I've been anemic my whole life and i was looking up the symtoms of anemic and it says pale skin. I wonder if it has any relation to the vitiligo. Anybody?
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None of these disorders becomes worse when u go gluten free. In celiac disease, our immune system attacks our intestine cells every time we ingest anything containing gluten. once there is no gluten coming in, there is no reason for our immune system to destroy our intestines any further. So gloing gluten free is as good as a cure to celiac.
Vitiligo also improves after going gluten free, the reason is that our immune system stabilise a lot once going gluten free and ineternal inflammation and free radicals usually responsible for worsening vit greatly reduce in quantity. Therapies normally used for vitiligo become much more effective than before. If you've just started to get vit spots, you have much better chance of nipping it in the bud. However for people with extensive vit, going gluten free will not automatically bring back the pigment, it may just stop further damage. You need to go through conventional vit therapies to bring back your pigment.
I also have Arthritis and gluten is not good for persons with such condition at all, I changed to a diet of wheat flour away from white flour and it was a serious period for me as it was difficult to use my knees, again I have noticed really that most of us has pernicious anameia.
Unfortunately they mostly run Thyroid test for persons with vitiligo in my country, I read to understand more about Anemia and linked to the possible reason Vitmain B12 and co has helped a lot with my Vit. I dont have a website I can suggest but will search for the articles and post them. Its not a day reading for me but studies I did overtime
people need to stop thinking doctors know it all, they dont. especially when it involves VIT. in most cases you're probably gonna be the first VITTIE they've met. so they gotta hit the books/net for info. you'll do better digging up your own research and then explaining it all to them.
I was hospitalized in march 2010 with severe unexplained anemia. My hb level was 6. The doctors ran all kinds of test to find out why my body is not making blood cells. Turned out to be lack of vitamin b12. Doctors were puzzled as our bodies can store vitamin b12 for six years, so it is rare. anyway they gave me three units of blood and a weekly vitamin b12 shots. This helped my hb levels to rise up to 9. The doctors were still persistent to find out the real cause of this. So they still kept running all kinds of tests to find out why my body can't store vitamin b12.
eventually they found out the real cause. I was severely gluten intolerant. Gluten was destroying my intestine so it could not absorb the key nutrients including vitamin b12. Since then I am on gluten free diet and all my problems have miraculously disappeared. My hb level is now 16, which is even more than healthy people. All my other health issues are also resolved just by sticking to a gluten free diet.
I did some more research about the gluten intolerance and vitiligo and found out that gluten intolerance is the mother of almost all autoimmune diseases including vitiligo, psoriasis, hypothyroidism, chron's disease etc. then I realized that gluten intolerance was the main reason for all my health issues ever since I was a kid.
Guys, pls do yourselves a favor and get checked out for gluten intolerance/ celiac disease. This could be a the life altering decision of your life and once found a link, you will find yourself getting back your life within 3-4 months of strictly gluten free diet.
hi, my vitiligo was "cured" via complete depigmentation two years before I went gluten free. Going the way of depigmentation is not a cure in a literary sense but as close to it as you can get once you have extensive, irrepairable vit. There are no discolored spots and the skin is smooth white. I need a lot of sun protection but all common psychological issues related to vit have disappeared. I can finally live my life as it is supposed to be lived without being constantly self conscious about my looks.
to give u a brief intro about celiac disease, visit the following link. there is much more to celiac than described here but for that you need to visit celiac.com
I have B12 deficiency too and doctor told me that I have pernicious anemia, another autoimmune disorder. I am on life long B12 shots every month. I'm going to look up the gluten free dite thing. Maybe my B12 get ok on its own
Thanks
Shree
Sanjay > Vijayshree RautelaSeptember 2, 2011 at 9:34am
I would have been on life long b 12 shots as well if my docs were not persistent enough to find the real cause. In my case, it was a special challenge for them, as I did not have any classic symptoms of a gluten intolerant individual. It took around 4000usd worth of other elimination tests to get the final diagnosis but the end result was worth every penny as the pernicious anemia, if left untreated can be fatal.
Hi Sanjay, what tests do you need to do find out if you are gluten intolerant?
