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How Long Before Anxiety/panic Goes Away

Nads

By Nads
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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Nads Rookie
Nads
Posted

My 16 year old daughter has anxiety/ panic/ocd and I am wondering if it is related to gluten. I am gluten intolerant and have been gluten free for about 2 years. For the first year and a half she and the rest of the family went off gluten for the most part and her anxiety was much less. In the last 6 months she has been eating lots of pizza, bagels and other wheat items and maybe coincidentally her anxiety has gotten much worse and she now has panic attacks and some ocd as well. I convinced her to go gluten free to see if she felt better. It's been 1.5 weeks and she says she feels a little better but the anxiety and panic are still there. How long should she continue going gluten free to see if gluten is the problem? I was hoping to see more improvement by now.

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eatmeat4good Enthusiast
eatmeat4good
Posted

Welcome! Anxiety was a huge symptom for me. It got better the longer I was gluten free, but it probably took 3 months to be fully rid of the anxiety, panic attacks and OCD. The problem is you have to be really strict with the diet. No eating the top off of pizza and thinking it will limit the gluten. When I get gluten accidentally now, the anxiety and dark panicky feelings are the first symptom to come and the last to leave. A glutening from cross contamination will last 3 days for me. And that was just from handing a cookie to a child and then eating a handful of nuts. I don't know if she is that sensitive, but if she is, it will be difficult to see full improvement and elimination of anxiety unless she is very careful.

I hate the anxiety feelings that come from gluten. It is a very uncomfortable kind of angst and internal restlessness. No medication could resolve it either, though Xanax helped some. I would suggest a longer trial with careful attention to cross contamination. She might have complete resolution of the anxiety symptoms with time.

  • 1 month later...
Brrrandy Rookie
Brrrandy
Posted

I think I've heard of some OCD symptoms being linked to bacteria in the gut. If your daughter does have a gluten sensitivity, there may be some other things that have come along on the way. It might not be a bad idea to do a more serious cleanse or try to see a doctor who believes in the relationship between stomach issues and psychological issues.

"Ultra-Mind Solution" by Mark Hymen is a bit pulp science, but an interesting read for this kind of thing, and might point you in some good directions.

Best of luck to your and your daughter.

Goof Rookie
Goof
Posted

I had some of the same issues - particularly nocturnal panic attacks. Mine actually went away fairly quickly after going gluten free. But I did still have one minor attack a few weeks after going gluten-free. But since then, none.

I know how scary that is, and that she probably wants it gone now. (I know I did!) If she's just at a week and a half, she might not notice a huge difference yet. It may still be a few weeks before she feels markedly better. But tell her to hang in there!

rgarton Contributor
rgarton
Posted

One of my major issues when i was undiagnosed was anxiety, OCD, panic attacks (to the point of losing consciousness) and having night terrors, which was not good wherever and whoever your living with! After getting diagnosed and being gluten-free i noticed my anxiety wasn't present everyday and i have only had one panic attack in 5 months *touch wood* wheras i used to have maybe 1-2 a day and my night terrors have gone, i still have very odd dreams and nightmares but i dont wake up in a cold sweat, screaming anymore which is nice.

Advice her to stay gluten free again just to see if it changes her mood and make her recognise it herself, and maybe buy a prick blood test online for her, its about

  • 7 years later...
Victoria Churchill Newbie
Victoria Churchill
Posted
(edited)

Hey all I’m starting to think my anxiety is due to gluten, I’ve been tested for gluten a long time ago but it came back neg my mum has celiacs. But I keep having bouts. Of anxiety for no reason, my head feels fine I just have this weird wired, dull sicky anxiety feeling in my stomach, last night I ate some tortilla wraps Wheat ones.. then bam anxiety thru the roof. It also wakes me up suddenly in the mornings, it’s horrible... I took so many anti anxiety pills yesterday it’s unreal and didn’t make a difference... so it’s mzking me think it’s some thing else. How long does it take after eating gluten to feel ok I had to take the day off work it was so bad today for no reason but I did eat the wraps last night and bam anxiety... is there anything I can do to help this go away quick x 

