Anyone Have/had Similar Symptoms?

[elaine44]

Hi everyone!!! Want to introduce myself and here are my various random symptoms, and wondering if anyone else out there had the same kinds of problems and maybe not all related celiac. a lot of them resolved/got better with the gluten free diet.

+daily headaches and frequent migraines

+migraines with vomiting at least once a month

+pain all over my body in muscles and joints when i have a migraine and sometimes just with the daily headache

+TMJD (bruxism also)

+depression/bipolar/adhd

+asthma, seasonal allergies (mostly pollen)

+insomnia

+rectal polyp

+ibs (diarrhea and constipation both.)

+hemorrhoids/rectal bleeding (part from polyp and part from anal fissures/hemorrhoids)

+a lot of gas but i don't know if it's more than the average person.

+bloating

+terrible social skills

+general fatigue

I haven't been tested but out of desperation with migraines tried the gluten free diet. I haven't had any migraines, and only an occasional headache that goes away with drinking water and excedrin (not true before, no meds would help me before not even the really expensive migraine meds) i got through an entire period without a migraine. i can finally hold my own when i go out drinking with people (used to be i would throw up no matter how few beers i drank. now i don't drink beer, and don't throw up, period!) bloating is down so much i went from a size 12 to being able to fit size 6 pants in less than a month (i was underweight before, and still basically the same weight). I can't believe I don't have a headache every day anymore, it's been my life as long as i can remember. i did get really awful vomiting and diarrhea and minor headache once since i started the diet but i am almost positive it was food poisoning as my boyfriend got sick too (and actually, it was more than i typically had with migraines/ibs symptoms)... another time i got a migraine, and vomited had diarrhea and was ready to give up gluten-free when i realized i'd absentmindedly ate a fortune cookie earlier that day.

the only weird thing is that this month my period is MUCH heavier than it was, which seems to be the opposite for a lot of people, who have heavier periods before going gluten free, which then gets lighter. but anyone have that same experience as me? my period this month on gluten free diet was so heavy i would have almost thought it was a miscarriage except i had had a pregnancy test one week earlier for participation in a research study. again don't know if that was related.

I finally made the gluten connection when i became a vegetarian, and noticed my migraines were getting a lot worse eating more veggie burgers. i read something about a possible gluten connection to migraines and decided to try it. I haven't been tested and don't plan to be (no health insurance) but my mom has a lot of the same symptoms, plus osteoporosis and miscarriages and told me she will.

also, my asthma seems to have gotten better? ? its hard to really know because usually my asthma is worse in spring and fall. but i also usually also get asthma if i have a cold and for the first time in my life i had a runny nose with no hacking cough that made people move away from me...

although i'm thrilled to not have migraines/body pain, ibs, etc., I'm still depressed and insomniac and still really tired all the time and very thirsty. i still suck at socializing and it's usually more because being social exhausts me, and i think i just have a hard time relating to people. now that i don't have so many headaches it is a lot easier for me to go out, though -- that used to be a major part of staying in (no excuse anymore though, ha.) i don't know if any of this is really gluten related potentially... but just curious if anyone else had any of the same mood/sleep related symptoms and have that go away later on the gluten free diet?

i still cannot fall asleep without marijuana, muscle relaxants, alcohol, or sleeping pills.

want to say hi. anyone have similar experiences to me? and if yes, did any of your other symptoms go away and how long did it take? specifically i would love to not be depressed/socially anxious anymore . i've tried many different drugs, therapy, positive thinking, i'm still just a big sad grump! and, i don't have many friends but have a few, most of them think the gluten free thing is weird, since i haven't been to a doctor, my boyfriend loves it because hes noticed huge improvements and i complain a lot less, but he still wants me to go get tested for gluten sensitivity. mostly because i still talk about wondering if i have it sometimes, but i also don't see much point in testing... and REALLY don't want to go back to eating gluten ever again. those are kind of my feelings about it, but mostly i want to say hi, and was wondering if anyone else had the same kinds of symptoms/experience as me? thanks!

[Dixiebell]

Welcome to the forum elaine44!

I had some but not all of the problems you have been having. My son and I have been gluten-free for about six months now. Wow, what a difference!

I'm not sure how long you have been gluten-free but stick with it. It sounds as though you have had some positive results so far. If you can afford to have it done get your vitamin and mineral levels checked to see if you are low in any, this can make you feel bad too.

[quakenbake]

I too have had some, but not all of the symptoms (mostly the GI stuff, I have had problems with asthma and allergies/sinus infections so bad that they required surgery, I have bad headaches/migraines, and back and joint pain). I actually just has surgery to look for endometriosis because my periods have always been off too. I'm in the process of being tested for Celiac right now, so I'm certainly no expert. It might not be a bad idea to get tested, but if you do, you will have to go back to eating gluten. Eating gluten free before any kind of test will affect the results (if you have Celiac and you're not eating gluten, your body isn't producing the antibodies or being damaged so nothing will show up). This is the part of testing I'm in (I had blood drawn on Tuesday and am having an endoscopic biopsy next Thursday), and it is miserable, but I do think it will be worth it in the long run. Obviously if you feel better eating gluten free, the best thing to do in the long run is to not eat gluten.; it'll just depend on if you want to get tested or not. From what I've heard, it'll take months for damage and stuff to heal. It's not going to be an instant "I feel better now" type of thing. I hope that I eventually feel as great as everyone who has been on a long term gluten-free diet and that you do too. It's no fun being this miserable, so I hope you get this figured out soon.