Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Was Diagnosed After I Quit Smoking, Now Affraid To Quit Again...


Eirish1973

Recommended Posts

Eirish1973 Newbie

3 Years ago I quit smoking after doing so for 18 years. At the time my doctor warned me that when you quit smoking health issues may appear. Celiac disease was the last thing that crossed my mind. Any way, after 3 months of constant diarrhea, 20 lbs of weight loss and numerous tests, I was finally diagnosed. About 7 months later I started smoking again. Since I started back up again I rarely have any reactions to gluten. I quit again for 9 mos when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, then I started up again and still no reactions. What is in cigarettes that lets this happen? Has anyone else out there experienced this? I want to have another child so I want to quit smoking again but I fear that I won't be able to get pregnant if I quit. Sounds stupid huh?? Celiacs have a hard time getting pregnant. I am also a year late on my follow up to have another Endoscope. I also fear that the smoking is just masking the reactions but who knows what is really going on with my intestines? Any advice would be much appreciated.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



lovegrov Collaborator

Smoking does NOT keep you from having celiac or being damaged by it. Instead, you're damaging yourself two ways, by eating gluten and by smoking. I was a pack-a-day smoker when I got extremely ill from celiac and smoking didn't stop me from having it.

richard

Gemini Experienced

3 Years ago I quit smoking after doing so for 18 years. At the time my doctor warned me that when you quit smoking health issues may appear. Celiac disease was the last thing that crossed my mind. Any way, after 3 months of constant diarrhea, 20 lbs of weight loss and numerous tests, I was finally diagnosed. About 7 months later I started smoking again. Since I started back up again I rarely have any reactions to gluten. I quit again for 9 mos when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, then I started up again and still no reactions. What is in cigarettes that lets this happen? Has anyone else out there experienced this? I want to have another child so I want to quit smoking again but I fear that I won't be able to get pregnant if I quit. Sounds stupid huh?? Celiacs have a hard time getting pregnant. I am also a year late on my follow up to have another Endoscope. I also fear that the smoking is just masking the reactions but who knows what is really going on with my intestines? Any advice would be much appreciated.

There has been evidence and some small studies done, which point to the fact that smoking can delay the symptoms of Celiac Disease. Personally, I smoked until 4 months before I became deathly ill with Celiac so my experience mirrors yours. It seems that all hell broke loose after I quit. :blink: Some attribute that to the fact that, supposedly, smoking depresses your immune system, and it may, but I'm not sure it happens in everyone. Tobacco does affect your intestinal tract but it was always to the effect that it acted like a laxative so I am not sure how the smoking/Celiac connection works. Your doctor could be right...that smoking masks symptoms of other problems.

As long as you remain totally gluten-free, you should have no problems getting pregnant again....unless there are other underlying problems. And no, you do not sound stupid.....cigarettes are hard to quit and everyone struggles with that. Giving up gluten was so easy for me it was amazing but the cigarettes are a lot harder!

tarnalberry Community Regular

I think you know the right thing to do - go smoke free and gluten free. You can't know what internal damage is being done, regardless of external symptoms. (Many celiacs are asymptomatic, and some studies, as mentioned, suggest that smoking may affect what symptoms you feel.) But you know that smoking isn't good for you, a growing baby, or your current child, and you also know that gluten isn't good for you (or a growing baby or breastfed infant, getting antibodies in your blood/milk). That doesn't make it any easier to implement two significant life changes, but it's still the right thing to do. Get help - either from your doctor, a counselor who can help you find how you best cope with these changes, or a support group. Not easy, but worthwhile.

Lisa Mentor

Crohns Disease and smoking have a correlation, in minimizing the symptoms. Celiac and Crohns have similar digestive issues. Crohns generally is associated with the large intestines. Might be something to look into.

..otherwise, you have received great advise.

  • 2 weeks later...
Eirish1973 Newbie

Thanks to all of you!! This was all great advice!!! I have now been smoke and gluten free for 6 days so far and going well!!!

Thanks again,

Erin

  • 9 years later...
Timmy Newbie
On 2/22/2010 at 8:44 AM, lovegrov said:

Smoking does NOT keep you from having celiac or being damaged by it. Instead, you're damaging yourself two ways, by eating gluten and by smoking. I was a pack-a-day smoker when I got extremely ill from celiac and smoking didn't stop me from having it.

 

richard

I beg to differ.  Firsthand experience and after reading countless studies and hundreds of other people’s stories, it most definitely does at least “mask” symptoms at the very least. And that’s just what I’ve had time to read, there is endless stories. I now, 1 year after quitting, with proof, have positive bloodwork after having to do all my own research because of incompetent doctors who wouldn’t test me, I finally found one who listened.  I also developed thyroid autoimmunity after quitting as well.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - knitty kitty replied to Rejoicephd's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      13

      Struggling to get into a good pattern

    2. - knitty kitty replied to kopiq's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      4

      almost a year in recovery - so many questions about to give up

    3. - Rejoicephd replied to Rejoicephd's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      13

      Struggling to get into a good pattern

    4. - trents replied to junell's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      1

      Help!

    5. - junell posted a topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      1

      Help!


