My Psychologist Is Interested In Celiac Connection

[eLaurie]

From what you've written and how your intestinal issues are improving, I'd say there's a strong chance the removal of gluten will greatly improve your life! And yes, the psych improvements do take a while. my mental health gets better and better all the time, and without gluten clouding my brain, I've had the strength to make some significant changes, very much for the better. I am down to a low dose of Effexor (75 mg.) about every third or fourth day, and 100 mg. of Seroquel (used to be 300 a couple of years ago). I am truly astonished and thank God every day.

the elimination of gluten certainly isn't easy at first, but worth every minute of inconvenience (and now it's second nature) to alleviate our issues. Laurie, I'd stay on the meds a while longer, even a year or two if necessary. And if you need a maintenance dose forever, don't worry - - you want to be the best YOU you can be, and it that means some medicaton, then so be it.

Blessings and good health -

Thanks again for pointing me in the direction of this thread and for your encouragement. At this point, I'm so hopeful of a good outcome that the inconvenience of the diet isn't bothering me.

As far as getting off meds ...I haven't even begun to think that far ahead other than to consider making an appointment with a local gluten intolerant internist I recently learned of who can hopefully point me in the direction of a sympathetic pdoc when/if gluten-free starts making a difference.

[Thx4noticingMe]

I have been diagnosed with several different mental disorders. The big D is one of them, but the diagnoses changed from post-partum to bi-polar to generalized.....well, you get the picture. I also suffered from MAJOR PANIC ATTACKS. I could have two a day with ten to fifteen small anxiety attacks. After finding the right doctor and the right meds, I joined the "real world" again.

However, since my diagnoses last January and my gluten free life style, my symptoms have decreased substanially. I have reduced many of my meds and have worked with my doctor very closely. My doctor believes that due to high pain level I always had, this confused my brain signals. That "fight or flight" mechanism we all have was almost constantly turned on because my body was in such pain and was looking for a way to get away from the pain.

Second, due to the healing of my intestinal track, my meds are absorbing more so decreasing them has been very important. She gave me the symptoms of what too much meds would feel like and we have decreased them slowly.

Interesting point is...if I do get gluten somewhere, I notice an extreme difference in my anxiety levels. I am looking forward to a time when I will not need any meds. I don't know if it is realistic, but I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[rinne]

For the first time the other night I saw a real shift from gluten madness to gluten free sanity. It was a simple thing, my husband left his cell phone in our bedroom and fell asleep in the porch, about 4:00 a.m. it started beeping and woke me up. I got up and started puttering around on the computer and it continued to beep every ten minutes or so until I moved it out of hearing distance. It wasn't a big deal. Prior to this, if he had done this and I had been woken up it would not have been unusual for me to take it to him, all the while losing my tiny little mind and working myself into a state of rage that I had been disturbed while sleeping. The difference was stark. I feel badly for my sweetie and all the years he has had to deal with me being ill and our not knowing I was.

I've only been gluten free for two months and have been accidentally glutened since so I take this as a good sign.

[DingoGirl]

However, since my diagnoses last January and my gluten free life style, my symptoms have decreased substanially. I have reduced many of my meds and have worked with my doctor very closely. My doctor believes that due to high pain level I always had, this confused my brain signals. That "fight or flight" mechanism we all have was almost constantly turned on because my body was in such pain and was looking for a way to get away from the pain.

Second, due to the healing of my intestinal track, my meds are absorbing more so decreasing them has been very important. She gave me the symptoms of what too much meds would feel like and we have decreased them slowly.

Hi thx - - interesting point about the "fight or flight" issue.....I've been despressed since about age 7 or 8 - seriously. And then wild mania started in my early twenties....I think this is so exhausting on the body. Your doctor sounds brilliant - - are you looking into any issues of adrenal fatigue? Has he mentioned this? I brought it up to my doctor and he sort of eschewed it...however, I was tested for cortisol (or cortisone?) levels in my twenties and something was seriously amiss, can't remember now. I'm still looking into it.

