between being gluten free and eating whatever I wanted. Sometimes immediately or days after I eat something containing gluten I break out (more than usual), sneeze, tighten glands around my neck, brain fog, poor short-term memory, headaches, joint pain, and sometimes I have stomach pain and bloating but rarely. I also suffer from bouts of depression. From my research these symptoms are more associated with a wheat allergy. I read that Celiac disease is hereditary but none of my family have been diagnosed. Many of them have had other autoimmune diseases such as Fibromyalgia and Arthritis.

I was hoping that some of you have had similar symptoms. I have been gluten free for the last week and I feel great. My energy increased, depression disappeared, flat stomach, but the acne still remains (but better). I am trying to get my mother who has both Fibromyalgia and Arthritis to stop eating gluten but I wish I had more information to give her. Any confirmation on my symptoms or information would be greatly appreciated.

[mushroom]

I am new to the blog and haven't been diagnosed yet for gluten allergy/Celiac but I have a lot of questions about my symptoms.

For almost as long as I can remember I was always sick with cold-like symptoms but they got terribly worse after a death in my family and I began a vegetarian lifestyle. After a few months with worsening symptoms I stopped eating whole wheat and soy-based foods. Most annoying symptoms were sneezing constantly and a nose that wouldn't stop running. I went to a muscle-response doctor and he told me that I had an allergy to several grains and soy. I have gone back in forth between being gluten free and eating whatever I wanted. Sometimes immediately or days after I eat something containing gluten I break out (more than usual), sneeze, tighten glands around my neck, brain fog, poor short-term memory, headaches, joint pain, and sometimes I have stomach pain and bloating but rarely. I also suffer from bouts of depression. From my research these symptoms are more associated with a wheat allergy. I read that Celiac disease is hereditary but none of my family have been diagnosed. Many of them have had other autoimmune diseases such as Fibromyalgia and Arthritis.

I was hoping that some of you have had similar symptoms. I have been gluten free for the last week and I feel great. My energy increased, depression disappeared, flat stomach, but the acne still remains (but better). I am trying to get my mother who has both Fibromyalgia and Arthritis to stop eating gluten but I wish I had more information to give her. Any confirmation on my symptoms or information would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

The symptoms you describe are certainly consistent with someone who has celiac disease, or at the very least gluten intolerance. It can greatly weaken your immune system, leaving you susceptible to respiratory infections--wich was me, all my life. From my personal experience with my husband it can also cause a kind of allergic rhinitis-type symptomatology which leads to sinus infections. Swollen lymph nodes, brain fog, depression, bloating, stomach pain, as you are obviously aware, are all typical symptoms of an intolerance to gluten. When you say that none of your family have been diagnosed, although suffering frrom fibromyalgia and arthritis, this is not to say that they don't have celiac, only that they have never been diagnosed. Ninety-seven percent (so I have read) of celiac sufferers have not been diagnosed. I am self-diagnosed, at age 67, because no one thought to test me. I have rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis which is what led to my self-diagnosis. My husband has not been tested, but he has (undiagnosed) dermatitis herpetiformis if he cheats on the diet, so lack of a diagnosis in your family is not at all significant. It could just mean that, like me, no one has thought to test them. The most common diagnoses that gluten intolerant people receive from their doctors are irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia.

If you were to test positive for celiac disease, it would mean, genetically, that you would have to have inherited it from one of your parents, and that would most likely be your mother.

If I were you I would ask my primary care physician to run the full celiac panel of blood tests on you. If these are positive s/he will probably refer you to a GI for an endoscopy and biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. However, even if one or both of these tests are negative it does not mean that you do not have celiac or are not gluten intolerant. Unfortunately the tests are not 100% accurate and produce many false negatives. If that were to occur, then your option is to try the gluten free diet and see if you respond positively to it. Many people are in this boat. The tests are just not that accurate., unfortunately,

Best of luck to you; I hope you get an accurate diagnosis of your problem.

[flourgirl]

I can relate to almost all of your symptoms. I can also state that having one immune disorder does not preclude another. I've recently been diagnosed with "other" immune disorders....but Celiac was the first to be found. Just because your family members have not been diagnosed, does not mean it's not there. If you feel so much better on a gluten free diet, then it seems to me that you have your answer. Like Shroom has said, even with testing you can get a false negative (as it happens with so many other things). Get tested if you need to have that confirmation. How you go about it is up to you, but relief is relief is relief. If it hurts when you bang your head, then don't bang your head

[lizard00]

I had terrible headaches, too, that went away almost immediately after I went gluten-free. That's actually how I discovered I had celiac, by accident. I was doing an elimination diet to see if my asthma would improve and instead my headaches went away. I realized it was wheat after a week, and haven't looked back since.

