Posts tagged as:

Gluten-free diet

Neurotransmitters & Psychiatric Medications: The Turkey Shoot Revisited

by Dr Charles Parker on November 7, 2009 · 13 comments

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You might miss this comment on an earlier post on celiac and gluten withdrawal - quite interesting question. The approach of Turkey Season serves as a great reminder for what-not-to-do with psychiatric medications and supplements, and how to consider withdrawal from gluten with neurotransmitters.

Peter asked:

I have been Gluten free for a 1 and a half weeks now and think I’m having withdrawal symptoms. A year and a half ago I had glandular fever, since when I haven’t fully recovered, suffering from, insomnia, anxiety, extreme fatigue after lunch (normally bread based) and digestive disturbances (bloating, flatulence, loose stools, etc…). So last week I started taking a Betaine HCL supplement and went gluten free.

Initially, I felt much better but after a couple of days I started to get really tired and depressed and anxious! I then had a better day then a worse one and then a better one again. Today I’ve got really tired and was a bit anxious but generally better than yesterday. My flatulence and loose stools have completely gone since going gluten free though I still see a large amount of undigested bits in the stools. What I would like to know is your thoughts on my self diagnosis and whether these symptoms sound ‘normal’. I’m hopeful that they will continue to clear up in the week to come. I’ve been taking many vitamins too and also am eating in excess of 8 fruit/veggies per day to speed it up.

My Reply With Some Neurotransmitter Details

Peter,
Sounds like you are doing well all around, and does sound like you might be experiencing gluten/opiate withdrawal. Also, well done on recognizing that you must ‘replace’ as much as ‘remove.’ Healing is a two step process with immune challenges.

The opiate sites with celiac will set the neurotransmitters off, as the immune system dysregulates a number of the neurotransmitters, both acutely with the gluten discontinuation, and over time with the overt depletion of amino acid precursors. Cytokines aggravate/dysregulate neurotransmitters If you don’t have neurotransmitters you will not only feel the pain, you simply won’t improve with SSRIs or other antidepressants.

Your recovery journey would be significantly supported and accelerated by precise measurement of exactly what you have on board, both excess and deficiency are possible – as stress over the years could have pushed up norepinephrine, epinephrine or your cortisol, & DHEA levels. On the other hand, you may have simply bottomed out on serotonin and the opiates would have kept you blissful, and somewhat up.

Over time with adrenal fatigue the neurotransmitters uniformly bottom out as does the cortisol. Listen to this Adrenal Fatigue podcast over at CorePsych Podcast for any easy review. We have many in-the-dirt, refractory folks who come in, almost in wheelchairs, with cortisol levels thru the day completely flat across all levels. They simply can’t get out of bed and everyone is mad at them for being lazy. And guess what, many of them suffer from gluten sensitivity.

Taking out the offending antigen has neurotransmitter, hormonal and direct cytokine consequences. The antigen removal will help with the healing, but very well may reveal the covered, underlying nutritional and neurotransmitter imbalances.

I am including all the links in this note for you to see the multiple possible consequences, not forming a conclusion. A simple interview would direct the informed practitioner to the correct testing and then would guide your team to the easiest intervention strategy with the fastest turn around.

Easy supplements for the inflammation would be to add Omega 3 Fatty acids, and Probiotics may be helpful in restoring bowel integrity – they are available as a Missouri Turkey Shoot – scattershot intervention without precise parameters. But why just throw supplements when you can be precise with the new technology?

Interesting how some on both sides of the functional/traditional fence just cookie cut the intervention strategies.

-Many comments on the gluten post over the years, just thought it might be of renewed interest with the Neurotransmitter perspective.

