<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Sorry I am late in providing this summary.

I heard from 15 people in response to my story about how my husband's 
various physical aches and pains improved when he went on a GF diet 
after our daughter was diagnosed as celiac in 2003.  These muscle 
pains, diagnosed as fibromyalgia by one doctor and also thought to be 
the result of various sports injuries since he was a child, were 
treated on a regular basis by an osteopath, who was regularly 
frustrated by how little difference her treatments could make.  In 
recent months, she remarked that since he went GF, the difference in 
his muscle tissue was "profound."  She said she thought that 
inflammation of the gut led to general inflammation of the muscle 
tissues.

I then gloated about how my badgering him to go gluten-free both in and 
outside of the house ("How can you continue to eat gluten containing 
foods when our poor daughter cannot?  How can we teach her to be 
gluten-free if we don't know how to do it ourselves?") improved  his 
health.  Actually, he is one of the nicest people in the world and 
married me because we see eye-to-eye on most subjects, so I didn't have 
to badger much.

Thanks to all who shared their experience and stories.

Six persons specifically said they had fibromyalgia and since going GF 
(and avoiding other foods that they are sensitive to), it has 
completely gone away.

One person suggested that my husband should be tested by Dr. Fine at 
http://www.enterolab.com for gluten sensitivity as well as celiac 
disease.

Three persons said they used to go to Chiropractors for muscle and 
joint pain and didn't need to go as often or at all after going GF.  
Three noted the same with massage therapists.  One person said the 
massage therapist could feel lumps in her muscles when she accidentally 
ingested gluten; another notices shoulder rigidity; while another said 
her muscles felt stuck together before going GF.

Related problems that improved on a GF diet:
(1) esophagael spasms in which one's throat would clamp up, very 
painful, brought tears to the eyes, etc.  Although it was self 
diagnosed, the person still had lung capacity to breathe, so it was not 
asthma. 
(2) bad posture and breathing problems.
(3) joint aches (although going GF doesn't completely cure arthritis).
(4) low muscle tone and coordination in a child with Down Syndrome.
(5) flexibility in hands and in body in general.

I also got two emails that I am including below - one about chronic 
fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia, and the impacts of gluten; and 
one about the role of the thyroid in causing muscle pain:

There are increasing anecdotal reports of people with fibromyalgia and
chronic fatigue syndrome doing much better on a gluten free diet.  I
have CFS and follow this issue closely.  My own view is that FMS and CFS
are either cryptic forms of celiac disease or celiac disease is a major
trigger for these disorders. In either case, something appears to be
going on immunologically in people with CFS and FMS that they do not
produce celiac-related IgA antibodies but do produce IgG antibodies.
Consequently, studies screening these folks for celiac disease produce
negative results (because they rely on IgA tests).  I do not think these
people are simply gluten intolerant.  The apppropriate study would be to
take a series of people with CFS and with FMS, do small intestinal
biopsies (by endoscopists  and pathologists who know what they are doing
regarding celiac disease).  If abnormalities are found, they should be
placed on a gf diet for a period of time, and then a second biopsy
should be done.  If the intestines have healed and symptoms improved,
then you have your proof the CFS and FMS are a form of celiac disease.

No one is going to fund such a study in the foreseeable future because
it would be a nightmare for the big drug companies; they would lose all
that money foisting antidepressants off on people with CFS and FMS.  The
drug people are engaged in a huge struggle to convince doctors, patients
and everyone else involved that CFS and FMS are purely psychiatric
disorders even when research they fund clearly demonstrates otherwise.

People with FMS and CFS usually have adequate total IgA.  Something else
is going on immunologically preventing the formation of IgA celiac
antibodies--in my opinion.  I have some ideas about this, but it would
take many paragraphs to explain.  I am sure you will get comments from
other people with FMS and CFS.

**************
I too was dx'd with fibromyagia nearly 15 years ago.  But, when I went 
GF 4 years ago, all my fibro pain vanished into thin air.  So I assumed 
that fibromyalgia was just undiagnosed celiac disease, at least in my 
case.  However, after a few years on the GF diet, I had to have my 
thyroid removed for thyroid cancer.  After it's removal all the muscle 
pain came back worse than ever.  It took me almost a year to get my 
thyroid dose adjusted just right.  When I finally found the right dose, 
  my muscle pain again melted away.  I've found that when my thyroid 
dose is either too low or too high, I seriously hurt all over with 
tight spastic muscles.  But when my dose is just right, I feel fine.

My theory about all this is, that before I went GF, my thyroid function 
was impaired from gluten sensitivity & that's what caused my muscle 
pain.  (Thyroid hormone is necessary for normal muscle function.)  
Removing gluten from my diet, allowed my thyroid to function normally.  
When my thyroid gland was removed, the old problems came back becasue 
my thyroid levels were out of whack again.  (It's not easy to find just 
the right dose.)

I've read many articles & books by doctors who insist that the root 
cause of many cases of fibromyalgia is thyroid dysfunction.  I believe 
it because I'm living proof.

*************
Have a happy new year!

Jackie in AZ

* Please remember some posters may be WHEAT-FREE, but not GLUTEN-FREE *