Do I Have Celiac Or Gluten Intolerance Or....?

[soccer-dude]

Hi,

I'm new here, so I'm glad to meet all of you. About 9 months ago, I was hit was massive anxiety which came out of nowhere. It was first triggered by a reaction I had while driving out of town. I thought I had a seizure, but looking back it might have been a surprise panic attack. In any case, I had anxiety, felt ill, shaky, nervous, all these symptoms were there almost 24/7 for weeks on end. I went to all sorts of doctors had tests, MRI's nothing found... I saw a Naturopathic doctor and he ran a neurotransmitter test which showed I was low on most of my neurotransmitters especially Serotonin. This could definately cause the symptoms I was having, but what led up to having low neuro's? Well, later on another test we did showed I had an eleveted level of Gliadin Ab, SIgA from a saliva test. My ND basically said I had Celiac, and he thought it was attacking my Central Nervous System. Okay, that scared me. Well, I went of Gluten for some time, but I was still dealing with anixety, panic, etc... Well, at one point I had a real panic attack and my ND put me on Xanax, which made things worse for me. (I heard that Xanax contains gluten?). I had bad stomach pain at one point when this all started and it eventually went away. Not sure if it was celiac related or just the massive stress I was under.

After 3 months, I went to see my MD, and he ran a Celiac Panel. Came back Negative. But, that was 3 months after I stopped eating gluten. And I was rather grain free for some of that time. Although I did start eating some Gluten Free products at one point. My GI doctor said that this test may not be very accurate since I hadn't eating gluten in a while, and it was too late to really do a Endoscopy since I hadn't eaten gluten in 3 months. I asked him how long would I need to eat gluten for the Endoscopy to be helpful and he said 6 months I think. Well, I'm not going to poison myself for 6 months by eating gluten to just have the test done.

So, I never found out for sure if I have Celiac or just Gluten Intolerance. I do know from previous allergy test that I'm allergic to wheat, eggs, and somewhat to dairy. So, it's probably best not to eat much wheat any way.

So, months gone by, I'm trying to get better, tried different SSRI's that made things worse, still eating pretty healthy and gluten free, then recently, I had a couple of anxiety attacks. I was on some meds that seemed to help calm the anxiety, then out of nowhere I started having massive anxiety, sweating, shakes, like I was detoxing or something, I couldn't control the anxiety, it was just there. I had actually been on a new med that was helping me sleep, and I was feeling really good, but then out of nowhere I felt like crud again, anxiety, insomnia, etc....Things got a little better after a few days. I had just tapered off a SSRI a week before, so this could be withdrawal, or rebound anxiety. But, it was 3 days after eating gluten free pizza from a pizza joint that makes regular pizzas. I had also eating breakfast a couple times at a place that has gluten free bread. But, it probably had eggs in it. So, not sure if this was a celiac or allergy attack or something from the med's. Then about a week later, I was feeling pretty good again, had gluten free pizza, and the day after, massive anxiety attack. But, it was during a time I had tapered my last med, and started taking Oregano oil to detox a bacteria/parasite. Was this celiac, or detox?

I guess what I would like to know from you all is if you get anxiety/panic/depression from having celiac, do SSRI's help? I was on Lexapro for a short time, but my pdoc wants me back on it and stick with it. If this can help calm my anxiety, depression and help me sleep, then if i have a celiac attack, if I do have celiac, then would the anxiety be better controlled? My anxiety right now fuels my depression (bad thoughts/feelings), and lack of sleep also fuels the bad feelings. I figure if I stabalize on a SSRI, then I can maybe figure out if I have celiac. I figure if I can feel really good again, I could test eating something with gluten, and see if I have an anxiety attack after 1-3 days. If not, then maybe what i experienced was related to the meds, etc...

Thank you.

Soccer

[MitziG]

SSRIs are a lifesaver for many, myself included. Xanax makes me depressed however. Everyone reacts differently. Even if gluten is at the root of the problem, it can take awhile on the diet for depression/ anxiety to resolve. If you need to meds, take the meds. As long as they are gluten-free, they won't interfere with your healing. After awhile, when you are feeling stable, and with the help of your doctor, try reducing the dosage.

