cristiana

Glad you saw my post, Cristiana! Actually when I went back I did see it.
So, I got a very interesting piece to my health puzzle on Friday. Had an Epstein-Barr virus test done over a week ago and the results showed 2 of my marker numbers are really, really high. Haven't talked to my doctor yet about them but have been doing some online research. Between 90-95% of people worldwide have the virus but many of them never get sick from it. It can be reactivated in times of stress, trauma, and illness. From what I understand, there is a link between celiac and Epstein-Barr. All the issues I've had, from swollen lymph nodes, cough, pleural effusions, fatigue, anxiety, and depression, can all be caused by EBV.
There is no cure for it but through diet you can manage it. It might be a good idea to get a blood test for EBV. Now that I know that my EBV numbers are so high, at least there is a place to start healing from.
Good luck!

Try Cold-Eze. 13.3 mg per lozenge. The zinc coats your mucus membranes and protects them from attack of the virus. You might be zinc deficient.  RDA upper limit is 40 mg and the minimum daily requirement is 8 mg for women and the NIH puts Celiac Disease as a high risk factor. I started using it in 2004 and have not had more than a slight sniffle since. Also if you are deficient in zinc you are likely deficient in 10 others. There is evidence that synthetic A, synthetic E, and synthetic folate (folic acid) cause cancer and other side effects.

Christina, I responded to your last post a couple days ago but don't see it here. So glad you got an x-ray. If it shows anything abnormal, your doctor will call right away.
 
Interesting about your friend with UC getting pleural effusions.
 
I do believe I suffer from malnutrition even though I eat a lot of food. You should definitely look into it and take some supplements. I just stocked up on zinc and B vitamins, including B-1 (thiamine) because of Posterboys post on it. Good luck!

I'm so glad the information was helpful to you!  ?. Remember the eight essential B vitamins all work together and we need minerals, too. Copper deficiency is often overlooked in anemia. If you're low in Vitamin D, you may be low in the other fat soluble vitamins, too, like vitamin A, which helps in iron absorption.   And, as Ennis said, Vitamin C helps with iron absorption, too.  
Best wishes!
 
 

Knitty Kitty, what you posted about thiamine is so interesting! I am definitely going to get tested for deficiencies, including thiamine.
 

So glad you got the x-ray. Believe me, if it shows anything abnormal your doctor will call you pretty quickly. I had my first x-ray done in the morning and got a call from my doctor by the end of the day. 
Interesting about your friend with UC had a pleural effusion. 
I do believe a lot of our health issues could be caused by malnutrition. My acupuncturist has always told me that I'm malnourished, even though I eat a lot of food. Now I'm starting to understand that I most likely am malnourished. Nice that we can share our stories here and help each other?

My iron stayed low for years even eating foods high in iron, >.< I did have a constant drain with UC but it still only improved when I started taking Vitamin C with meals

Thiamine deficiency will cause a collection of fluid in the lungs.  
Thiamine is necessary for the proper growth and function of T and B cells.  
Thiamine deficiency will cause a cough.  The vagus nerve is affected by thiamine deficiency, becoming hypersensitive and coughing is easily triggered.  The vagus nerve also controls acid production, the sphincter muscles that keep acid in the stomach becomes loose hence gerd, peristaltic action is slowed.  
Take your thiamine!  Doctors don't recognize vitamin deficiencies any more!   
Celiac Disease causes malabsorption which results in malnutrition.  Checking for vitamin and mineral deficiencies is part of follow up care of Celiacs.  Please check with your doctor!!! 

Glad you are going to ask to get a chest x-ray. They are such an inexpensive way to see what's going on in your chest. I think mine cost my insurance $36, and uncovered serious problems, including the fluid in my chest and a mass in my right lung. The mass has since shrunk and biopsy was negative for cancer. I would encourage you to see an allergy/immunology doctor, too. I am seeing one now and through blood tests she discovered that my T and B cells are very low and not functioning normally. Now she is going to do genetic and autoimmune tests. All my other numerous tests and biopsies showed nothing and left my doctors perplexed and still searching for cancer but nothing could be found. I asked my allergy/immunology doctor if all my issues could be due to malnutrition and she said yes. As you know, malnutrition is common in those with Celiac. I wish you the best on your journey. Keep me posted!

