Celiacs Disease and Connection to Redness

[johny]

To start I should note that recently after years of redness, minor papules and (starting around 13 now 22) extreme flushing, i'm for the first time having some moderate relief.

My flushing although it still happens internally is not nearly as frequent and my face doesn't get as red used to get. For the past 3 or so months i've followed a strict Yeast Free Diet (theirs many out so get your info from more than one source). In general, my skin was getting better and my energy levels were often through the roof smile:. Thing was, some days I would end up feeling tired in the afternoon and my skin would look crappy (redder). I didn't think much of it b/c my skin is so random and reactive it's incredibly hard for me to find the exact thing that causes the problem unless it slaps me in the face.

Anyways, after looking back on it, I realized that whenever I consumed gluten I would relapse. IE. i would be tired and my skin would look like shit the next day. Examples: I had imitation crab (has gluten) in sushi one night and the next day I had diarrhea and felt tired. I also probably had more redness. When i ate wholewheat products for a few days I remember feeling tired again and thought that I had a reaction to carbs. I recently had two breakfast burritos at Mcdonalds and once again had diarrhea and felt shitty/red.

So in general whenever i eat gluten, I get diarrhea, feel extremely tired, and have more facial redness/flushing intensity. My face is also waaay less swollen than it was 3 months ago. Also I lost 2" off my waist from bloating. I didn't lose any bodyweight though, which follows the 'failure to thrive' thingy.

I've been to so many doctors in the past number of years but b/c i've had so many things wrong with me it was hard for me to express them all without being looked at as a 'whiner'. 3 months ago I didn't realize that someone could crap such thick craps. I now know that my bowel movements were more like diarrhea craps (even though I didn't have extreme sudden rushes to use the bathroom). I also could sleep no joke 13 hours a night on the weekends and would average 11 hours of sleep a day (I took naps after school or work all the time). Even though I could still compete in sports (adrenaline/drive), recently my energy is so high that I when I play sports I don't even get tired.

I'm still undiagnosed. I've read that i would have to eat gluten for 2 weeks before i could get an accurate diagnosis from a bloodtest so i'm holding off right now. (I'm currently working and going to school and in the public eye to much to put myself through the side effects from eating gluten. I plan on getting tested in 2 months).

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to share and explain in moderate depth my situation. This is an article that you guys might find interesting. (I still have rosacea to an extent, i know that. My pops has it. For me my nose is now the reddest part on my face. Three months ago that wasn't the case. My nose hasn't gotten redder just the rest of my face whiter). This is an article that you guys might find interesting.

http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2007/05/do-you-have-celiac-disease.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease

[johny]

No one? Really? Wow. I have to say that I been without gluten for about 8 days now and they've been the best days of my life in about 10 years. My seb derm is fading, my eyes aren't as dry, my energy is off the charts, my facial swelling is gone, my exercise flushing has been greatly reduced, and if not for a sunburn on the weekend my skin looks great!

97% of people with Celiac's Disease are NOT DIAGNOSED! After feeling sick for years and having a whole array of issues, I am finally getting relief from most of my problems. It's unreal. I went back to an old job recently and people can't believe that it's me (my face looks skinny and less red).

I am still not officially diagnosed but i'm 99% sure I have Celiac's Disease. Like most people with Celiac's I found it out on my own. Goddamn doctors are horribly overlooking this disease, why I have no idea.

I'm a social machine now. Lol, my family don't even recognize me as the same person. I have a sense of humor again, and am talking all day long to anyone and everyone. I haven't stopped moving for about a week. Always on the go living and enjoying life.

[johny]

THIS THREAD SHOULD BE STICKIED

I'm a real person and this is a real success story. In a month with this rate of improvement in my skin, eyes, energy levels, etc. I probably won't be on this board ever again. The women and me seem to be clicking (flirting) and i'm not even attempting to pick any of them up. My social phobia (flushing, self-conscious) is gone and my exercise induced flushing/swelling is greatly reduced.

CELIAC'S DISEASE I BELIEVE COULD BE A HUGE CAUSE OF MANY PEOPLE'S ROSACEA/SEB DERM/SKIN PROBLEMS IN GENERAL, ALONG WITH THEIR GENERAL HEALTHINESS.

My immune system has dumped all the garbage gluten in my stools (diarrhea in mornings) and i'm going to feed it properly and hope I didn't do any harmful permanent damage eating gluten for so long. I love life and myself even more.

Cheers smile:

pm me if you want more info

[allibear]

Dear Johny,

I am glad you have seen improvement in your skin by not eating gluten. Many different foods seem to cause problems for so many different people.

