Back Pain

 

I used to suffer from a lot of back and other joint pains. At 55, I was diagnosed as a coeliac and went on a gluten-free diet. Most of the pains went. This is not uncommon according to some local specialists.

Scarlet Fever?

 

I was talking with friends today and I happened to mention that at the age of about seven or so, I had scarlet fever. The curiosity was that my doctor couldn’t find another case of the disease anywhere in London, one Egerton White, at the time and I certainly didn’t give it to anyone. I can remember not feeling that unwell and I was isolated in my bedroom for about six weeks. Over the years my mother became convinced that I hadn’t had the disease, but do you think it was some weird coeliac symptom making its presence felt.

Unfortunately, my medical records for that time are lost. I should say that at times, I do get very warm and at others my body refuses to warm up when I’m playing tennis, when it’s cold. I also find that I react fairly strongly to caffeine and restrict my intake.

Cholesterol

 

My cholesterol has been diagnosed as a bit high, but I don’t think I eat too much that is supposed to be high in cholesterol. I eat a lot of meat, fish and two veg, not much bread, fruit, not too much cake or biscuits etc.

Does any other coeliac suffer?

The Coeliac Scam

 

Someone pointed this blog entry out on the Internet.

There are two things in the original article that are wrong; most coeliacs don't get free prescriptions and nearly all of the GF stuff you can get on prescription is not worth eating.

I don't think I'd want to be his patient.

Bad Back Britain

 

Going to a physiotherapist directly may be a good idea, but I’d like to add a word of caution.

Until I was fifty-three I suffered from all sorts of joint and back pain. Nothing serious, but annoying. I was then diagnosed as a coeliac and all of those pains disappeared in a couple of weeks after going on a strict gluten-free diet. Seven years on I’m fit and well with no pain.

Statistics show that one in a hundred of those in the UK are coeliacs. So is that back pain caused by the injury or diet?

Coeliac Symptoms

 

I have a list of 31 symptoms that people have suffered from.

Abdominal Distension in Children - *
Amenorrhea – Absence of menstrual periods in a woman
Bone and Joint Pain, and Arthritis - *
Constipation - *
Dandruff - *
Depression – Generally mild, but not always - *
Dermatitis Herpetiformis – A serious skin disorder
Dry Skin - *
Failure to Thrive in Children - *
Feelings of Inadequacy - *
Gait Ataxia/Apraxia
Gallstones - *
Gum Disease - *
Gut Problems – Abdominal pain, bloat, diarrhoea and wind - *
Heartburn
Inability to Lose and Gain Weight - *
Infertility and Recurrent Miscarriage
Itchy Scalp - *
Lactose Intolerance - *
Lightheadness and Fainting - *
Low B12 and Folate Levels – Leading to anaemia - *
Migraine or Persistent Headaches - *
Mood Swings - *
Mouth Ulcers
Muscle Weakness
Osteoporosis
Sinus Problems - *
Sleep Disturbance
Small Stature - *
Thyroid Problems
Tinnitus

The ones with asterisks I used to suffer from to a certain extent. Mostly gone now.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

 

I moderate a list for coeliacs in the UK. We have had people on the list who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for many years and in later life they have been diagnosed as coeliacs. Guess what? The arthritis has gone or seriously diminished. I, myself, I used to suffer from joint pains, but since diagnosis in 2003 they have gone.

In this area, there is an arthritis specialist, who now checks all his patients for coeliac disease.

Gluten Sensitivity: a Many Headed Hydra

 

This article appeared in the BMJ.

It's a good article.

My worst symptom was chronic dandruff, but my hairdresser didn’t realise there was a link until it suddenly went when I went Gluten free. It disappeared in perhaps four or five weeks.

He now looks at all his clients differently.

Gluten Sensitivity: a Many Headed Hydra

 

This article appeared in the BMJ.

It's a good article.

My worst symptom was chronic dandruff, but my hairdresser didn’t realise there was a link until it suddenly went when I went Gluten free. It disappeared in perhaps four or five weeks.

He now looks at all his clients differently.

Nail Biting

 

This news story is about a cure for nail biting.

Funny, but I stopped biting mine after over 50 years, when I went on a gluten-free diet.

B12 Effects

 

I had my B12 injection yesterday and this morning I played real tennis for two hours. I played a lot better than normal and won both matches I played easily. Note that as real tennis is all on handicap, on average I should have lost one and won one.

Has anybody else noted improvements in health and fitness just after an injection or is it just coincidence?

Jean Van de Velde

 

He is reputed to have gastric problems and joint pains.

Coeliac?

Another Possible Cause of Coeliac Disease

 

Scientists at Queen Mary College in London, led by Professor van Heel, have discovered that if you have bad genes that control inflammation, then you are more likely to get coeliac disease.

