Gluten promotes inflammation, and also many with Lyme/coinfections develop some kind of sensitivity to gluten (this usually goes away once one has completed Lyme/coinfection treatment).
Posted by skies (Member # 28064) on :
Razzle is correct.
I personally never really noticed symptoms after eating gluten..I also tested negative for celiac disease on a blood test from my LLMD (don't know how accurate that was). However, I try to avoid it anyway since it can promote inflammation. It is easy to avoid it once you get accustomed to doing so every day.
Some people are quite sensitive to gluten and it causes many problems.
Maybe your doctor can do some tests to see if gluten sensitivity is an issue for you. Or try completely avoiding it for a little while and see how you feel.
Posted by WhitneyS (Member # 25666) on :
It can interfere with your immune system. If there is imflamtion, then part of your immune system is responding...and that part could be better used fighting off the Lyme :-(
Try it out for a few months and see if you feel any difference. If not, then youre one of the lucky ones!
Posted by apljack (Member # 14233) on :
I remember reading somewhere once that the lucky ones have stomach issues with gluten and thus know they are sensitive. Others, like myself, don't necessarily have the stomach issues, but I get arthritic pain and brain fog from gluten.
Not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg.
Posted by DoctorLuddite (Member # 13853) on :
Gluten causes gut mucosal inflammation. Gut is the bulk of our immune system, so increasing inflammation there will sap metabolic resources. Inflammatory chemical messengers generated by inflammation in the gut will circulate and ramp up inflammation elsewhere (joints, brain). Gut inflammation will alter normal absorption of nutrients from the gut lumen resulting in micronutrient depletion, especially vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency results in multiple metabolic derangements, just as metabolic derangements may result in vitamin D depletion. Gluten, Soy, lactose, processed food and sugar free diet should be implemented strictly for a period of 3 weeks with daily sun exposure to produce natural vitamin D, and assessment done at the end of 3 weeks.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
if you're a celiac, the list is long
what i noticed the most help with was all-over body pain and stomach pain
Posted by momlyme (Member # 27775) on :
My son couldn't stop throwing up when he first got sick. He lost 20 pounds - which for him was 1/4 of his body weight.
He went gluten free, dairy free, sugar free and the throw ups stopped. We added probiotics - which our idiot primary care doc never suggested...
Now its up to him whether he tries to eat out of the three categories that make him sick. He feels it if he 'cheats' and avoids those foods most of the time.
I read a book called "Clean" by Dr. Alejandro Junger and avoided even more food categories for a 21 day period to help my body detox. I believe it helped a lot and I am slowly adding in some food choices. Gluten gives me immediate bloating and stomach pain so I continue to avoid it.
Posted by hopeful4 (Member # 8486) on :
Gluten increases inflammation in the body and brain. Those of us with lyme disease already have increased inflammation.
Gluten can cause the immune system to flare up. Those of us with lyme disease are trying to support our immune systems in fighting infection.
A helpful book called "The Lyme Diet - Nutritional Strategies for Healing from Lyme Disease" by Nicola McFadzean states:
"Since gluten protein molecules are not digested well by humans (we lack the enzymes to fully break them down), those who are gluten sensitive develop an immunological reaction to the molecules,
which then starts to inflame and destroy tissues in the body (this is an autoimmune reaction - our own immune system attacking our own tissues). Consequently, normal tissues become damaged, preventing growth and regeneration.
Reactions to ingestion of gluten can be immediate or delayed for weeks or even months. Some people with gluten intolerance experience digestive symptoms such as gas, bloating, diarrhea/constipation, heartburn and abdominal pain.
Gluten can also contribute to joint and muscle pain, depression, irritability, muscle cramps, fatigue, headaches/migraines, skin rashes and hormone imbalance, just to name a few."
Also, many of us with lyme disease have low thyroid function, hypothyroid. Most hypothyroid conditions are actually undiagnosed Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, an autoimmune thyroid disease. Gluten can exacerbate this condition, so must be avoided.
Another condition that many of us lymies have is a MTHFR genetic mutation. This causes a problem with our methylation cycle, leading to poor detoxification, depression, brain fog, and decreased glutathione production. Glutathione is needed for our immune system to function well. So avoiding gluten would be best for this condition, too. (MTHFR mutation can be helped by taking methylfolate.)
I am not a doctor! I learned this all by being diagnosed with these conditions.
I hope you find the answers you are looking for. Wishing you good health.