There is a difference between a true food alergy, ie celiac disese and an intolerence to a food, ie your own particular digestive system dosen't handle it very well. I too saw improvements not eating gluten for a while but then started to developed other abdominal symptoms when I changed my diet for the sake of my skin. I had biopsy tests done via endoscopy and blood tests for celiac disease and I am not even remotely elevated in any of the results.

Two big symptoms of celiac disease, apart from feeling unwell are weight loss due to malabsorption and chronic diarrhea, the latter symptom you should see improvement in if you stop eating gluten.

I have been very ill since recent surgery and waking up in the middle of the night with abdominal pain and all over body itching, which is always worst on my face and head, maybe because the skin is thinner there, I don't really know, that I have had to take a cool bath to relieve it and eat something. Interesting that at its worst a few weeks back I spent 2 days eating nothing but gluten in the form of white bread and mashed bananas with milk and my stomach stopped complainng, nearly, I stopped itching and my face almost looked normal for a few days. But I continue to keep losing weight and can't eat that way forever and am now only eating a very bland diet at best with a doubled up dose of antacid medication and now antihistamines until the Doctor can get me a referal back to the Surgeon.

Interesting that it is fruit and vegetables I am having the biggest problem with, after thinking they where so good for me and my skin. Whatever my system doesn't like it is doubly reacting to at the moment probably because my sysytem is still healing from the surgery. If I touch an apple I am destined for extreme pain and a bath in the middle of the nightCry: The closer I stick to just eating white carbs as my basis including bread, plain biscuits and scones, the better it gets all round, pain and skin, which is quite nice in a way because I love scones.

If you feel you actually have celiac disese go to the doctors and get tested as it does require a huge lifetime diet change and being left untreated is a potentially killer disease a world apart from just having an intolerence to a food.

[johny]

Yeah, I know all about Celiacs. I've already read an entire book on it. Have various printouts from a bunch of websites along with a couple of good pocket sized handbooks. I have the three major symptoms and a ton more that are listed as often occurring in people with Celiacs (again pm me). I could have kept writing about my entire situation in more detail but I tried to keep it more concise.

Eating this way is in no way boring. If you have good taste buds the opportunities are endless. People are way too simple in their food intake and don't like to experiment with new foods. I eat food from all different cultures and love them all. Sure I don't get to eat tasty breads but at this point in time I could care less. The truth is most North Americans eat garbage. Most don't eat whole foods but rather foods that have added fats, sugars, and sodium. That is no way to enjoy food imo.

I live in Vancouver (atm 3 days a week) which has a plethora of health food stores that offer gluten free alternatives anyway. The myth that having a gluten intolerance (in my case Celiacs) takes away from your diet imo is completely wrong. I was on the yeast free diet for about 3 months and now this diet is like a walk in the park comparatively. I've learned so much about nutrition and food it's ridiculous. As for no bread, I for one enjoy a warm breakfast grain cereal (quinoa, armarath, buckwheat, millet, etc). If you have Celiac's disease you should know within a week of doing a gluten free diet (by the energy you have, and many other things) or obviously by getting a proper diagnosis.

Please don't question whether I have Celiacs or not. That's not the point of this thread. I want to help other people not have people questioning me. I'm an intelligent human being and am undeniably certain I have this disease and I believe other people with Rosacea like skin issues may have it as well. My guess would be that the younger people with these types of skin issues would have a higher chance of being Celiacs.

I should note my skin is not oily at all anymore. Also for the first time in years i can wear contacts without extreme irritation throughout the day.

I fear negative and dismissive responses. I'm not writing this for my own help but am writing it in the hope that someone out their who was suffering like me (fatigue, red face, swollen face, chronic diarrhea, bloating, seb derm, oiliness, multiple broken bones, nausea, etc.)

Like I said before, if you compared a photograph of me from 2 weeks ago to today you would be extremely shocked. The best part is that I feel even better (healthier, energetic) on the inside.

I'm going to leave this thread for a couple of weeks and post an update then.

[queta]

Thanks for posting about this topic. Avoiding gluten makes a huge difference in my skin and overall health. I've had the screening test for celiac and tested negative, but for some reason avoiding gluten seems to help me a lot. I know what you mean about getting negative comments; last week I posted something to help others and someone took one line from my post and questioned it (and that was the first response I got.) It really irritated me because my reason for posting was to help others, not be criticized. The person did apologize later, but at the time I found it really upsetting-it was hard for me to be civil in my response back to him. Anyway, thanks for posting. You've renewed my gluten free quest. I had fallen off a little as of late (eating deli ham that may have gluten) and went back a little in my progress. Your post helped me remember why I stay away from gluten.
Cheers,
Queta

[allibear]

Please don't question whether I have Celiacs or not.

