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Hello!
I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my question about
tremors/shakiness. I got many interesting responses and while there
does not seem to be any kind of "for sure" solution, I have several good
suggestions which I'll definitely try.
First of all, a lot of others wrote to say that they too had
experienced tremors. One person found that they got less frequent over
time on the GF diet, others said that they became worse or had other
conditions to which they could be linked.
Two of these conditions are hypothyroidism/thyroid disease and
chronic fatigue syndrome. I do have hypothyroidism (diagnosed,
strangely enough, the same summer that my hypoglycemia was discovered --
both early indicators of the CD, perhaps?) but am on medication for this
and my thyroid hormone levels have been steady for 3 years. It is
something I will monitor, however. I don't have chronic fatigue
syndrome, to my knowledge, but have heard that it may be related to CD
so maybe I do have some symptoms of it.
Interestingly, both high and low blood pressure could be the
culprits, so others who suffer from tremors may want to have this
checked ( my own is on the low end of normal so I think I'm ok). Also,
stress could be the cause -- which would be understandable because it
seems to be responsible for so many other physical problems for people.
Many people felt that I should reconsider that the tremors are
caused by low blood sugar. At first I didn't really consider this
because I'm well aware of the food combinations needed to maintain/raise
blood sugar levels (due to my hypoglycemia and my father's diabetes),
but I will try some of the suggestions. One person suggested a book "The
Low Blood Sugar Handbook", which sounds interesting. It seems to me
that since now I'm actually absorbing sugars/nutrients properly, my low
sugar reactions may have become more severe/noticeable or more
frequent. Just a guess...
A few people found that their shakiness was related to other food
allergies -- two mentionned were corn and fructose. One person also
recommended changing my diet to eat food containing no processed
materials. A couple of people thought it could be a gluten reaction,
after all.
The two ideas that I think I will try first, however, are keeping
track of my salt intake and trying magnesium supplements. Low salt
levels, one person wrote, could cause shakiness similar to low blood
sugar, and because I try to keep my diet low in sodium this could be the
cause. A few other people told me that Celiacs tend to deplete
magnesium supplies in the body faster than average, so supplements could
help.
I will try the supplements and increase my salt intake first, as
well as keep closer tabs on my blood sugar levels (when I go home over
Christmas I can borrow Dad's monitor and check them periodically) If
these don't work, I'll move on to eliminating certain foods from my diet
to see if it's an allergic reaction. Stress is also possible, at the
moment -- exams are just around the corner! I'll see if the tremors
continue while I'm being pampered at my parents' house :)
Many thanks to all who wrote. I really appreciate the suggestions
and will write back to let everyone if/when I find one that works for
me.
Lynne
Vancouver, BC, Canada
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