I think that after all of these years of depression and anger, I think that I have found out what has been going on. It is interesting that grains can causes these symptoms. I have some gastro symptoms, protruding gut, some diarreha, but most have been neurological. I notice that when I cut out grain, these symptoms dissappear. It make sense the more I read, grains have been in our diets for only thousands of years, not millions like meat, veggies and fruits. Although I have not been diagnosed, I believe I have been continually misdiagnosed. The more I read, the more I find out that gluten is an amino acid that can cross the blood-brain barrier and wreak havoc with ones thoughts. Over the past two weeks, I think my waist has decreased 2 inches.

Dont get me wrong, in no way do I consider myself a slacker, I have a Masters degree, but have always had problems motivating myself and looking forward to the future. I think now I do, but time will tell.
Anyone with similar experiences as me?

My experiences mirror yours. I have been treated for depression for years, but have seen a lot of improvement lately now that I am off of wheat gluten. When you speak of a lack of motivation, I can really relate to that, too. Many times I would just sit and sit without any will to move from my chair. I, too, have a degree- a Bachelor's- and have been a teacher for the past 26 years. My attendance has always been good, because my job is the one thing into which I direct my energy. My house is in a constant state of disaster. I am hoping to really get organized with school letting out, but it's going to take awhile, as this has been going on for years. Thankfully, it's mainly clutter, so it's not a health hazard.

The same stuff happened with me until a year ago, when I ran across an ad on a website and then everything made sense. Going gluten free has changed my moods, gotten rid of most of the depression, made the neuropathy symptoms lessen, etc.

The depression comes back if I get glutened, plus a bunch of other things. I've had this for a long time because I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't in the bathroom 20+ times a day.

I just wish my hair would grow back. I was lucky to get super thick and curly hair, it's not quite as obvious that I've lost 2/3 of my hair because it's still thick looking. I have PCOS too, so that causes hair loss and problems, so the hair probably is gone for good.

THis article really helped me:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4610998.stm

THis article really helped me:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4610998.stm

Yes, this is me. I have had minor, low-level, constant depression - mainly expressed as laziness - for 30 years. I, too, have a Masters, which I finished two years ago while working full-time. It's not that I don't get things done, I just feel like it's such an effort. But it's cost me some good jobs, where I left because I was perceived as lazy.

I had a few instances of moderate depression, mostly revolving around the pregnancy and birth of my two kids. Meds didn't help the time I tried them.

I've been so much better gluten-free, although it is a big learning curve and I think my accidental glutenings are slowing my reovery.

My husband's depression was severe and went on for years. He found he could not take anti-depressants as they gave him extreme shaking - even while he was sleeping. They all affected him neurologically like this. Then we found out he has celiac and the majority of his depression is gone (still there, but it's due to situational issues).

He used to have bouts of unexplicable anger. Once we were in supermarket & I wanted to buy Crisco as I was going to make something (bake cake or something) and he argued with me over buying "butter flavored" crisco...as if he really cared. I had to leave the store as I was angry in response. He finally came to his senses and said he couldn't figure out why he was carrying on over something stupid like this.

Those outbursts have stopped now that he's gluten free and he's more steady in his mood. He still can't take anti-depressant side effects.

I have Celiac, and when accidently glutened (CC only), I sometimes get "immediate" severe depression and suicidal thoughts. I get completely whacked out for the night. I don't think the TV is talking to me , but my perception is altered. This goes away the next day, and seems to get better after I get sick and get it "out of my system". I had panic attacks prior to Dx, which cleared right after going gluten free.

Especially if you have GI symtpoms, get tested.

Thank you Doll!

I would have mild depression, but sometimes I would get severely depressed and have suicidal ideations. It seems to help now that I have eliminated gluten and casein, I have read the two have similar chemical structures and can wreak havoc crossing the blood brain barrier. Mine too isnt bad that I think the TV is talking to me.

I think I was Glutened by either Tuna Tar Tare and/or the crab cake that I ate in Baltimore. I was very depressed the day after but have been feeling better the past threedays. I am thinking of getting Enterolab. Say hi to everyone in MB and SK, I have relatives on my dad's side of the family up there!

