-
Welcome to Celiac.com!
You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.
-
Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):
-
Get Celiac.com Updates:Support Our Content
Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'autoimmune'.
-
Celiac.com 12/16/2019 - Psoriasis is a skin condition associated with several immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, including celiac disease. Currently, however, researchers don't have much solid information regarding the chronology of psoriasis development. A team of researchers recently set out to investigate the chronology of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases relative to psoriasis. The research team included Yuki M.F. Andersen, MD, PhD, Jashin J. Wu, MD, Jacob P. Thyssen, MD, PhD, DMS, and Alexander Egeberg, MD, PhD. They are variously affiliated with the Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; the Dermatology Research and Education Foundation, Irvine, California; and the Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. The team reviewed data from Danish nationwide administrative registries to examine the occurrence of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases in 10,923 patients with psoriasis, and in 109,230 control subjects from the general population. They found that about 20% of psoriasis patients developed one or more immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, with risk that is five times greater than in the general population. Most patients received a diagnosis of immune-mediated inflammatory disease, except for psoriatic arthritis, before being diagnosed with psoriasis. Psoriasis patients were far more likely to have multiple immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. They were also far more likely to have human leukocyte antigen B27 positivity. This study was limited by the unavailability of clinical measurements. Still, the data show that immune-mediated inflammatory diseases are common in patients with psoriasis, and are usually diagnosed before psoriasis. This information could help researchers to better understand the factors influencing the development of psoriasis. Read more in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
- 1 comment
-
- autoimmune
- celiac disease
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Celiac.com 10/23/2019 - One approach to celiac disease that's been getting attention lately is the effort to develop ways to prevent the adverse immune reaction that is triggered by gluten that leads to gut damage in untreated celiacs. Several companies have tried that approach, including the promising, but now failed drug NexVax2. The idea is to train the immune system to become tolerant of gluten, kind of like the way allergists train the immune system to tolerate pollen, and thus, reduce or even eliminate allergic reactions. Data from a recent trial of new medical technology provides encouraging evidence that it is possible for people with celiac disease to achieve an immune tolerance to gluten, effectively reversing the autoimmune disease. The technology is a biodegradable nanoparticle containing gluten that teaches the immune system the antigen (allergen) is safe. The nanoparticle, called COUR nanoparticle, CNP-101, conceals the allergen in an innocuous cell covering, and convinces the immune system not to attack it. Celiac patients treated with CNP-101 were able to eat gluten with a substantial reduction in inflammation. The phase 2 results indicate that the treatment protects patients’ small intestine from gluten exposure, and point the way toward treatments that could allow celiac patients safely consume gluten in their diet. In addition to potentially reversing celiac disease, the technology, which uses a nanoparticle containing the antigen triggering the allergy or autoimmune disease, has the potential to treat myriad diseases and allergies, including multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, peanut allergy, asthma, among others. The research team will present their findings on Oct. 22nd at the European Gastroenterology Week conference in Barcelona, Spain. The technology was devised in the lab of Stephen Miller, the Judy Gugenheim Research Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who has refined it over decades. In addition to providing the first proof that the technology works in patients, the study shows that "we can encapsulate myelin into the nanoparticle to induce tolerance to that substance in multiple sclerosis models, or put a protein from pancreatic beta cells to induce tolerance to insulin in type 1 diabetes models,” said Miller. The technology works by causing the immune system to see the allergen-loaded nanoparticle as innocuous debris, and to disregard it. Once ignored, the nanoparticle and its hidden antigen get eaten by a macrophage, kind of a garbageman that rids the body of cellular debris and pathogens. “The vacuum-cleaner cell presents the allergen or antigen to the immune system in a way that says, ‘No worries, this belongs here,'” Miller said. “The immune system then shuts down its attack on the allergen, and the immune system is reset to normal.” In the celiac trial, Miller's team loaded the nanoparticle with gliadin, the protein in gluten that triggers the adverse reaction in people with celiac disease. After a week of treatment, the patients consumed gluten for two weeks. Untreated celiac patients who ate gluten showed clear immune responses to gliadin and related damage to the small intestine. Meanwhile, celiac patients treated with CNP-101 showed 90% less immune-related inflammation than untreated patients. By preventing the inflammatory response, CNP-101 showed the ability to protect the gut from gluten-related damage. Most autoimmune diseases are currently treated with immune suppressants, which lessen symptoms, but degrade the immune response and carry the potential for toxic side-effects. CNP-101 does not work by suppressing the immune system, but by preventing the inflammatory response, and thus reversing the course of the autoimmune disease. Celiac disease a perfect target for the nanoparticle induced immune tolerance approach, because the triggers are well documented, and the disease has no other treatment than a gluten-free diet. CNP-101 has been granted Fast Track status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and brought to patients in collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceuticals, which has acquired an exclusive global license to develop and commercialize this treatment for celiac disease. In addition to celiac disease, COUR is looking to develop treatments for peanut allergy and multiple sclerosis, and to expand their offerings to other autoimmune conditions, said John J. Puisis, president and chief executive officer of COUR. Read more in sciencedaily.com
- 2 comments
-
- autoimmune
- autoimmune disease
-
(and 7 more)
Tagged with:
-
Celiac.com 11/28/2014 - According to a new study, obesity plays a major part in triggering and prolonging autoimmune diseases, such as celiac disease, Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis. The study appeared recently in Autoimmunity Reviews by Prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld, the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair for Research of Autoimmune Diseases at Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Head of Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases at Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. According to the research, obesity erodes the body's ability to protect itself, triggering a pro-inflammatory environment that promotes the development of autoimmune diseases, hastens their progression, and impairs their treatment. For some time now, says Professor Shoenfeld, researchers have been aware of the “negative impact of contributing disease factors, such as infections, smoking, pesticide exposure, lack of vitamins, and the like. But in last five years, a new factor has emerged that cannot be ignored: obesity.” According to the World Health Organization, about one-third of the global population is overweight or obese, nearly a dozen autoimmune diseases are now associated with excess weight, which now impact nearly 5-20% of the global population. That is why, according to Shownfeld, it is “critical to investigate obesity's involvement in the pathology of such diseases." The main culprit is not fat itself, but adipokines, compounds secreted by fat tissue, which impact numerous physiological functions, including the immune response. In tandem with their own study, Shoenfeld and his colleagues reviewed 329 studies from across the globe that focused on the connections between obesity, adipokines, and immune-related conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type-1 diabetes, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriatic arthritis, and Hashimoto thyroiditis. "According to our study and the clinical and experimental data reviewed, the involvement of adipokines in the pathogenesis of these autoimmune diseases is clear," says Shoenfeld. "We were able to detail the metabolic and immunological activities of the main adipokines featured in the development and prognosis of several immune-related conditions." One of the team’s more interesting findings was that obesity also promotes vitamin D deficiency, which, “once corrected, alleviated paralysis and kidney deterioration associated with the disorder… [and] improved the prognosis and survival of the mice.” Source: Science Daily, November 10, 2014
