Can Gluten Cause Impulsive Behavior?

[Golden Girl]

My son is 30 years old and has been in and out of prison for drunk driving, he is in prison now for violating probation. He has been on Depakote since he was 7 for seizures and diagnosed with learning disabilities. His Neurologist was going try Sporlon I think it was in 2005 for the impulsive behavior but it was approved by the FDA at that time. Can gluten cause this type of behavior? At the age of 20 he had 9 underage drinking tickets and he can't hold a job along with hanging with the wrong crowd and this crowd doesn't go visit him but he still calls them friends. I was diagnosed with celiac disease 4 years ago and I am beginning to think that he also has it. He said he was checked for Celiac disease but doesn't have and he is real obstinate when I bring it up he says he won't even try it. He was picked on in school for his seizures and being in the learning disability class. I had never heard of Celiac disease when he was small I wish I had. He was born premature 6 weeks early and received oxygen for 1 day and was in an incubator and on a heart monitor for 10 days. If anyone has any insight on this it would really be appreciated!

[Skylark]

I'm sorry to hear about your son. You must be very upset.

Seizures can cause impulsive behavior. So can gluten. There are some links between gluten and ADHD, and in a few people gluten causes seizures. There is no guarantee gluten is the source of trouble given the rest of his medical history and alcoholism, but I agree it's worth considering.

People who get neurological trouble from gluten don't necessarily show positive on celiac disease tests. The antibodies can be somewhat different. The best test can be the old anti-gliadin antibody test that isn't done much anymore. He would also need to try the diet given the chances of false negative testing.

[Bubba's Mom]

  On 3/20/2012 at 5:36 PM, Golden Girl said:

My son is 30 years old and has been in and out of prison for drunk driving, he is in prison now for violating probation. He has been on Depakote since he was 7 for seizures and diagnosed with learning disabilities. His Neurologist was going try Sporlon I think it was in 2005 for the impulsive behavior but it was approved by the FDA at that time. Can gluten cause this type of behavior? At the age of 20 he had 9 underage drinking tickets and he can't hold a job along with hanging with the wrong crowd and this crowd doesn't go visit him but he still calls them friends. I was diagnosed with celiac disease 4 years ago and I am beginning to think that he also has it. He said he was checked for Celiac disease but doesn't have and he is real obstinate when I bring it up he says he won't even try it. He was picked on in school for his seizures and being in the learning disability class. I had never heard of Celiac disease when he was small I wish I had. He was born premature 6 weeks early and received oxygen for 1 day and was in an incubator and on a heart monitor for 10 days. If anyone has any insight on this it would really be appreciated!

I wonder about this too. My son is 32, and had to move back in with us just about a year ago, due to unemployment. He drinks a lot, and has gotten in trouble with the law because of it. He STILL drinks and drives!

My son has a good reason for being impulsive and not learning lessons, etc. because he was in a bad auto accident when he was around 20 years old. He had a severe head injury, which shattered many of the bones in his face/forehead, which drove small pieces into the front of his brain. Surgery removed them, but we were told that a brain injury in that area could cause him to be impulsive and make bad decisions.

I notice a lot of symptoms in my son that could be Celiac, but he adamantly refuses to be tested. He has a very high gluten diet. I sometimes wonder if gluten is a big part of his problem as well?

I don't know a lot about seizures, but wonder if they are triggerd in the front part of the brain? Your son might possibly have some damage to that area because of blood flow or something?

One they DO know is that gluten does affect the brain.

[Skylark]

  On 3/21/2012 at 4:32 PM, Bubba said:

I don't know a lot about seizures, but wonder if they are triggerd in the front part of the brain? Your son might possibly have some damage to that area because of blood flow or something?

Seizures can originate anywhere in the brain. A neurologist can use EEG monitoring to identify the most likely seizure focus. Frontal lobe damage or seizures that start or spread to the frontal lobe are very well known to cause poor impulse control.

I'm sorry to hear your son's injuries are causing him such trouble.

[Golden Girl]

I'm sorry to hear about your son's accident and the injury's he received. Gluten had caused me to have 3 TIA's.