Sounds interesting.

Coeliac Ignorance

 

We had a bad day yesterday in that my wife, Celia, went to hospital with a bad pain in her shoulder. It was so severe that she had to miss Court for the first time through illness in all her thirty or so years at the Bar.

Anyway they found her irregular heartbeat, which was described as a medical curiosity by a cardiac consultant in Liverpool, when she had our first childe nearly forty years ago. We spent the whole day in the hospital, whilst they did tests and in the end proved that she is fit and well. But they didn’t do anything for the shoulder.

The point is that the doctor, who saw Celia was on crutches and had serious arthritis. She asked if Celia was on a diet and she said because I was a coeliac, she was on a virtually gluten-free one. I then said have you tried that for your condition. She had no idea that it might help and when I told her that a consultant at Bury St. Edmunds recommended it to his patients, she was very surprised.

How much training do doctors have in the interrelationships between diseases?

Cramp

 

I had a bad attack of cramp over the weekend. I've always suffered and is this a symptom of coeliac disease?

On the other hand, my wife who never suffers from it, had cramp today in her feet. Her fitness instructor said it was the hot weather and she wasn't eating enough salt to replace what she looses through exercise.

Any ideas?

Aspergers, Autism and Diet

 

Discussion on the radio this morning is about a boy of 10, who suffers from Aspergers and has been given an ASBO for a whole string of problems.

I am a coeliac, which means I'm allergic to the gluten found in wheat, barley and rye.

It may seem strange, but there has been a lot of work done, which shows that a gluten-free diet can help disruptive children.

So don't overlook diet in the solving of the problems of disruptive children and adults.

Coeliac Disease and Back Pain

 

I'm having building work done at the moment and I was talking to their project manager and he was telling me about his wife's severe back pain, which was brought on by childbirth about twenty years ago. About a year ago, she got a new consultant, who suggested that she go on a gluten-free diet and see if things improved.

They have got a lot better.

Interesting that the orthopaedic consultant should recommend such as action.

Nailbiting

 

I bit my nails for over fifty years. Then I was diagnosed as a coeliac. I have now stopped, since I've been on a gluten free diet.

Boots and Medicines

 

I've been trying to get rid of a cough/cold for the last week or so.

Yesterday, I went into Boots in Newmarket and asked if they had a list of GF cough mixtures. They didn't. I also asked a pharmacist friend and she didn't know of a list.

So a nasty letter is going off to Boots today.

Breathlessness and the Sun

 

Before I went on holiday, I was getting increasingly breathless, if I did some exercise. After a week in the sun, that has all gone.

I don't think that's a coeliac thing, but I suppose it's linked to something like vitamin D.

Epilepsy

 

I was at a barbecue today with a reasonably famous sportsman, who has been told he can't compete as he suffered what looked like an epilepsy attack. On talking to him, I found out that his mother is a coeliac.

Is there a connection?

Gallstones

 

I was interested to see that gallstones were mentioned in a survey on the UK-Coeliac Yahoo Group.

About two years ago, I had two very bad chest pains, which were then determined as gallstones by ultrasound. Surgery was recommended, but I am a coward.

But it was about the time I was diagnosed as a coeliac and obviously since then I’ve been on a gluten-free diet. I’ve not had any problem since.

Whether this is coincidence or not, I think it’s best that I hang on, especially as I don’t have any pain. From what I read, there should be some non-surgical method in the next few years. Hopefully!

Joint Pain and Stiffness

 

About ten years, I started to wake up in the morning getting stiffer and stiffer, with pains in my joints. I was also very inflexible and needed at least an hour to get myself into gear.

Since then I’ve been diagnosed as a coeliac and have been gluten-free for about two years.

I no longer have the morning stiffness. I particularly noticed it this morning when I got up at four and drove a lorry down to Hampshire immediately. I couldn’t have done that five years ago. I’d have had to have two cups of tea and an hour doing something before I could drive something heavy.

Migraines

 

I have noticed that I no longer seem to get any migraines.

Not that I got many, but I did get slight headaches, blurred vision and flashing lights in front of my eyes. Often these were brought on by pin point lights in the ceiling.

I reported this on the UK-Coeliac Yahoo Group and have had several people report a similar reduction in migraines after going gluten free.

Lost Symptoms

 

I was diagnosed with coeliac disease at 55 or so and the symptoms I’ve lost are as follows.

1. Bad skin – much better now
2. Mild depression
3. Tiredness
4. Wind
5. Occasional migraines
6. The runs
7. Dandruff
8. Aching Joints

Last week my tennis (real) was rubbish. I missed about half my volleys. I had my B12 injection on Tuesday and today I played a lot better. But I was able to follow the ball better and only missed a couple of volleys.

