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12/06/2021 - Celiac disease is an auto-immune disease that can manifest in numerous ways. A team of researchers recently set out to assess rates of gastrointestinal (GI) and extra-intestinal symptoms of celiac patients, especially headache and migraine, and compare those to a healthy control group. The team compared one thousand celiac subjects, with migraine and non-migrainous headache, registered at their celiac center, against a healthy control group, for headache parameters, in terms of GI and extra-intestinal symptoms. Overall, celiac subjects experienced higher rates of headache than control subjects, with the greatest prevalence in female celiacs. Celiac subjects also showed higher rates of migraine than controls, especially females. In fact 80% of females with celiac disease experienced migraine, and without aura nearly three-quarters of the time. The most common GI symptoms in celiac subjects with headache were abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation, which were all more prevalent in celiac subjects with migraine. Conversely, celiac subjects with migraine saw lower rates of type 1 diabetes mellitus than celiac subjects with non-migrainous headache. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that being female, and having celiac disease were independent predictors of headache, whereas patients over 60 years old saw some protective effects. Celiac subjects have higher rates of headache, especially migraine, than healthy control subjects. Moreover, celiac subjects with migraine more commonly experience abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation than celiac subjects with non-migrainous headaches. Because of this, the team recommends celiac screening for patients with migraine and simultaneous GI symptoms. Read more at PLOS ONE The research team included Mohammad M. Fanaeian, Nazanin Alibeik, Azita Ganji, Hafez Fakheri, Golnaz Ekhlasi, and Bijan Shahbazkhani. They are variously affiliated with the Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences inTehran, Iran; the Clinical Research Development Center, Firoozgar Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashahd, Iran; the Gut and Liver Research Center, Non-communicable Disease Institue at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in Sari, Iran; and the Digestive Disease Research Institute at Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran.

Celiac.com 03/12/2020 - A number of studies have shown a connection between migraine headaches and certain gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, like Helicobacter pylori infection, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and celiac disease. Is there a connection between migraine and the gut-brain axis? When researchers speak of the “gut-brain axis," they are describing a two-way relationship between the gastrointestinal system and the central nervous system. So far researchers don't currently have very good information about the ways in which the gut and the brain might interact in patients with migraine. A team of researchers recently set out to review and discuss the direct and indirect evidence for a connection between migraine headaches and the gut-brain axis. The research team included Mahsa Arzani, Soodeh Razeghi Jahromi, Zeinab Ghorbani, Fahimeh Vahabizad, Paolo Martelletti, Amir Ghaemi, Simona Sacco, Mansoureh Togha and on behalf of the School of Advanced Studies of the European Headache Federation (EHF-SAS). Prior research points to a number of potential factors, including inflammatory mediators (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α), gut microbiota profile, neuropeptides and serotonin pathway, stress hormones and nutritional substances. The current consensus is that neuropeptides, including CGRP, SP, VIP, NPY exert an antimicrobial impact on numerous strains of gut bacteria which are likely involved in the bidirectional relationship between the gut and the brain. Current research indicates that eliminating Helicobacter pylori bacteria, for example, can help reduce migraine headaches in people with Helicobacter pylori, and people with a long history of migraines and high headache frequency are much more likely to have IBS. Further, both IBS and migraine can change the makeup of gut bacteria, and so might influence gut-brain axis and inflammatory response. Migraine headaches have also been associated with celiac disease, and doctors should keep this in mind, especially in migraine patients whose brain imaging shows occipital and parieto-occipital calcification. Studies show that a gluten-free diet can help reduce migraine frequency in such patients. Many researchers believe that migraine headaches can be improved by diets that support healthy gut microbiota and gut-brain axis, including a low glycemic diet, higher fiber intake, supplemental vitamin D, omega-3 and probiotics, as well as weight loss and dietary plans for overweight and obese patients. Read more in the Journal of Headache and Pain volume 21, Article number: 15 (2020) The