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Increased Depression/Anxiety/Paranoia After Going Gluten Free

DownWithGluten

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DownWithGluten Explorer
DownWithGluten
Posted

Hi. Not sure if this is the right section to post this in...feel free to bump it around. Also if this has been addressed, I apologize. Feel free to direct me to the already existent thread.

That said. I think I'm...I had a little realization of sorts. I'm curious, in the period shortly AFTER going gluten-free for the first time, has anyone experienced an increase in depression/anxiety/paranoia/confusion?

I had this kind of downward spiral "episode" that happened about 3 months after I began the gluten free the diet. There were several precipitating factors that I can think of...some weighing more than others. I don't want to get in to it too much, because this is a public site and who knows who might find me and I don't talk about this much to anyone. But it got to the point that it was almost, almost near psychosis. Just a lot of confusion, realizing I was somewhere and had no idea why I went there in the first place, etc. It reached a boiling point and I pulled myself out somehow without any counseling, so that's good...hindsight, I'm not sure why I didn't just take advantage of the counseling center on campus. But, I didn't. Anyway. It was like this overwhelming anxiety and depression that just came to a head, which I've till know chalked up completely just to be being alone a lot and overly stressed about certain things. Which could still be true.

BUT I was just writing on the thread about dropping out of college, and noticed a post about someone else saying they had to drop school after going on the diet, just from the stress/depression until they got their feet back on the ground, body used to the diet, right nutrition, etc.

Is it possible my little near breakdown could have been partly the fault of going gluten-free? As a newbie, maybe I wasn't getting all the food I needed. (I do remember thinking hunger was a factor that might have played in.) Or could be some weird kind of 'withdrawal' or...maybe, just such a huge, drastic change in my diet somehow screwed with my head a little?

Anyone have a similar experience? Or is this just some wishful thinking on my part. :ph34r:

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mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

Hi. Not sure if this is the right section to post this in...feel free to bump it around. Also if this has been addressed, I apologize. Feel free to direct me to the already existent thread.

That said. I think I'm...I had a little realization of sorts. I'm curious, in the period shortly AFTER going gluten-free for the first time, has anyone experienced an increase in depression/anxiety/paranoia/confusion?

I had this kind of downward spiral "episode" that happened about 3 months after I began the gluten free the diet. There were several precipitating factors that I can think of...some weighing more than others. I don't want to get in to it too much, because this is a public site and who knows who might find me and I don't talk about this much to anyone. But it got to the point that it was almost, almost near psychosis. Just a lot of confusion, realizing I was somewhere and had no idea why I went there in the first place, etc. It reached a boiling point and I pulled myself out somehow without any counseling, so that's good...hindsight, I'm not sure why I didn't just take advantage of the counseling center on campus. But, I didn't. Anyway. It was like this overwhelming anxiety and depression that just came to a head, which I've till know chalked up completely just to be being alone a lot and overly stressed about certain things. Which could still be true.

BUT I was just writing on the thread about dropping out of college, and noticed a post about someone else saying they had to drop school after going on the diet, just from the stress/depression until they got their feet back on the ground, body used to the diet, right nutrition, etc.

Is it possible my little near breakdown could have been partly the fault of going gluten-free? As a newbie, maybe I wasn't getting all the food I needed. (I do remember thinking hunger was a factor that might have played in.) Or could be some weird kind of 'withdrawal' or...maybe, just such a huge, drastic change in my diet somehow screwed with my head a little?

Anyone have a similar experience? Or is this just some wishful thinking on my part. :ph34r:

Your body is making a tremendous adjustment when withdrawing from the gluten (which is toxic to you) and many people report a withdrawal symptom for some time. There is also the issue of other nutrients your body may be lacking through improper absorption of nutrients in the gut. Have you checked that all your vitamin and mineral levels are up to snuff (and I don't mean that bottom of the range is okay, I mean near the middle of the range)--especially Vitamin D, B12 (all the B's actually, folate, zinc, magnesium. Have you had your thyroid function checked (TSH, free T4 and free T3. All these things can be contributing to feelings of depression, lethargy, confusion. Of course, the diet itself, initially, can leave one feeling a little isolated and out of it, and put all these things together you have a lot to deal with. So yes, people do have similar experiences. I went through it starting several months after I actually dquit gluten, and it was not until I got all my metabolic levels balanced again that I felt balanced myself. You are not unusual at all, sorry to say :D Of course, you seem to have had some other contributing factors that could have made it all much worse, especially if you were not eating well after going gluten free, and it can be hard to do if you are in college.

Good for you for pulling yourself out of it and I am glad you are starting to feel better, but I would still (if you haven't already) get your nutrient levels checked with blood tests to make sure. :)

DownWithGluten Explorer
DownWithGluten
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the response. In this case, I'd be glad not to be unusual lol!