Warning: the following is pretty candid!

Just glad to know that there are others like me! I swear, gluten makes me want to crawl out of my skin! I was *very* sick just before my Celiac diagnosis, and I would come home and just fall down and cry. I was so weak and depressed that I honestly almost did myself in. All I could think about was how sick I was and how I was going to end it. I actually sat on my bed with a syringe fillled with 50 units of rapid acting insulin (probably 5 units and no food for me would put me in a coma) contemplating. Needless to say, I'm glad I didn't go ahead with it and that I pushed to be diagnosed.

OK, scary stuff over!

Anyway, you know what you need to do, and I am so glad that you are here. If you ever feel the need to talk when depressed and glutened, PM me....I know what it's like.

That is awesome you have relatives in BOTH MB and SK!! Love the prairies except for the tornados! I went home to Winnipeg for the weekend and we had 6 (!) jus outside the city in less than a 48 hour period!

This is me too. I got depressed, ever since I was young. Nothing major, occassionally for a week at a time I would be a bit weepy, but usually it was quite minor. I think it might've been there for an absolute age, but like being sick with undiagnosed coeliac you get used to it and you loose your reality of what is normal for yourself. Now that I am gluten free, I don't get the niggly depression, but when I eat something with gluten I get a hard time with my feelings etc. as well as the stomach issues. I probably find it hard to put things into context and know what to worry about, and instead I worry for the sake of worrying. I am a worrier. But once the gluten has cleared my body I am usually okay, and the forboding sense of doom and gloom lifts.

I can remember previous to finding my new husband, sitting in bed at night, or lying in bed, thinking my kids are getting older, and soon will be off my hands and leading their own lives. What would I have to live for then with no partner and just on my own struggling to keep on top of things. Life for me had been tough, bringing up four sons on my own with the minimum of help and support from their father. I told myself that if things got too tough after I wasn't needed I could do away with myself and get away from the pain. That would've been my escape route, and it gave me a sense of relief that if things got too hard, I had given myself the permission to find a way out. I know it is not nice, and very selfish.

But now being gluten free and finding husband number 2, things are different. He is a gem, and very supportive and he gives me a reason to keep going. We just never know what is around the corner.

Cathy

Hey Doll!

TOrnados are definitely not the first thing I think of when I think of WInnipeg as opposed to the winter temps.

I am so glad I dont have a gun, there have been countless times that I was ready to do myself in, glad I didnt know you then or I would have encouraged you to inject me up, too; the insulin thing is a new one to me, very creative. I wish I would have caught this at the age you were diagnosed. I am convinced that the disease runs on my dad's side (Canadian) of the family. My Grandma was a very anxiety laden woman and my Aunt had the same neurological problems as me. Grandma died of colon cancer, and I am trying to make my Aunt listen to me to avoid grains to get off the Anti-depressants.

Congratulations on your marriage, you could not have picked a better day, my parents will be celebrating their 40th on December 21.

Well off to see my cousin, of all things, get married in Minnesota, if I had more time I would drive the 400 miles to see my relatives in Selkirk, Great-grandad (RIP) use to be the lighthouse keeper on the Red River!

I definitely will PM you, especially with you being Pre-med., and feel free to PM me anytime! Are you going into the GI field?


Jim

Hello from the other side of the world! My symptoms are mostly neurological, but now looking back I would have to go to the bathroom half a dozen times a day, so I think I am starting to connect the dots.

I would also be incapacitated in my bed just thinking of worse case scenarios about everything. I agree I am not use to thinking what it is like to have a controlled happiness, being depressed and thinking the glass is half empty is normal to me after 33 years. I owuld have similar depression waves as you - two weeks on, two weeks off is usually how it worked.

You kiwis kicked some butt against the Swiss in the America's Cup!

Thank you


Jim

Hey! That's awesome your GG used to be the lighthouse keeper on the Red and that I will share a wedding date with your parents! That's too cool!

Feel free to PM me should the need arrise! I plan to work in the ER, although you just never know!

Take care and have a good trip!