And yes, it is true that we absorb so much better now...my meds continue to decrease significantly. My diet is wildly improved, and I think that has something to do with it also (hardly any processed foods any more - all whole, healthy, fresh).

Glad you're feeling better!

[ravenwoodglass]

As far as lack of menstruation - that can be due to severe malnutrition, a result of untreated Celiac. And depression, of course - same thing. It's all connected. The ffect of long-standing malnutrition on the brain is pretty amazing and definitely not good....

This is off topic but I just want to let people know what I have learned during my research. The lack of menstration can be due to malnutrition but in celiacs amenorrhea and sterility of unknown origin along with frequent miscarriges are common. They no longer believe this is due strictly to malabsoption but believe there are other mechanisms in place. It may be part of the autoimmune action on the glandular system or could have roots in the chronic low grade inflammation that many of us have, they really don't know yet. There are some Ob-Gyn's that are clueless about this and never think to test for celiac. In my own case it seems I simply needed another celiac to 'mate' with. It may be coincidental but after years of trying unsuccessfully for a child with my first husband I gave up. It is now appearent that both fathers of my children were celiac. I concieved almost immediately with both.

It also appears that the depression that is associated with celiac usually has nothing to do with malnourishment. It often appears even when GI systems are unaffected. It is a result of the neurotoxic reaction from the gluten.

[grrtch]

I feel badly for my sweetie and all the years he has had to deal with me being ill and our not knowing I was.

Same goes for me and husband... I'd put exclamation points all over that out of joy that I'm not the only ornery wife, but it's really sad how much damage I did to our marriage. Can't believe he stuck it out with me! And to think I almost left him! Really, I am all googly in love all over again now that I have a clear head. I have been gluten free for three whole months, and we get along soooo much better! I used to flip out over similarly small stuff, which taught him to walk on eggshells around me. Oh, how I hated that! Ironicly, I used to yell at him about it, too. See how dopey I was? I have so many regrets over making him afraid of me, but at least now we know that I was sick. Really, hard to really articulate how much better things are today! We laugh a lot more, go on dates, just enjoy each other's company so much more! Back when I was crazy, I probably should have gone on meds for all of my rage and depression, but I didn't. Funny, just today, when I was expelling a touch of accidental gluten, I caught myself sniping at him like how I used to. It's like the evil wheat, rye, barley and oats bring out a Ms. Hyde in me! Even on the toilet, I couldn't stifle my criticism long enough to do my business! Geez, whatta psycho! At least now I can begin to spot that irrational thinking during a gluten spell.

I can't help thinking how much this whole scenario sounds like some Philip K. Dick story or a Twilight Zone, where impetuous thinking leads to a geneticly engineered food supply (ie: American wheat with higher than natural gluten content) that breeds a swath of psychosis across the population. Sounds really scary, huh? Well, we're all living it!

Celiac and gluten intolerance is becoming so much more common, it seems. When I was a kid, I never heard of this issue. Could a proliferation of undiagnosed wheat intolerant people be the root for why the modern population is generally more cranky? I catch myself looking at people eating pizza, slurping beer, quaffing breads, crackers, etc, and I think to myself how sad that they don't know that they are poisoning themselves. Kind of smug of me, but as hard as it is to keep gluten free, I am so freakin grateful that I have unlocked the secret to how to control my temper and depressions.

[AshleyE]

I've been gluten free for a little over a month now and I am so much happier than I have ever been. I have a life-long history of depression (I'm 23 now) and I have always been moody. I wasn't suicidal, but I was never really happy. I felt numb to everything. Sometimes I wondered if I would even cry at my parents' passing. I would get in funks where I would be mad at the world, and nothing would go right, but I really had no reason to feel so unhappy. I knew that I had everything I wanted in life, but still everything was wrong. Since going gluten-free my moods are incredibly even. I am pretty much constantly happy, and when I do get grumpy, it doesn't last very long. I actually FEEL emotions now. I can cry and laugh ecstatically and just be happy. My husband, who I've known for nine years, says he has never seen me happier.

