Gluten And Vertigo

[Rick1254]

Has anyone here suffered from vertigo attacks triggered by gluten? I have had to go gluten free because gluten caused vertigo attacks.

thanks,

Rick

[tarnalberry]

If you're just talking about dizziness... that's the first symptom I have if I've had something with gluten. A dizzy, disorientation in the head that makes things feel like they're moving (usually rotationally) when they're not. For me, it only lasts 15-30 minutes, and happens 15-30 minutes after I first ingest the offending substance, but it sure ain't fun. (I describe it to friends as something like the feeling of being drunk, without it being funny in any way whatsoever.)

[plantime]

Dizziness after eating gluten? YES!!! I think it might be because it wrecks havoc on my mucous membranes.

[Lily]

Yes, I get vertigo when poisoned, and get the shakes and my heart races like crazy.

Lily

[Guest dlf1021]

Rick,

Yes, vertigo is one of the first things i experience after ingesting gluten. usually, it's accompanied by an extreme sudden sleepiness (i'm currently on a gluten diet so that i can have a biopsy this friday and i actually fell asleep in the middle of a physics lecture the other day--no word yet whether it was the raisin bread i'd just eaten or the physics ) i also experience chills, and my joints begin to ache.

[Rick1254]

....Thanks for the replies. I've been gluten-free for about 2 years now. When I would get the vertigo attacks, would be if I ate something gluten on an empty stomach. Within 15 minutes everything would start spinning around me, I couldn't walk, I would sweat gallons, throw up, and people who hadn't seen me go through this before, would think I was dieing. This would go on for 4 to 6 hours.

....When I went gluten free, the vertigo attacks from Gluten (I would still get the occassional vertigo attack from Hypoglycemia) of course stopped but another thing of interest also happened. I was also suffering from constant dizziness, constant fatigue, and what we call at the meniere's board as "brain fog" which is a distant, far away feeling where you feel "detached" from the real world. Within three days of eliminating gluten all these symptoms went away also. I later was tested for a wheat allergy but thast came back negative but later I learned that you need to have ingested gluten for it to show up in an allergy test. I have also learned since then, as someone alluded to, that not only do you need to eat gluten but also have a biopsy done to prove that an allergy or intolerance is present.

....Well, I'll just have to be undiagnosed because I'm not eating gluten again and putting myself through all that. After Identifying the gluten trigger, it wasn't too long before I found the Hypoglycemic trigger. Again I haven't been officially diagnosed with that either, but with the gluten-free and HG diet, I have now gone 15 months without a vertigo attack and when I was at my worst, I was having them 2 times a week.

....The problem with th hypoglycemic diet is that I have put on weight and can't get it off without bringing on the vertigo and dizziness again. so I'll continue to search for answers. One of the reasons that I posted here is that I thought all of this was caused by Meniere's disease since vertigo attacks are a symptom of Meniere's. But I got to thinking that there's no reason to think that just becasue I developed Meniere's that I couldn't develope another chronic condition. I've even found that some of the asthma medications help with my dizziness caused by the Meniere's. So there seems to be a common thread between all the chronic conditions even though I don't know what it is but I would be willing to bet that gluten allergies or intolerances could be a big underlying cause for asthma, CFS, Fibro, Meniere's, and who knows what else.

...I don't know why it took so long to think of coming over here to see if anybody with Celiac disease was having vertigo attacks but if you all don't mind, I will hang around and maybe learn something.

Thanks again,

Rick

[tarnalberry]

If you watch your total calorie count, and get exercise, a diet for hypoglycemia should still allow you to lose weight....

[seeking-wholeness]

I used to get infrequent vertigo attacks that I wasn't able to link to any trigger, but I haven't had one since I went gluten-free, so I think gluten must have been it. (Quite possibly an empty stomach had a lot to do with it, too; my eating habits used to be abysmal!) For me, it felt like my head was hovering a few inches above my neck and my "inertial dampers" were broken.