[soccer-dude]

Hi,

Ya, I think I need to be on a SSRI even though I keep having good days, and think I don't need meds, I end up having waves of anxiety, and bad days. So, I just need to get stabalized on a med long enough to let me body and mind heal from all the anxiety and panic I've been through. Then maybe I can come off. I just wish I knew for sure whether or not I had celiac. But, since the tests show I'm at least sensitive, then I probably should continue to stay away from Gluten.

I've started Lexapro at 5mg. I'm on Remeron at 7.5mg to help me sleep. I have some Benzo's to help as needed, but I'm staying away from them unless I really need it. I hear that Xanax contains Gluten. I have ativan, and Klonapin (generic version of it). I'm not sure if they contain gluten or not. Doesn't appear that Lexapro contains gluten.

Thanks for the post.

Soccer

[sa1937]

Hi,

Ya, I think I need to be on a SSRI even though I keep having good days, and think I don't need meds, I end up having waves of anxiety, and bad days. So, I just need to get stabalized on a med long enough to let me body and mind heal from all the anxiety and panic I've been through. Then maybe I can come off. I just wish I knew for sure whether or not I had celiac. But, since the tests show I'm at least sensitive, then I probably should continue to stay away from Gluten.

I've started Lexapro at 5mg. I'm on Remeron at 7.5mg to help me sleep. I have some Benzo's to help as needed, but I'm staying away from them unless I really need it. I hear that Xanax contains Gluten. I have ativan, and Klonapin (generic version of it). I'm not sure if they contain gluten or not. Doesn't appear that Lexapro contains gluten.

Thanks for the post.

Soccer

You might want to check Open Original Shared Link, which is maintained by a pharmacist and updated frequently. Lexapro, Remeron and Xanax (the brand names) are all gluten-free. For generics you can check to see what companies are listed. There may be other sites, too, but this is the one I use the most.

[soccer-dude]

Hi,

Thank you for the info. I am taking the brand name Lexapro this time rather than the generic. Thought I'd try it since I'm starting up on Lexapro for the second time, maybe it will work better. ") I know they are supposed to be the same, but thought I'd try it any way.

I thought I heard Xanx had gluten, but maybe they change it? I think someone on a Celiac forum somewhere mentioned they even called the manufacturer and they said they do put gluten in it. But, I'm not sure if that is accurate or not. Anyway, I'm not on Xanax any more. I do have some Ativan, and Klonapin (whatever the generic is for that), to use as needed.

I looked it up, and it appears Ativan (lorezapan) by the manufacture listed on my bottle is gluten free. Looks like one MFG is not gluten free.

I couldn't find Clonazepan (Klonapin) anywhere. know if this is gluten free?

Thank you!!!

[sa1937]

Hi,

Thank you for the info. I am taking the brand name Lexapro this time rather than the generic. Thought I'd try it since I'm starting up on Lexapro for the second time, maybe it will work better. ") I know they are supposed to be the same, but thought I'd try it any way.

I thought I heard Xanx had gluten, but maybe they change it? I think someone on a Celiac forum somewhere mentioned they even called the manufacturer and they said they do put gluten in it. But, I'm not sure if that is accurate or not. Anyway, I'm not on Xanax any more. I do have some Ativan, and Klonapin (whatever the generic is for that), to use as needed.

I looked it up, and it appears Ativan (lorezapan) by the manufacture listed on my bottle is gluten free. Looks like one MFG is not gluten free.

I couldn't find Clonazepan (Klonapin) anywhere. know if this is gluten free?

Thank you!!!

For a starter, we just can't believe everything we hear or read on the internet or on a forum...you really need to check it out yourself.

I looked up Clonazepan and these manufacturer's are gluten-free:

Clonazepam (Apotex, Caraco, Mylan, Sandoz, Watson)

Clonazepam Disintegrating Tabs (Barr, Par)

Your prescription bottle should list the name of the manufacturer (probably in very small print).