I’ve noticed this before and you wouldn’t think that lack of B12 would make so much difference to hand-eye coordination. So tennis is one thing, but just think how it must affect all the other things we do, where quick visual control is needed.

Paint Allergy

 

When I was a undiagnosed coeliac child, I was suffering badly and one of the things the doctor said was that I was allergic to the lead paint then common in houses. So my father burnt it all off and replaced it with the new lead-free paints. Whether it made any difference, I can’t remember, but it was probably at the time, I grew out of the worst effects of the disease.

However, we’ve just had the kitchen painted and for the last few days, I’ve been suffering again.

Does anybody else suffer from fresh paint?

Curious Heart Behaviour

 

I’m 58 in a few days time and was diagnosed as a coeliac about two years ago. Since then I’ve been on a pretty strict gluten-free diet.

As I’ve obviously got fitter, which I know from the fact that my real tennis handicap has improved, I’ve started to develop the odd heart flutter. Often it is caused by an adrenalin rush, like when I was breathalysed a few weeks ago. (I was well negative!)

Could it be that now I’ve got all the proper vitamins and other stuff going round my body, I’m reacting normally as most people do, but not as I’ve done, as I’d always been controlling in a different regime?

I’ve been to the doctor about it and he reckons it’s caffeine, as my blood pressure and heartbeat are normal.

Seasickness

 

For the last twenty years or so, I’ve suffered quite badly with seasickness in smallish boats.

On holiday, for the first time since diagnosis, I went out on a 16 metre yacht. I didn’t have a problem at all. The sixty-year-old Greek who owned the boat, reckoned that many are seasick on empty stomachs, so perhaps the fact that I now have a calm gut helped.

Coeliacs and Grey Hair

 

I’m nearly 58, was diagnosed at 55 and don’t have any grey. Neither does my wife of 56.

It’s just genes really!

On the other hand since diagnosis, I’ve lost all my dandruff and dry skin!

Autism and Childhood Diseases

 

I play real tennis with one of the world’s experts on vaccination. I asked him why we have all this increase in autism and other diseases in children.

He said you can’t rule out the fact that if in the US, you get your child classified as special needs, then you get extra money spent on their schooling. 25% of children are special needs in the US!

Incidentally, he is also someone who is deaf in one ear due to childhood measles. So have that MMR!

Neurological Problems and Coeliac Disease

 

As a child I had some very odd incidents. I can remember swirling around and being made to lie down by my mother. I grew out of them but as I got to about forty bright pin-point lights could give me a migraine like headache. Then at fifty I started to get rather depressed when there was no reason at all.

A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed as low in B12 and to cut a long story short, Addenbrokes said I was a coeliac and I went on a gluten-free diet.

Since, I have not had any neurological problems. Except once just after Christmas when a sauce in a restaurant was made with flour! The moral there is don’t trust the waiter, even if she is the owner of the restaurant! She’d changed the chef and he changed the recipe from cornflour to wheat flour!

Life is Grand

 

Perhaps for some!

On Thursday at about 5 I spoke to and made an appointment to see a friend and client on Friday at about 10.

I turned up at his offices in the morning to hear that he’d died of a heart attack overnight. I was one of the last people to speak to him. He was 49 and a couple of stone overweight.

I’d rather have what I’ve got!

Bites and Itches

 

Can’t say I’m often bitten. Except on holiday!

Studs tend to be very fly-free as certainly down here, they attract the most friendly method of getting rid of flies. Swallows! We probably have several hundred in our air force. (As an aside here, last year we went to a resort in Greece called Sani. All over the place, they placed platforms for the swallows’ nests. Result. No flies!)

I get itches and that tends to be something I’ve eaten. The Spicy TrueFree crackers do it for me, if I eat twenty or so. Shame kebab can do the same.

Statistics and Misdiagnosis

 

Statistics may well be one of the causes of all sorts of misdiagnosis.

Our granddaughter was born with a hernia in her diaphragm (CDH), which is a problem in about 1 in 3000 babies. Not quite sure on the statistic, mainly because she is absolutely fine now!

Now my GP of about 20 years experience has never known a CDH. Interestingly, she is very interested, as she wants to know more in case she has to counsel the parents.

But when you talk about 1 in 100,000 a GP is unlikely to ever see one and hence I think this often leads to all sorts of misdiagnosis. I don’t know what the solution is, but it does probably mean a lot more referrals to centres of excellence.

Now when we come to coeliac disease then we may well be talking about 1 in 100, so GPs should come across quite a few. But then there are still doctors who disbelieve all these faddy food allergies. I first came across a serious coeliac in about 1971, so I would have thought they’d accept reality by now!

