Celiac disease and reactive arthritis

[maria1223]

yes all these things like hypothyriodism, hair falling out , aniema, are all celiac relations. I have all these symptoms my Dr. told me to take vitiamans B6, B12 2 X's a day & calcium + d, centrum. I also went to my health food store because that wasn't enough. I was still having all these symptons so I got what is called ZYFLAMEND , it has rosemary,turmeic,ginger,holy basil, green tea, hu zhang, chinese goldthread, barberry, oregano & scutellaria baicalensis in it.

inhabits the cox-2 enzyme and reduces inflamation, promotes healthy joint functions, promotes normal cell growth. It is very expensive. but it helps a whole hell of alot I don't have to take pain killers or muscle relaxers like I use too. . My cancer Dr. want's to operrate to take my hiatal hernia out & to take my esophgus & a piesae of my stomach out were they meet the flap that holds ur food down in ur stomach is bad it stays open instead of closed than reconstruct it with another piease of my stomach which will help with the gerd. my other cancer Dr. said to tell the other cancer dr. to take biopsies of the crohns which the other cancer dr. should have done in the first place. I recommend every one to be very careful of what u take med wise go to ur health food store first they r ur best bet

[aklap]

[Guest]

I've wondered about the CD/LI - Arthritis connection. I've had arthritis off and on since I played basketball in high school (17 years ago). Just in the past few months, it's gotten really bad. My hips and fingers especially.

I'm REALLY hoping that my new way of eating will help that to go away - or at least improve. I'm 34 years old but feel so old most of the time.

Thanks everyone for your information and empathy.

[skbird]

Patty -

I don't know what to think about hypothyroid. I have had mine tested a couple of times - my TSH is right smack dab in the middle. My understanding doctor, upon questioning about this and my symptoms said it is very common for people to be diagnosed as hypothyroid and given synthroid, many feel better at first, then are back to where they were before as it's not the real problem. So he has told me not to worry about it being the problem for me.

Here are some symptoms of hypothyroid I found on the armour thyroid site.

I tend to have:
Low sex drive
Cold hands or feet
Dry or thinning hair

Have improved since going GF:
Thin, brittle fingernails
Joint or muscle pain
Depression
Weight gain
Abdominal bloating

I don't tend to have:
Thickening of the skin
Loss or thinning of eyebrows
Puffy face
Cold intolerance

I also have a consistently low body temp of 97.2. It seems to me from this info that I could be hypothyroid but was not able to get my doctor to be interested in this. I can't decide if it's worth pursuing - what are the negatives of not dealing with this with meds? (assuming meds are needed).
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Stephanie

[nowakb]

Hi again everyone and thank you for your replies! I actually really thought that my problem was hypothyroidism from info I've read on the internet, especially medline, but my dr. insists that my TSH levels were fine last fall and in February so that can't be the problem. I asked him about testing T4 and T3, but he just said that they test TSH levels. I don't know, I'm still suspicious. I have the following symptoms which match part of the list on medline: weakness, fatigue, cold intolerance, joint and muscle pain, brittle fingernails, dry skin, hair loss, appetite loss and weight gain (I know that I've been GF, but gaining 9 lbs in 2 weeks??).

My boss was wondering if I could have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but I don't know, is that considered a "real" medical problem? I need to do more research on that one. The weird thing is that I've had the last 4 days off from work and I actually don't feel as bad today. Are my symptoms caused by getting up at 5 am 5 days a week and not getting enough sleep? Also, it is usually really cold in my building at work and today for some strange reason it is 76 degrees in here! Maybe it is all in my mind...no, I know it's not, but can you have all of these symptoms from just being cold and tired? Argh!!! (I'm not sure that this guy is a frustrated face!)

Anyway, sorry to be so wordy here. I'm going to seet the rheumatologist Friday afternoon to get the results of the bloodwork that she had done, but I'd be willing to bet it shows nothing!

Becky

[skbird]

Becky - you made me laugh with your comment about the emoticon - I totally agree, most don't really express what I'm thinking, either.