- 10 comments
-
- autoimmune
- diseases
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Celiac.com 10/07/2019 - Researchers know that people with autoimmune disorders have a higher risk of developing celiac disease, but there's no clear data on the risk of autoimmune disorders in treated patients with celiac disease. To find out if treated celiac patients on a gluten-free diet had an elevated risk of developing autoimmune disorders, a team of researchers recently set out to assess the incidence of autoimmune disorders in treated celiac disease patients. The research team included Muhammad R Khan, Shilpa S Nellikkal, Ahmed Barazi, Joseph J Larson, Joseph A. Murray, Imad Absah. They are variously affiliated with the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology; the Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics; and the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. The team used the Rochester Epidemiology Project to search medical records at Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center from January 1997 to December 2015 for patients with clinical celiac disease. For each celiac patient, the team identified two age and sex-matched control subjects. They calculated rates of diagnosed autoimmune disorder five years after index date using Kaplan-Meier analysis for both celiac cases and control subjects. They then compared the results using the log-rank test. They found a total of 249 celiac patients, who were following a gluten-free diet during the study period, and matched them with 498 control subjects. A total of 85 celiac patients and 170 control subjects were boys. Five years after the index date, 5.0% of patients with celiac disease and 1.3% of controls had a new autoimmune disorder diagnosis. Treated celiac patients face an elevated risk of developing autoimmune disorders. The risk of a new autoimmune disorder is higher in children, especially when >1 autoimmune disorder diagnosis exists. For celiac patients with prior autoimmune disorder, the cumulative risk of a new or additional autoimmune disorder was much higher compared with control subjects. Also, children faced a significantly higher risk of autoimmune disorder development compared with adults. Read more in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition: October 2019 - Volume 69
- 3 comments
-
- adults
- autoimmune
-
(and 6 more)
Tagged with:
-
Celiac.com 10/15/2019 - The Good Place star Kristen Bell got some bad news earlier this year when her doctor revealed that she has a genetic marker for celiac disease. She had already started an elimination diet to clear gluten from her system and suss out other problematic food groups, when she got the word. "I was like come again? All I eat is bagels," Bell tells Women's Health. Bell said she needs carbs, "because I have to memorize 11 pages of dialogue a day...I can’t do that eating spinach and chicken." That's why even a glimmer of possible celiac disease, "...made me really nervous," she says. Still, nervousness aside, Bell seems to be taking the news in stride. Her husband, Dax Shepard, suffers from psoriatic arthritis, another autoimmune disease, that is known to improve on a gluten-free diet. Of her husband, Bell says that he's not good at keeping up with a gluten-free diet. However, the two of them might just benefit from her diagnosis with a strengthened resolve. "Who knows what that means yet but I am experimenting with being completely gluten-free, which is very annoying to do, but I think it is going to help my eczema." That's the spirit! It's good to see people meet the hard reality of a celiac diagnosis with a resolve to get the most out of it. A gluten-free diet can be tough, but the rewards for people with celiac disease are massive. Kudos to Kristen Bell for her positive outlook!
-
- autoimmune
- celiac disease
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Celiac.com 08/23/2019 - A team of researchers recently set out to use experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis as a model for better understanding multiple sclerosis. The research team included Naresha Saligrama, Fan Zhao, Michael J. Sikora, William S. Serratelli, Ricardo A. Fernandes, David M. Louis, Winnie Yao, Xuhuai Ji, Juliana Idoyaga, Vinit B. Mahajan, Lars M. Steinmetz, Yueh-Hsiu Chien, Stephen L. Hauser, Jorge R. Oksenberg, K. Christopher Garcia & Mark M. Davis. The team showed that induction triggers successive waves of clonally expanded CD4+, CD8+ and γδ+ T cells in the blood and central nervous system, similar to gluten-challenges in patients with celiac disease. The team also found major expansions of CD8+ T cells in patients with multiple sclerosis. In patients with autoimmune encephalomyelitis, they discovered that most expanded CD4+ T cells are specific for the inducing myelin peptide MOG35–55. By contrast, surrogate peptides derived from a yeast peptide major histocompatibility complex library of some of the clonally expanded CD8+ T cells inhibit disease by suppressing the proliferation of MOG-specific CD4+ T cells. These results suggest that the induction of auto-reactive CD4+ T cells triggers an opposing mobilization of regulatory CD8+ T cells, and according to the researchers: "These results suggest that the induction of autoreactive CD4+ T cells triggers an opposing mobilization of regulatory CD8+ T cells...(W)e show here that the simultaneous mobilization of oligoclonal T cells, seen previously in patients with celiac disease, has a parallel not only in EAE, but also to some extent in newly diagnosed patients with MS." Read more in Nature.com The researchers are variously affiliated with the Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; the Department of Neurology and UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; and the Institute of Immunity, Transplantation and Infection, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
-
- autoimmune
- celiac disease
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Celiac.com 10/08/2018 - A new population based study reveals that celiac disease is associated with a wide range of medical conditions, including liver disease, glossitis, pancreatitis, Down syndrome, and autism, according to a database study of more than 35 million people. Moreover, people with autism have celiac disease at rates almost 20 times higher than in those without autism, reported lead investigator Daniel Karb, MD, a second-year resident at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. That raises the question of whether people with autism should be screened for celiac disease, and whether they might benefit form a gluten-free diet. "If you have a patient who is autistic and they have all these unusual symptoms, you might want to screen them for celiac disease," Dr. Karb told the World Congress of Gastroenterology last year. It is known that there are unusual symptoms of celiac disease, which include anything outside the classic symptoms of malabsorption, steatorrhea, malnutrition, abdominal pain, and cramping after eating, "but this is putting numbers to it," said Dr Karb. For their study, Karb and his fellow researchers used the Explorys database to pull health record data from 26 major integrated healthcare systems in the United States. Their search covered the period from 2012 to 2017. Of 35,854,260 people in the database, they found 83,090 with diagnosed celiac disease. Overall, the age-adjusted prevalence of celiac disease in that group was 0.22%, which is much lower than the 1% to 2% range previously estimated. Those numbers are not unusual, said Dr. Karb says that the researchers “don't think there are fewer people with celiac disease, just that it may be under-diagnosed.” The rates are, he says, “what you might expect when you screen asymptomatic people." Overall, the team found a significant connection between celiac disease and 13 other autoimmune disorders, such as type 1 diabetes, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. Moreover, celiac disease is associated with every autoimmune disease the team looked at, except for primary biliary cholangitis, Dr Karb says. This is some pretty startling study data. We knew that celiac disease was linked to other autoimmune conditions, and there has been some surprising data about gluten-free diets helping patients with autism, but these numbers are enlightening. It seems that people with autism should definitely be screened for celiac disease, and placed a gluten-free diet, if tests confirm celiac disease. Stay tuned for more information on this important celiac disease topic. Source: World Congress of Gastroenterology 2017
