Voices And Other Noises

[alex11602]

My oldest daughter who is 5 has been on a gluten free diet for approximately 4 months now and we had a situation the other morning that has me concerned. Twice this past week she told my husband and I that she was hearing voices or noises in her head, the first time I just brushed it off as dreams but having it happen again has me concerned. When my husband and I were looking back it is entirely possible that she had been subject to cc both the days. The first day my husband and his father went out together and had fried chicken and onion rings, when they got home my husband washed his hands, brushed his teeth and changed his shirt while his father only rinsed his hands. The second day she was with my grandmother all day, I sent food and my grandmother wouldn't give her anything I did not send, but thinking back she would have been eating gluten and then helping my daughter open her food. I guess my question would be is it possible that she was hearing voices and other noises because of gluten even though it was never an issue before? Her only other symptoms have been excema and occasional nightmares (after gluten free she now only has them with when major cc occurs). So is it possible that this was all from gluten?

[Sinenox]

My partner was recently diagnosed with narcolepsy, which is currently considered an autoimmune condition as well, and many people on the Narcolepsy Network report doing better after going gluten free. I mention this because the only condition in which it is common to "hear voices", besides schizophrenia, is narcolepsy. You may want to ask your doctor about having your daughter checked for narcolepsy via MSLT (sleep study). Vivid nightmares are also a common symptom of the hypnopompic and hypnogogic hallucinations associated with narcolepsy. Just a thought!

[alex11602]

Thank you, I will definitely mention that to her doctor.

[Lisa]

She's only five..creativity goes a long way.

[alex11602]

Very good point. I think I just worry more about her sometimes since unlike my other daughter it isn't obvious GI symptoms. Thank you for reminding me of that though.

[kareng]

I had a kid that talked to a " Grandpa" in his room sometimes. My Irish Grandma was convinced it was her husband's ghost. My son was happy to talk to a Grandpa ghost so I didn't worry about it. He's 18 and still thinks it might have been a ghost - but it's a happy memory whatever it was.

Do the voices bother her or affect what she does? That would worry me.

[alex11602]

The first time it scared her and I thought she was having one of her nightmares, but it didn't seem to bother her the second time, it just woke her up although she would not go back to sleep. She told me that she does not remember what the voices said to her so maybe it really is nothing then. I'm just really unsure about everything with her and her diet right now since it's not extremely obvious if she has gotten gluten.

[Marilyn R]

I'm pretty sure I've had undiagnosed celiac disease my whole life. When I was 5 years old, I used to climb down 13 steps in the middle of the night to wake up my parents and tell them that there was a tiger behind my door, or under my bed or in the closet. Good thing I had patient parents.

Have you cut out soy and dairy? Those proteins can be a problem... or corn...legumes...

Gosh, it's been hard enough figuring it out for me. I can't imagine the heartache of trying to work it out for your baby. I hope you work it out and wish you well.

[alex11602]

Thank you. We cut out soy and dairy for my 18 month old, but I am sure that the oldest still gets a little bit of it so I will try completely taking it out for her too. We limit corn quite a bit for the baby too, only using cornstarch to thicken some things so I can take that out too for now and see what happens. I think it is alot easier to figure out what is bothering adults then to figure out what is bothering kids, at least this one can talk to me though.

[long silver hair]

Thanks for the mention of "voices". I am new to gluten free with lots of good results. My biggest symptom is double-over gut-wrenching pain. I will check my food diary to see if there is any correlation to what sounds like a radio talk show on at night. I don't have a radio, and definitely turn off the TV unless I am actively watching it. I live by myself rural where someone else's radio would not be a clue.

I am glad to find this forum to check out suspicious foods that don't label possible gluten content or processing contamination. I checked ingredients with my local Mexican restaurant and was delighted to be assured the chips and nachos are corn only. Three days of double over gut wrench suggest otherwise. It could be the tortillas or maybe white chocolate chips on the gluten-free cupcakes. I sure hope its not the tortillas. I can live without the white chocolate chips. I'm waiting for reply from the tortilla company and will write when I have info.

THANKS FOR GOOD ADVICE ALREADY FOUND ON THIS SITE. )))

[lwatsonz]

I suspect corn in the 'hearing voices' thing. I heard some voices when I ate grits for breakfast every day in spite of antipsychotic medication I was taking at the time. It could have been other things, but was a strong coincidence.

[alex11602]

That's very interesting since my other daughter who only has GI symptoms has problems with corn.

[lwatsonz]

Upon thinking about it some more I also realize that I was putting a lot of butter on those grits. Maybe the casein, or the combination.

[lizzy59]

I'm new to this forum, and am still in the process of trying to get a celiac disease diagnosis myself, but somewhere in my internet travels for information, I remember reading about hearing voices being a symptom of celiac. I was on so many sites, and so can't remember which one I read it on, so I can't direct you there. I recall that the article didn't go into a lot of detail, but I remember thinking how odd of a symptom it was.

I didn't think of it with regard to myself, but someone who replied to you above talked about "hearing" a radio when none was around, and that made me think that on numerous occasions, I've thought I could hear a radio/voices/singing when I've had the faucet running. It's even made me turn off the water to see if there really was some other noise, but that's never been the case.

Regardless, good luck with finding out what is causing your daughter's problem.

[domesticactivist]

I've recently read articles linking schizophrenia and celiac, and showing that for some folks being gluten free can alleviate schizophrenia symptoms. I'm not saying she has schizophrenia, just thinking there is likely to be some sort of spectrum of symptoms there.

I had a couple periods in which I had hallucinations that included sound, or were completely auditory. They were linked to manic and hypomanic episodes.

[Marilyn R]

Other interesting research...I read when I had hyperparathyroidism (which I believe was caused by gluten and possibly corn) that a significant porportion of patients admitted into psych hospitals tested positive for high calcium levels and high PTH levels (indicating hyperparathyroidism).

Oats and quinoa (and derivitaves) hurt me too, but that could just be me.