I have been reading threads for several hours today. I have also visited the Celiac/Gluten-Sensitive forums. The majority of my medical issues began during my first pregnancy about 4 years ago. I also had symptoms as far back as 1985. I have been clinically diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Raynaud's phenomenon, nickel, citrus, and latex allergy. I have been evaluated for Celiac, but my endoscopy came back clear as far as the lab could ascertain. I have read from the Gluten Dr. that under electron microscope, the damage may be visible; however, the lab does not use that level of scrutiny. In January 07, after my second pregnancy, I went to my doctor for post-partum check up c/o pain in joints, especially right shoulder, left wrist and pinky joint, muscle-stiffness and muscle-spasms. These muscle spasms are not the ordinary, charlie-horse in-the-middle-of-the-night cramps, although I get those too. I can cause these cramps at will by flexing or bending to a certain degree or for an extended amount of time (10-15 sec). For example, eating my salad at lunch today, I got a muscle cramp in the palm of my right hand on the right side because I was holding the fork for too long. I could only ski 3 runs on Sat and 2 runs on Monday this weekend, because the cramps in my feet and legs were so intense/painful. I didn't have good control during my turns especially. My toes and feet will contort when I place them in certain "normal" positions. I am sure this is peripheral neuropathy, but will not be seeing a neurologist until June. I also get numbness and tingling plus vibrations in my feet like a livewire or electricity. I will have hot and cold flashes in my feet. When I do a lot of walking, it feels like blisters are forming on the bottom of my feet and they hurt intensely, but there are no blisters. The left foot tends to be worse than the right. At first I tried eating a million bananas and taking Ca supplements. I also presented gastrointestinal symptoms last January of frequent diarrhea, gas, bloating and abdominal pain. It is hard to explain everything in a forum (not enough space). My GP or PCM (DR) began testing me for lupus, thyroid, gout, bone spurs, and at my request gluten-sensitivity. My cholesterol was high, especially my HDL oddly enough, and my liver and kidney levels (she didn't specify) were high. She tested me again. My gluten blood work came back as follows: hi for AGA IgG but lo for AGA IgA. My overall IgA was not tested. I went on a gluten-free diet for 8 days and my symptoms subsided completely. No more muscle spasms - even when skiing- no more diarrhea, gas or bloating and my mental clarity improved. The funny thing is that I didn't even know about hidden gluten at that time. I went back on gluten and my neurological and gastrointestinal symptoms recurred within 30 min to 3 hours. After my biopsy I restricted gluten again and have been attempting a gluten-free diet for about 2 months now. I say attempting b/c it is difficult to eliminate all the sources of gluten. I, to my knowledge, according to labels that say gluten-free, have not had any gluten in weeks, but my neurological symptoms were quite severe this weekend. Possible cross-contamination? So I started looking into vitamin/mineral deficiency that causes muscle cramps. As I told my dr, I feel vitamin deficient. My hair has also been falling out. I lose my train of thought easily. I have the most difficult time remembering the name of something as simple as grocery car, stroller, or envelope. I can picture it in my mind, but I can't find the word for it. It is so frustrating - 10 or 20 seconds go by, embarrassing, irritating to other people. Agh! I have angry outbursts or get frustrated by simple things like dropping things repeatedly or spilling my coffee (daily). So in my research I happened to run across a thread today that mentions gluten-sensitivity and nickel allergy. An additional symptom that has flared is a rash on my arms, but worse on my neck, so I took out my earrings yesterday which were supposedly silver that I have worn for over a year now. The rash started getting worse about a month ago, I guess. My memory cannot tell you whether it was a week, a month or 5 months ago. It all blurs together and feels like yesterday unless I have a date attached to it. Another symptom that began 4 years ago at the same time as the initial allergic rash to nickel was a runny nose and chronic laryngitis. I don't know what is causing it. I had the allergy tests done, the RAST test done and came back with no positive results. When the dermatologist tested me, I was positive to nickel, but this still didn't explain my runny nose and laryngitis. Or did it? This is not psychosomatic or stress-related. I just have to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. Why am I allergic to all of these things? I know that pregancy and other events like surgeries can change our bodies (I had 2 c-sections and an ACL reconstruction within 3 years). I have read that gluten-sensitivity can cause all of these other allergies and other auto-immune disorders. Has anyone found anything about this? The symptoms for either gluten-sensitivity or PCOS started in 6th grade with severe pain in my stomach that localized on the right side before it went away. The ER checked me for appendicitis and kept me for observation. In 12th grade this occurred again, but b/c there were no signs of anything, I was told it was a cyst on my ovary that ruptured, which is why they could not see anything during an ultrasound or in my blood work. Hmmm? Since I was 2 or 3 I have had hayfever-like allergic reactions to any citrus. If someone peels an orange or grapefruit near me, my eyes begin to burn and water.
To the guy, Mark, maybe, I read so many, who said that your nickel allergy and gluten-allergy are related. What else have you found to corroborate that? I am pretty sure that my Dad and I have the same medical problems. While my neuropathy just started about a year ago, his started 10 years ago and he is no longer able to walk without assistance. He is also going gluten-free and can attest that even the smallest amount of gluten will set his feet on fire. I believe that we have a different form of gluten-sensitivity that also causes us gastrointestinal problems but possibly without actual damage to the villi in the intestine. Could nickel also cause similar symptoms? I would not mind further testing, but am not going to needlessly cost my insurance co money. When I am off gluten, the diarrhea goes away. What about this neuropathy? I can't stand it. I will not end up in a wheel chair and I will do everything in my power to get my Dad his legs back. Does anyone have any answers? There are about a dozen other symptoms that I have that I didn't think of or have time to post. Thank you for taking the time to read my extensive posting.