It's going to be 3 years in January that I've been on the diet. My mom is always egging me to go see a nutritionist or something and I'm like "ehh" because all that stuff bores me. I only pay attention to what I eat now because I have to, lol.

but what I really need to do, like you mentioned, is check my thyroid. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I was 10. At some point that doctor retired, and I haven't been to an endocrinologist since. I'd continue with synthroid and get my levels checked just with physicals, but it's been at least 3 years with that. My mom also mentioned that some say gluten intolerance/hashimotos are connected, and the levels might change once on the diet. That could really be a contributing factor too. So you know what, now that I'm putting all this together in my mind, I think first thing monday I'm going to make an appointment with a thyroid doctor somewhere and see what's going on. Wouldn't it be great if all it took was some thyroid readjusting and I become this joyous, happy person! :P Too good to be true, but, at least if I know my levels are right that would be good. But yeah...that really could have been a factor.

I may have been uber stressed anyway, and then adding all that health stuff on top just pushed it over the edge.

Thanks!

T.H. Community Regular
T.H.
Posted

You might want to check out food allergies, as well.

I was getting very sick after going gluten free, and then was off and on depressed/angry/stressed.

Turns out, I'm reacting to most of the other grasses, like corn, rice and sugar cane (which is less processed in a lot of gluten-free foods, so I was reacting more than I had in the past when I didn't even know I was allergic!).

After dropping a whole horde of foods in my diet, everything feels ten times better.

I know that a lot of people report a gluten withdrawal kind of reaction after going gluten free, but after hearing a couple facts from my GI and my dietician, I have to admit, I wonder if a lot of us are suffering from something else. Because 1) (according to GI doc)genetically, people with the gene for celiac sprue are also more likely to suffer from food allergies, sensitivities, and intolerances. Even if the celiac never 'triggers.' 2) according to dietician, a lot of people who have been eating gluten for some time will be more sensitive to other related grasses at first, but then that sensitivities often ebb after we've been away for a while.

I sometimes wonder if we drop all the grasses for a couple months after going gluten free, if we'd feel better. No idea, really, just a thought!

Thanks for the response. In this case, I'd be glad not to be unusual lol!

It's going to be 3 years in January that I've been on the diet. My mom is always egging me to go see a nutritionist or something and I'm like "ehh" because all that stuff bores me. I only pay attention to what I eat now because I have to, lol.

but what I really need to do, like you mentioned, is check my thyroid. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I was 10. At some point that doctor retired, and I haven't been to an endocrinologist since. I'd continue with synthroid and get my levels checked just with physicals, but it's been at least 3 years with that. My mom also mentioned that some say gluten intolerance/hashimotos are connected, and the levels might change once on the diet. That could really be a contributing factor too. So you know what, now that I'm putting all this together in my mind, I think first thing monday I'm going to make an appointment with a thyroid doctor somewhere and see what's going on. Wouldn't it be great if all it took was some thyroid readjusting and I become this joyous, happy person! :P Too good to be true, but, at least if I know my levels are right that would be good. But yeah...that really could have been a factor.

I may have been uber stressed anyway, and then adding all that health stuff on top just pushed it over the edge.

Thanks!

  • 2 weeks later...
sandsurfgirl Collaborator
sandsurfgirl
Posted

If your thyroid dose is too high it will make you feel like you are jumping out of your skin. You must monitor your thyroid and see a doc regularly about that. The thyroid regulates so many things in your body. Check that first. I won't use synthroid. It left me with "normal" labs and tons of symptoms for years. I got way , better when I switched to a dessicated natural thyroid. It's still a prescription, but it comes from a pig thyroid not chemicals. It was life changing. I used to use Armour brand but they changed the formula and I got major symptoms back. Now I use West throid. It's not easy to come by right now because there is a shortage but if you google it and call the manufacturer they can tell you where to find it. It's not easy getting a doc who will prescribe it because many of them only know about Synthroid and the like.

DownWithGluten Explorer
DownWithGluten
Posted
  • Author

If your thyroid dose is too high it will make you feel like you are jumping out of your skin. You must monitor your thyroid and see a doc regularly about that. The thyroid regulates so many things in your body. Check that first. I won't use synthroid. It left me with "normal" labs and tons of symptoms for years. I got way , better when I switched to a dessicated natural thyroid. It's still a prescription, but it comes from a pig thyroid not chemicals. It was life changing. I used to use Armour brand but they changed the formula and I got major symptoms back. Now I use West throid. It's not easy to come by right now because there is a shortage but if you google it and call the manufacturer they can tell you where to find it. It's not easy getting a doc who will prescribe it because many of them only know about Synthroid and the like.

A dessicated pig thyroid? Sounds interesting. And yeah I do feel like I really need to get my thyroid checked. I should stop slacking. And so you say that synthroid made your bloodwork come back good, but you were still irritable/lethargic whatever comes with it? I am definitely those things, and I know those are common symptoms of hypothyroidism, so it would be glorious to have that finally go away. And if it's a dried pig organ that'll do it...thanks for the suggestion. I should go to a thyroid doc soon, I'll mention the pig thing. Especially since I saw another thread somewhere saying some people have felt they were 'glutened' by synthroid, recently. That's the last thing I need.

Anyway, thanks for the tip :)

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