On a less emotion-related note, I have also had my brain fog clear up. Prior to even hearing about celiac disease I thought that I was just losing my memory and my ability to concentrate. Most of my conversations consisted of "...now what was I going to say? Oh well, nevermind." It made me very anxious in social situations. I was always afraid to talk to people because I could never find the right words, even though I love the English language and have a fairly extensive vocabulary. It was like there was a block in my brain. I knew the words were there, but I couldn't get to them. Now that I am gluten-free I have an unbelievable sense of clarity. It's truly amazing. It's a symptom that I didn't even know was a symptom. I can talk to people and not have to worry about mangling my words.

[DingoGirl]

This is off topic but I just want to let people know what I have learned during my research. The lack of menstration can be due to malnutrition but in celiacs amenorrhea and sterility of unknown origin along with frequent miscarriges are common. They no longer believe this is due strictly to malabsoption but believe there are other mechanisms in place. It may be part of the autoimmune action on the glandular system or could have roots in the chronic low grade inflammation that many of us have, they really don't know yet. There are some Ob-Gyn's that are clueless about this and never think to test for celiac. In my own case it seems I simply needed another celiac to 'mate' with. It may be coincidental but after years of trying unsuccessfully for a child with my first husband I gave up. It is now appearent that both fathers of my children were celiac. I concieved almost immediately with both.

It also appears that the depression that is associated with celiac usually has nothing to do with malnourishment. It often appears even when GI systems are unaffected. It is a result of the neurotoxic reaction from the gluten.

My periods went from a lovely, three-day hardly there thing, to a very heavy seven-day event, and now they're in the middle. I am also, however, 44, so things could be changing anyway....

I am most interested in your last sentence. I thought that my increasing depression was due to increasing malnutrition, but, I've been staggeringly depressed in years past when iron levels, etc., tested normally. Maybe just the increasing exhaustion was due to the severe malnutrition.....so it's the neurotoxic reaction? Am going to research this more....do you have any articles or publications you can refer us to? Thanks!

[sillyactsue]

HI,

I am so sorry you´ve gone through so much. The most awful thing for you must be the not really knowing and the inability to trust whether he is OK or not but you have to do what you think is best for the way things are now. My heart really goes out to you.

There´s nothing I can say that will make you feel any better at the moment but when I was going through a particularly bad time with my ex husband my mother told me to hang in there that time was a good healer. I won´t tell you it didn´t take a long time - I lived alone and went through university with 2 children under 5, didn´t date for 6 years but it passed and now we´re fine.

Hope that wasn´t too much info for you but I just remember feeling the way I imagine you´re feeling right now. Cry as much as you need and let all the anger out and don´t forget to sort out your own health issues too - it´s easy to neglect ourselves when there´s lots going on in our life.

Take care.

thanks

[sillyactsue]

My periods went from a lovely, three-day hardly there thing, to a very heavy seven-day event, and now they're in the middle. I am also, however, 44, so things could be changing anyway....

I am most interested in your last sentence. I thought that my increasing depression was due to increasing malnutrition, but, I've been staggeringly depressed in years past when iron levels, etc., tested normally. Maybe just the increasing exhaustion was due to the severe malnutrition.....so it's the neurotoxic reaction? Am going to research this more....do you have any articles or publications you can refer us to? Thanks!

Susan,

I have been doing a lot of research, only a fraction of which I understand but here is something interesting that I found. The proteins gluten and casein are shaped like opiates. That means they have the capacity to bind to the opiate receptors in your brain.

That paragragh is a quote from something I printed out. efore i add this reply I will try to find the web site where I found it by googling, 'casein sensitivity' , since I didn'yt think to print that out to.