I'm the only one officially diagnosed in my family, too. But I inherited it from both of my parents, and I think I have undiagnosed family members on my dad's side (maybe even him). They see how much I have benefited from the gluten-free diet, but they won't totally commit. Instead they eat gluten lite and won't get tested... oh well, they do what they do.

I also think my brother has it. He's had stomach/digestive issues since I can remember. But he won't go get tested for it either, instead he bakes his own low-wheat bread at home since it doesn't bother him as much.

Give it a real go, a month or two, and see how you feel. If you're already seeing improvement, you're on the right track. You can be tested for allergies anytime, so if you're curious as to whether it's an allergy or not, you can have that done whether you're currently eating gluten or not. The celiac testing though is based on you eating gluten, so if you want to be tested, do it now before you get too far into the gluten-free diet and decide you don't want to go back!!

[Jonnyb11]

Hi All

I have a question mainly about the swollen glands thing. i am currently undiagnosed, but pretty sure I am celiac. My mum was diagnosed about 15 years ago, she had classic symptoms.

I have been diagnosed with IBS and other stress related intestinal issues for years now, also depression and nothing seemed to help.

Over the last 6 months I have been having more and more servere symptoms, to the point that 20 mins after eating lunch I was having trouble staying awake and certainly coudnt get alot of work done. I began to cut lunch out and found i was better. At the same time I started getting a tingling strange sensation in my toungue at the back and swollen glands at the back of my throat a jaw line and a rash or reaction has appeared on my lower legs. This twinned with the headache, fatigue and general feeling being wiped out made me not want to eat. I chatted to my mum and she suggested I go gluten free for while. I have done this for about a month now and have seen a real improvement, I am much more on form more energy and the symptoms are almost gone. What I notice now is that if I consume gluten (in error, usually disguised or not indicated) My tongue and glands react right away (15 mins), the fatigue hits and all i want to do is sleep it off.

It is like having a gluten detector, even tiny amounts can trigger it.

Anyway my quesiton i supppose is, is this normal for a celiac or at least known?

I am in the process of arranging a test, but in the UK it is not so simple. I beleive i have to eat gluten for week before the test? this fills me with dread I have to say. I want to find out if I am indeed Celiac but really dont want to week of the symptoms again.

Does anyone know what I am going on about?

[glutengal]

I am new to the blog and haven't been diagnosed yet for gluten allergy/Celiac but I have a lot of questions about my symptoms.

For almost as long as I can remember I was always sick with cold-like symptoms but they got terribly worse after a death in my family and I began a vegetarian lifestyle. After a few months with worsening symptoms I stopped eating whole wheat and soy-based foods. Most annoying symptoms were sneezing constantly and a nose that wouldn't stop running. I went to a muscle-response doctor and he told me that I had an allergy to several grains and soy. I have gone back in forth between being gluten free and eating whatever I wanted. Sometimes immediately or days after I eat something containing gluten I break out (more than usual), sneeze, tighten glands around my neck, brain fog, poor short-term memory, headaches, joint pain, and sometimes I have stomach pain and bloating but rarely. I also suffer from bouts of depression. From my research these symptoms are more associated with a wheat allergy. I read that Celiac disease is hereditary but none of my family have been diagnosed. Many of them have had other autoimmune diseases such as Fibromyalgia and Arthritis.

I was hoping that some of you have had similar symptoms. I have been gluten free for the last week and I feel great. My energy increased, depression disappeared, flat stomach, but the acne still remains (but better). I am trying to get my mother who has both Fibromyalgia and Arthritis to stop eating gluten but I wish I had more information to give her. Any confirmation on my symptoms or information would be greatly appreciated.

I am new to the gluten-free diet and have been on it for 2 months. I had blood test and biopsy that came back negative for celiac but was convinced that eating gluten was a problem for me. After the first week of being gluten free my headaches, stomach pains, lingering cough and constant runny nose and disappeared. I still have some problems with minor indigestion. My biopsy showed gastritis. I am convinced that going gluten free is helping me and is worth a try. Good luck and hope this help in your decision to be gluten free whether your tests are positive or not.