Gluten was causing some of my Lyme symptoms

I wanted to make you aware of something that was causing some of your Lyme symptoms and might be causing yours too. I am infected with Lyme disease and co-infections. I put myself on a gluten-free diet and have resolved my depression, anxiety, itching on my scalp & most of my body, some of my brain fog, loss of weight, some chest pains, headaches, lower abdominal pains and bouts of constipation.

My doctor and I discussed my LD symptoms and he asked if I was willing to try a gluten free diet to see if some of my symptoms from Lyme might be due to Celiac’s disease. I never had problems with gluten before Lyme and could eat anything without problems. I used to weigh 189 pounds and within a few weeks my weight went down to 158 pounds. Since going on a gluten and sugar free diet I have stopped the weight loss and some of my symptoms have gotten better.

Not being sure if it was my new diet or the fact that I was on antibiotics, three days ago I had a sandwich with gluten bread. within 24 hours my headaches came back, my scalp and body itching started again, my anxiety and depression are back and so are the chest pains (heartburn). I Googled Celiac’s disease symptoms and sure enough, some of these symptoms are indeed caused by gluten. I cannot believe that one bread sandwich can cause so many symptoms to come back, but for me it has. I guess I learned my lesson.

If I may make a suggestion. It may not just be gluten. Processed grains of all kinds are not easily digestible. Especially for chronically ill individuals. I have stopped eating grains and I feel better for it. Our society believes that grains are a necessary component to our diet. But you can receive all of the same nutritional value from other foods. I agree with you mikeb2308, get rid of the dairy too! Milk is made for infants of any species to receive complete nutrition prior to being able to feed one's self. As grown adults, our systems not only no longer require it. But dairy products do cause irritation and inflammation in the digestive system. In my opinion this is from the products used to care for the animals and pasteurizing. If you consume milk from you own animals it does not have the same bloating, cramping effects. Eggs and meat need to be off the table too. Meat is filled with cortisol. Eggs and meat literally coagulate your blood for a period of time after consumption. This is why it is so closely associated with heart disease. No one wants to talk about it. But the reason why our country eats so much meat and is so protective over it is not because we need the nutrition from it. It is because in the 50s beef was marketed as the right diet to feed your family. The grain and dairy industries were on that same bandwagon and now our country eats more dairy, wheat and meat than we did decades ago. We also have chronic disease running rampant. Not a coincidence.
Sugar and processed foods need to be made the devil here too. Sugar is a killer. In a study done on the differences between glucose and fructose in the brain, researchers found that natural sugars, like those found in fruit actually increases the process of serotonin production and distribution in the brain whereas processed sugar actually blocked serotonin. So fake sugar makes you sadder forever and real sugar makes you not only happier the day you eat it, but happier in the future too.
Processed foods are a no brainer, just don't do it. Just because it looks like an innocent cereal box that you've sat in front of at breakfast since you were a kid doesn't mean it isn't insidiously killing you.
Real food grows from the ground, and you can pick it and eat without any preparation. Yes it sucks sometimes. Yes I want a fat cheeseburger followed by a milkshake right now. But I also want to live and live well. That had stopped happening for me and I became sick. But as soon as I started removing these foods I started feeling more alive again. Eat a raw food meal. You won't be tired. You won't need to take a little walk or sigh it off. It will change your life. Just eat it.

How interesting - thanks to everyone who has to contributed.

Mikeb, I've read that Lyme loves wheat because it feeds off the sugar.

Hi Harley, welcome to the forum! I am so sorry you are sick. You might want to start a new thread titled "Searching for a LLMD in Vermont". Also, please send me an email by clicking on the envelope under my name. I have a couple of names of doctors in Vermont - no personal experience with them though because I live in Massachusetts.

I eat beef that is raised organically on grass and hay, but I don't eat a lot. They produce fat with more omega 3 when on a species appropriate diet and any animal raised on a species appropriate diet has better meat quality. It tastes better too! I do better with some meat in my diet. I don't very often make it the main course. I usually mix it with lots of vegies and maybe some rice or buckwheat biscuits.

Now it's said that most rice is contaminated with lead and brown rice is worse than white. That and buckwheat are the 2 I eat the most and I'd have a hard time giving up rice. I'm going to wait a while and see if it's true about lead contamination.

First, my apology for not getting back to you sooner. My daughter was home for a couple of weeks before college started back up. You need to enable your email so I can send you the name of a doctor here since it isn't allowed on the forum, for a good reason. Thanks!

To enable your email account: look for MY PROFILE above the topic or post name (left side of screen, towards the top), select EDIT PROFILE, and in the section labeled SHOW YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, click on the radial button to show your email address. If done correctly, you will notice that the envelope icon below your name will show your email address when you hover your mouse pointer over it.

Healing98,

Thanks for bringing this topic up as I think most everyone is allergic to gluten.  I stopped eating gluten months ago and I feel great!   I'm sure somehow I may be getting a tiny bit of gluten from certain foods without knowing it but now I use almond flour, flaxseed meal, etc. because these are products I use to cook with and they are gluten free.

I have been on a diet to lose weight (low carb ~ under 20 carbs per day) and have lost over 12 pounds so far.  I want to lose 20 pounds more. 

Anyway, from cutting gluten out (as well as other products) from my diet my tummy is no longer bloated and I even have more energy, ut oh! LOL!

Denise

I can't help but wonder if some of the ingredients in the gluten free prepared foods are going to become a problem for some, such as the gums. Am I the only one with that thought? I went away from the standard American diet (SAD) in my early adulthood, so I've seen things come and go through the years, things that were considered to be good for a person and then it was found out maybe it wasn't such a good thing to consume a lot of. I also wonder if the gluten intolerance came about with the huge increase in the amount of gluten in wheat from years of hybridizing.

Hi all,

Healing98, yes, I never thought in my life that I would be reading labels, avoiding many foods, learning what is healthy, what is not, and the beat goes on.   This will sound nuts but I have learned so much because I became sick with lyme.  Before I became infected with lyme, I ate whatever I wanted never giving it a second thought and I was a junk food person!  Before lyme I never heard the word detoxing, never thought about saunas, never thought about which brand of toothpaste to use, what to wash with, etc., etc., etc.

My only symptoms from eating gluten products were a bloating tummy, not very sexy!  Where I live we have a store called Hannafords that has 2 aisles of gluten-free products (and not expensive at all!).  I also buy many gluten-free products online such as Almond Flour, Flaxseed Meal, etc.  I like the brands NOW and Bob's Red Mill.

Garden Peace, good question but I'm confused..  Are there products already prepared that state gluten-free or do you mean when I prepare meals using gluten-free products?   Duh!!!

Denise

Hi Garden Peace,

I had no idea there were "prepared" gluten-free products out there, wow!  I never was one to buy a prepared meal or product before but that's me.   Thanks for bringing up "guar gum" as I never heard of that before.  Golly, I learn something new everyday!  I just switched my cat's food to Evo and they love it!  Will have to check the ingredients though...

I found an article from Livestrong about Guar Gum and it's side effects (not good!):

http://www.livestrong.com/article/314356-the-harmful-side-effects-of-guar-gum/

Denise

We rarely buy processed gluten free foods. I use buckwheat flour for all my baking needs. I plan on experimenting with almond flour too, when I can get some unpasteurized nuts to grind up myself. I use a little coconut flour in some of my baking, but I don't use it by itself much since it takes so many eggs.

I just don't trust using the gums and starches a lot that are used in so many prepared foods.

Thanks for that site! I got hungry just browsing through the photos.