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Brain fog after starting gluten free

lavranso4
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lavranso4 Newbie
lavranso4
Posted

Hello, I have not recieved an official diagnosis yet but the woman at the gastroscopy clinic looked at a picture of something and said I have it after I tested positive on a blood test. But I have not recieved tissue results yet.

 

I have started eating gluten free for 1 and half weeks now however after I started I have noticed my mind is very empty and have symptomps of brain fog. + I have big problems getting up in the morning.

I eat healthy, and get good sleep but I have Vitamin-D deficiency but I have taken supplements for a while now.

So my question is has anyone’s body changed just after starting a gluten free diet in a negative way some weeks after starting gluten free diet? Is it some sort of transition period where you notice some stuff happening to your body?

 

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cristiana Veteran
cristiana
Posted
(edited)

Hello lavranso4 and welcome!

I wonder, before going any further, can you clarify if you have had an endoscopy to confirm your diagnosis, or has it been based on blood results?  If you have the blood results it would be good to know what they were.

In answer to your question:

... has anyone’s body changed just after starting a gluten free diet in a negative way some weeks after starting gluten free diet? Is it some sort of transition period where you notice some stuff happening to your body?

I have to say that for some time after I gave up gluten I did have all sorts of mysterious symptoms such as sacrioliac pain and burning pain down one side of my body.   However, although my coeliac blood tests (TTG) kept showing a downward trend, it actually took nine years  for them to come down to normal levels, probably a record on this board for someone who thought they were being very strict with their diet!  In that time I suspect I was being cross contaminated by eating out and sharing a kitchen with gluten eaters, and I know for a fact at one point by mistake I was actually taking a supplement which had gluten in it.  

But I now feel I've got the kitchen as safe as it can be, have mastered the diet and mostly avoid eating out, my blood is normal, and I am happy to say that those pains have gone, by and large.

In any case, it can take some time to heal so it is very early days yet for you.   Even if you are being scrupulous about avoiding gluten, your body needs time to readjust.  As you try to navigate these early days, I would recommend you read this excellent resource put together by the founder of this forum, @Scott Adams to help you on your gluten free journey:

https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/the-gluten-free-diet-101-a-beginners-guide-to-going-gluten-free-r1640/

Lastly, re: brain fog.  I had it before diagnosis and still suffer from it to some degree.  It makes things quite difficult in my line of work where I have to speak in public or produce written work.  Sometimes I can trace it back to a glutening experience.  Other times hormones (perimenopause).  Deficiencies (please do try to find out how your B12 and iron levels are).  Or ... dare I say it, I've noticed it  has been a bothersome symptom of long COVID among my friends and family.  One reason I'm trying to avoid getting COVID is I don't want even more brain fog! 🙂 

(To help with brain fog, here's a tip: I do notice my brain seems to work much better after exercise and fresh air and a B12 sublingual tablet!)

One of the tricky things about being a coeliac is trying to figure out what is caused by gluten, and what is not.   

Do come back to us if we can help further.

Cristiana

 

Edited by cristiana
trents Grand Master
trents
Posted
(edited)
6 hours ago, lavranso4 said:

Hello, I have not recieved an official diagnosis yet but the woman at the gastroscopy clinic looked at a picture of something and said I have it after I tested positive on a blood test. But I have not recieved tissue results yet.

 

I have started eating gluten free for 1 and half weeks now however after I started I have noticed my mind is very empty and have symptomps of brain fog. + I have big problems getting up in the morning.

I eat healthy, and get good sleep but I have Vitamin-D deficiency but I have taken supplements for a while now.

So my question is has anyone’s body changed just after starting a gluten free diet in a negative way some weeks after starting gluten free diet? Is it some sort of transition period where you notice some stuff happening to your body?

 

You may be going through gluten witdrawl. Gluten has an addicting effect similar to opiates. https://mkfa.info/blog/what-are-gluten-withdrawal-symptoms-and-what-causes-them

Edited by trents
knitty kitty Grand Master
knitty kitty
Posted

When we remove gluten containing products from our diet, we also remove the vitamins and minerals the gluten containing products were enriched with.  Gluten containing products are required by law to be enriched with vitamins and minerals lost in processing.  Gluten free facsimile foods are not required to be enriched with vitamins and minerals.

Supplementing with the eight B vitamins are beneficial while your intestines are healing.  The area of the small intestine damaged by Celiac disease is the area where the B vitamins are normally absorbed.  So supplementing with the B Complex vitamins ensures you are getting enough for daily function plus the extra needed to repair and heal.  The B vitamins are water soluble and nontoxic.

Thiamine Vitamin B 1 in the form of Benfotiamine is proven to help heal the digestive tract.

Thiamine is also beneficial in fighting Covid itself and in reversing long haul Covid symptoms.  

Thiamine has antiviral properties.  The symptoms of long haulers have been found to be due to mitochondrial dysfunction which high dose Thiamine corrects.

Thiamine can alleviate brain fog.  Your brain thinking at a desk job uses as much Thiamine as your muscles if you were running a marathon.  Thiamine in the form in Thiamax can cross the blood brain barrier by itself an improve brain function.  

Correction of Folate deficiency can help with menopause symptoms.  Folate can become deficient if just B12 is taken.  The B vitamins all work together.  Taking just one B vitamin can cause an imbalance in the other B vitamins.  Taking just B12 can cause all the folate to be used up resulting in a folate deficiency.  Supplementing all eight B vitamins together is more beneficial because the B vitamins all work together.  B12 works with folate.  Folate needs riboflavin and pyridoxine.  And all need energy provided by thiamine and niacin and magnesium.  

Hope this helps.

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      Thanks for sharing, Karen. Certainly a needed reminder what we already knew (and I've posted many times on this forum) but sometimes forget, namely, autoimmune disorders tend to cluster. Where one is found, you can look for others to show up eventually. The thing that is unusual in your son's case is the onset of several of them at such a young age. My sister in law, who is in her early 60's has Crohn's and struggles with constipation so I don't think that is unusual with Crohn's. If nothing else, it's the outcome of not eating much because of the pain. Now that you know what is going on with your son and the Crohn's, we hope he is beginning to improve.
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