Okay, If you google 'casein sensitivity' on the first page of sites to choose from click on the one that says Dudley Coop. It goes into more detail. Not much more detail but for me it helped me "see" what was happening in my brain. For me seeing it is a big part of getting it. ramble ramble ramble. any way there is my two cents

[ravenwoodglass]

I am most interested in your last sentence. I thought that my increasing depression was due to increasing malnutrition, but, I've been staggeringly depressed in years past when iron levels, etc., tested normally. Maybe just the increasing exhaustion was due to the severe malnutrition.....so it's the neurotoxic reaction? Am going to research this more....do you have any articles or publications you can refer us to? Thanks!

If you go into pubmed.gov or do an internet search with Google or another search engine you will see many articles. Many do go with the belief that the depression is malnutritive in nature, (in the US in particular) but many articles especially ones from Europe and Germany will speak on the neurotoxic effects. Many of the personal stories on this site reinforce the neurotoxic effects including not only depression and anxiety as well as the ataxic and epileptic effects of gluten that can be seen years before the GI issues become evident. In the US, which is a pharmacountry, the research is still in it's infancy. My biggest fear at this point with US research is their concentration of eliminating the gluten intake from the gut but that ignores the fact that gluten crosses the mucosal barriers. Eliminating the GI symptoms will do nothing to address the non-GI related problems becasue many of these present from the moment the gluten is absorbed yy the mucous membranes in the mouth. This process is well accepted in Europe and in fact in some countries they use a gluten suppository and biopsy of the rectum rather than endoscopic biopsy because there is less trauma to the person being tested and less of a chance of a false negative. I will look back into my files and see if I can find some of the specific research that aided me in formulating this conclusion.

[rinne]

Ravenwoodglass, you are a treasure.

I find what you have to say about the focus of treatment very interesting, also very frightening to think that many celiacs would like turn to their doctors for medication if it was available.

[DingoGirl]

Ravenwoodglass, you are a treasure.

I find what you have to say about the focus of treatment very interesting, also very frightening to think that many celiacs would like turn to their doctors for medication if it was available.

Yes, she is a treasure! This is good info....when you go to most Celiac sites, the main symptoms discussed are intestinal, and I have had trouble finding satisfying research on neuropsych symptoms, so I stopped looking and went with the theory that it was malnutrition that caused depression and bipolar issues....I am really going to be researching now, thanks to you gus and this thread!

It is really, really sad that more doctors don't realize the effects of gluten....I told my new shrink the other day that the greatest change in my life in moods has been due to the removal of gluten, he's about 70, and he had no idea and had never heard of this.....they just throw pills at us.

I am really grateful for this board and how much I continue to learn. Thanks and hugs to everybody.

[ravenwoodglass]

Yes, she is a treasure! This is good info....when you go to most Celiac sites, the main symptoms discussed are intestinal, and I have had trouble finding satisfying research on neuropsych symptoms, so I stopped looking and went with the theory that it was malnutrition that caused depression and bipolar issues....I am really going to be researching now, thanks to you gus and this thread!

It is really, really sad that more doctors don't realize the effects of gluten....I told my new shrink the other day that the greatest change in my life in moods has been due to the removal of gluten, he's about 70, and he had no idea and had never heard of this.....they just throw pills at us.

I am really grateful for this board and how much I continue to learn. Thanks and hugs to everybody.

Thanks guys, it's odd to me sometimes that I had to get so very, very ill in order feel like I had any worth in this world. I spent my whole childhood trying to tell doctors that food was effecting my balance and made me weak but the only thing they tested for was diabetes. My childhood was a horror story with a violent alcoholic father, (hereditary male pattern violent alcoholism) who was most likely celiac and a mother who definately was. The doctors blamed my depression and anxiety and later PSTD on this and the loss of my mother and twin, both from undiagnosed celiac complications. I started research into the brain and the hereditary forms of alcoholism in my 20's to better understand and forgive my Dad. That followed up with study in the effects of different drugs and neurotoxins and eventually I was trying to figure out what was wrong with me since my shrink after 2 years of very expensive therapy said 'There really is nothing wrong that I can fix, it has got to be metabolic'. It would be another 10 years before I was diagnosed. If only he or any of the other doctors I had ever seen had even thought that celiac was a problem things would have been quite different. And at 5'2" and under 100 lbs I question strongly why it was never tested for. But then I would not have the wonderful people I have met here. And I also would not have been as vocal about celiac, I will talk about it to anyone, anywhere and it has helped get a few people diagnosed.

