Cold turkey due to Migraines

[TWilson1120]

Been suffering with chronic debilitating migraines for years. Thought they were sinus related... Had balloon sinuplasty and still had migraines. My sister stopped gluten for migraines 4 years ago... Never did I suspect the same thing for me. 

I had to stop eating dairy...(not just lactose)6 months ago due to my intolerance from childhood back in full force. 

Now migraines...headaches that last days..weeks ...months... Going from a scale of 3-10+++ and not knowing what was causing them. 

I started looking up gluten/wheat allergies... I am already, on a scale from 1-4,  a 4 allergic to all grasses. Why not wheat grass? I've had eczema my entire life as well as asthma... On top of the dairy intolerance... Stopping gluten just made sense. 

So instead of wasting money on test results... I jumped in head first and just went cold turkey. 

2-3 days later... I couldn't understand why I was nodding out at my desk at work. I woke up with a headache (thinking: damn maybe it wasn't the gluten)... Constipation... nausea. I even had nausea pills (didn't help)..cold chills. Then the next day diarrhea... Found out... There's such a thing as gluten withdrawals.!!?!!?! 

But I couldn't just slowly come off gluten... So was cold turkey worth it? Heck yes! They would have to give me morphine for my migraines and that would only take away half of the pain. The withdrawal headache is one I can take Excedrin and it goes away! Stomach issues? I've dealt with when on dairy..the worst is the chronic fatigue... I've slept 22 hours in the last 50! and I am still tired. 

I am hoping this is just some temporary issues to finally gain normalness if not...even better than "normal"! 

I don't believe you have to get tested... With he more I read... Gluten free is a better way of life for all.

 

[TWilson1120]

1 hour ago, TWilson1120 said:

Been suffering with chronic debilitating migraines for years. Thought they were sinus related... Had balloon sinuplasty and still had migraines. My sister stopped gluten for migraines 4 years ago... Never did I suspect the same thing for me. 

I had to stop eating dairy...(not just lactose)6 months ago due to my intolerance from childhood back in full force. 

Now migraines...headaches that last days..weeks ...months... Going from a scale of 3-10+++ and not knowing what was causing them. 

I started looking up gluten/wheat allergies... I am already, on a scale from 1-4,  a 4 allergic to all grasses. Why not wheat grass? I've had eczema my entire life as well as asthma... On top of the dairy intolerance... Stopping gluten just made sense. 

So instead of wasting money on test results... I jumped in head first and just went cold turkey. 

2-3 days later... I couldn't understand why I was nodding out at my desk at work. I woke up with a headache (thinking: damn maybe it wasn't the gluten)... Constipation... nausea. I even had nausea pills (didn't help)..cold chills. Then the next day diarrhea... Found out... There's such a thing as gluten withdrawals.!!?!!?! 

But I couldn't just slowly come off gluten... So was cold turkey worth it? Heck yes! They would have to give me morphine for my migraines and that would only take away half of the pain. The withdrawal headache is one I can take Excedrin and it goes away! Stomach issues? I've dealt with when on dairy..the worst is the chronic fatigue... I've slept 22 hours in the last 50! and I am still tired. 

I am hoping this is just some temporary issues to finally gain normalness if not...even better than "normal"! 

I don't believe you have to get tested... With he more I read... Gluten free is a better way of life for all.

 

Oooh my... After more research finding that cysts are linked. I had 3lbs of non-cancerous fibrotic cysts(tumors) removed from my pelvic region 3 years ago and have had problems with cysts and ruptures my whole adult life! Nothing seemed to help. I couldn't do birth control. Birth control would reverse everything. 3 weeks bleeding 1ish week off. Wasn't worth it. I have a feeling getting past the withdrawals of gluten is worth every aliment I've lived with my whole life! Does anyone else have these same symptoms? Or am I just crazy?

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum! Migraine headaches are definitely linked to untreated celiac disease and or gluten sensitivity, and this category has quite a few articles about this connection:

https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/celiac-disease-amp-related-diseases-and-disorders/migraine-headaches-and-celiac-disease/ 

Since your sister has celiac disease and you have found relief from going Gluten-Free, it is likely that you may be sensitive to gluten as well, but the only way to be sure would have been to get tested before you went Gluten-Free, but given how bad your headaches were it’s probably best to just stay the course.

There is a lot of hidden gluten out there, so please read this article: