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Dear Listmates,

Here is the summary regarding panic attacks following
gluten/other allergen intake. Apologies for the delay!


Here is my original question: Is gluten/other allergen intake
related to panic attacks and what form does it take in terms of
time of onset etc? I included 'and other allergens' in this
question because in my prior question about allergic responses in
addition to gluten, there seem to be a lot of us dealing with
these additional difficulties that are be exacerbated by gluten
intolerance/intake (see separate summary to come on this topic).

This was my experience/description of my attacks:

I have noticed recently that after a lengthy time of being GF, I
am getting severe panic attacks, sometimes accompanied by vivid
dreams, that strike about 3 hours after I go to sleep (possibly
coincidental with REM sleep).


List Responses:


-You're absolutely on target.  I get them too.  I looked at every
alternative and couldn't figure it out.  Then I heard of reactive
hypoglycemia.  I realized that by trying to eat as a good Celiac,
I was very heavy into the other carbo grains (rice, etc.) as well
as fruits and juices.  All very non fat too.  I got my first
attacks about 2-3 AM like you, but only on occasion. Then I
started getting them regularly about 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM.  I
bounced that off my meal schedule and realized I was getting this
about 1  hours after eating...but never in the evening after
eating a bigger meal which usually included the only protein
and/or fats of the day.  I was drinking a big glass of orange
juice for breakfast, non-fat rice milk and friut and rice
crackers.  All sugar and carbs and no fat or fiber.  In essence I
was giving myself a glucose tolerance test twice a day which
drove my blood sugar way up and then I got the panic attacks when
it crashed afterwards.  I shifted from no fat rice milk to low
fat soy milk and from rice crackers or cookies to dry roasted soy
beans and nuts.  This shifting to a higher protein and slightly
higher fat (good fats) diet worked like a charm.  Whole fruits
over juices as the body has to work much harder to digest them
and any sugar is much slower getting to the blood.  This is not
exactly the paleolithic diet you hear about, but it is closer to
it.  It turns out that protein and fat are wonderful metabolic
regulators.  I still drink my orange juice (with calcium), but I
sip it at work all day instead of gulping it...and only after
solid food, not on an empty stomach.  I discovered this at the
library reading up on the hormones that the body produces in
response to sugar variations and some of them are panic-inducing
ones. You're body is sure it's starving and wants to alert you.
Check reactive hypoglycemia on a search engine on the web.
There's a ton on this.  My day attacks are essentially gone and
my night ones are all gone.  Hope this helps.



-I have experianced this also and thought I was a little off my
rocker. Its nice to see that we are all strang in ouur own way
:-) I stopped using these products that you mention and still
drink the coffee :-) and I am not experiancing this nightly
problem anymore. DONT WORRY , YOU'RE " NORMAL"     :-)



-I began having bona fide panic attacks around the same time I
began reacting to gluten. At the time, I thought the whole bit
was due to situational stress, overwork, not enough sleep, too
much coffee, etc. And, while all those elements were (are) part
of my life, the symptoms and panic attacks stopped when I went
gluten free. My son has had celiac for 7.5 years, so I knew
pretty well how to eat gf. What I learned, though, was that I
reacted to some foods he had been eating. Mostly things we
shouldn't have been eating anyway, flavored chips and the like,
but also chocolate. I have found I react to almost any chocolate
except Callebaut. Funny thing is that my blood work was only
slightly positive for IgG and negative for IgA and endomysial
antibodies. The biopsy I talked my way into was completely
normal. However, I definitely have celiac-like symptoms
whenever I ingest the smallest amount of gluten. The idea of a
bite of old-fashioned bread is scary. The thing I notice first is
a panicky, trapped feeling, and I start expecting something
really catastrophic to happen. This can get so bad that I feel
suicidal. Totally irrational. Then my head gets fuzzy, I get
confused, my hands itch, my guts begin to get jumpy, my legs get
jumpy and it feels like little knives in my stomach. I also have
vivid, disturbing dreams. Very strange, unusually surreal ones.
My dream life is normally active, but not normally so vivid and
surreal. I figure that if I were to continue to eat a high-gluten
diet, I would develop the damage of celiac before too long. As it
is, I am diagnosed as not having celiac. But I have absolutely no
interest in eating gluten. By the way, the other symptom that
went away with gf living was trouble getting to sleep and staying
asleep. I had begun taking medication to get to sleep, and it had
a component to prevent panic attacks. It worked farily well,
but now that I'm gf, I don't need it anymore. (Unfortunately, the
stress level has not gone down, but I feel much calmer in spite
of it. I sleep pretty well, and generally feel much more stable.)
(reference to "is this Your Child" book by Dr.Rapp for symptoms).


-I was a walking basket of anxiety, completely paralyzed and even
semi-suicidal with anxiety until I went gluten free.  Now I get
occasional touches of it, which I am able to control mentally,
only if I am under extreme stress from especially troublesome
personal "trigger" problems. And, yes, when I accidently eat
gluten, there is an element of grim foreboding that could pass
for anxiety in my terrible up and down moodswings that continue
for two weeks after the ingestion. Back when I ate gluten I had
recurring nightmares of a particularly brilliantly-colored and
strong-emotioned type, such as turning on a wall switch and
having the whole room blow up in my face, thinking I can fly
but then falling and smashing up instead -- several times a
night.  That phenomenon went away fairly quickly and does not
recur unless I ingest gluten. I am not diagnosed, and I do not
know the actual cause of my horrible, life-threatening reactions
(these and others) to gluten. And there are people out there who
actually want to resume eating a "safe" level of gluten?


-I found your post interesting.  I too have wondered if others
out there also experienced panic attacks after going GF.  I have
been GF for 1 year now and have had 2 serious panic attacks which
I could not "talk" myself through.  I never had them before GF.
I did not associate the attacks with accidental ingestion of
gluten, but who knows!  This is a great post and I am looking
forward to your summary.


-You might be getting hungry during the night.  I had a lot of
trouble with what you describe before going gluten-free, and
usually only have a problem now, if I fail to eat enough during
the day.  It may be a low blood-sugar problem, followed by your
body's response to rev itself back up quickly. I get what I call
allergy attacks, not panic attacks, shortly after eating an
allergenic food, like milk, eggs, etc., which includes rapid
heart rate, quicker breath rate, but it is not the same as the
night-time feeling.


-I'm not entirely sure what you mean by panic attacks, but I'll
tell you what I've experienced. Maybe that will sound familiar.
I used to think it was "all in my head" and, unfortunately, there
were people around me who encouraged that notion. I'd feel
nauseaous and as though I were shaking inside. I felt poisoned
almost. And I did want to run away mostly because I was afraid I
would start to feel even worse. I suffered through many meetings,
concerts, etc. Oddly enough, though, if I left or skipped the
meeting or whatever, I didn't feel better. Sometimes
sleeping for even 20 minutes would help. I'd definitely recommend
removing all vinegar and mayo from your diet. Yes,
it's hard. Really hard, actually! But if you just tell yourself
you only have to do it for a month (which is the shortest I'd
recommend) then it makes it bearable. I finally did it and
started to feel alive and healthy for the first time in years.

*(note: this last comment was related to a remark I had made that
vinegar and corn may be allergens for myself)


Thanks to everyone who replied in such detail!
Lissy

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