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I have been away on leave when the recent thread on a connection between
celiac and arthritis started so I apologise for the delay in adding some
anecdotal evidence until now.
 
I am relatively new to this list and this is my first posting here.  I
subscribed to this list, not because I think that I have celiac disease but
because after I was diagnosed as having rheumatoid arthritis, I read about a
connection between gluten and arthritis (can't remember where, I read so much).
Along with gluten, I eliminated other foods (listed below).  Surprisingly,
after a short period of time, my general health improved remarkably, my
arthritic symptoms disappeared and I felt so good that I decided to study each
group of foods I eliminated to determine what possible connection there could
be.  By the way, I am a lawyer not a scientist, so bear in mind that my reasons
for going to such an extreme in my personal research are because of a stubborn
streak, the desire to feel well again as well as the ascetic reason for not
wanting to have a disfiguring illness that could impair my daily functioning.
 
The more I have read about celiac disease, the more I am now beginning to think
that I have it as well (this probably sounds familiar in the sense that if you
read enough medical books, you will probably experience every illness that you
read) anyway, to cut a long story short, I have decided to be tested to see if
I do indeed have celiac disease so I have reintroduced gluten back into my
diet, for the purposes of having a test as well as to make my current holiday
plans more manageable.  With just the reintroduction of wheat and oats, my
arthritis has flared back to nearly its pre-elimination diet extreme so this
experiment has already shown me that wheat is not good for me whether or not I
have celiac disease.  My other problems such as gas and diarrhea have also
returned in full force, so to speak.  I doubt that this is a coincidence
particularly since I experienced these problems when I was on holidays.  By the
way, I had been diagnosed in the past as having irritable bowel syndrome,
again, a common misdiagnosis for celiac disease from what I have read.  There
are other things which have also led me to conclude that I have celiac disease
but I keep hoping I am wrong on this point hence the delay in being tested.
 
As well as gluten, I have also eliminated:
 
a) foods from the nightshade family:  tomatoes, potatoes (white), peppers,
eggplant - many of my favourite foods
 
b) dairy products
 
c) red meat
 
d) tea and coffee
 
When I eliminate all of these, my health is remarkable; the food I eat tends to
be boring if I don't adequately plan my meals in advance, but my health is
remarkable.  For what it's worth, in my mind, there is a connection between
gluten and arthritis.
 
Colleen
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