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Why Does Gluten Cause Headaches?


Monklady123

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Monklady123 Collaborator

Just curious if anyone knows the physiological reason why gluten causes headaches? I plan to ask my doctor next time I'm there, but that's not till the end of this month and I'm curious now. lol.. Just wondering because I got glutened the other night :ph34r: and had the worst headache I've had in awhile. (my own stupidity too, which makes it worse)


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RiceGuy Collaborator

I think it can be due to a number of different things, depending on the individual. For me, it is a secondary reaction, after the intestines are effected. And possibly involving dehydration.

Monklady123 Collaborator

I think it can be due to a number of different things, depending on the individual. For me, it is a secondary reaction, after the intestines are effected. And possibly involving dehydration.

Interesting about dehydration, because I know that as soon as the gluten hits my system I get incredibly thirsty.

RiceGuy Collaborator

Interesting about dehydration, because I know that as soon as the gluten hits my system I get incredibly thirsty.

That is interesting to me as well, because IMMEDIATE and unquenchable thirst was my biggest clue. No amount of water would remedy it.

MEH Apprentice

This is one of my big reactions to gluten. I get a bad migraine, and I can feel the places on my scalp that are sensitive and hurting. I went my whole life without getting headaches, and now it seems like a big part of my life.

I read that it has to do with the blood brain barrier.

Google that.

I'll try to find out more info on it too.

ravenwoodglass Mentor

I think it may have something to do with the inflammation. It seems gluten antibodies can inflame just about any organ in the body. Some of us get hit in the joints and muscles, some get liver impact, some get signs of inflammation in kidneys or heart (my heart wall is thickened and the doctors blamed that on the inflammation I had for years) once those antibodies get into the bloodstream they throughout the entire system. I get the headaches also but not as bad as when I was first diagnosed and now only when I get glutened. Before diagnosis I had lived with daily migraines for years.

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