- 3 comments
-
- associated
- autism
- (and 7 more)
-
First of all, thank you for reading. I'm at my wit's end and I desperately need help. I'm a 30 year old mother of two little girls; one is 2 years 8mos and one is 7mos. After my second baby I started to have joint pain in my hands and feet. I thought it was a postpartum fluke and settled the matter on the Mommy Forums: a lot of other women experienced it, were tested for RA, it came back negative, and symptoms went away after breastfeeding. Very well, I had always been strong as an adult (not as a child), I figured this would be the case for me too. Fast forward to 4.5 mos postpartum. Attempted to keep my work from home job (very few hours) while keeping my two small children at home. Burning the candle at both ends. Coffee in the morning, wine in the evening, not eating enough calories or food of good quality. Suddenly, the foods I was used to eating began making me very sick. Eggs in the morning gave me debilitating nausea that lasted all day long. Was it my gallbladder, I wondered. I could not eat most animal fats without consequence and could only tolerate small, vegetable focused meals. I lost 10 lbs in 10 days...while breastfeeding (no, I was not overweight). The situation began to be dire; I was getting weak and felt like I was starving but my body would rebel against processing anything that would nourish it. I saw the gastroenterologist: "Acute gastritis." I was put on ranitidine by the gastroenterologist, 75mg, 2x a day. I asked how long, got a vague answer that I could be on "a long time." Months, I ask? Yes, and brushed off. I go home and focus on healing, not suspecting gluten at this point. I develop more symptoms: tingling in my feet and hands starting in April, which has developed into pain and numbness as of May. I had gradually been losing sensitivity in my big toe over the winter this year, but I assumed it was some nail abnormality; now I think it was autoimmune. Random stabbing pains everywhere intermittently, more plugged ducts from BFing, chest tightness when I stretch with my arms over my head. My skin looks less lustrous and a little saggy, and I often have a red tint beneath the surface and especially on my face. There have been a couple of times where I have been good for a couple weeks at a time, feeling almost normal, and that was when I was avoiding gluten. However, recently I feel nearly back to where I started. For the past week, I have dramatically reduced my carb intake and cut out all grains, limiting my food to meat, vegetables, fruit and nut spreads with an occasional glass of raw milk, since I still have some. My chiropractor told me to cut out casein because it is cross-reactive with gluten. I am currently having worse pain in my hands and I'm now having pain in my elbows and stiffness in my knees. My joints pop frequently. It is hard to keep weight on; I'm down to 129, and before I got pregnant I was always 132. I don't know what to eat! I am afraid everything I am eating is poisoning me. I think I am in ketosis. I am constantly thirsty, have dry mouth, my muscles are twitching all over, and without the carbs I had been eating I have been constipated and having very hard stools. I'm trying to drink lots of bone broth and stock every day and stick to the Full GAPS diet. I think my gut has been compromised for a long time: I tested GBS+ with both of my babies. I am hoping that by cutting out the carbs and regularly eating probiotic foods, I can starve the bad bacteria of life. I know a lot of people recommend cutting out dairy because of casein, but I need a good source of strength and calcium and amino acids because I'm a breastfeeding mother. My PCP told me after a slew of bloodwork, "Frankly, I don't think there's anything wrong with you. Aches and pains happen as you get older." My experience in the medical establishment has been enough to make me cry. I have dragged my two children all over creation from appointment to appointment to fight for every test I've had done. I have an appointment with a naturopath who specializes in nutrition in two weeks, but in the meanwhile I really feel like I am in having a health crisis and I do not know what to do to help myself. I have been trying to come off of the ranitidine for a long time, unsuccessfully. I will come off of it for a while and then my nausea will return. I recently learned this can be because of people who have been on PPIs for a long time can require a taper drug: https://ndnr.com/gastrointestinal/neuropathy-long-term-ppi-use-a-case-study/ And also that I shouldn't have been using the stuff much longer than 6wks: https://chriskresser.com/fda-sounds-alarm-on-dangers-of-antacid-drugs/ When the stomach irritation kicks into high gear, this seems to be the only way to calm it down. I've been tested for ANA (lupus, RA, etc.), rheumatoid factor, CRP, diabetes, Celiac's disease and everything has come back normal. I don't have double vision or problems with strength, balance or coordination. I have an appointment with a neurologist and with another gastroenterologist, and I'm hoping to have an endoscopy done. I was exposed to gluten last weekend and that seems to have kicked my body back into high gear, but I'm really not sure that's what's going on. I saw a neurologist in my early 20s about a motor and vocal tic I had, and she told me about the gut brain connection and that I might be ingesting something I was intolerant to. I was young and blithe then and it was all Greek to me, so to speak, and I didn't understand my immune system then. I did do a paleo diet then and felt better than I ever had, but because of the social restrictions it placed on my life I gave it up. As a child, I suffered from constipation, allergies and hyperactivity, which now that I understand the autoimmune concept does sound a lot like Celiac's. I am struggling both practically and emotionally, I feel like Celiac's disease is a social death sentence. I can never call a friend to meet me at a restaurant again because of the possibility of cross-contamination causing my body to enter its self-destruct sequence. I don't know what to eat. Just a couple of weeks ago I felt like my health was returning, I was regular, good energy, now I feel like death. If you've read this long into my post, God bless you, and seriously, thank you.
- 8 replies
-
- autoimmune
- autoimmune disease
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
I am currently searching for a Doctor that can help me monitor multiple health issues. I have Celiac Disease, Hashimoto Thyroid, Vitiligo, and Pernicious Anemia. I am looking for Tri Cities, WA, Walla Walla WA, or Spokane, WA. I need someone who understands the complications each of the diseases can have themselves as well as the potential combination of issues. Someone who will monitor my bloodworm etc. but can think in gray, not just black and white. I take Levothyroxine and have had monthly B12 injections for about 16. I take Vitamin D supplements to keep the level up. I take numerous other supplements and have been on a strict gluten-free diet for 41/2 years. I do have other food allergies too. I do not absorb Iron well at all and have had a Hematologist monitor my Ferritin etc. It began about 6 years ago. I was having trouble with a constant dry cough and was sent to a Pulmonologist, who determined I was not getting enough oxygen to my lungs. My PCP did a lot of blood work and found I had a Ferritin level of basically 0 and Hemoglobin of 5.5. Tried mega Iron supplements with no change in level. The doctor told me to throw them away and had me begin Iron Infusions She helped me get it leveled out after a few years and now I don't need them as often. The Hematologist was the one who suspected Celiac Disease and sent me to be tested. (Please note I had been scoped up and down numerous times, swallowed a camera and still the Gastro could not find anything wrong. Never did a biopsy. He attributed my issues to IBS....) About a year ago my most excellent Hematologist left the practice and moved far away. She was very intelligent, keen, and thought outside the box in many ways. I could count on her to test, evaluate and analyze my bloodwork. She was an excellent communicator and would research for additional information. It is difficult to explain how comfortable I was with her managing my care. I no longer feel that way and for the last year my Ferritin has been between 8 and 10.8 and the Saturation has been hovering around or below the low level. And I have not had any infusions. Thank you!