researchers in this study are variously affiliated with the Headache Department, Iranian Center of Neurological Research, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; the Headache Department, Neurology Ward, Sina University Hospital, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; the Cardiovascular Diseases Research Center, Department of Cardiology, Heshmat Hospital, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran; the Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Technology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; the Neuroscience section of the Department of Applied Clinical Sciences and Biotechnology, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy; the Department of Virology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; and the Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

Celiac.com 11/01/2019 - When I first went on a gluten free diet my migraines disappeared completely. For five wonderful years, I only felt the twinges of a migraine (or maybe just a blessedly "normal" headache) during those few times when I inadvertently consumed gluten. Another thing also happened once I went on a gluten free diet—I got pregnant. But, five years later, I learned that there could be more than one trigger for my migraines and unfortunately, gluten was only one of them. After two cycles of pregnancy and nursing, my hormones eventually normalized into a regular cycle. Now, that amazed me. For the first time in my life my body had learned to have a 4-week textbook cycle. But along with those cycles came the worst migraines I had ever experienced in my life. I realized, sadly, that gluten wasn't my only migraine trigger. I could avoid gluten, but I couldn't avoid my cycle. The irony of it all struck hard– the gluten free diet had made me healthy enough to have a regular cycle—a regular cycle accompanied by horrific migraines. Once again, I went from doctor to doctor, but this time (unlike the years until my celiac diagnosis) I received a fast diagnosis—menstrual migraine. The neurologist who diagnosed me said that they were probably the worst type of migraine out there—very resistant to medication, fierce in strength, and often lasting for days. He wasn't wrong. Four years of migraines later, I may have tried every migraine treatment known to Woman! I have been searching for a cure for mine. Along the way, many of the things I have tried have worked temporarily. They have also worked for others with more lasting results. Hence this article—why not share what I've learned in the hope that others can be helped? Maybe, in this process, someone out there will know of a treatment that I have not yet tried. Before I go on, I do want to say that staying on the gluten free diet is the only option to having a good life at all—even though it allows the cycles that bring the migraines. Before gluten-free, I was sick all the time with migraines. Now I am much healthier, but do get terrible cyclical migraines. For obvious reasons, I choose the latter. This article focuses on migraine prevention. I have in my cabinet some very expensive, strong prescription triptans (Amerge works the best for me) and these are a necessity…simply because I do not want to land in my local emergency room with a migraine that feels like it's killing me. I think of these prescriptions as my rescue doses—for those times when all my preventive measures fail. I have tried many, many preventative treatments—supplements, herbs, Chinese medicine, bioidentical hormone pills, natural hormone creams, allergy treatments, massage, chiropractic, and even acupuncture. Some people swear by massage and acupuncture. I tried it but did not perceive enough of a benefit to continue—the expense alone was giving me a headache. To date, nothing has taken away my migraines, but the following items have definitely helped. And, the good news is that every item listed is affordable and completely doable!!! Wake up at the same time every day. My neurologist has a beautiful explanation as to why this can prevent a migraine, and it surprisingly has nothing to do with low blood sugar! I cannot remember his eloquent explanation. But, many migraine sufferers will find they get a migraine on their day off—the "Saturday Migraine". Usually, it's from sleeping in and messing up the sensitive sleep/wake cycle. My alarm has one setting—for week days as well as weekends. If I'm tired later in the day from getting up early after a late night (which would usually happen on a weekend), I do my best to take a nap, but I rarely sleep in. B complex. Every migraine guide you read always mentions the B vitamins. As I have already posted, and others have commented, celiacs have low absorption of the B vitamins since the most often damaged portion of the small intestine is where most absorption of Bs occurs. This can be overcome by taking large doses of B vitamins. I finally found a B-complex I can tolerate, and that's Solgar B50. They have a stronger dose, Solgar B100, but the B50 works for me. B2 is often singled out for migraine sufferers, and