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Depression And Celiac - Connection?

anna34

By anna34
in Related Issues & Disorders

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anna34 Enthusiast
anna34
Posted

Is celiac connected to depression? I'd be interested in any information on this topic.

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Yes it is. Here are links to a bit of info. On the sidebars of these abstracts are other studies.

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"Coeliac disease should be taken into consideration in patients with psychiatric disorders, particularly if they are not responsive to psychopharmacological therapy, because withdrawal of gluten from the diet usually results in disappearance of symptoms."

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cassP Contributor
cassP
Posted

Is celiac connected to depression? I'd be interested in any information on this topic.

it has definitely been my experience!

and on top of that- the Hashimoto's i have ALSO can cause depression and anxiety... and both Hashi & Celiac are triggered and aggravated by gluten.

adab8ca Enthusiast
adab8ca
Posted

I am considered a laid back, happy person.

The depression that I sank into literally had me starting at the bottle of ativan, thinking if I took them all I could end the pain. I was also in a great deal of physical pain, joints and neuropathy as well as having severe insomnia (hence the ativan).

My Dr. put me on Cymbalta and I am totally off the ativan and so, so, so much better. I know many people have trouble with (ie they don't work, have bad side effects, don't trust) antidepressants but I had very few side effects and think they probably saved my life.

My GP hasn't really stated that the Celiac and the depression are related but I am such a neuro celiac anyway, no doubt it is.

eatmeat4good Enthusiast
eatmeat4good
Posted

Severe and profound depression and anxiety are in my opinion consistent with neurological symptoms of Celiac. I was on massive doses of antidepressants with no appreciable effect at all on the depression.

There are articles on schizophrenia being caused by Celiac disease being undiagnosed.

Zoloft, Xanax, and SSRI companies would go out of business if the word got out that Gluten definitely causes depression.

Within 4 months of being gluten free there is no more depression and only mild anxiety that is more related to the losses experienced while I was undiagnosed.

No psych meds ever helped, but going gluten free resolved it completely.

hnybny91 Rookie
hnybny91
Posted

the last few months before I discovered I had Celiac (not thank to any of my MANY doctors) I was experiencing my worst depression episode ever. I cried all day every day, had to take time off of work, my family could barely say anything to me for fear I would go hide in my room, etc. My infectiuos disease doctor basically said I can't find anything wrong and wrote onthe notes to my GP that I needed to been seen for psychosis. With in TWO WEEKS of being gluten free the depression was nearly gone. I am only gluten free about four weeks now and I would say it is completely gone now.

sb2178 Enthusiast
sb2178
Posted

I was reading a paper today (it's on the medscape site, a review of comorbidities) that states a pre-diagnosis celiac has about twice the risk of depression as your average joe, and a post-diagnosis has a slightly higher risk of depression than that. Don't remember if it talks about resolution.

There's correlation, definitely.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Emma-Lee Rookie
Emma-Lee
Posted

I believe there very well could be a link. I had recently started therapy for depression. I was so scared because it is so unlike me to be so sad. There was also little to no trigger. It appears this very well could be linked to Celiac. I am so excited to see how the new diet will affect my mood. I have read several stories from people who have an improved mood once they cut gluten. The research that is posted above is also very reassuring. Good luck to you

eyeaspire Newbie
eyeaspire
Posted

I believe there very well could be a link. I had recently started therapy for depression. I was so scared because it is so unlike me to be so sad. There was also little to no trigger. It appears this very well could be linked to Celiac. I am so excited to see how the new diet will affect my mood. I have read several stories from people who have an improved mood once they cut gluten. The research that is posted above is also very reassuring. Good luck to you

I'd say YES!

I was off and on meds since I was 17 (I'm 35 now) for depression, anxiety, re-occuring depressive disorder, and then bi-polar. Two years ago I was taking a mood stabilizer that cost $400/month (after insurance - ack!). After gaining 70 lbs on it (including gaining 5 doing Weight Watchers), I talked with my psychiatrist about using diet & exercise to reduce my need for medication. She supported me 100%. Long story short: I bought a cookbook (Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook - all gluten-free, CF, and Egg Free) because it looked healthy, not because it was gluten free. Read it, and learned that gluten & dairy can cause mood swings. I did a two week trial and never felt better in my life. It was one of the most amazing periods of my life.

I ate gluten again to see what it would do. I was laid up in bed weeping and wanting to die for over a week. When that passed, I felt amazing again. When I went back to see my psychiatrist, she said, "You know, I think you can go off your medications!" She has never met anyone like me. I see her tomorrow for a follow-up and am going to tell her about the new term I learned last week: Gluten Ataxia. Nice to know I'm not an anomaly.

After two years without medication, I decided that I need to keep a low dose of medication in my body in the event that I eat gluten. I get suicidal ideation when I eat gluten, in addition to a host of other symptoms. Eating out is already stressful, but with that symptom, it is truly horrible. I still eat out infrequently. But when I do, I'm not so paranoid. I stick to certain restaurants and don't stray from them too often.

I'll admit that the medication I take has lifted my mood somewhat. Because of the Ceilac and Ataxia symptoms that I experienced most of my life, I had to give up a lot of my power, which is pretty depressing. I got things done, but man - it has been so hard! I need to work through my grief around that with my therapist sometime. Occasionally I still think I'm a flake or feel like a liability, when it is really just me having an off day as opposed to being ill over and over again.

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