- 1 reply
-
- autoimmune
- celiac
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Celiac.com 11/13/2018 - Ubiquitin is highly conserved across eukaryotes and is essential for normal eukaryotic cell function. The bacterium Bacteroides fragilis is part of the standard human gut microbiome, and the only bacterium known to encode a homologue of eukaryotic ubiquitin. The B. fragilis gene sequence points to a previous horizontal gene transfer from a eukaryotic source. The sequence encodes a protein (BfUbb) with 63% identity to human ubiquitin, which is exported from the bacterial cell. Is molecular mimicry of human ubiquitin by gut microbe linked to autoimmune diseases like celiac disease? A team of researchers recently set out to determine if there was antigenic cross‐reactivity between B. fragilis ubiquitin and human ubiquitin and also to determine if humans produced antibodies to BfUbb. The research team included L. Stewart, J. D. M. Edgar, G. Blakely and S. Patrick. They are variously affiliated with the School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; the School School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK; the Regional Immunology Laboratory, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, UK; and the Wellcome‐Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK. Molecular model comparisons of BfUbb and human ubiquitin predicted likely structural similarity with 99.8% confidence. The team used linear epitope mapping to identify cross-reacting epitopes in BfUbb and human ubiquitin. Also, at least one epitope of BfUbb does not cross‐react with human ubiquitin. The team used enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay to compare the reaction of human serum to BfUbb and human ubiquitin from 474 subjects among four groups: (1) newly autoantibody‐positive patients, (2) allergen‐specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E‐negative patients, (3) ulcerative colitis patients and (4) healthy volunteers. The team’s data show that the exposure to BfUbb into the human immune system triggers the creation of IgG antibodies. Patients referred for first‐time autoimmune disease testing are more likely to have a high levels of antibodies to BfUbb than are healthy volunteer subjects. From this, the team concludes that molecular mimicry of human ubiquitin by BfUbb could be a trigger for autoimmune disease. Finding and understanding potential triggers for autoimmune conditions helps to take us one step further to understanding and potentially curing celiac disease. Stay tuned for further developments in their arena. First published: 04 August 2018 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cei.13195
-
- autoimmune
- bacteria
-
(and 6 more)
Tagged with:
-
Why You Should Listen to Your Girlfriends (AKA “I Told You Something Was Wrong With Me”) Nearly five years of health-related nonsense left me depressed, anxious, over-tired, over-weight, and feeling defeated. Until I shared a glass (or two) with my girlfriends and they insisted that I not give up. I didn’t. And that’s how I finally found out what was actually wrong. It was one of those four thousand snowy days in New Jersey, where the kids were off from school for the second day in a row and I was getting some serious cabin fever. The roads were still a mess and too icy to go anywhere, but I needed company. “Cabin Fever Cocktails?” I texted my neighborhood girlfriends, all in walking distance of my front door. “OMG YES” they texted back, and at 5 p.m. on the dot, my winter emotional rescue team walked in. My grandmother used to have a cake in the kitchen for anyone who might stop by and share a cup of coffee. I, apparently, always have bubblies on hand, and we popped open a couple bottles and sat around with our feet tucked and caught up with life. Maybe it was the cozy fire, maybe it was too much self-reflection after 48 hours of being cooped up, maybe it was just the vibe of the room of supportive and caring people, but I finally confessed to my (skinny, fit and fabulous) friends how frustrated I was that I was having such a hard time losing weight, and feeling crummy in general. Weight has been an up and down thing for me my whole life. Puberty and middle school was an awesome time of growing sideways first, then sprouting taller and leaner. College freshman fifteen, up, down. Pregnancy did not make me a baby-bump glowing human – I gained just as much weight in my butt as I did in my belly. I used to say it was nature’s way of making sure I wouldn’t tip over. Baby weight on, baby weight off. Up. Down. By the time the pounds had started creeping on in my late thirties, I blamed age and a lack of time to exercise, and decided to make some lifestyle changes, really try and take care of myself once and for all. Then I tried some fun anti-anxiety meds, which packed on 50 pounds in six months. I wasn’t anxious - because I was a zombie. I stopped the meds but couldn’t get rid of the pounds. For the last two years I had been really trying, seriously trying, to little avail. “I just feel like I’m stuck – like if the answer really is that it’s just that hard to lose weight when you’re older I get it, but this is ridiculous,” I told the ladies. “What have you been doing?” they asked, wanting to listen, wanting to understand, the way good girlfriends do. I explained how I had joined a gym in the fall, and had been seeing a trainer three times a week for an hour at a time, and was on the Peloton bike one or two times in addition to that. I explained how I had joined a meal delivery service and was eating 1300 calories a day. How I read an article that said sleep was important for weight loss so I was maniacal about sleep health and sleep hygiene and was getting eight hours a night and had started using essential oils so I would have better sleep and despite all of this, I hadn’t seen a difference on the scale. “Something’s wrong.” “That’s not normal.” “You’re working too hard for there not to be success.” “WTF?” I’d never been so glad to have other people tell me there was something wrong with me. That’s how I’d been feeling too. A couple of years of raised eyebrows, and a serious six months of WTF? They asked me more questions. Was I seriously not sweating sitting so close to the fire? Nope. I was usually chilly. My feet were always cold. I wore socks to bed every night. I had rosacea that started in the fall as well – my whole life I’d always had great skin and now this was a new awful WTF thing. They asked about my poop, periods, pimples, all the good things that good girlfriends want to know. “That’s too many things. I think it’s auto-immune,” Marni said. Amy agreed. “Could be thyroid. You know that stuff runs in threes too, right? You could have a bunch of things going on at the same time.” Mandy nodded. “Your body is acting like it’s starving to death, it’s holding on to every ounce of fat it can.” “You’re working so hard, there should be results with all that work!” Chris exclaimed. “Go see my doctor,” said Kristen, “he’s a functional medicine doctor. He’s like a detective. He doesn’t take insurance but he’s worth it.” And then we drank some more champagne and complained about our kids and families and parents and spouses and dogs. And I felt so much better, because of all of it. I decided to go see my primary doctor again. She’s a general practioner, and I’ve always liked her. Plus, she takes insurance, so for $25 maybe I could get her to order me a blood test to