Ravenwoodglass, you are a treasure.

I find what you have to say about the focus of treatment very interesting, also very frightening to think that many celiacs would like turn to their doctors for medication if it was available.

This is very scarey to me also. We already have mental hospitals and prisons full of undiagnosed celiacs. A person in a celiac rage can make someone on a 'roid rage look placid. There were times prediagnosis when I had to basically lock myself away to keep from hurting someone else or myself. Just addressing the gut issues is IMHO irresponsible. But the again giving kids psychotropic drugs before testing for celiac is too. I will try and find the article I read a while ago where a prison system went gluten free for a couple of months. The violence level went down dramatically but it was discontinued because prisoners family would sneak in gluten foods as would the guards. Off to hunt for the article and will post it after it is located.

[gdobson]

My husband says he can't believe he married me before I was gluten free. A counselor diagnosed me with an eating disorder and depression. I couldn't think clearly. My short term memory was terrible. I didn't want to wake up in the morning. I felt like I was in a deep black pit where I couldn't even take a deep breath. I was irritable and would lash out immediately over anything.

My son would throw age inappropriate temper tantrums where he would roll around on the floor and cry.

Let's face it. It hurts, and sometimes we try to adjust to the discomfort, but it is a constant irritation in some way or another. Everything went away with a diet change.

[Rice Cakes]

Open Original Shared Link

[eLaurie]

Open Original Shared Link

Don't let this dishearten you, Jacob.

From the article:

Our cases demonstrate that neurological symptoms may be the first manifestations of celiac disease and may not respond to or even progress during a gluten-free diet.

I have some problems with their conclusion. Case study #2 didn't stick to the diet yet still improved; Case #3 did show improvement. The first case study gave great diagnostic info regarding serum levels and biopsy, but only stated after a year that gastrointestional symptoms and vitamin levels had improved. Apparently there was no retesting of the diagnostic criteria (or they should've, in accordance to correct study design reported it) and there was no mention of compliance, so some non-compliance or accidental exposure to gluten could've been ongoing.

Also, the mention of vitamin level normalization in Case study #1 makes me wonder if these authors weren't neglecting the role of the autoimmune response on brain function which seems to be more the culprit from what I'm reading than vitamin malabsorption.

Another factor that concerns me is time. The authors (this really isn't a research study, but is anecdotal reporting ...so can't really call them researchers) seem to be focusing on a year. Other cases I've read about in the past few days including Open Original Shared Link carry the time-frame out further. The case I linked to in the prior sentence is especially important considering the documented link between thyroid disorder and neurological function. This patient was 18 months gluten-free before her thyroid problems resolved.

[murlene]

My husband, soon to be ex, was diagnosed with celiac this year. He is 44 years old. I love him but the damage he has done to us is still here. It saddens and angers me to read about the psychological effects of celiac disease gone wild.

I don't know if I have celiac or not but I know I have at least one gene for gluten sensitivity because our daughter has two copies of that gene. Besides that, wheat has caused me a problem long before I ever heard of celiac so I have avoided it.