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      130,648
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Livinonaprayer
    Newest Member
    Livinonaprayer
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.3k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      @Rejoicephd, Would you consider adding a B Complex to your supplements?   I was taking a multivitamin and still became deficient.  There's a question as to how well multivitamins dissolve in the digestive system.   I found taking a B Complex and Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine shown to promote intestinal healing, very beneficial in my recovery.   Some B Complex supplements use Thiamine Mononitrate which is not well absorbed nor utilized by the body.  Thiamine Hydrochloride is better.  Benfotiamine is easily absorbed.  If not needed, the B vitamins are easily excreted. High B12 out of the blue could be masking a lack of other vitamins that work with B12, like Folate B 9, Pyridoxine B 6, and Thiamine B 1. Meats and liver are great sources of B vitamins.  B vitamins are needed to make digestive enzymes that digest protein, fats, and carbohydrates.   Do keep in mind that most gluten free processed facsimile foods are not required to be enriched with vitamins and minerals lost in processing like their gluten containing counterparts.  The more carbohydrates you eat, the more Thiamine is needed to process them into energy instead of storing them as fat.   Hope this helps!  Keep us posted on your progress.
    • knitty kitty
      @kopiq,  Your case is not hopeless.  Doctors are not required to learn much about nutrition.  Celiac Disease causes damage to the lining of the small intestines resulting in malabsorption of essential vitamins and minerals.  The eight essential B vitamins  and the four fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) are chemical compounds that our bodies cannot make, so we must get them from what we eat.  If we're not absorbing sufficient amounts from our food, then supplementing with vitamins and minerals help boost our ability to absorb them.  The B vitamins are safe and water soluble, easily excreted in urine if not needed or not absorbed.  Essential minerals are important, too.  Magnesium and Thiamine make life sustaining enzymes together.   Blood tests for the B vitamins are notoriously inaccurate.  By the time a deficiency shows up in the blood, you've been deficient for a few years. The best way to tell is to try taking a  B Complex and looking for health improvements. Taking a B Complex and Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine shown to promote intestinal healing, helped me immensely.  I also took Vitamin D and Magnesium Glycinate and others. Did your doctor offer any treatment to correct your critically low Vitamin D level?   Mine was lower than yours.  My doctor prescribed the less bioavailable form D2.  Our bodies utilize the D3 form better.  I bought over the counter Vitamin D3 supplements (1000 IU) and took several with each meal.  Taking high doses of Vitamin D to correct a deficiency is safe and very effective at improving health.  I started feeling better quickly.  Vitamin D helps regulate the immune system and lower inflammation, as well as makes hormones. Laying out in the sun cannot correct a Vitamin D deficiency unless you're below the 33rd parallel (on a tropical island with abundant exposed skin for several months).  Ultraviolet rays from the sun destroy the thiamine in the body.  That feeling of lethargy is because the sun exposure broke down thiamine into unusable pieces.  Thiamine and the B vitamins make ATP, the energy currency the body requires to function, to make digestive enzymes, to regulate body temperature, to think, to heal itself.  We need more Thiamine when we're outdoors in hot weather, working or exercising.  Thiamine deficiency doesn't cause heat stroke, but thiamine deficiency can make heat stroke symptoms worse.  We need more Thiamine when we're physically ill or injured or undergoing medical procedures.  We need more Thiamine when we're emotionally stressed or traumatized.  Anxiety and depression are very early symptoms of thiamine and other nutritional deficiencies.   Rashes can be caused by deficiencies in Niacin B3, Vitamin A, or Vitamin C.  Some rashes can become worse with exposure to sunlight.   The B vitamins are needed to make digestive enzymes that will help you digest fat and proteins better.  Meats are an excellent source of B vitamins.  Sweet potato and plantain are high in carbohydrates.  The more carbohydrates one eats, there is a greater metabolic need for thiamine to turn them into energy, ATP. Can your doctor refer you to a dietician or nutritionist?
    • Rejoicephd
      Thank you @cristiana.  Its really helpful to hear your experience, thanks for sharing.  8 years is a long time!  And its also good to know that others have experienced worsening before it gets better.  I've just started doing the food diary recently, and I'll keep that going. It's at least helping me try to get a handle on this, and also helps increase my overall awareness of what I'm putting in my body. I will also message my GI doc in the meantime too.  Thanks, it's really helpful to talk through this.  
    • trents
      Yes, the development of additional food intolerances is a common spinoff of celiac disease. To ensure valid testing after beginning a "gluten challenge" you would need to be consuming at least 10g of gluten daily (about the amount in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for at least two weeks. Many cannot follow through with this regimen, however, as their intolerance reactions are just too strong and present too much health risk.
    • junell
      I've been gluten free for 5 years, as well as being intolerant to gluten, my list of intolerances is growing.. from dairy, eggs, soya, yeast, to mushroom, garlic, onion, spinach and quite a few in-between, basically my diet is gluten-free cornflakes, rice, banana, almond milk and fish anything else causes bloating, severe abdominal pain, mucousy diarrhoea, lethargy, muscle and joint pain, kidney pain, headaches, and mouth ulcers. I've been told it's IBS, I think it's more than that... I've been sent to a gastroenterologist who tested for coeliac, if course it came back negative because, as I told him, I haven't eaten gluten for 5 years, he's asked me to eat gluten for 4 weeks and redo the blood test, so I've tried small amounts of crispbread for 3 days and am in agony, I can't do this for 4 weeks and then however long it'll take to recover. Has anyone got any suggestions, and is multiple food intolerances a common side effect of coeliac? I'm struggling! And struggling to be taken seriously 😒 
×
×
  • Create New...