I had to check last week to see if an antibiotic my endodontist prescribed was gluten-free. I did look at the ingredient list while at the pharmacy and it looked ok...then I came home and double-checked online to make sure it was. My pharmacist was willing to call the manufacturer to confirm it, but I didn't want to wait around long enough to find out.

[GF Lover]

Hi there. I feel your pain with fighting depression/anxiety etc. I am bi polar, major depression, ocd, add, anxiety etc. I have also started a gluten free diet at the suggestion of my rheumatologist. I very quickly had relief of my IBS symptoms. I also don't feel the need to be diagnosed. As far as the depression/anxiety disorders, I have not had any relief. And honestly, I don't expect all of my issues to resolve because of the diet. Some advice about your meds, you probably know this but it is extremely important to give a med sufficient time to work (or not work), 6 weeks is around the standard time for anti-depressants. Stopping and starting can make you a serious mess. Other meds you may take can also effect the desired results, but usually tweaking can get you there. I take Lamictal, welbutrin, celexa and ativan. For a serious anxiety attack I take my ativan, get to a place I feel safe and wait it out. Be aware that, as was stated, some meds are gluten free from certain labs, but with a long term script pharmacies change suppliers like underwear. You need to specify with your pharmacist that you need to have consistently filled scripts at approved labs. Also, in my opinion, generics are perfectly fine and much more economical for long term scripts. Using 90 supply mail order also helps with cost. Between the klonopin and ativan, stick with the one that works best. Klonopin usually makes you sleepy. Hopefully, for both of us, these symptoms may get better, but for now, I'm excited to be able to eat and not feel like it's killing me. Ps beware of the restaurant pizza, I learned my lesson and now stay away.

[soccer-dude]

Hi,

I checked my bottle of Clonazepam and the manufacture listed is "Accord HealthCA", not one that you listed. Maybe they are new?

Thank you for taking time to look this up for me. I appreciate it!

Soccer

[soccer-dude]

Hi gluten-free Lover,

Ya, I stopped and started a couple of different treatments. If I felt worse or didn't get the results I wanted right away, I would stop. I'm back on Lexapro, and plan to stick it out this time. I was only on it for 4 weeks total, and only 3 weeks at 10mg. First 6 days at 5mg. Anyway, a friend told me that I need to embrace the medication and let it do it's job. I think he was right.

I don't have a lot of choice now but to stick with it and hope I get better and stay stable for more than a couple of days or 1 week. once I'm stable for a period of time, a month or more, then I can tackle some of my other health issues if they are still present and add back one supplement at a time. I'm currently discontinuing some things I was on, but will continue to take the basics, like a food grade multi, vitamin c, e, d, food grade magnesium and calcium. I may also use some of them every other day, so I'm not taxing my liver and body with too many nutrients.

I haven't tried the Clonazepam (Klonapin) yet. Not sure if I had side effects with Ativan or not. I think I had so many side-effects with anxiety that I don't know what was what. I think it may have made me a little drowsy. When I originally started up on Lexapro the first time, I was taking a little Ativan, and it seemed I was lethargic and drowsy all the time, but I know Lexapro can make you feel that way in the begining. that's why I eventually started taking it at night. I think when I went off Ativan, I had increased anxiety for a while. Anyway, I plan to use Clonazepam if I really need it. I don't want to become addicted to it although I hear this one is less addicting, and I don't want to build tolerance to it and have to keep taking more and more to get any benefit. So, I want to use it sparingly.

I feel better today. No panic attacks like yesterday. Although I felt they begining stages of them, like I could easily force one to happen if I tried. But, overall I felt better today than yesterday. I did sleep a little better last night, so that might have helped.

Ya, it's probably not a good idea to eat a gluten free pizza from a normal pizza place, if you are concerned with cross-contamination. Some places make them right along side the normal pizzas. I believe Bellagios, which is basically a take and back, or to go pizza place (you can eat inside also, but it's small), has a gluten free pizza (contains eggs though), and they prepare it in a seperate section. But, when they go to grab certain ingredients, it's from the side where the normal pizzas are prepared. So if someone has touched the gluten dough, then grabs some olives from a container, then those olives could be contaminated. So, it's could be an issue. They also bake them in the same convery belt oven, although I think it goes on a special tray, but I'm not sure if that tray was used with a gluten pizza or not. I typically will just order one to have it baked at home to be careful. I haven't seem to have had any problems with those. But, I suspect I might have at places where they bake them and prepare them in the same space as normal pizzas. Flying Pie Pizza has a great gluten free pizza, but I watched them bake it in the same oven as the gluten pizzas, and then they put it between these two pizza pans to drain the greaae (pepperoni) the same pans they used on the gluten pizzas, then they cut it I think with the same pizza cutter. So, talk about cross contamination. I was worried about that one. yummy pizza though, but then the next day I had increased anxiety, but it settled down in the evening, so not sure what caused it for sure. I was fine the entire day I ate the pizza though.

When I feel better, I might test myself and eat some gluten pizza, or some gluten free pizza's from one of these places again, and see how I feel. I'd rather do it once I'm feeling better and can handle an increase in anxiety better. I really want to know if these reactions I've had was from food or another source. But right now I can't afford to do it. I'm also cutting back again on carbs, and I will avoid these gluten free pizzas for a while

Whole Foods has a Gluten Free Pizza, Egg and Dairy free also. They have it with Pepperoni and Sausage I think, and one other. They are in the frozen section. They are kind of small, enough for one person and they are expensive, like $8. I tried the pepperoni one, more than once, and it was YUMMY!!!

Wow, that's a lot of talk about pizza! Now I'm hungry. Maybe I will have one of those frozen pizzas tomorrow for lunch.

Anyway, thank you for sharing.

Soccer

[sa1937]

Hi,

I checked my bottle of Clonazepam and the manufacture listed is "Accord HealthCA", not one that you listed. Maybe they are new?

Thank you for taking time to look this up for me. I appreciate it!

Soccer

You're welcome! Just because it's not on the list, doesn't necessarily mean it's not safe...but you might want to check it out further.

[soccer-dude]

Hi,

Well, I'm back on Lexapro. Just starting my 4th week. (3rd week at 10mg). I sure hope it helps.

Today I was hit was some strong anxiety. I felt okay when I got up out of bed, took my shower, was hungry, and that always makes me feel blah some times, but then I started to work on some medical bills, which can be stressful I suppose, and that's when the anxiety got really bad for some reason, I was shaky, sweaty, light-headed for a moment, then the anxiety just stuck with me most of the day, not as bad, but it was still there. Very uncomfortable.

I did however had dinner which had gluten in it, but two days prior. Not sure if that was the cause or not. I would think if it were to cause anxiety I would have woken up with it not after I starte to work on a stressful project.

If you are to get anxiety from being glutenized, how soon after you eat gluten would the anixety kick in? Can it take days?

The last time I had this kind of anxiety was a week after I tapered from a SSRI, but a couple of days of possibly being cross-contaminated. I couldn't figure out which was the cause. Then the next time was the same deal, was tapering off meds, but yet, definately could have been cross contaminated. Seems a cooincidence, but I can't tell if it's gluten or just my anxiety or med/anxiety that is causing me to feel this way.

I wish I knew how to determine if it's a celiac attack or not. If it was, and I was to have one of those gluten panels (blood draw) done, would the antibodies show up from just eating gluten once or twice? My Gastro doctor told me in order to do a endoscopy I would have to eat gluten for 3-6 months or something for it to show anything, that's after being off gluten for months. But, I'm not about to eat gluten for 3-6 months just to have that test done, but if I were to eat gluten, then a day or two later have that blood test done, would the antibodies show up?

Anyway, thanks for listening.