check my thyroid and I could find out what was wrong and get a magic thyroid pill and be skinny. Right, skinny and healthy. But really what I was focused on was wanting to be skinny again instead of feeling like I was trapped in a fat suit. Dr. M saw me the next day. She came in and was friendly and curious why I was there. I’m either super healthy, or super not healthy. I won’t need to talk to a doctor for three years and then I’ll get bronchitis and cough and break a rib. Or get bitten by a neighbor’s dog that leaves teeth marks around my arm and requires a tetanus booster, just to be safe. You know, fun stuff like that. I explained why I was there. How frustrated I was that I wasn’t losing weight, and that I’d been anxious and depressed and exhausted and generally having a hard time. “What are you eating?” she asked. And I explained about the meal delivery plan and how I’d been following it for six months and wasn’t having success. “Are you really only eating 1300 calories a day?” Dr. M asked me. “Well, mostly,” I said. “If I get really hungry I might eat an apple or some almonds,” I confessed. Dr. M nodded. “Yup. That’s your problem. An apple is too much. You should never eat a whole apple. A THIRD of an apple. That’s a snack,” she told me. “Look at me,” she said, and I did. She might be four foot eleven and I doubt she weighs triple digits. She’s super cute and super little. “I eat nothing – that’s how I stay looking like this.” I bit my tongue. I think my skeleton (or left boob) might weigh more than her full corporal form. “Do you really think that a whole apple instead of a third of an apple is my problem though? My girlfriends suggested I might have a thyroid issue?” She started writing out a blood work form. “We can test you for thyroid. You only need Free T4, I don’t need to test you for T3.” I tried to remember what Amy had said about the full panel of thyroid testing, but I was feeling fat and badly about my existence and all of a sudden lost my ability to ask questions or advocate for myself. In the six minutes Dr. M had spent with me in the exam room I went from thinking about my written list of symptoms to wondering if I could survive on a third of a piece of fruit. She handed me the lab form. “If you want to talk to me about a gastric sleeve we can have that conversation. I’m not against that,” and she walked out of the room. Wait, What? A gastric sleeve? WTF?? OMG. Was everyone looking at me and thinking “Jesus, she needs to get her stomach stapled, what is her problem?” and I was thinking I was fat, but like in a just a little fat kind of way? I thought about my half-hearted joke that I needed fatter friends, like Chubby Checkers, how I went to Disney World and felt skinny and was so glad I wasn’t on a jazzy scooter. Was I one giant turkey leg and a big gulp away from needing electric transport to roll my fat ass through life? I had my blood drawn at the lime green lab of lost souls down the hall and walked outside. I called my sister from the car. “I need to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me. Because if you are lying to me you are not helping me and I need the truth from you right now,” I started out, not even saying hello. “Okay…..” she said. “I can do that.” “Do I need gastric bypass? Are you all looking at me and talking about how morbidly obese I am and not telling me? Because I just saw my doctor…” and I spilled my guts on the whole thing. My sister was furious. “If you tell me where she lives, I will egg her house,” she said. “She didn’t listen to you. She isn’t trying to help you. She’s blaming you. This is not what you need. Go to another doctor.” So I did. I called Kristen’s doctor who didn’t take insurance. I had my first test results from Dr. M by the time I went to see him. Thyroid T4 or whatever was normal. No further follow up requested. I wondered if there were giant GMO apples I could buy. I told Dr. Z “I was on the phone with my sister this morning on my way here and she was glad I was coming to talk to you. She said she didn’t want to sound mean but that I’m kind of a bit of a mess right now.” Dr. Z smiled. “What does your sister want me to know about you?” And I went through my story again. Dr. Z listened and asked questions. For an HOUR. We talked about how I’m tired ALL THE TIME. We talked about my weight gain and inability to lose pounds, my restrictive calories, working out with a trainer (who also said I should see a doctor and get my blood checked, because even SHE thought I should be more successful than was my reality), we talked about my depression, anxiety, rosacea skin, my tendency to complain and then make jokes, my blog, my kids, my dogs, my parents and my childhood, my vitamins, my husband and marriage, and how I love to travel. After an hour, Dr. Z asked if he could do an exam, and then we talked again. We did a fasting blood draw and he explained that the last test I had wasn’t “as complete” as what he would be ordering. “I can’t tell you much right now,” he said, “we’ll need to see what’s going on with the blood work, but I think something is definitely out of balance. We’ll get you back on that path where you want to be.” Dr. Z emailed me the blood work results a couple weeks later. The first test packet came from my typical lab of despair and had a bunch of the usual stuff, some I recognized. Others I did not. I did recognize that my once-perfect cholesterol was no longer perfect. I sent my mom a text thanking her for our crummy family DNA. I am snarky that way. Thankfully my mom puts up with me. Then I read the second test packet, something called a “Custom NutriQuant Panel” and read the first item, Arsenic. It was high, like out of range high. I called my sister. Obviously I was being poisoned by my husband and someone needed to know, so when I wound up dead the police would be pointed in the right direction. “I don’t think that’s how he’d kill you,” my sister told me. “I think he’d find something more modern. Arsenic is so old-fashioned. Unless he’s a time traveler, I don’t think that’s it.” My sister can be so logical. She didn’t argue that my husband wouldn’t kill me. She just thought he would find a more efficient and modern way to do it. “What’s the rest of the test say?” she asked. “I don’t know.” I said. “There’s stuff all over the place. I’m supposed to call the doctor.” “And you called me instead?” my sister asked. “Cool. Go call the doctor.” So I called Dr. Z. “Which page do you have in front of you?” he asked. “Arsenic!” I declared. “I already told my sister my husband is trying to kill me,” I explained to him. “Mm, well that might be true, but, I wouldn’t worry too much about the arsenic. It could be that you eat a lot of rice or had some fish with some higher arsenic levels. It’s not worth worrying about that but we can retest it again just to check if that would make you feel better.” I sniffed. I was glad everyone was taking my husband potentially poisoning me seriously. We talked about my Vitamin B12 being low, my Vitamin D being low, even a weird level for Copper was low. I didn’t even know the body needed Copper. Was I going to turn green like the Statue of Liberty? “I’m so confused,” I said. “I take a multi vitamin every day with 1667% of Vitamin B12. And for Vitamin D I take 4000IU every morning. How on earth am I still so low?” And Dr. Z told me. “All of these things are probably testing low because your body isn’t able to absorb them. If you turn the page you’ll see