When I think of how much I love him and all the pain that is attached to that love it is hard to not cry. I feel a lot of anger, even at the thought of him maybe being okay off of gluten, because it will never matter for us. Please don't get me wrong. I want very much for him to be okay but I will never really know if he is because him seeming okay is the one thing I can never trust again. I know I will get past all of this eventually. Life will go on and I will not always feel like I do right now. But right now I do. I miss him. I miss his gentle moments and his tender care and his presence. I miss my fingers in his hair when he is asleep. I miss what might have been had we both been more okay. I miss that most of what I miss has been covered and hidden by abuse and dysfunction. And I'm angry because the best way for our baby to have her father is as little as possible. I may have shared to much, If I did I am sorry.

You are safe here and your sharing helps not only you but all of us as well. I was in a very abusive relationship years ago and yes you will get through this and the wound will heal. I know it is very hard but You will be alright if you just take your time and allow yourself to grieve as it is a great loss, Please take care of yourself and your baby. Thank you for sharing and God Bless You!

[rinne]

Thanks guys, it's odd to me sometimes that I had to get so very, very ill in order feel like I had any worth in this world. I spent my whole childhood trying to tell doctors that food was effecting my balance and made me weak but the only thing they tested for was diabetes. My childhood was a horror story with a violent alcoholic father, (hereditary male pattern violent alcoholism) who was most likely celiac and a mother who definately was. The doctors blamed my depression and anxiety and later PSTD on this and the loss of my mother and twin, both from undiagnosed celiac complications. I started research into the brain and the hereditary forms of alcoholism in my 20's to better understand and forgive my Dad. That followed up with study in the effects of different drugs and neurotoxins and eventually I was trying to figure out what was wrong with me since my shrink after 2 years of very expensive therapy said 'There really is nothing wrong that I can fix, it has got to be metabolic'. It would be another 10 years before I was diagnosed. If only he or any of the other doctors I had ever seen had even thought that celiac was a problem things would have been quite different. And at 5'2" and under 100 lbs I question strongly why it was never tested for. But then I would not have the wonderful people I have met here. And I also would not have been as vocal about celiac, I will talk about it to anyone, anywhere and it has helped get a few people diagnosed.

Your story resonates with me, I also had an alcoholic and violent childhood and have spent most of my adult life trying to resolve the misery that was laid on me. I think of it this way now, we all have an inherited life and it may appear that some inherit a wonderful life and some a dreadful life but as long as we are only living out what we have inherited we are limited by the views of that life and are not truly free to create our lives. In my experience suffering can be a force that wakes us up and makes us pay attention to what we are doing.

Understanding how ill I really am and changing my diet is making for profound changes in every aspect of my life. I talk to everybody who will listen too and I am shocked at how many people are in pain. My mother told me yesterday that she had spoken with my sister who was diagnosed a Celiac 5 years ago but never clearly understood what that meant. She has had IBS for years and when the doctor told her about the Celiac he just told her she had a wheat allergy and should avoid it. I had talked to her about what I learned and when I realized that she has continued to eat gluten I knew how sick she had to be, I called my father and told him she might die which got him off his butt and up to see her. I guess he was so shocked at how sick she looked he took her to buy groceries. She said that she is feeling better and hadn't even realized how sick she was.

The day I realized how sick I was I also understood absolutely and without a doubt that if I had trusted my gut I wouldn't be sick and I also understood that if I wasn't sick I wouldn't be able to help anyone. I feel deeply grateful that I could help her. She is my baby sister and I have always loved her so much.

Please excuse thread drift.

[ravenwoodglass]

I think of it this way now, we all have an inherited life and it may appear that some inherit a wonderful life and some a dreadful life but as long as we are only living out what we have inherited we are limited by the views of that life and are not truly free to create our lives. In my experience suffering can be a force that wakes us up and makes us pay attention to what we are doing.

We appear to think alot alike. Life is full of choices, we can choose to learn through pain we have no control over and use the experience to emphatize and help others, or we can choose to stay angry and bitter and only hurt everyone around us, including ourselves.