Mariekt,
I saw you are also active on the chronic cough thread....Knitty Kitty said something that struck me as something that might help you...I had only read it recently so it made since when she mentioned water collecting in our organs....the website hormone matters is the expert on Beri Beri...they explain how a thiamine deficiency can mimick water in the lungs aka Pleurisy.....I used to have a lot of bronchitis issue's...eating gluten free helped that....but I also had taken a B-complex which has thiamine in it also at the same time that I think now helped...I didn't know why at the time...here is the Hormone Matter's link on how Beri Beri can mimick things even as complex as pleurisy today...https://www.hormonesmatter.com/beriberi-the-great-imitator/ see their discussion/paragraph on the general symptoms of Beri Beri in it's late stages..for other's following this thread here is what they say about Pleurisy or water in the lungs.... quoting "In later stages, fluid is found in the pleural cavity, surrounding the heart in the pericardium and in the abdomen. Fluid in body cavities is usually ascribed to other “more modern” causes and beriberi is not likely to be considered. There may be low grade fever, usually giving rise to a search for an infection. We are all aware that such symptoms come from other causes, but a diet history might suggest that beriberi is a possibility in the differential diagnosis." end quote ...read the whole article when you get  a chance...who know it might help your chronic cough too!.... I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advise.
Posterboy,
EDTA: I misquoted pleurisy for pulmonary edema. ...pleurisy is the pain you feel from the edema (water or other fluid) in the lungs..

Thank you so much for this, I have been wondering why my own doctors haven't ordered one as it has now been over two months that I've had this discomfort, itchy throat and occasional coughing fit.  Your message has given me the confidence to request one today - thank you so much.  And I really hope you will have all the answers you need soon.
C

I developed a chronic cough over a year ago. Went to an ENT and he thought I had acid reflux but esophaogram was negative for it. The cough continued as did the pressure in my chest that prevented me from lying down flat to sleep. In August I got a sharp pain in my right ribcage that stayed there for days. Went to my doctor to get it checked out. He ordered a chest x-ray which showed I had so much fluid in the right side of my chest that it had almost completely collapsed my lung. I ended up in th ER the next day hardly able to breath. Had to have the fluid drained then but it continues to accumulate in the right side of my chest, which requires me to go to the hospital every 3-4 weeks to get it drained while doctors try to figure out what's causing it. I believe it is caused by getting cross contaminated with gluten when I've eaten out. I have eaten at home for the past 3 weeks and also eliminated all grains from my diet and fluid accumulation seems to be slowing down. I urge you to get a chest x-ray right away to see if you might have fluid in your chest. My cough went away as soon as the fluid was drained in August.  Good luck!

Thank you so much for this.  I've not heard about that plan so will look it up.  I do need to try to eat better myself, and my TTG hasn't been so good since a holiday in France where there was a lot of cc.  As I don't feel like eating vast amounts I think this will help immensely.  

C
I did not realize the cough connection until after my doctor fired me and since even the lisinopril and amlodipine together did not affect my BP I realized that meds were not the solution. So I started Dr. Fuhrman's 6 week plan and after only 3 weeks my BP dropped. I cheat a lot because I am anorexic and have no patience for food, and I know my food intake was less needed, but it still worked and my appetite has tripled and other good stuff. I feel that you would benefit greatly while you wait for the doctor. It is designed to heal your gut. He says his is the only diet that actually has all the essentials in sufficient quantity.
 

From your own admission, dry (toast and chips) and spicy foods seem to trigger this cough reaction and the "tickle" behind the sternum. I'm certainly no doctor but that suggests to me there is something being irritated when you eat these things. If that irritated area is on or near epiglottis (the flapper valve that closes off the windpipe when you swallow) then that could be causing the cough, mimicking what happens when food starts to, as we say, "go down the wrong way." If the epiglottis itself is swollen it may be reacting to the dry, spicy food or it may not be sealing well. Just brainstorming here.

The common denominator in all this seems to be eating. Does this happen every time you eat something or does it seem to be associated with certain foods or certain textures?
Since it has been 18 months since your last upper GI I would look into another one. You may have a wound of some kind that is being irritated when food is swallowed. Not sure how this might connect with the cough but anatomical structures close together in the body often share nerve branches. I've noticed this with bowel and bladder, for instance. When one needs emptying the other often feels full as well.

H
Thank you GFinDC. I must admit I don't take it but I am finding it a bit stressful not knowing exactly what is going on, so I can't think what it could be doing to my BP.  I do wonder if globus hystericus is perhaps an issue as I find when I don't focus on it too much it's not as bad.  Interesting I don't cough when I sleep.  
 

cristina,
eating low carb might help...they ferment pushing on the flap that leaks out stomach acid...eating fats with carbs...can delay stomach emptying leading to bloating...my nephew is dealing with this issue now...I prefer the H2 blockers because they seem to have less longer term effects....I have helped my friends with this issue...see chris kresser's site about "what everybody should know about stomach acid but doesnt'" series of article...3 of them if I remember correctly.. you can google for chris kresser and it should come up... here is the  link on "Management of GERD-Related Chronic Cough" research I have done for friends with the same issues... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3740808/
I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advise.
Posterboy,
 

My doctor put me on Lisinopril to control high blood pressure. In less than a month I got a tickly cough in the back of my throat that nothing would help. The cough woke me from sleep every two hours and caused an inguinal hernia and sleep deprivation.  Alka-Selzer works well for me for indigestion. Cold-Eze stops colds dead in their tracts. It's the antiviral effect of the zinc (an essential mineral RDA 8-40 mg/day). I have not had more than a sniffle for a few days, since 2004.