you tested positive for Celiacs. You’re malnourished in several areas.” W.T.F. Celiacs? Malnourished? This was a cosmic joke. Why couldn’t I get skinny person Celiacs? How on earth did I get fat from being malnourished? I had been so fixated on my arsenic poisoning that I hadn’t bothered to look up most of the other stuff on the test. I had been tested for Celiacs ten years ago when my daughter was first diagnosed with it. I was negative then. I was positive now. Was the test ten years ago wrong? Apparently the negative tests are only correct 71% of the time. Or had the Celiacs just turned on at some point in the last few years? I have no way of knowing. Part of fun and funky thing about autoimmune diseases like Celiacs is that they can activate at any point in life. Katie and I had zero similarities in terms of symptoms. She was nearly two when she was diagnosed, and her pediatrician suggested that we test her because Katie had fallen off the growth chart. She was tiny, hovering near that “failure to thrive” mark. Within 6 months of a gluten-free diet, Katie was growing and thriving and her blood work was back to perfect. All the blood testing helped lay the foundation for her fear of needles, but that’s another story. My symptoms were different, but apparently not atypical at all. The unfortunate thing is that most doctors think of a “celiac look”, and test people who are really skinny and little. But, according to research, a full 39% of celiac patients are overweight, with 30% actually obese. Malnourished vitamin and mineral-deprived bodies become super efficient at holding on to excess fat. They can get a gastric sleeve, eat a third of an apple a day, and their body will still recognize malnourishment as starvation. I’m convinced that undiagnosed Celiacs is part of the obesity problem in America. Yes, there are some facts and studies that support that. Mostly I just think these things in my own head and have little actual medical knowledge, but I’m totally ok with that. At the end of the day, I will miss good New York / Northern New Jersey bagels, croissants and crusty bread in Paris, and Carvel ice cream crunchies. But I will not miss my body attacking itself, holding onto excess weight, and feeling exhausted all the time because I can’t maintain needed vitamin and mineral levels. I want my body back in balance, and I want to feel good again. Is a celiacs diagnosis going to cure all my life problems? Maybe. Maybe not. I still have that whole arsenic poisoning thing to obsess about. I’m really good at obsessing in general. Thankfully my girlfriends listened to my troubles and pushed me in the right direction. What we all need is to make sure we are speaking up and pushing for ourselves too. Onwards. ******* Are you like me? Do you think you have every disease you read about? Here’s some info on Celiacs disease, the extensive blood work you might want to consider, and the link to a great card set called “Fifty Things that Might Kill You”. Because why not? Facts, Figures, and Fantastical Ideas: What the heck is gluten? A protein found in Wheat, Oats, Rye, Malt and Barley. Not the kind of good energy protein you find in eggs and meat and things. Just some weird science protein that makes everyone confused. Technically oats do not have gluten in them, but most farmers growing oats rotate the crop with wheat, and the gluten leaches out into the soil, and then when you plant the oats the gluten gets absorbed into the oats. You can find gluten-free oats in the store because those farmers are following gluten-free farming practices. Tuck that away for your trivia night evening. Celiacs Disease is not an allergy. It’s an auto-immune disease. Essentially it’s your body reacting to the presence of gluten in a way that creates an attack on your own self. Your intestines have these cute little villi that are like little fingers or tentacles reaching out to absorb nutrients. In Celiacs, the gluten makes the body think it’s under attack and the immune system kills off the villi. So no more nutrient absorption, and the body becomes malnourished. That’s what the blood test looks for – antibodies in your blood which indicates your immune system is in attack formation. There are three separate tests you need to diagnose celiac (and yes, you need all three, not just one) – Tissue Transglutam AB IGA, Gliadin Deamidated AB, IGA, and Gliadin Deamidated AB, IGG. You see why I didn’t notice I had Celiacs. None of those say Celiacs. Arsenic is way more fun to talk about. Celiacs can make people react in so many different ways that there isn’t really a “typical” symptoms list that would make you want to go get tested. I just think every human should be tested anyway. Like a CBC, cholesterol check. Just do it. A healthy gut is too important not to take care of. Did you know that 80% of your immune system is in your gut? So if your gut is sick then you’re just going to feel rotten. Maybe we’re not all sleep deprived because of long commutes and screen time. Maybe we all have celiacs. Maybe celiacs is the magic answer for everything. I wonder if Harry Potter has a spell for that? “Reparo My Gut!” In Italy, they simply test every child at age 5. That’s your baseline. And then you can get tested again later to see if you have a change. Or if you’re already Celiac as a kid you know to make changes (a strict gluten-free diet) and you get healthy early in life. I also think this Custom NutriQuant Panel was wicked important. We can all take vitamins, but how do we know if our body is absorbing them if we aren’t checking? Think about this. I was taking 1667% of Vitamin B12 thru my multivitamin EVERY DAY. And it was going right thru my body like it was water. While my body is repairing I’m taking B12 as a dissolvable tablet under my tongue so it goes directly into my blood stream instead of needing to be absorbed through my gut. Cuz apparently my gut isn’t working all that well. It can take six months for my body to heal while doing this whole gluten free diet thing. As little as one eighth of a teaspoon can be enough to set an immune system into attack mode. There’s no cheating. Or mistakes. Which makes this part really fun: Food companies do not need to indicate if their product has gluten in it. The allergy people are much better organized with the lobbyists on this front. The eight major allergens (fish, shellfish, peanuts, treenuts, eggs, milk, soy, wheat) are required to be listed on packaging. Gluten can be hidden in the ingredients – in things like “natural and artificial flavoring” - and when I have called company customer service hotlines (places like Dannon yogurt) to ask them if there is any hidden gluten I was told “the ingredients are proprietary information” (and I never bought a Dannon product again). Yes, there is a ton of gluten free options in the grocery store. Some of them actually taste good. Most are in the meh category. Gluten can hide in things like soy sauce, rice krispies (because malt flavoring is cheaper than sugar), toothpaste, medications, and envelope glue. Remember that episode of Seinfeld where Susan died from licking envelopes? Again, celiacs might be the answer to all the world’s problems. Celiacs is not something you grow out of. It’s a disease you have forever (until they find a cure). The only way to live a healthy life is to be completely 100% gluten free all the time. With all the choices of other things I could have, I’ll take this one, thank you very much.