Soccer

[jeanzdyn]

This topic thread is very interesting to me. I have been gluten free for 5 months and have recently started waking up, after about 5 hours of sleep, and feeling extremely anxious / nervous / rapid heart beat.... I was wondering about it. Maybe it has to do with detoxing from gluten? I have not consulted a doctor as yet, mainly because I cannot afford medications I already need to take- without being prescribed more meds. Also, I would like to avoid taking more meds at all.

2 months before being diagnosed with celiac I was diagnosed with asthma. The asthma has not improved with the gluten free diet, if anything it is getting worse.

Anyway, I will continue to follow this thread with interest.

[soccer-dude]

This topic thread is very interesting to me. I have been gluten free for 5 months and have recently started waking up, after about 5 hours of sleep, and feeling extremely anxious / nervous / rapid heart beat.... I was wondering about it. Maybe it has to do with detoxing from gluten? I have not consulted a doctor as yet, mainly because I cannot afford medications I already need to take- without being prescribed more meds. Also, I would like to avoid taking more meds at all.

2 months before being diagnosed with celiac I was diagnosed with asthma. The asthma has not improved with the gluten free diet, if anything it is getting worse.

Anyway, I will continue to follow this thread with interest.

Hmmm. Have you checked for parasite, bacteria, or yeast (candida) infection? It's possible now that you are off Gluten, which I'm assuming you've cut down on grains for the most part, although there are non-gluten grains you can eat, maybe there is some bacteria/candida die off going on? Or, maybe you need to do a cleanse? Just a thought that came to mind. Not sure if before you were diagnosed with celiac, if you ate a lot of grain, white flour/breads, white rice, etc....

[banjos]

hi. i don't have much to add in terms of advice but i wanted to say that one of my symptoms from consuming gluten was/is anxiety (i was taking xanax prior to stopping gluten and was told to start lexapro but never did). i'm starting my 3rd month of being gluten free and while it has taken some time to see a resolve of my anxiety (stomach issues, migraines, skin problems were the first to go) i feel like a different person. and when i am glutened - which has been twice - the anxiety comes back. it's almost like someone has given me a weird drug. it's like this awful buzzing feeling with brain fog. it starts within like 6-8 hours of consuming and it takes a few days to feel "normal" again.

i find it so interesting that anxiety and the like can be a symptom of consuming gluten. i've had anxiety for years and would have never put two and two together. so happy to have found relief and i hope you do as well.

[soccer-dude]

hi. i don't have much to add in terms of advice but i wanted to say that one of my symptoms from consuming gluten was/is anxiety (i was taking xanax prior to stopping gluten and was told to start lexapro but never did). i'm starting my 3rd month of being gluten free and while it has taken some time to see a resolve of my anxiety (stomach issues, migraines, skin problems were the first to go) i feel like a different person. and when i am glutened - which has been twice - the anxiety comes back. it's almost like someone has given me a weird drug. it's like this awful buzzing feeling with brain fog. it starts within like 6-8 hours of consuming and it takes a few days to feel "normal" again.

i find it so interesting that anxiety and the like can be a symptom of consuming gluten. i've had anxiety for years and would have never put two and two together. so happy to have found relief and i hope you do as well.

Hi Banjos, your post is very helpful. I'm still trying to figure out where my anxiety is coming from...When you get glutened, and your anxiety comes back within 6-8 hours, does the anxiety last all day, morning/night, does it let up at certain points of the day, or.....When I suspect gluten to be my cause of anxiety, the anxiety doesn't happen for 1-3 days after I eat it, and then it only appears part of the day, but there are other triggers that would cause my anxiety, like finances, etc....So, it's hard to tell where it's coming from. My stomach is usually fine, I might have slight soft stools, but anxiety can cause that no matter where it comes from. I eat gluten free, although the other day I did eat gluten, but didn't feel anything for a few days, then I was hit with anxiety, but it didn't hit until after I got up in the morning and was working on some medical bills, so it would seem that it wasn't gluten but normal GAD. Just not sure. The anxiety I have is like a buzz feeling, or burning feeling througout the body, and you just feel out of sorts, but I guess anxiety probably feels like that anyway at times. Well, your info does help me. thanks for posting.