Antidepressents (Ssri) Help With Celiac?

[soccer-dude]

Hi,

I may have Celiac, or at the very least gluten (wheat) intolerance/allergy. I'm also allergic to diary/eggs. It seems that I have waves of anxiety, I will feel better then get hit with anxiety. I've been on different meds and supplements, and it's hard to tell if something new I'm taking is causing side-effects, or something I ate. I had been gluten free for 3 months, didn't seem to help much, and one time I ate a hot dog, and didn't seem to get his with a wave of anxiety. Recently though I ate some gluten free pizza, both from places that serve normal pizza, so the risk of cross-contamination is great. A couple of days later, I had waves of anxiety, but I had also made some med changes both times, one was 7 days off Lexapro, and the other was tapering Remeron and started a bacteria/parasite detox. So, it's hard to tell if it was something I ate or not.

My main reason for this post, was to see if anyone found relief in taking a SSRI, even when you might have had a celiac attack from eating gluten, did the SSRI help lesson the anxiety and help you deal with it better? I'm supposed to start back up on Lexapro, and take Remeron at nigth to help sleep. If my anxiety becomes less, and my mood better, what would happen if I eat something with gluten? Would the anxiety be less if I'm stable on a med? I still don't know if I have celiac, but I definately have sensitivity to wheat, dairy and eggs. I know the gluten free pizza's typically have eggs, but I've never known to have anxiety increased from having eggs.

Anyway, just wondered if SSRI's helped. Also, if celiac caused our guts to be messed up and not absorbing nutrients properly, would that create an issue with making enough serotonin from l-tryptophan to make the SSRI effective enough?

Thank you for your thoughts.

Soccer

[BabsV]

I am not a doctor so don't take this as medical advice!

SSRIs can help with anxiety issues (I know more than one person who takes Lexapro for GAD) but if your anxiety stems from gluten intolerance/Celiac, being gluten free can for some people decrease the anxiety. I know my anxiety skyrockets when I am glutened but it passes within a couple of days.

However, if your anxiety is stemming from something other than the gluten issues gluten-free living isn't going to help. If you feel better overall on the meds you should continue taking them. Let your body heal and yourself adjust to all the changes and then if you want to try weaning off them at a later date you can always try it. Just remember to wean off of them under a physician's care -- stopping cold turkey can cause discontinuation syndrome which can make you feel really really terrible.

I was on an anti-anxiety medicine for several months (from prior to Celiac diagnosis when the doctors told me my illness was "all in my head" through this winter because they didn't want me to come off the meds when it was dark and cold...) I didn't have major side effects from them but was weaned off of them this March/April.

As for the absorption question, I don't know.

Most importantly, you really need to discuss with your physician/psychiatrist.

[soccer-dude]

Hi,

I've been gluten free for a while, but there were definately opportunities for cross-contamination. I just wonder if I had been glutenized and that's where these waves of anxiety came from. It's hard to tell since I've been on/off meds and trying different supplements. I think once I'm stabalized on a med, and my anxiety is under control, then I can test my gluten tollerance.

Would you say that being on a SSRI would make the anxiety less if you got glutenized? I think since I've been suffering from anxiety/panic for 9 months, that any additional anxiety whether it came from gluten or another food source, or a new pill or supplement I'm trying only makes things a lot worse. But, I think once I've calmed down, have consistant good sleep, that my mind/body can heal, and I will be able to handle any anxiety that is caused by food or other.

I wonder if I had been glutenized, if I went in and had a blood test, if anything would show up that would point to celiac, even though I've been gluten free for months, minus any cross-contamination.

Have a great day.

[BabsV]

Would you say that being on a SSRI would make the anxiety less if you got glutenized?

It made no difference for me...still had anxiety through the roof when I was accidentally glutened a couple of times at the beginning. I think the one thing that the meds did do for me was I was a little better about recognizing I was having an anxiety issue and could sort of "talk myself down" in a way. I could recognize what was going on and try not to get completely wrapped up in it.

SSRIs take several weeks to really "kick in" and take effect so if you've been off and on more than one type in a short period of time that might be part of the problem. They originally tried me on Cymbalta because I was having anxiety and pain issues but it made me incredibly sick after only 2 doses and I had to stop. Then they tried Lexapro and that one made me sick also (lasted 3 doses on that one!) Finally they put me on tianeptine (they use it in Europe where I am currently living but it isn't FDA approved in the States...don't think they use it in Canada either.) It is actually an SSRE -- the only one in fact -- and very mild but you have to take several tablets a day because it has an really short half-life. It took about 3 weeks before I saw the effect of decreased anxiety. Overall it helped with the anxiety and some of my sleep issues but did nothing for the pain (still dealing with that...docs where I am are stumped.) I'm returning to the States in June which is part of the reason I weaned off of it. I'm now on a very low dose of amitriptyline (doctor just bumped it up to 20mg since the initial 10mg wasn't controlling my pain well enough) in the hopes that it will help decrease my pain issues -- I think it might also help with anxiety. We shall see.