It won't hurt to take the PPI short term to see if GERD is actually a problem you have. How often do you have heartburn? Reflux doesn't just happen at night when you lay down, by the way. That is a misconception. An endoscopy would be in order to check for esophagial erosion and hiatal hermia. Particularly since the coughing happens in conjunction with eating.
Since this all started when you had a cold, another possibility might be a occult sinus infection producing post nasal drip.

12-14 years ago I ended up with Acid reflux that ate and caused a scar in my esophagus, then when ever it acted up or I ate anything it would trigger  coughing and I had a chronic cough for years til it healed. my family sorta helped coach me to ignore the cough since it was a fake urge to clear my throat.

My acid reflux was a freak issue to be honest >.< It was caused by caffine overdose that almost killed me and left my acid pumps constantly making acid and before I was put on PPI I was coughing up acid. Then I had a few years til the scar healed and cough urge stopped. I think you are probably catching yours before it causes too much scar tissue.
Over the years I have tapered back my dose to only taking Nexium once a day in the smallest dose and 1/4 my original zantac dosing....recently stopped after the national recall.

Hi Buckarett
Can you describe where these tremors/vibrations are? 
Also, do you know what your B12 levels are? Sometimes a clinic will say you have normal B12 but by other countries' standards they would not be considered normal. It could be you are still deficient.
That said, I would say it is just possible it is connected to anxiety.
I had severe anxiety at the time of my diagnosis in April 2013 which persisted for some time.  The anxiety was due to deficiences, I believe, of B12 and iron, and once these were remedied I felt a whole lot better for a while.  But anxiety is an odd thing, it almost seems to me that once you have learned it and you think you have dealt with it it can come back in another guise.   In my case I became very attuned to any new symptoms  - whether it was joint pain, tingling, a feeling of buzzing, whatever it was, it was greatly magnified.  These are probably all things that 'normal' people get from time to time and wouldn't pay any attention to but I really focussed on them.  They seemd to get worse and worse.  Anyway, I took magnesium for some months, some good quality B12 sublinguals, and to be honest I really can't exactly recall why but it did all wear off.
 I thought I had left all this behind but in August this year when on holiday I had time to think about a deadline that I have coming up for a project.  I think possibly I got glutened, too,  because we ate out a lot and my legs and arms were fizzing a lot.   I then found  myself really focussing on these symptoms and they just got worse and worse.   And I then got a new one - it felt like there was a cell phone vibrating in my neck at one point!
Again, when the anxiety wore off, so did the vibrating.  This site obviously can't take the place of medical tests etc but at least in my case I can say that stress has been a factor.
Also, if you are able to get out and exercise that is a great way to deal with any adrenaline that might be in your system, making things worse.
 

Cristiana,
Here is the research on Magnesium.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22426836
It is best taken ahead of a migraine. ..it doesn't work (as) well for acute cases.
But B-2 Riboflavin might.  It has a high degree of correlation to migraines and why taking a B-complex should help too!
A B-complex (B6,B12, Folic Acid) could also help your Homocysteine levels which can lead to eye problems too. . . especially the B-12.
This research summarizes these findings well.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4359851/
Here is a good livestrong article on B-12 possible connection's to migraines.
https://www.livestrong.com/article/268141-b12-migraines/
I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advice.
2 Timothy 2: 7 “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things” this included.
Posterboy by the grace of God,
 

I used to get migraines regularly. They stopped as soon as I started taking magnesium.
 

In my experience, costochondritis refers to inflammation of the cartilage attaching the ribs to the sternum. I haven't heard of itchiness as a symptom. (Costochondritis seems often to be a catchall for I don't know what you have but it's not a heart attack!) Anyway, have you talked to your doctor about vaccines? Once any lesions dry up, it may still be worth it to get the vaccine.
I'm sorry for what you're going through - it sounds awful.
I often check in with Dr Andrew Weil. Here's what he has to say about shingles (which he has had): https://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/body-mind-spirit/hair-skin-nails/shingles/
Plumbago