The scariest vertigo attack I ever had came when I was nine months pregnant (and NOT gluten-free; this was before I found out about celiac disease), about a day or two before my due date. My husband and I were visiting friends, and we were all sitting around the table playing a card game when I suddenly fell over sideways into my husband's lap! I tried to sit up again, but I couldn't, so I decided to go over and lie down on the couch. Well, the shortest path between the two points was a straight line, but my attempt to walk it took me in a big clockwise circle. I lay down and dozed for a while and felt a bit better when I woke up, but--and this was the scariest part for me--after I woke up, I COULD NOT REMEMBER the past nine months of my pregnancy! It wasn't total amnesia; I wasn't surprised to look down and see my pregnant belly, for instance. But I no longer felt bonded with the baby AT ALL--I felt like in just a couple of days I would be permanently put in charge of some stranger's new baby that I didn't want and hadn't asked for! Yikes! Well, I decided that I would give myself time to recover before I panicked totally, but a couple of days later I still didn't feel attached to the baby. I called a very close friend to ask what on earth I could do about this crazy situation, and she suggested that I draw a picture of it. I thought this might be helpful, especially since I DON'T consider myself an artist, and I found myself drawing a self-portrait in profile. Then I drew the baby inside my belly, making it as realistic as possible. I put a lot of effort into the picture, and I'm glad I did, because I was probably in early labor even as I drew it! It helped a lot, and this story has a happy ending anyway: at 3:57 the next morning, after ONE HOUR and fifteen minutes of noticeable labor, my son arrived by surprise home delivery (right into his father's hands)! Talk about a bonding experience! It was wonderful, and if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't change a thing!

I'm sorry if my ramblings here were a bit irrelevant, but it helps to tell my story. It really was frightening while it was happening!

[plantime]

Sarah, I think you lived every mother's nightmare about not loving her baby! I am soooo glad you were able to resolve the problem! Daddy will certainly never forget being the very first to hold his son!

Lily, I was shocked to see you refer to consuming gluten as a poisoning. It did make me stop and realize that for our bodies, that is exactly what it is! Thank you for putting it all in perspective!

[Lintner]

Hi, the vertigo is chronic for me, but the symptoms decrease with staying away from the gluetin. It is probably the most debilitating of all of my symptoms. Kim

[sagapocristo]

I was recently diagnosed w/celiac disease, but have had autoimmune hearing loss for years. It started w/severe vertigo, then ringing in the ears, then has progressed to hearing loss in both ears (one ear is worse than the other).

Do you have hearing loss or tinnitus (ringing) w/the vertigo? I'm hoping the glutenfree diet will help my ear problems.

[Rick1254]

Yes, I have tinnitus and hearing loss in my left ear only. How did you miss getting diagnosed with Meniere's? Along with going gluten-free I've found several things to eliminate my vertigo attacks but nothing has effected my tinnitus or hearing loss. It seems that the hearing in my left ear isn't as distorted as before but it's still bad. But every little bit helps.

Rick

[DLayman]

I have also had bouts of vertigo. I went through a whole slew of tests for menieres... hehe I went throught the tests when I was pregnant.. I have not had any attacks lately, but I sure can relate to Sarah!! I have been several times crawling around on the floor because of an attack and I was pregnant and wanting to fall on the steps.

Scary! Right now I am on a regular diet, right along with my little guy. I am back to having all kinds of lovely gas but no vertigo.. I think it does get worse with extra fluid retention in prgnanacy

Denise

[andreazimagination]

I was so happy to finally find people talking about vertigo and gluten. I have Meniere's disease, no two ways about it. I have the constant ringing, onset in my early thirties, dizzy spells, hearing loss in my right ear, blah, blah, blah... It was crippling, and when I was attempting to make myself healthy, no salt, no caffeine and only WHOLE GRAINS (wheat) I was getting worse and worse - killing myself.

I was probably always gluten intolerant, suffering from eczema and asthma. Apparently, once you hit a certain age, your immune system just can;t fight it any more, in my case the gluten poisoning and it started to react.

I tried everything for my Meniere's syndrome. Nothing worked and when the doctor suggested surgery, I lost it.

I was seeing a shrink because I started to believe it was stress related panic attacks. One major symptom of gluten poisoning is definitely anxiety. Anyhow, it was she who suggested to go gluten free and I WAS CURED, - like the next day...

I was good for 7 months and I suppose I had a few relapses because my now clean body was so sensitive that when I would get accidentally glutened by chocolate, malt sweeteners, pre-packaged ground pepper, whatever, I would react. Now it barely happens. Sometimes maybe light headed and I know it's happened.

Amazing, when I told my ENT doctor, he was basically uninterested! I couldn't believe he wouldn't want to share with his other patients.

I've tried to spread the word, but people are clearly not as sick and desperate as I was.

[Suziewoo]

Dear Rick

That is an interesting question. Nine weeks ago I started with upper abdominal pains and flatuence but also generally feeling awful, ill, tired, weak and watery - looking back the feeling of general unwellness predates the abdominal problems. BUT, since before Christmas I have been taking a nasal spray for severe vertigo. Anyway my GP referred me to the hospital where I've had blood tests and am awaiting a scan, this morning had an endoscopy (not as awful as you read on google!), The upshot is I'm told they are testing for celiac disease - I was amazed to see on the internet that vertigo can be a problem with gluten intolerance. So you may be right. All the Best,

Sue

[rockectman]

Has anyone here suffered from vertigo attacks triggered by gluten? I have had to go gluten free because gluten caused vertigo attacks.

thanks,

Rick

I have Meniere's and Celiac, both auto-immune diseases. I am convinced that consuming gluten causes my meniere's to be worse as my vertigo is more of a balance, sea-sickness type of vertigo. Also my ears hurt really bad after a dose

of gluten and nausea, bathroom trips, cramps, headaches, brain fog, irritability, depression all get worse.

Meniere's disease is when the sac's in the inner ear is attacked by your own anti-bodies and become swollen,

fluid leaks out and in my case pain. You also can feel like a trickle of fluid running down your ear canal sometimes.

Very strange feeling. Anyway, verigo has many different definitions to people. I hope yours gets better, mine never

completely goes away, just some days are better than others.

[tessamum]

Wow! Now listen to this: I have alopecia areata, asthma, meniere's disease....now possibly celiac disease...good grief i say. I have been gluten free 3-4 days now and feel heaps better. I am now just waiting it out to see if any of my above conditions will imprrove while off gluten. One of my issues were heartburn, thats getting lots better now, i still get this burp 1-2 hours after a meal, but nowhere near as burning as it has been before gluten was removed from my diet. I don't wanna go and get tested for Celiac as it sounds awful. So I will just eliminate gluten and see how i go. Did I mention I also have anxiety and depression? I am so over feeling so foggy and tired all the time...time to find a cure I say.

[Molly Stone]

Has anyone here suffered from vertigo attacks triggered by gluten? I have had to go gluten free because gluten caused vertigo attacks.

thanks,

Rick

Hi There, I have been having Vertigo since the end of December. At that time I thought it was from my sinius's But now I have had the Blood test for Celiac and it came back abnormal. I will now need to do the bio in order to see if it is confirmed. I am 60f, my mother had Celiac. I have never had any symptoms until this Vertigo started. I had a bought of Vertigo 16 years ago, but it went away and never came back until now.I have always been on a moderate gulten free diet, the only thing that I have done different is eat oats more often. 20 years ago when I lived in Europe I ate wheat all the time. So yes it could be that Gulten triggered my attacks. But I also have bad sinius problems, which could be from the Gluten.I am glad to read that other people have had this problem. But Sorry at the same time. I wish that everyone on this blog feels better.

[UnhappyCoeliac]

I was coeliac first and now I have meniere's. I have not been gluten free for any substantial amount of time and am falsely hoping my hearing loss and vertigo will go when I get gluten-free

[tom]

"Falsely" hoping? I was having daily multiple vertigo episodes before finally going 100% gluten-free and it's never happened again.

