Hello Guys - - My Story.

[Twenty4isours]

Hey guys,

I've just recently diagnosed myself with Gluten Intolerance (I have a feeling I am Celiac though based on my gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, extreme flatulence and obvious mineral deficiencies such as, white spots on my fingernails) after deciding to stop eating gluten for a few days and noticing I could finally think straight for the first time in a LONG time....

For as long as I could remember I have had serious problems. I'd always feel detached to the world around me, and have even been asked if I was drunk a few times as a young teen at my old job delivering pizza. They all thought I was either on drugs or an alcoholic. It was so hard to cope everyday knowing that I'd slip in and out of reality. I couldn't hold jobs, my band fell apart because I wasn't able to keep my head up through practice sessions. My life was falling apart! I had no idea what to do but I had to start somewhere. I started googling the way I felt everyday. I had came up with a few possibilities such as a Zinc Deficiency, Iodine Deficiency (which is actually common), B-12 Deficiency, etc... It just didn't make sense to me, how was I deficient in all of these minerals?! I did EAT!! I mean come on, what was going on?

After saving some money (I have no health insurance and have to be my own doctor) I decided to talk to a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed with BiPolar Depression. The doctor prescribed me some Lamictal and I had finally thought, This is it! - I'm finally going to feel better! I had taken it for a week and nothing had changed except for this serious rash that covered my arms that required an emergency visit to a dermatologist.

So..

After being gluten free now for 2 weeks I feel like my space-ship has finally landed back on earth, and it's now time to learn again. Learn how to deal with everyday life. It's as if my life has started over. I'm noticing some withdrawal symptoms such as lightheadedness, weakness, nausea, and I do still have gas.

What really blew my mind was when I had went into the bathroom 15 minutes ago and looked at my eyes in the mirror. I couldn't see my eye color, my pupils were enormous !! MY eyes were totally BLACK! (perfect for halloween!!) Okay, so I totally freaked out and googled "enlarged pupils" and came up with a condition called "Mydriasis". After reading through the article in wikipedia it was a part of a withdrawal condition people coming off of Heroin and Morphine go through, WOW!!! I've read that gluten is in fact an opiate just like Heroin and Morphine.

This journey has been really interesting and this website is a life saver! I'm glad to say I am no longer an alien from outer space but a human on earth. Thanks for listening guys!!

Dennis

[GlutenFreeManna]

Welcome to the board. I've never heard that about the eye pupils and gluten but it doesn't surprise me terribly. The depression and the fatigue as well as the bloating are certainly signs of a gluten problem. I hope you can stick with it and this is really your solution. You may become a completely different person now that your know how much gluten affects you.

ETA: I also wanted to say, be sure you get a good gluten free multi-vitamin to help with your mineral deficiencies.