Sorry you have taken such offence as that was not the intention. I am not questioning whether you have or do not have the disease but to keep an open mind until you get tested. I never suspected it for myself in a million years, cranky digestion yes, but not an actual disease, but I also displayed the symptoms and it was the gastro. Dr. that did the biopsy while they where in there looking for something else, I was actually a bit shocked afterwards when I heard they where testing for it.

I too have done the yeast free diet and agree that it doesn't have to be boring. The good thing about removing gluten from the diet is that you effectively remove the majority of the processed food chain, which I think a lot of people will agree is not the best way to eat for overall health even though it is the most convenient and often the most cost effective way to eat for our fast paced lifestyles.

Good luck with the tests and fingers crossed for you.

[MasK]

It could be related to intestinal permeability (maybe!).
So avoiding gluten can be a good thing as it promotes inflammation.
Just google on intestinal permeability, relation between fungus (candida), bacterial overgrowth, especially if you have taken antibiotics during a long period, antiacids, surgery...
I'm also avoiding gluten, and it makes a big difference.
The most important improvement I noticed is since I'm taking L-glutamine (healing the "leaky gut" syndrome) : no more flushes induced by food, and most of the other symptoms (eczema, runny nose, dry and red eyes, eczema on the scalp, ...) are improving too.
But I don't have an allergy to gluten. A french doctor, Jean Seignalet, has made a diet that heals a lot of modern diseases without drugs, and he explains the problem with the gluten, refined foods, and others. Just look for this on google, I'm sure there are translations to english. It's pretty interesting.
Once again, your food is your first medecine, as Hippocrat said (altough he did not say like that but my eng is not good enough lol).

[ctznkane]

Thanks for posting, I think I may be in the same boat (ahoy!) as i just researched Celiac's Disease and the symptoms seem to ring true. This is backed up by the fact I went to a party last night and my skin was great all night until i started tucking into....
THE FINGER FOOD. I'm going to try a gluten-free diet and if it works. If it does I'll send you some flowers in the post. Or anthrax, choice is yours .carrot:

[ewist]

To start I should note that recently after years of redness, minor papules and (starting around 13 now 22) extreme flushing, i'm for the first time having some moderate relief.

My flushing although it still happens internally is not nearly as frequent and my face doesn't get as red used to get. For the past 3 or so months i've followed a strict Yeast Free Diet (theirs many out so get your info from more than one source). In general, my skin was getting better and my energy levels were often through the roof smile:. Thing was, some days I would end up feeling tired in the afternoon and my skin would look crappy (redder). I didn't think much of it b/c my skin is so random and reactive it's incredibly hard for me to find the exact thing that causes the problem unless it slaps me in the face.

Anyways, after looking back on it, I realized that whenever I consumed gluten I would relapse. IE. i would be tired and my skin would look like shit the next day. Examples: I had imitation crab (has gluten) in sushi one night and the next day I had diarrhea and felt tired. I also probably had more redness. When i ate wholewheat products for a few days I remember feeling tired again and thought that I had a reaction to carbs. I recently had two breakfast burritos at Mcdonalds and once again had diarrhea and felt shitty/red.

So in general whenever i eat gluten, I get diarrhea, feel extremely tired, and have more facial redness/flushing intensity. My face is also waaay less swollen than it was 3 months ago. Also I lost 2" off my waist from bloating. I didn't lose any bodyweight though, which follows the 'failure to thrive' thingy.

I've been to so many doctors in the past number of years but b/c i've had so many things wrong with me it was hard for me to express them all without being looked at as a 'whiner'. 3 months ago I didn't realize that someone could crap such thick craps. I now know that my bowel movements were more like diarrhea craps (even though I didn't have extreme sudden rushes to use the bathroom). I also could sleep no joke 13 hours a night on the weekends and would average 11 hours of sleep a day (I took naps after school or work all the time). Even though I could still compete in sports (adrenaline/drive), recently my energy is so high that I when I play sports I don't even get tired.

I'm still undiagnosed. I've read that i would have to eat gluten for 2 weeks before i could get an accurate diagnosis from a bloodtest so i'm holding off right now. (I'm currently working and going to school and in the public eye to much to put myself through the side effects from eating gluten. I plan on getting tested in 2 months).

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to share and explain in moderate depth my situation. This is an article that you guys might find interesting. (I still have rosacea to an extent, i know that. My pops has it. For me my nose is now the reddest part on my face. Three months ago that wasn't the case. My nose hasn't gotten redder just the rest of my face whiter). This is an article that you guys might find interesting.

http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2007/05/do-you-have-celiac-disease.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease

Would you happen to have any before/after pics? I am wondering just so I can get a better idea of what your rosacea looks like. I am thinking about trying this out, but I will have to wait a while (Sumemr just started and I don't want to give up beer just yet :P) - great to hear this worked for you!