Freaky Symptoms Freaking Me Out!

[JessF]

Hi all,

I am waiting on my biopsy to confirm celiac in two days thank goodness. The past month/two weeks I have had wierd scarey symptoms. My fingers became all wrinkly on the fingertip pads. They do this when they are cold. My hands and feet are cold all the time now (this is one of my wierd symptoms that started this past November). When my fingers do warm up they get all swollen and red and feel wierd too. They hurt most of the time. I went to my GP and she didnt really have an answer for me we were thinking raynauds but my fingers dont turn blue or white.

I have googled it and have seen celiac and hypoT as possible reasons for wrinkled fingers but I am unsure about why they swell when warm. Anyone else have this happen as a symptom before going gluten free?

Its scarey because it seems like I am losing my feeling in my fingers and we use our fingers all the time!

Thanks

Jess

[mushroom]

Hello, and welcome.

Coldl feet and hands are often associated with hypothyroidism, and yes, hypothyroidism is a common companion of celiac. These are probably things that should both be explored by your doctor in my view. Celiac can also cause peripheral neuropathy, a tingling and numbness in feet and hands. Do you have any of the other celiac symptoms? Any GI reactions, acid reflux, bowel problems? Any other neurological like headaches, migraines?

[JessF]

Thanks for the reply Mushroom. I have headaches, muscle and joint pain, fatique yet wake up numerous times at night, IBS, GERD, constipation, fibromyalgia diagnosis,the list goes on...

I gave up gluten for a couple days and began to feel better so no matter what the biopsy shows I will be gluten free.

[mushroom]

I gave up gluten for a couple days and began to feel better so no matter what the biopsy shows I will be gluten free.

Glad to hear it You may well find that most of those things go away. However, you should have your thyroid function checked. Thee are the tests you should ask for:

Hypersensitive thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)

free thyroxine (fT4)

free triiodothyronine (fT3)

anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (anti-TG)

anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (anti-TPO)

You should also ask your doctor to check your nutrient levels for Vit.D, B12, iron/ferritin, magnesium, potassium, zinc which are all things that gluten can prevent absorption of (but not exclusvely, I might add).

If you have joint pain the redness and swelling in your fingers is probably associated with that and will probably resolve too.

Do let us know the results of your tests and ask any questions that arise.