Celiac Disease: The Basics (slideshare.net)
Healthy Fats Are Needed For Your Well-Being (thebestrawfooddiet.com)

—>Tweet this post below! For ADHD Medications: Download complimentary white paper Precise Solutions now, – and get ready for the complete version of ‘The Patient’s Guide’ details to follow. Get Neurotransmitter Details Here

Tagged as: Amino acid, Gluten and casein sensitivity, Gluten-free diet, Immune system, leaky gut, neurotransmitters, Omega-3 fatty acid, opiate withdrawal, probiotics, Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, Special Diets

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Gluten/Celiac, Migraine, & ADD/ADHD Connections 1

by Dr Charles Parker on November 8, 2008 · 2 comments

Blood Vessels Diminished in Function Contribute to Migraines and to ADD.
- One cause for all these problems, often over-looked, is gluten sensitivity. I have posted many notes here on this topic, but with the last post at CorePsychBlog added the migraine interest. Celiac Disease, ‘CD’ in some of these abstracts, is end stage gluten sensitivity.

When we do SPECT imaging at CorePsych we measure rCBF – regional cerebral blood flow, and there you can see the brain vascular problems often associated with migraines on the SPECT image.

These are some additional reference links you will appreciate on migraine, blood flow and gluten sensitivity:

Hadjivassiliou M, Gibson A, Davies-Jones GA, et al. Does cryptic gluten sensitivity play a part in neurological illness?. Lancet 1996;347:369–71. “Our data suggest that gluten sensitivity is common in patients with neurological disease of unknown cause and may have aetiological [causal] significance.”
Hadjivassiliou et al. Headache and CNS white matter abnormalities associated with gluten sensitivity Neurology 2001; 56: 385-388 “The authors describe 10 patients with gluten sensitivity and abnormal
MRI. All experienced episodic headache, six had unsteadiness, and four
had gait ataxia. MRI abnormalities varied from confluent areas of high
signal throughout the white matter to foci of high signal scattered in
both hemispheres. Symptomatic response to gluten-free diet was seen in
nine patients.”
This excellent link at Celiac.com has several references on migraines including one regarding migraines in children.
This link will take you to several articles at Celiac.com that address the ADD/Gluten connection.
Mirza M, et al Interictal SPECT with Tc-99m HMPAO studies in migraine patients, Acta Neurol Belg. 1998 Jun;98(2):190-4. “The SPECT images revealed clear interhemispheric asymmetry in the upper frontal and occipital parts of the brain in migraineurs. It is suggested that an impaired regional cerebral vascular autoregulation may exist even during headache-free intervals in patients suffering from migraine.” [SPECT Imaging shows impaired vascular activity even when not having a migraine.]

I’ll have some more soon – interesting how migraine and ADD can similarly impaired problems with cerebral blood flow

Tagged as: ADD, ADHD, Celiac Disease, cerebral blood flow, Coeliac disease, Conditions and Diseases, Diseases & Conditions, Gluten-free diet, Headache, Health, Migraine, Neurological Disorders, Neurology

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Brain, ADD, Gluten Are Connected: Dr Tom O’Bryan’s Fall Lectures

November 7, 2008 Beyond ADHD

Dr Tom O’Bryan Discusses Immune Dysfunction and Brain Consequences – From Tom “I’m in the midst of my Fall seminar series on the Neurological and Musculoskeletal Complications of Gluten Sensitivity. As you know, and like you, I have a passion to get the word out about the impact of our food selections on the function of our bodies.”

0 comments Read the full article here →

Gluten Sensitivity Beacons: Head, Face and Teeth

October 7, 2007 Beyond ADHD

Brain function diminished by gluten sensitive enteropathy – considered on any level – requires a full appreciation of the obvious facial features that walk into our consulting rooms.

2 comments Read the full article here →

Why We Overlook Celiac and Gluten Sensitivity

August 13, 2007 Beyond ADHD

This is the first in a series of celiac and gluten sensitivity reports taken directly from an interesting series of posts by Dr Scot Lewey, a gastroenterologist who “gets it” with gluten sensitivity. and regularly reports on the downstream psych and neurological effects.

8 comments Read the full article here →