Got Celiac From Accutane, Please Help?

[King-Danilo92]

I got Celiac Disease from taking that acne drug, accutane. I got diagnosed around August in 2011. I've been doing pretty good with my diet and everything but is there any way i can get rid of this disease? I mean i was never born with it because no one had it in my family and i'm only 19 years old? Some people say that its possible because my bodys so young that it could heal just like when people heal from wheat allergies.

thank you.

[Skylark]

Sorry to tell you this but celiac disease is a permanent autoimmune disease. There is no way to get rid of it. It will not just go away like a wheat allergy because it's a different, less-flexible part of your immune system. Eating gluten is very dangerous for you now because it can increase your risk of cancer, give you nerve damage from vitamin deficiencies or autoimmunity, and cause osteoporosis when you're older.

People are not necessarily born with celiac. You are born with the genetic susceptibility, and unfortunately the incidence of celiac is rising. There are a lot of people who are the first ever diagnosed in their families. Celiac can come on at any time in a person's life, even in their 50s or 60s. The rest of your immediate family should be tested - they may be celiac too and not realize it. Not everyone has strong or classic symptoms.

I'm not sure why you are blaming it on the accutane. It would be pretty unusual for celiac to be caused by a medication. More typical celiac triggers are a severe illness like flu, food poisoning, stress like going away to school, or a trauma like an auto accident. In women pregnancy is a common trigger too.

[pricklypear1971]

Sorry to tell you this but celiac disease is a permanent autoimmune disease. There is no way to get rid of it. It will not just go away like a wheat allergy because it's a different, less-flexible part of your immune system. Eating gluten is very dangerous for you now because it can increase your risk of cancer, give you nerve damage from vitamin deficiencies or autoimmunity, and cause osteoporosis when you're older.

People are not necessarily born with celiac. You are born with the genetic susceptibility, and unfortunately the incidence of celiac is rising. There are a lot of people who are the first ever diagnosed in their families. Celiac can come on at any time in a person's life, even in their 50s or 60s. The rest of your immediate family should be tested - they may be celiac too and not realize it. Not everyone has strong or classic symptoms.

I'm not sure why you are blaming it on the accutane. It would be pretty unusual for celiac to be caused by a medication. More typical celiac triggers are a severe illness like flu, food poisoning, stress like going away to school, or a trauma like an auto accident. In women pregnancy is a common trigger too.

The other day I heard one of those tv class action suit commercials - linking IBS and Crohns and a few other things to Accutane. I have no idea if there is an established link or just a hope of one...but obviously there's some buzz about it somewhere. If IBS and Crohns are suspected results I don't see why Celiac shouldn't be far behind.

Quite frankly I kept waiting for them to list it, too.

[Skylark]

The other day I heard one of those tv class action suit commercials - linking IBS and Crohns and a few other things to Accutane. I have no idea if there is an established link or just a hope of one...but obviously there's some buzz about it somewhere. If IBS and Crohns are suspected results I don't see why Celiac shouldn't be far behind.

Quite frankly I kept waiting for them to list it, too.

Oh, wow. I went to Pubmed and there is some evidence for Accutane rarely causing intestinal inflammation. There is a massive study of 30,000 people where they conclude ulcerative colitis but not Crohn's is associated with Accutane. It's retrospective though. I can see where intestinal inflammation could trigger celiac if you're genetically susceptible and unlucky.

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Unfortunately no matter the trigger, there is currently no treatment for celiac. A celiac vaccine is in very early development stages but it's not clear yet whether it will work.

[MitziG]

Sorry, but you are stuck with it hon. You had the genetic susceptibility, and accutane apparently turned it on. Your other family members should be tested as well, you inherited the genes from someone. Many celiacs are asymptomatic, and some of your family could have active disease and not know it. As for your age, be grateful you are young. Many of us sufferred for years before we got a dx. And you are not on a forum full of "old folks" many, many young people here who also have celiac!