But statistics should mean that GPs are aware of large numbers of coeliacs.

Can the large amount of Prozac and other anti-depressents being dispensed have anything to do with a large misdiagnosis of coeliacs?

After all giving up gluten isn’t so bad! Says he with a large glass of Tarrango to hand!

Nurofen

 

I had a reaction to something which causes a bad itchy rash on my wrists and eyes. It was very much an allergic type reaction but I had no idea what caused it.

Except that I took a couple of Nurofen and another couple a few days later. Could these have caused the reaction? They didn’t affect my gut at all.

I then asked Crookes whether this can be a side effect and I got a reply saying that they’d reply within 7 to 10 days. Glad it isn’t life threatening.

The Death of Dandruff

 

Since I’ve been diagnosed as a coeliac and have been on a gluten free diet, my need for an anti-dandruff shampoo has gone away! My skin is a lot better too!

Mosquitos Prefer Certain People

 

Before I went gluten-free I was never bitten. Now I am all the time!

Do Other Animals Have Coeliac Disease?

 

Do other animals such as dogs, cats and horses suffer from coeliac disease?

The reason I ask, is that I was in Waitrose in Newmarket today, when I bumped into Greg Chung. Greg is an affable guy who trains racehorses in the town. He asked what the cakes were in my trolley and I said that I’m a coeliac and they were gluten-free.

So we got chatting about nutrition and especially horses. Traditionally racehorses are fed on oats, bran, hay, flaked maize (Corn Flakes to you and me!) and sugar beet pulp. The latter puts on weight. But now most of the trainers in the town feed using prepared balanced feeds or nuts, which are much easier to get right. But what is in them? Barley? Wheat? He also said that horses are often injected with B12 to improve their appetite. Take out the bran from the traditional diet and it’s gluten-free.

All very interesting and perhaps a curiosity, but then he said that the only trainer in the town who uses traditional feed is Sir Michael Stoute. And he’s one of the most successful!

I tried to follow this up on the Internet, but find no references to coeliac or celiac in horses.

So that’s why I asked the question. Are we all the same, with some of us suffering from coeliac disease?

Update October 19, 2006

We have a visiting broodmare on the stud, who has the worst case of dandruff, I've ever seen!

Gallstones

 

Since going on a gluten-free diet a couple of years ago, I have generally been much healthier.

However, I’ve just found out that I have gall-stones. Does anybody think there is a relationship? Probably there isn’t but it would be nice to know if there was!

Coeliacs, Dandruff, Insect Bites and Migraines

 

For most of my life, I’ve suffered from very bad dandruff. I’ve also occasionally had migraines induced by bright lights. One place where I go four times a week, which is a particular real-tennis court, used to cause one every month or so!

A year ago, at 55, I was diagnosed as a coeliac and have since stuck to a virtually gluten-free diet.

No dandruff! And no light induced migraines!

But!

Whereas, my wife of 36 years was the one who always got bitten by foreign insects, I’m the one who now gets the attacks.

Has anybody else noted similar changes?

Sun and Sensitivity

 

We are all at different levels of sensitivity.

After all I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 55 and had eaten bread for those years. Basically the only symptom I had was tiredness and very low B12. But I was fit and healthy in many other ways. I’m not fitter and my real tennis handicap has improved about four points.

So I can as you put it take the odd breadcrumb and not really be bothered. But that still doesn’t mean that I go after them. In fact I now have a totally bread-free diet, preferring to eat potatoes for bulk. (But then I always liked my spuds. Especially, new and plain!)

So I’ve never really had any trouble in PizzaExpress as I stick to the salads, the tuna and beans and the ham and eggs. I can also confirm that they have told me to bring my own base in. To me though, as with bread they’ve gone!

The funniest thing though is that since I’ve been on a gluten-free diet, I have no problem working in the heat or sitting reading in the sun. These are both things I couldn’t do before. I suspect, it was due to some problem with lack of vitamins or something else my body couldn’t absorb.

Being Miserable

 

I had rather a miserable day.

I don't know but I keep thinking I've got a heart problem as I get the odd chest pain. On the other hand my heart seems to beat normally, even if I'm working hard at the tennis.

Could it be that the diet is affecting my breathing and making it better?

I don't know!

Pain in the Groin

 

Since the turn of the year when I had to drive a Nissan Micra for eight weeks, whilst Celia's car was being repaired, I have suffered from a sore tracantor. (It's basically a pain in the groin!)

This has restricted my movement somewhat and has made driving rather painful. Over the last week or so, the pain has reduced a great deal. Could this be that now my gut is not so inflamed, that it is not pressing on the muscles and irritating them? Must ask the doctor and the physiotherapist!