You're not gluten-free yet? You may be amazed at how many things get better off gluten.

Also I swear both my sight & hearing got better after 100% gluten-free.

[lostnaphotograph]

If you're just talking about dizziness... that's the first symptom I have if I've had something with gluten. A dizzy, disorientation in the head that makes things feel like they're moving (usually rotationally) when they're not. For me, it only lasts 15-30 minutes, and happens 15-30 minutes after I first ingest the offending substance, but it sure ain't fun. (I describe it to friends as something like the feeling of being drunk, without it being funny in any way whatsoever.)

I had this problem pretty much throughout all of my childhood. I was diagnosed with Celaics at age 15 (I'm now 21) and the dizziness has since then stopped, but I used to get that all the time and it never stopped until I was diagnosed. It was awful!!

[MissyShelle]

I get dizzy too, really bad. I'm glad to find out if may be connected to Gluten since the doctor's had no idea why I had it. I'm waiting on blood tests. Once I'm done with testing, I'm looking forward to going gluten free to see if it helps with all of my symptoms. 

[1desperateladysaved]

I found a link about vertigo. www.livingwithout.com issues/4/12ataxia2366-1.html?pg2 I couldn't figure out how to get there with the click on information, but I searched the sight for ataxia and found the article.

D

[Anne]

I was diagnosed celiac in 2000 by a digestive disease specialist with an endomesial antibody

test of mild positive. I was told to 'get off wheat' and 'here's the support group information.'

I just saw a Doc Martin episode on the 12th in which a lady was diagnosed with Meniere's.

I was researching today, as I had never linked the symptoms of hearing loss, ear fullness feeling,

falls, and tinitus with possible auto-immune tissue damage because of celiacs disease. I have had

bouts of nausea about 3 years ago. I have a script for an anti-nausea pill that works to stop that.

I was having recurring 'non-headache migraines.' I accidentally found if I took a baby aspirin,

it went away in about 15 minutes. Makes no sense, I know. I was trying to loose weight and

followed our support leader's advice about keeping a food diary. Then found an app on a local

hospital site for a food diary with interactive additions of food portions that include label information.

I had a surprise. I was amazed that I was eating too much salty food...on the day that I had a

non-headache migraine. Since I have watched that, I have not had another one. (I would get

spots in front of my eyes that would get larger / it would go away if I 'had a lie-down.' ) These,

apparently from the Meniere's research today, are all related to Meniere's. And in 2012 was

diagnosed with 40% hearing loss. No doctor or emergency ward has connected these dots.

Should I go first to the audiologist? Tell him all the things I never had the time to tell him about,

thinking they had nothing to do with the hearing loss and tinitus? I've eaten gluten-free since 2000

and the last few years have chosen gluten-free bath and lotion products as well. I discovered I have

a high sensitivity to the 'preservatives' that turned out to usually be Thermesol, or Mercury. Caused

a crusty rash all over my face. That is better now. From eye drops prescribed by my specialist eye doctor for 'dry-eyes.'  After almost a year, my dermatologist's PA told me, and it has cleared up.

[cristiana]

Hi Anne

I think it would be a very good idea to see your audiologist. I live in the UK and will always be grateful for the National Health Service but increasingly I feel doctors are under so much pressure we can help them a lot by connecting these dots for them - although some might not welcome it, others do.   You could well be onto something as isn't monitoring salt intake a key part of dealing with Menieres?

I get the odd scintallating scotoma (maybe twice a year) but when I was still eating gluten I had aura migraines a lot.   I have tinnitus in my right ear but it comes and goes.   I had an MRI and they couldn't see any cause for it.  I get very mild tingling down one cheek which again, comes and goes.   I think there may be an autoimmune connection but if I sit badly, or drive for long journeys, it seems to set both off so perhaps it is to do with an old whiplash condition.   I also think gluten is in the mix, somewhere...