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Hello, list --

Two dozen people responded to my question about headaches and nails; four
addedd comments about hair:

Seven reported headaches that they trace to inadvertent gluten
One traced the symptom to soy
One more said "food intolerances, of which I have many."

Suggested treatments:

A book from Prevention Magazine advises apple juice because of its laxative
qualities (the gluten-related headache disappears when the offending
substance passes through the body). The respondent who supplied that tip
remembers hearing a speaker on a celiac cruise advise eating an apple when
you suspect gluten ingestion.

Two other people suggested fiorinal/butalbital (taken at the first sign of
a headache), Gatorade (to improve electrolyte balance), and occasionally
sudafed or an antihistamine.

One person wrote:
"My husband suggests that the nausea is from mucus from upset sinuses in an
allergic reaction, hence the occasional recourse to Sudafed or
antihistamines if the attack feels as though there might be a histamine
component."

Finger and toe nails:

Eleven people reported an array of defects in the nails -- ridges, white
spots, splits, peeling, warping - and said their nails got much better
nails after going gf. Evidently another list member brought this up some
months ago, at which time a number of people replied that they had seen
their nails improve.

Four people said their hair was falling out before going gf but is now
starting to grow.

Given the relatively small numbers (24 people of @ 2,000 list members is a
bit more than one per cent) reporting these symptoms, it seems reasonable
to conclude that if they are sometimes celiac related (personally, I think
so), they are pretty unusual symptoms. Even if ten times as many people
experience headaches or improved hair or nail growth as replied to my post,
those symptoms still fall in the "unusual" category. Always interesting,
though, and very helpful to know that others have noticed the same things
you have.

I have been told that there is no way to determine how long one has had
celiac; maybe those of us who had hair/nail weakness do have a way of
dating the beginning of absorption problems.

Thanks, everyone.

Mary Brown
NYC