- 1 comment
-
- autoimmune
- celiac
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
Celiac.com 08/13/2018 - It’s not uncommon for people to have psychiatric reactions to stressful life events, and these reactions may trigger some immune dysfunction. Researchers don’t yet know whether such reactions increase overall risk of autoimmune disease. Are psychiatric reactions induced by trauma or other life stressors associated with subsequent risk of autoimmune disease? Are stress-related disorders significantly associated with risk of subsequent autoimmune disease? A team of researchers recently set out to determine whether there is an association between stress-related disorders and subsequent autoimmune disease. The research team included Huan Song, MD, PhD; Fang Fang, MD, PhD; Gunnar Tomasson, MD, PhD; Filip K. Arnberg, PhD; David Mataix-Cols, PhD; Lorena Fernández de la Cruz, PhD; Catarina Almqvist, MD, PhD; Katja Fall, MD, PhD; Unnur A. Valdimarsdóttir, PhD. They are variously affiliated with the Center of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland; the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland; the Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital, Reykjavík, Iceland; the Centre for Rheumatology Research, University Hospital, Reykjavík, Iceland; the National Centre for Disaster Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; the Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; the Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; the Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden; the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; the Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden; the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts. The team conducted a Swedish register-based retrospective cohort study that included 106, 464 patients with stress-related disorders, 1,064 ,640 matched unexposed individuals, and 126 ,652 full siblings to determine whether a clinical diagnosis of stress-related disorders was significantly associated with an increased risk of autoimmune disease. The team identified stress-related disorder and autoimmune diseases using the National Patient Register. They used Cox model to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs of 41 autoimmune diseases beyond 1 year after the diagnosis of stress-related disorders, controlling for multiple risk factors. The data showed that being diagnosed with a stress-related disorder, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress reaction, adjustment disorder, and other stress reactions, was significantly associated with an increased risk of autoimmune disease, compared with matched unexposed individuals. The team is calling for further studies to better understand the associations and the underlying factors. Source: JAMA. 2018;319(23):2388-2400. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.7028
-
- autoimmune
- celiac
-
(and 5 more)
Tagged with:
-
I honestly don't know what's going on with me. I've had health issues going on around 7 years now. I am 21 years old and it has ruined my life so far. My dad is celiac so i thought it was autoimmune i could have. I got the blood test done for that and it came back negative. I've been doing intermittent fasting for the last two weeks and it seems to have been helping but earlier i hit rock bottom. I hadn't eaten anything from around 8pm last night and i broke the fast at around 1:30pm with a big bowl of brown rice and carrot and ever since then i've been feeling really bad. I got fatigued, irritable, sinus issues, face got puffy, eyes puffy, redness on skin. I don't know why this happens to me it's happened many times before too after i eat stuff. Anyways here's a list of my symptoms: My symptoms aren't all there at the same time, they fluctuate. My symptom list is as follows: stingy eyes puffy eyes dark circles under eyes anxiety heart palpitations bloating belly fat (slight) (i'm skinny for my height but i have excess fat in certain places) breast fat (slight) Sometimes when my health gets really bad my face starts getting rosacea-like symptoms puffy face sinus issues brain fog bad short term memory paleness (especially in hands) cold hands and feet loss of collagen in skin oily skin/hair bloodshot eyes flaky skin between eyebrows fatigue irritability lack of sex drive insomnia i think my vision is worse when my health is down too, i have bad eyesight anyways so it's hard to tell flatulence blackheads/whiteheads on nose stiff joints
- 7 replies
-
- autoimmune
- help
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Okay. Long story short - I've had itching blisters coming and going for at least 10 years, I'm 27 now. When I was 23 I got diagnosed with an autoimmune kidney disease. Ever since then I've been very careful with my diet and avoiding, but not completely cutting out gluten. I've had stomach problems since I was a kid. Had acne since I was 14. Diagnosed with PCO. Always feeling tired. Can eat tons of food and never gaining any weight. Recently I found out I am anemic, Ferritin was 7 (range is 10-70 I think) I was also deficient in D-vitamin. They took transglutaminas tests but it was negative. I started eating gluten again in February, and my blisters and ezcema like rashes came back quite quickly. I know a gastroenterologist and told him about my low iron, my blisters etc. And he immediately said that it sounds like celiac disease. He scheduled a gastroscopy (they go in with a camera through the mouth and take biopsies from the small intestine) that I did today. The doctor took 3 biopsies and said that it looked like the villi was flattened. He also said that I could start a gluten free diet if I wanted to before the test results comes back. I'm just confused right now... shouldn't they do a skin biopsy on my blisters as well? I read about ppl having DH who do that and get diagnosed that way. how can the blood tests be negative and the biopsy not? if i go on a non gluten diet now, my blisters and rashes will go away which is good ofc, but then if the biopsy come back negative, they can't do a skin biopsy? It would make so much sense to me if I'm celiac. Therefore I'm scared the biopsy wont show anything since I've been going on and off gluten for years. Although the doctor said it looked like I am celiac? And the blisters can't be anything else than DH!! And the low iron and everything. Ugh. I just want the results now... And know for sure.
- 10 replies
-
- acne
- autoimmune
- (and 7 more)
-
Well, for starters I think I am most likely like most people here. I have been struggling with a variety of symptoms, and trying to figure out what is bothering me has been a total guessing nightmare, with very little help from doctors. Even though I’ve gone to see them so many times. I recently found this biotech company that helps people find out if they really have a gluten celiac problem, or if it is something else. Using dna through hair or saliva, it was pain free, which was awesome! They tested me for a combination of intolerances/allergies/etc. My dietician referred me to them. It’s a place called Lab 600, they have a dot com and I got some testing done with them direct to their lab service and found out it is the same lab company that the allergist uses that I was going to go see next month. He wanted 1,100 for the testing at his office! The lab fee from the lab company itself was only $99 direct. So I went direct to them. They gave me Physician accepted results for my family doctor to keep on file and it cost me way less to get real answers without paying big prices. I wanted to let everyone else know because dealing with doctors who inflate prices is ridiculous, and I think it should be regulated or illegal to increase rates tgat high! Anyhow, I thought gluten was what was bothering me and my test came back it let me know that it was actually lactose. I had no idea, I really thought that it was a celiac issue. I got my daughters checked as well. One of them was scott-free no issues, the other one did come back with gluten intolerant results, with a wheat allergy and they also found out she was vitamin D deficient. So we have started to give her vitamin D supplements, and she has been starting to feel way better. So if this experience can possibly help someone else here I wanted to post, as I have been using the forum here and many other sites trying to get advice through all the symptoms and chaos of trying to figure out what was going on with myself, and I know how stressful it can be. Good luck to everyone!