Solgar makes an isolated B2, but this doesn't work well for me. It may for you, and at under $10, it's certainly worth a try—in fact, I wish I could give you some of my almost-full bottle to try! Magnesium. I've taken magnesium all along, but recently, from a commercial on the celiac website in the migraine section, I read about Magnasorb. (My husband joked with me that purchasing a supplement from an online Ad, was akin to finding a date on the internet, but it does look like this has been a good thing!) The premise behind Magnasorb, is that people with migraines are not absorbing enough magnesium through their digestive systems (sounds like a celiac to me), and that their "patented" formula is the first of its kind to deliver it through the skin. Well, $29 and a few days later, my first bottle arrived, and I must say, I've been quite pleased. It does sting my skin a bit, so I apply it to wet skin, but it has definitely stopped a few days from turning into migraine days these past few weeks. I'm hoping that after a few months of use, the overall benefit will increase. It might work just as well to soak in a bath of Epsom salts every night, and it would certainly be cheaper, but you know, that isn't a "patented" way to increase your magnesium levels!!! Lemon Juice. About three years ago I read a little side article in an educators magazine, of all places, that women in their mid-thirties often start experiencing terrible cyclical headaches. The article blamed this on our western acidic diets and went on to say that one of the best ways to counteract an acidic diet is to squeeze lemon in your water. Now, that made about as much sense to me as nothing—since lemons are acidic themselves, but lemons are cheap—much cheaper than the dozens of supplements I have tried over the years. I have since been told that although they are acidic, their net effect in the body is basic (?!!) but illogical logic aside, I started squeezing lemons into my water that same day and for THREE MONTHS I did not have one migraine. Of course, you have to be careful not to overdo it—too much acid cannot be good for a sensitive stomach. Currently, I consume at least one lemon every day—most people go to the store when they run out of milk, I go when I run out of lemons. I honestly think that at this point in my migraine journey, without "lemon-water" I would have a migraine every day. Vitamin D. I actually break open my vitamin D capsule and rub it on my skin every other day. I know the latest articles are pushing 4000 IU's of vitamin D a day and higher, but if I take that much (orally or transdermally) I get welts on my skin. I showed the welts to a health care practitioner once and he immediately said they were from excess vitamin D. I reduced my dose and find that 2000IU every other day seems to be optimum for me. Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) from Hemp Oil. I think, I hope, I pray that this oil is turning into my own personal magic bullet. A few months ago I purchased some Manitoba Harvest Hemp Oil on the advice of a friend and went 5 weeks without a migraine. I had previously tried a great brand of EPO in the capsule form, but honestly couldn't afford to take it in the doses I required. The Hemp Oil, however, brings you the EPO in a nature-made n-3:n-6:n-9 fatty acid ratio. When I ran out of the Manitoba harvest, I couldn't find it locally, so I bought a different brand and my migraines returned. Frustrated, I gave up on it, until just two weeks ago, when someone I had suggested try it raved on and on how it was helping them with PMS. I finally found my original brand, and have been back on it for 10 days. The difference so far has been amazing! I don't even feel like I could get a migraine at all! Obviously, time will tell, but for now I'll continue to be hopeful. I actually take Nordic Arctic Fish Oil, too, so I mix a little of each and swallow the whole nasty mess. I have friends who mix it in juice or incorporate it into their food but I don't want to ruin the taste of the food I'm eating, so I just take it straight and get it over with. A word of caution—EPO has been known to cause uterine contractions, so do not take it if you are pregnant! Finally, and I will not belabor this point since I have mentioned it in another article, I take Solgar's prenatal multivitamin simply because it's the only multi that I can tolerate. And, I only take half a dose. Calcium, magnesium, vitamin D from Solaray. That's my personal regime. I have come up with it through research, reading, painful trial and error, and much wasting of money. Hopefully one of those items can help you in your quest to become migraine free. As always, I would never try more than one new thing at a time. Our bodies are too sensitive and we need time to gauge our own reactions. Good luck, God bless, and I would love to hear of any of your own personal successes against migraines. Maybe, between all of us, we can beat these things and instead of counting the years until menopause, we can enjoy the intervening years free from gluten AND migraines!!!