I too apologize if this is a bit off topic, I tend to ramble too much sometimes (I blame it on gluten CC )

[DingoGirl]

We appear to think alot alike. Life is full of choices, we can choose to learn through pain we have no control over and use the experience to emphatize and help others, or we can choose to stay angry and bitter and only hurt everyone around us, including ourselves.

I too apologize if this is a bit off topic, I tend to ramble too much sometimes (I blame it on gluten CC )

This is so true....but, honestly, for most of my life I haven't had a choice to think in any sort of healthy way, used to spend hours finding fault wtih my parents/siblings and the things they'd done wrong (oh yea, this was not helped by the very Freudian shrink they sent me to, once a week for four years, starting at age 18), due to gluten distortion in my brain. It is only now that the haze has lifted, and for the first time in my life, it seems like the world went from black-and-white to color - - and I don't mean the explosive sort of psychadelic color that mania provides.....just.....normal color. So now, yes, I see the pain of the past and the terrible dysfunctions from family life, but, it's all okay, it has shaped me as it's shaped all of us, and I can finally move on.

Let me tell you just one aspect of how gluten-removal has changed who I am.....

Yesterday, I was in the hospital visiting my brother's MIL, who is quite sick. This tiny woman, clinging to life, comes from a huge Armenian family wtih 10 siblings who each had lots of kids....so, for 25 years, I've seen all of these people at various weddings and funerals (I can't keep track of my SIL's family and seemingly hundreds of cousins, I swear new ones show up STILL). So, Grandma Rosie's niece and her husband (around 70-ish years old) drove to town, and I have met them at least a dozen times. But the husband and I had such a wonderful conversation, and he was looking at me as though he'd never seen me before, kept saying, it is SO nice to meet you, why have we never met before? You're Steve's sister? I reminded him that we had met, many times.....

I'ts just that in my gluten fog, I was either manic and not able to settle down to converse, too depressed to bother conversing, or, slightly drunk. Or, sometimes, an odd combination of all three....

It is SO nice to feel normal and on LEVEL footing for the first time, ever.

One thing I find that I'm having to do now, however, that is so taxing, is prove to people that I'm not the person I used to be.....the verbally abusive, crazy, opionated and strident manic that I was in my twenties and thirties (a lot of that went away with lithium). I have done so much damage within family relationships....it will take a while to heal, and some relationships may be beyond repair, we will see.

[munchkinette]

I've been on antidepressants for most of my adult life. I've been taking ritalin for ADD (not ADHD) for about 3 years.

It's funny- I do still need the meds, but I think I'm less depressed now that I'm not eating wheat. It's hard to say though. There are so many pieces that affect one's general well-being. I feel better in a lot of little ways.

I think I'm less spacey now. I've heard other people talk about "brain fog" on this forum. That's something I can totally relate to. That has improved for me.

[DingoGirl]

I want to say thank you to all who have shared on this tread. Helps me to see the depression/anxiety ties to my Celiac much more clearer. You have here an unbelieve amount of information here.

Yes, me too, I think it's really helped all of us...

Celia, great photo!

[Guest Robbin]

edited for privacy

[Nantzie]

{{{{{HUGS}}}}}} and thank you everyone for posting your stories. Thank God for this forum, for celiac becoming more known about, and for everyone here who makes this forum such a wonderful, comforting and welcoming place to be.

I gave my therapist about 20 pages worth of your stories to read. She said that she had already started talking to people about celiac, but hadn't been able to find anything psychological-related in the lists of symptoms. These personal stories will help her and her colleagues (sp?) direct people who have all degrees of psychological issues to their doctors for testing. I'm sure that we've saved lives by doing this.

If anyone else wants to take this to their therapists, I'm sure it would be something that the people who posted wouldn't mind. (They don't know me except online either...) And the more therapists who know about this, the more people who can be helped.

The way I ended up printing all of these, was at the very bottom center of the page, in a blue bar, there is a little tiny white link called "Lo-Fi Version". That will take you to a really basic page layout that is very easy to print from.

Lets keep getting the word out.

Nancy