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[dawn999hall]

Hullo celiac.com community - so glad to have found you! A nutritionist helped me to make the link between my gastric symptoms and low iron levels and celiac last year. I have been struggling to get totally gluten free but I am making progress - I go longer between exposures! My husband and I went Paleo early this year and that helps me to pay more attention to what I eat and Paleo = gluten free. However I made a rookie move last week and had an exposure to Malt Vinegar It has been almost 3 mos since my last exposure and I was a little surprised at how strong the reaction was both for my gastric symptoms and my knee arthritis. Rheumatologist denies that I have 'inflammatory arthritis' however 2 weeks ago I got a cortisone injection from a little arthritis flare up (overuse - I climbed a ladder!) and then I got glutened and when I made it into PCP my left knee had about 20cc of extra fluid and my right knee about 10cc (the left one was the one with the cortisone). We were both amazed at how much inflammation popped up and so he prescribed a 12-day prednisone taper. Seems like this arthritis is pretty inflammatory. I believe I do need to take the pred because I cannot take NSAIDS and could not get the swelling down - but will that help or hurt with the other inflammation in my gut from the gluten exposure? I know of the side effects from pred but I am trying to determine if the damage to my knee joints from the inflammation and the damage to my gut can be mitigated by the pred? What is your experience with celiac, arthritis and prednisone? Thanks for any stories and anecdotal info you can give me...dawn

[Gemini]

Hullo celiac.com community - so glad to have found you! A nutritionist helped me to make the link between my gastric symptoms and low iron levels and celiac last year. I have been struggling to get totally gluten free but I am making progress - I go longer between exposures! My husband and I went Paleo early this year and that helps me to pay more attention to what I eat and Paleo = gluten free. However I made a rookie move last week and had an exposure to Malt Vinegar It has been almost 3 mos since my last exposure and I was a little surprised at how strong the reaction was both for my gastric symptoms and my knee arthritis. Rheumatologist denies that I have 'inflammatory arthritis' however 2 weeks ago I got a cortisone injection from a little arthritis flare up (overuse - I climbed a ladder!) and then I got glutened and when I made it into PCP my left knee had about 20cc of extra fluid and my right knee about 10cc (the left one was the one with the cortisone). We were both amazed at how much inflammation popped up and so he prescribed a 12-day prednisone taper. Seems like this arthritis is pretty inflammatory. I believe I do need to take the pred because I cannot take NSAIDS and could not get the swelling down - but will that help or hurt with the other inflammation in my gut from the gluten exposure? I know of the side effects from pred but I am trying to determine if the damage to my knee joints from the inflammation and the damage to my gut can be mitigated by the pred? What is your experience with celiac, arthritis and prednisone? Thanks for any stories and anecdotal info you can give me...dawn

Hi Dawn!

Actually, if you do have Celiac Disease, taking pred will help calm your immune system down and will help with the inflammation in your knees. I never advocate taking it BUT short term use is sometimes necessary.

Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the diseases that has a strong connection to Celiac, as both are autoimmune. Inflammation loves to attack joints so what you are experiencing is normal. You should try to be tested for Celiac before going gluten-free but there is no harm in doing a dietary trial. You should strive for strict compliance to the diet....no cheating. After awhile, you may be surprised to find that your knees return to normal and stop hurting so much. Once you stop eating the food that produces all that inflammation, you'll get better and symptoms should subside. But take the pred if you need to. Twelve days is not very long so don't worry about it.

I have many autoimmune problems but refuse to see a rheumatologist. All I ever hear about them is they refuse to believe that food has any connection to arthritis. I follow a strict gluten-free diet and many of my symptoms/problems have gotten a whole lot better.

I really don't need any more doctors because there is nothing to do but follow the diet. I do not have arthritis but have Sjogren's Syndrome and Reynaud's Syndrome and they are classified as arthritis related disorders. Both have improved dramatically on the diet.

If you have any more questions, ask away!