Edited by Victoria Churchill
Ennis-TX Grand Master
Ennis-TX
Posted
48 minutes ago, Victoria Churchill said:

Hey all I’m starting to think my anxiety is due to gluten, I’ve been tested for gluten a long time ago but it came back neg my mum has celiacs. But I keep having bouts. Of anxiety for no reason, my head feels fine I just have this weird wired, dull sicky anxiety feeling in my stomach, last night I ate some tortilla wraps Wheat ones.. then bam anxiety thru the roof. It also wakes me up suddenly in the mornings, it’s horrible... I took so many anti anxiety pills yesterday it’s unreal and didn’t make a difference... so it’s mzking me think it’s some thing else. How long does it take after eating gluten to feel ok I had to take the day off work it was so bad today for no reason but I did eat the wraps last night and bam anxiety... is there anything I can do to help this go away quick x 

See about starting a new thread as this one is pretty old.
 

But addressing your issues, first get tested again, the disease can develop at any time if you have the gene. I think it was all first degree relatives should be tested every year? And you have to be eating gluten daily for the testing to be accurate.

Second from personal experience of a recent gluten exposure the anxiety, depression etc. got worse on day 2-4 for me then weaned off. I find it seems to correlate with B-vitamins and magnesium as taking 2-3x the recommended dose helped. I ASSUME it has to do with less being absorbed during a exposure. But could also be related to higher antibodies, body being under attack and the resulting reactions causing panic fight/flight. Or like me some might have the issues with the immune system attacking the brain and nervous system causing with bouts of confusion and fog leading to it and in some cases bouts of anger.

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Victoria Churchill Newbie
Victoria Churchill
Posted

Thank you for ur reply, I have a b12 d that I have to self inject every other day, was doing really well last week the 3 days in a a row ate gluten products the anxiety is easing off but I’m exhausted And feel funny inside with a tender upper stomach. I’m not actually panicking I just get this weird feeling in my body like to much adrenaline but also exhausted.. I’m starting to find it’s when I eat certain things was fine all last week then had a binge on bread things this week, and when someone said gluten can do it, it makes sense I had it 2 weeks ago for days when I went out for dinner has Italian so pasta and bread, also my stomach I used to notice my stomach hurt after eating fish fingers or chicken strips then I’d feel this anxiety x

Ennis-TX Grand Master
Ennis-TX
Posted
59 minutes ago, Victoria Churchill said:

Thank you for ur reply, I have a b12 d that I have to self inject every other day, was doing really well last week the 3 days in a a row ate gluten products the anxiety is easing off but I’m exhausted And feel funny inside with a tender upper stomach. I’m not actually panicking I just get this weird feeling in my body like to much adrenaline but also exhausted.. I’m starting to find it’s when I eat certain things was fine all last week then had a binge on bread things this week, and when someone said gluten can do it, it makes sense I had it 2 weeks ago for days when I went out for dinner has Italian so pasta and bread, also my stomach I used to notice my stomach hurt after eating fish fingers or chicken strips then I’d feel this anxiety x

B-vitamins are synergistic, you need to look at a spectrum version thought b6 and b12 are more strongly linked to anxiety. Magnesium can also  be a issues for anxiety do look up deficiency symptoms as they are another big thing with celiacs
Looking over some things anxiety suggest Magnesium, B-complex, vitamin C and lithium.
PS I use Natural Vitality Calm Magnesium and Liquid Health Energy & Stress for this.

  • 2 years later...
Scott Adams Grand Master
Scott Adams
Posted

Please ignore the spam that was posted, which is now deleted.

I had similar symptoms which took around 6 months before I saw a real change, and perhaps 2 years before they stopped completely.

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