Fibromyalgia shoud your diagnosis really be Celiac Disease?

[OZZ]

I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 11 years ago. I mostly just survived without medications other than Ibuprofen. My symptoms were the typical, tender points, fatigue, severe pain in my shoulder neck area. After the birth of my children I also noticed some IBS symptoms but attributed them mostly to aging and results from the births. In 2002 I started noticing increased symptoms and by 2003 I started on a downhill path of neurological problems and extreme muscle weakness and fatigue.

Finally someone directed me to the Celiac Forum. I never thought I had any food allergies so I really found it hard to think that I might have Celiac Disease. I was diagnosed by insisting I be tested only to be told by my former primary doctor, “I was just looking for a disease and that I needed to take prozac so I would gain 15 pounds”. I did not back down and made her test me. I had a positive diagnosis in 2005. I went gluten free immediately. It has taken 15 months and I am just starting to feel alive for the first time in years. Before brain talk crashed, there were many, many people that had an FMS diagnosis first.

Please, please take the time to get tested. It may just save your life as it did for me! I still have tender points, but the major fatigue has lifted and the neck shoulder pain is gone.

http://jccglutenfree.googlepages.com/fibromyalgiachronicfatiguesyndrome

Cara has put some great information together at the above site.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15361320&query_hl=13&itool=pubmed_docsum

: Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2004 Oct;8(5):364-8. Links
Fibromyalgia: the gastrointestinal link.
• Wallace DJ,
• Hallegua DS.
Cedars-Sinai/UCLA School of Medicine, 8737 Beverly Blvd., Suite 203, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA. dwallace@ucla.edu

Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) frequently have gastrointestinal symptoms and signs.

This article critically reviews the available literature and concludes the following: evidence that inflammatory bowel disease is associated with FM is contradictory, but should be looked for in patients taking concomitant steroids; patients diagnosed with celiac disease often have a history of FM or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) that may or may not be present; reflux, nonulcer dyspepsia, and noncardiac chest pain are common in FM patients; medications used to manage pain, inflammation, and gastrointestinal complaints confound the management of FM; and IBS affects smooth muscles and the parasympathetic nervous system, while FM patients have complaints of striated muscles and dysfunction of the sympathetic nervous system. Of those patients with FM, 30% to 70% have concurrent IBS. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is associated with hyperalgesia and IBS-like complaints, is common in FM, and responds transiently to antimicrobial therapy.
PMID: 15361320 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


This is the video link to the CBS special on Celiac Disease with Katie Couric.


http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2072234n

If you listen to the video, you will find that very few doctors are familiar with how common Celiac Disease….especially the older ones who were taught it was a rare disease, so you might have to insist on to being tested. Taking information to the doctor might help support your case.

There are many good articles found on the gluten file:

http://jccglutenfree.googlepages.com/home

This is the link to Gluten Senisitive/Celiac Disease which is just below the Fibromyalgia forum:

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=152

[hurtsobad73]

I found this very interesting, for I am dealing with this very subject right now. I have been going to a gastroenterologist for several months now. He has done several biopsies on me, thinking I have stomach cancer or possibly intestinal cancer. The lining of my stomach is so thin that when he does do a biopsy, I am in pain for a months afterwards, I can't hold any food down w/o taking a pill for stomach cramps and vomiting and besides I really have no apetite.

A coworker of my husbands mentioned celiac to him several weeks ago. I have been reading about it and have wondered if this could be my problem. The link you posted gave really good info. My son has ADHD as well as gastro problems and he has seen a doctor at Duke but they never really came up with a conclusion or dx for his gastro problems. I now bet the two are connected as was brought out in the information.

Thank you for posting

M

[Tootsie]

It is generally accepted that fibromyalgia is almost always secondary to some other condition and certainly gluten sensitivity could be one of them. There is a wonderful Gluten Forum here at B.T. that had all sorts of wonderful information and help in the old system. Many of those people no doubt will find their way back and be helpful if you ask. Cheerio.

[egcosen]

I had suffered from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, allergies, and GERD that came on very suddenly 3 years ago after a series of some unusual occurrences. Thought I was just dealing with a yeast infection, since they had found it growing in my esophagus when scoped. Tried many things, such as: co-enzyme 10, Sam-e, St. Johns Wort, and magnesium. Monitored my carb intake, performed yoga, exercise the best I could, and tried to get enough sleep. I felt like one of my congestive heart failure patients. Had accepted the disease and felt I must just deal with it the rest of my life. My mother also has it, but not as bad. Than I was suddenly introduced to this juice, for which I was not willing to buy. So the man gave us a bottle free. In 3 days my symptoms of all the above were gone. I still have some discomfort in my shoulders, but it is bearable. My mother who also has fibromyalgia, also has celiac disease. Please check out www.mymonavie.com/cosentino and read The Story and My Story from the website. Keep in touch. Elisia

[OZZ]

M (hurtsobad)

I am glad you found this info so helpful. I posted the link to the gluten sensitive/Celiac Disease forum...somehow, I left that out originally.

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=152

This is a great place with many helpful people.

My son has ADHD as well as gastro problems and he has seen a doctor at Duke but they never really came up with a conclusion or dx for his gastro problems. I now bet the two are connected as was brought out in the information.

I am sure that either Celiac Disease or Gluten Sensitive along with possible other food problems are related.

As my disease progressed, I kept feeling like I too had ADHD. I suddenly had so many brain problems which included most of the ADD/ADHD symptoms.

It has taken 15 months on the diet for me to finally feel better. I am not perfect yet but I am amazed at how fatigued and confused and unorganized I actually was.

What is really exciting is that my memory is coming back.

I recently had my daughter (she was dx in March) tested because I knew her long and short term memory were affected. Sure enough the psychologist could see the decline in my daughters tests which started exactly when her symptoms became the worst which was in 6th grade when her hormones kicked in. They found the info interesting because normally as you progress in high school, your grades improve yet with her above average IQ her grades were dropping even though she worked so hard. She is now a senior and has really struggled these last couple of years and I decided to have her tested and get an IEP to help her when she gets to college. I am hoping the memory will improve with time but if not, she needs to learn how to work with her deficit. She has always been great with doing her homework and writing questions on notecards but retaining the info has just gotten harder and harder each year since 6th grade.

I hope all parents of children with ADD, ADHD or just with learning problems will look at the Gluten Sensitive/Celiac Forum and try to find some help for their children.

[2silverwings]

I've been gluten-free for about 4 months now, HUGE impact on my brain-fog, small impact on my fatigue, and HUGE impact on my GI problems. Absolutely NO impact on my fibromyalgia, however.