Celiac.com 11/25/2017 - We have long known that gluten intolerance, both celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, are highly associated with neurological symptoms. Migraines, ataxia (unstable gait), seizures, schizophrenia – the list is long. But a recent research study just published last month sheds some new light on exactly what the mechanism may be. Understanding why these debilitating symptoms occur as a result of a gluten intolerance will, hopefully, go a long way toward increased awareness among the lay public and clinicians alike. It is certainly true that too many millions of Americans suffer the effects of a gluten intolerance unknowingly. They only know that they feel unhealthy but have no idea that gluten is the culprit. The digestive tract is sometimes called the second brain. Some say that is because it is second in importance to the brain. After all, if the food that is consumed doesn't turn into fuel that can effectively feed the 10 trillion cells in the body, those cells will be unable to perform their job and keep the body healthy. In fact, poor digestion is absolutely linked to poor health and increased onset of degenerative disease. This article in Current Pain and Headache Reports looks at another possibility for naming the digestive tract the second brain, and it simply stems from anatomy. The digestive tract actually has a ‘mind of its own'; more correctly, it has a nervous system of its own, called the enteric nervous system. ‘Enteric' simply means having to do with the intestine. This nervous system, according to research, is very similar to the brain housed in the head in that it is bathed in similar chemicals (called neurotransmitters – which, interestingly enough, are mostly produced in the gut!). It sends and receives impulses and records experiences and is influenced by emotions. Some proof of the latter: Have you ever been nervous and had diarrhea? This particular study stated that experiencing ‘adverse events' created a state of hypervigilance (a state of being overly responsive - not a good thing) in the nervous system which was associated with migraines and IBS. Such ‘hypervigilance' was previously only associated with the central nervous system – the one attached to the brain in the head. This group of researchers suggests that the initiation of hypervigilance may very likely lie in the enteric nervous system also. What this means is that if the small intestine is genetically sensitive to gluten and gluten is ingested, it could set off a nervous system response that could create disabling diseases, such as migraines and IBS, but likely others as well. The take-away message is that it is truly critical to diagnose gluten intolerance as soon as possible. Once that hurdle is surmounted it then needs to be followed with a program of nutrition, lifestyle and diet that will ensure healing of the small intestine and a ‘calming' of the hypervigilant nervous system. You may sometimes hear this referred to as healing a leaky gut. Here at HealthNOW we often see this clinically in patients who seem intolerant to many different foods and can't seem to enjoy stable improvement of their symptoms, even after they eliminate gluten from their diet. The reason for this insufficient improvement is that a comprehensive follow-up program is missing – a program that addresses what we call the Secondary Effects of Gluten. This entails evaluating for any other food sensitivities, cross reactive foods, a tendency towards autoimmune disease, the presence of any infectious organisms, healing the leaky gut, balancing the probiotic population, and more. While increasing awareness of the presence of gluten intolerance is absolutely critical, neglecting the secondary effects, as mentioned above, can result in long-term ill health that is truly preventable. Have you experienced such symptoms? Have you removed gluten but are only partially healthier? I'd love to hear from you. To your good health.

Celiac.com 06/27/2012 - If you have celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and also suffer from migraines, you are not alone. In fact, you are part of a growing group of people who suffer migraine headaches along with their celiac disease or inflammatory bowel condition. A recent study found that people who are sensitive to gluten have higher rates of migraine headaches. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, held from April 21 to 28 in New Orleans. A research team led by Alexandra Dimitrova, M.D., from the Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, studied the association in U.S. patients. The team conducted a survey of 502 individuals. The survey group included 188 people with celiac disease, 111 with IBD, 25 with GS, and 178 controls. Each member of the survey group completed a self-administered survey which included details on medical history, medications, alcohol/caffeine/drug use, method/duration of celiac disease/IBD diagnosis, duration of gluten-free diet, and headache type and frequency. The team diagnosed migraine using the ID-Migraine screen, and assessed severity with the Headache Impact Test (HIT-6). The results indicated that 30 percent of people with celiac disease, 56 percent of those with gluten sensitivity, 23 percent of those with IBD, and 14 percent of control patients reported chronic headache. After the team compensated for confounding variables, patients with celiac disease, GS, and IBD showed significantly higher rates of migraines compared with control subjects, with odds ratios of 3.79, 9.53, and 2.66, respectively. As measured with HIT-6, patients with migraines who had celiac disease suffered from more severe headaches compared with the other groups. "Our findings suggest that migraine is a common neurologic manifestation in celiac disease, GS, and IBD," the authors write. "Future interventional studies should screen migraine patients for celiac disease, particularly those with treatment-resistant headaches." Do you know anyone who has celiac disease, gluten-sensitivity, or IBD and also suffers from migraine headaches? Let them know by sharing this study information. Let us know by commenting below. Source: http://www.doctorslounge.com/index.php/news/pb/28608