- 2 replies
-
- autoimmune
- gluten testing
- (and 2 more)
-
Great news! I have have joined the “Peter club”! My villi are healed! The gluten free diet is working! I was diagnosed around 4/2013 with only a positive DGP IgA and a Marsh Stage IIIB (moderate to severe villi damage). My main symptom was anemia which I recovered from in just a few months with iron supplements. Minor symptoms persisted the first year as I discovered food intolerances (e.g. Xanthan Gum) and worked with known intolerances (lactose, garlic, mushrooms, eggs, etc). Many intolerances resolved (and some did not) as I healed. A year later, I was diagnosed with diabetes and further modified my diet (fewer carbs, more fats, less sugar, even from grains). I did well. I did not return to my GI and instead worked with my PCP. I never had my antibodies tested after my initial diagnosis to see if they were coming down (bad move). I did get a bone scan after I experienced some fractures and was checked for nutritional deficiencies. I stupidly assumed that my antibodies would always be elevated like my thyroid antibodies have been for 20 years. I strongly recommend annual check ups for celiacs. Over the years, My DGP IgA levels were off the chart tested after hidden gluten exposures. My symptoms were severe and were not consistent which prompted my visits to my new GI. I would recover, though it took months....like 6. In January 2017, I think I was glutened again (I had not eaten eaten out for a year except at 100% gluten-free restaurants ), and I ate mostly unprocessed foods. I had a tooth infection, tooth extraction, flu and a cold all in a span of one month. I developed chronic hives that last for six months. So, I went back to my GI (off the charts DGP IgA). My allergist blamed my Hashimoto’s or an undiagnosed autoimmune issue, my PCP just mentioned how I am always chronically inflamed. My GI offered an endoscopy, but I declined. Instead, I opted for a slightly modified Fasano diet. I did not give up coffee! Finally, I was still having abdominal issues, so I requested the endoscopy for the first week in January. Why is my DGP IgA always elevated? Where was I getting gluten? Heck, my hubby has been gluten-free for 17 years, so I know the diet. He was okay though there are some things he never eats and I do. Am I super sensitive or am I developing another AI issue? Maybe since I have other antibodies (thyroid) floating around, I should discard this test result (not much research for post diagnosis testing issues). I was driving myself crazy. So, I needed to know for sure what was going on. This time, my new GI had a newer scope. I was shown the results (photos) while in recovery. You could could see the villi as the magnification was that strong). I did have a stomach polyp which was removed and biopsied. The pathologist reported no damaged in my duodenum, and that the polyp was not cancer and no H. Pylori. He noted chronic gastritis (this explains my stomach pinching sensation and indigestion, etc.) I was advised to continue my gluten free diet. I assume my stomach is still healing as my antibodies are no doubt still elevated (off charts in 4/2017 and 80 in 11/2017) though hopefully lower than 80. I am now considering giving up coffee for a while and looking into foods that will help heal the gastritis since I react to so many different medications (anaphylactic) and each medication must be carefully monitored. Oddly, did not have gastritis when I was initially diagnosed. I am happy to be a part of the Peter club! I plan on staying on the modified Fasano diet until my stomach has healed (though I did eat some homemade (Xanthan Free) cookies over the holidays). I am also happy to report that my HA1c (diabetes test) was in the normal range! Yes, normal, not even prediabetic! So, it is possible to mange Type II diabetes without drugs. I typed this on an iPad, so expect errors. I probably made a few mistakes regarding times too, so expect a few tweaks here and there by the end of the day.
- 7 replies
-
- autoimmune
- celiac disease
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Celiac.com 01/03/2018 - A recent study indicates that symptoms for some autoimmune disease can vary depending on the time of day. A substance called transcription factor BMAL1 plays a crucial role in the human molecular clock, regulating biological pathways that drive 24 hour circadian rhythms in behavior and physiology. The molecular clock has a major influence on innate immune function, and disturbances in circadian rhythms are associated with increases in multiple sclerosis (MS), for example. But, researchers just don't have much good information on the factors that influence this association. A team of researchers recently set out to better understand the factors that influence this association. The research team included Caroline E. Sutton, Conor M. Finlay, Mathilde Raverdeau, James O. Early, Joseph DeCourcey, Zbigniew Zaslona, Luke A. J. O'Neill, Kingston H. G. Mills, and Annie M. Curtis. They are variously affiliated with the Immune Regulation Research Group, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; the Inflammatory Research Group, School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; and with the Department of Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland. In a recent study, the research team found that BMAL1 and time-of-day regulate the accumulation and activation of various immune cells in a CNS autoimmune disease model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In myeloid cells, BMAL1 maintains anti-inflammatory responses and reduces T cell polarization. Loss of myeloid BMAL1 or midday immunizations to induce EAE create an inflammatory environment in the CNS through expansion and infiltration of IL-1β-secreting CD11b+Ly6Chi monocytes, resulting in increased pathogenic IL-17+/IFN-γ+ T cells. These findings show the important role played by the molecular clock in processing innate and adaptive immune crosstalk under autoimmune conditions. Understanding the exact ways in which the human molecular clock influences innate immune function, and by extension, autoimmune diseases, will help doctors to better understand these disease, and to develop better approaches to treatment, among other things. Source: Nature.com
-
- autoimmune
- disease
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hi to any & all who read my post, and an advanced thank you to those who reply, My post may be kind of robust & lengthily, but please read until the end if you are able. To give a sort of "back story" here, I'll explain my situation in a nutshell. In November of 2014 I was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance by my allergist after recurrent, severe mouth ulcers and a bodily rash. I had a blood allergy panel, but NOT a Celiac specific panel, which ruled out other food allergies completely - corn, pea, chickpea, chicken, tomato, egg, milk, etc. My allergist suggested a gluten-free diet, which I adopted & have been adhering to since then. Recently, I've been acutely sick since August of 2016, so we're talking a year plus now. My symptoms began with a burning abdominal sensation, pain after eating, premature and uncomfortable full feeling, bloating, etc. My internist referred me to my current GI doctor where I was diagnosed with GERD (chronic acid reflux) , and prescribed Omeprazole, which I still take daily. My next appointment in February had me still feeling awful & my GI doctor decided to perform an upper endoscopy, which I did in March. He was looking for ulcers, evidence of bleeding or infectious disease, and Celiac. Mind you, I had informed him that I've been eating strictly gluten free for almost three years now. He claimed this really didn't matter? This has left me wondering. Anyway, the results came up empty, but I was found to have evidence of gastritis. Then came the rest of my symptoms - frequent diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, extremely greasy stools, stools that float, mucus in stools, unable to "wait" to use the bathroom (I.e. Urgency), alternations of diarrhea and constipation, weight loss, low grade fever, EXTREME fatigue, poor concentration, memory loss, cognitive decline, and my mouth sores have reared their ugly head once again. After I first went gluten-free, the ulcers probably cleared up for a good year at least, which was heaven on earth for me. Now, they're back with a ruthless vengeance. As we speak, I've barely recovered from one for a day or so, and I'm down with two more. You can't even make this stuff up. After I addressed these new symptoms with my GI, he was concerned I may have had Crohn's Disease or Colitis, so he performed a colonoscopy, which ruled out both conditions through gross observation & biopsy samples. Since colonoscopies can only read so much of your colon & terminal small intestine, I then had a PillCam to see the rest. The only results he could suggest was that I have a "slow bowel transit," so I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The umbrella term for all intestinal and abdominal suffering with no definitive cause. Summary of my bible here is that I'm still suffering greatly. The intestinal issues are really giving me poor quality of life, and these pervasive mouth ulcers are more than I can bare anymore with the pain, inability to eat, weight loss, etc. it's all a sick and harrowing cycle that I am caught in the middle of. In saying this, I'm almost curious that I could have Celiac disease that was horribly missed. If I had already been gluten free & a biopsy was taken it would appear as though I'm a healthy individual, no? I was informed you had to be eating a strict gluten FILLED diet prior to ANY testing. ALL of my testing was performed after I already went gluten free, which could have altered results horribly. I'm almost crazy enough to think that if this is the case, I'm going to eat gluten just so I can be re-tested because I can't go on like this anymore. Can anyone please clarify and/or suggest something?
- 13 replies
-
- autoimmune
- celiac
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):