I think chronic fatigue syndrome is real and has been linked to gluten consumption as well, something that improves with a gluten free diet. Not necessairly, but in some cases. It is a really hard to understand condition. I had a counselor in jr. high who got it and had it for a few years. They didn't know what was wrong with her. I don't know what happened to her but I was always afraid of it and wondered if it was what was wrong with me (I always had weird symptoms of fatigue, migraine, stomach problems, etc - since I can remember, basically). I am far from an expert on this but do know it is a legitimate condition.

Actually, yesterday I decided to make a doctor appointment to ask AGAIN about my thyroid - another doc this time. Also to check in since going GF, it's been 7 months now and would like to see what he thinks about my symptoms that have resolved and the intensity which they return with the most impossibly small amount of gluten contamination.

I'll post what I find out about thyroid next week and if this doc also thinks it's not worth pursuing...
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Stephanie

[aklap]

Hi Steph,

I've had my thyroid checked too. It seems most docs will only check the TSH. Evidently that does not give the whole picture. There are T3 & T4 tests...stuff that I haven't delved into much...but it might be worth looking at. Braintalk has gone into that at some levels. I believe a couple of the regulars there have thyroid issues.
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[skbird]

I think the thing that makes me wonder the most is the hair falling out. Every time I mention my hair falls out, people say "thyroid". But never the doc. Over the past three years I've had three or four episodes of hair falling out - usually happens when I change my diet. I'm annoyed to be in another phase of that. I have medium length hair, goes past my shoulder, but is THIN!!! so losing ANY of it is a bummer.

My nails have been breaking again, too. When I went low carb three years ago they suddenly, for the first time in my life, started growing out nice and thick. My mom is totally envious. I was actually getting annoyed because they were growing so fast and strong that I had to keep cutting them back. Now they are almost as bad as they were before three years ago - I figured it was the sugar/carb reduction, then I thought it was the gluten reduction. Now I'm back to thinking sugar/carb reduction - and I really don't want to go low carb on TOP of all my other food restrictions. This is making me nuts! (that emoticon REALLY doesn't look confused...)
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Stephanie

[nowakb]

Hi Steph! I'm with you on the hair thing. Years ago when I took inhaled steriods for asthma my hair started falling out and since my asthma wasn't bothering me I stopped taking it, which worked out, and my hair stopped falling out. Dr's of course insisted that the hair had nothing to do with the steriods...please!

Anyway, now I don't know why my hair is falling out, but it is 3 or 4 inches below my shoulder blades and I too have thin hair, so losing what I have is making it look bad. I'm thinking of cutting it shorter, but hubby is not happy with that! The rheumatologist told me that hair falling out is also a sign of Lupus, but I'm pretty sure (hoping) that isn't my problem!

How CAN this be so confusing?!?!? Just so long as I can still eat cheese and drink wine (sometimes)!

Becky

[skbird]

Yep, when mine fell out the first time I still had a good amount on my head (no bald spots) but it started growing back and I'd have all these 1 or 2 inch long hairs sticking out when I parted my hair. So I cut it short, like a bob. It had been the longest my hair had ever been (down to my bra strap on my back) so it wasn't easy. This time it's getting there and looks pretty good, minus the 50 or so hairs I pull out every morning in the shower and the plenty of others people pick off of my shirt and shoulders all day long. Don't ask what my office chair looks like, either.
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Stephanie

[nowakb]

Hi, I hope that everyone had a good weedend?

Just a quick update, I saw the rheumatologist Friday afternoon and she said that all of my bloodwork was negative (suprise!) except for an elevated level of anti-histone anitbody. Apparently this is most often seen in drug-induced Lupus which I am really unlikely to have since the only medication that I take regularly is Allegra! So, she said to wait another 2 months and then she would repeat the bloodwork to see if anything had changed. In the meantime, take ibuprofan and live with it (she didn't actually use those words, but that's all there is to do).

Have a good day!

Becky

[PatMinn]

Becky,

I have developed arthritus, too, but it is because of Sjogren's Syndrome, which is another 'side' of Celiac. Your opthomologist can diagnose it. It's a condition where your body attacks your fluid glands and drys up joints, eyes, mouth, etc.
Also watch out for Diabites 1 and hypothyroidism.
And the fun goes on and on........