Thank you, I'm back, had a great time! Back to reality

Not necessarily so. Check out the drug spironolactone (if you are a woman). Also great ,but very expensive hair treatment by Jan Marini with spironolactone in it. Hope this helps

Forgive me for being naive but what is PCOS?? I have lost about 50% of my hair this last year (I am 35) . I suffer like you Doll, suidical all day every day. I find exercise helps a teeny bit, and I have not yet had the tests for Celiac so I am on wheat right now...and don't have any experiences about NOT being on wheat. I have been suffering, however, for 11 years.

I was in college when I first began reacting to foods. And I started to get diahrrea and started having crazy nightmares (I called them acid dreams.. very lucid and wild and colorful) I began having moodswings 3 days up 4 days down, I began to react to vitamins and medicines. So my dr sent me to a shrink, who told me it was all in my head.. and stuck me on some different "mood stabilizers" and they all made me even more suicidal... I tried Wellebutrin, same thing. He thought I was lying to him so I didn't have to take meds... what an egotystical ***. I hate drs anyways... I get so angry when people challenge my integrity you know... I too am college educated and I was floored. and emotionally drained.

So anyways after 11 years of misdiagnosis and sheer misery I can't live like this anymore I have been feeling very desperate. So a few months ago my Grandmother said she thought I was allergic to wheat. (She was an er nurse for 45 years) I decided to do an elimination diet. And sure enough we hit the jackpot! And I picked up a magazine from the health food store that happened to have an article about Celiac in it, I was bored and read it, and sure enough I have ALL the symptoms including the neurological ones, itchy skin rashes, sores in my mouth, depression, diahrrea, constipation, severe bloating, and just being tired and weak and I get bruises easily. And my teeth are starting to get dull I noticed so I am getting tested soon! I have been too sick for too long. And now it's like a HUGE ray of hope. I am NOT the only one and now I have something to look forward to finally

thx guys and good luck with your journeys
sickchick

It's good to know that I'm not crazy and it's probably due to Celiac that I was so depressed and bitchy all the time. My roommate actually noticed a difference in my moods when I started going gluten-free. He said I was a lot easier to be around and everytime I mention cheating and eating a burger or something he reminds me how much nicer I am now. I always had a problem with depression for as long as I can remember. I started taking antidepressents when I was 17 and I finally stopped taking them last year (I'm 25 now). I don't really notice a lot of symptoms when I get glutened (I don't throw up or get the big D) but one thing that does happen is depression. Now it makes sense. I think I will start paying close attention to my moods and use that to gauge if I have eaten something I shouldn't have.

Yeah, sometimes I wonder if I have Celiac b/c my symptoms are mostly behavioral and not your typical ailments. I had some chicken tenders last Sat. and became totally whacked the next day. I am fine now, much better today, dont feel like jumping off a cliff I agree that meds mask the symptoms and dont fully work. There are some interesting articles about gluten crossing the blood-brain barrier on the web, some that includes very detailed research and how it can f up a persons mental functions...

Wow, what an interesting thread. I've only just been diagnosed with celiac and as soon I was diagnosed, I stopped taking the antidepressants I was prescribed (by various doctors) because I had 'post-natal' depression.
Should I continue taking them? I have yet started fully on gluten-free diet but waiting to see my doctor.
My partner always jokes he has 3-4 of me, one day happy, the next bad, so should eating gluten-free elimate this behavior? And if I cheat and have something with gluten in it, will I get the mood swings back? We're talking about lethargy, snappy agressive moods, lack of interest in everything (inlcuding my three kids) and frustration. I turn a bit psycho for a couple of days.
thanks and hello from the other side of the world too!

G'Day Mate from the capital of the free world, Washington DC! One day I will travel to Aust. I have had all of your symptoms, lack of motivation, depression, aggression. Did you know wheat is one of the eight most common food allergies. As far a getting off of meds, I have come off mine, so I am only speaking from personal experience. You have to go with what you think is best for yourself. But I feel fine, I start to get crazy with anything that has gluten.

Are you feeling better?

Jim

Chances are, once you truly go 100% gluten free, you'll feel healthy enough that you won't WANT to cheat! For most people, once you're gluten free, the reactions get worse! I don't know what to say about the meds... I'm generally against meds unless they are absolutely necessary, but that's me. You know your body the best.