And by the way, my autoimmune disorders seems to be similar to yours. I also have thyroid - hypothyroid, detected 10 years back and just 1.5 years pernicious anemia was detected not because of syptoms, but coz my doc wanted to check me out for all possible autoimmune disorders and then found B12 deficiency and vitamin D deficiency. My vit had stopped spreading for about 10 years by the grace of god, in fact some parts on my neck got pigment back on its own completely. The moment I left all medication, my vit started spreading at v fast rate and the suddenly stopped for 10 years. But when I came to US, my vit started spreading again. Strange thing it is.
Thanks,
Shree
Sanjay > Vijayshree RautelaSeptember 3, 2011 at 1:24am
TTgiGA is the most sensitive blood test which checks if your body is making antibodies against gluten. If this result is positive, you can be almost sure that you celiac. Another test is the intestine biopsy which checks if your intestines are damaged as well or not. You need to be on a gluten diet before going for the blood test, so the result is accurate. You can read up more at http://www.uchospitals.edu/pdf/uch_007935.pdf
Autoimmune diseases flare up in cycles. I also had several years of stable vit before it started flaring up again. Since it is your own immune system attacking your own body tissues, the stronger your immune system gets, the worse the disorder becomes. Current medication including protopic, elidel etc weeken you immune system locally so that your vitiligo, psoriasis etc can stabilize or improve. You can not take these medicines forever, so the moment you stop these drugs, vit will bounce back.
Gluten sensitivity is a prequel to full fledged celiac disease which could come at a later stage if you continue ingesting gluten. While leaving gluten will not be much of a help for people who can easily digest gluten, it could mean a matter of life and death for those who are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease. Going gluten free can prevent various disorders which could hit people really bad such as rheumatoid arthritis, infertility, depression, migraines, etc.
Replies
None of these disorders becomes worse when u go gluten free. In celiac disease, our immune system attacks our intestine cells every time we ingest anything containing gluten. once there is no gluten coming in, there is no reason for our immune system to destroy our intestines any further. So gloing gluten free is as good as a cure to celiac.
Vitiligo also improves after going gluten free, the reason is that our immune system stabilise a lot once going gluten free and ineternal inflammation and free radicals usually responsible for worsening vit greatly reduce in quantity. Therapies normally used for vitiligo become much more effective than before. If you've just started to get vit spots, you have much better chance of nipping it in the bud. However for people with extensive vit, going gluten free will not automatically bring back the pigment, it may just stop further damage. You need to go through conventional vit therapies to bring back your pigment.
Hi Remeta,
I also have Arthritis and gluten is not good for persons with such condition at all, I changed to a diet of wheat flour away from white flour and it was a serious period for me as it was difficult to use my knees, again I have noticed really that most of us has pernicious anameia.
Unfortunately they mostly run Thyroid test for persons with vitiligo in my country, I read to understand more about Anemia and linked to the possible reason Vitmain B12 and co has helped a lot with my Vit. I dont have a website I can suggest but will search for the articles and post them. Its not a day reading for me but studies I did overtime
eventually they found out the real cause. I was severely gluten intolerant. Gluten was destroying my intestine so it could not absorb the key nutrients including vitamin b12. Since then I am on gluten free diet and all my problems have miraculously disappeared. My hb level is now 16, which is even more than healthy people. All my other health issues are also resolved just by sticking to a gluten free diet.
I did some more research about the gluten intolerance and vitiligo and found out that gluten intolerance is the mother of almost all autoimmune diseases including vitiligo, psoriasis, hypothyroidism, chron's disease etc. then I realized that gluten intolerance was the main reason for all my health issues ever since I was a kid.
Guys, pls do yourselves a favor and get checked out for gluten intolerance/ celiac disease. This could be a the life altering decision of your life and once found a link, you will find yourself getting back your life within 3-4 months of strictly gluten free diet.
hi, my vitiligo was "cured" via complete depigmentation two years before I went gluten free. Going the way of depigmentation is not a cure in a literary sense but as close to it as you can get once you have extensive, irrepairable vit. There are no discolored spots and the skin is smooth white. I need a lot of sun protection but all common psychological issues related to vit have disappeared. I can finally live my life as it is supposed to be lived without being constantly self conscious about my looks.
to give u a brief intro about celiac disease, visit the following link. there is much more to celiac than described here but for that you need to visit celiac.com
http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/digestive/celia...
I have B12 deficiency too and doctor told me that I have pernicious anemia, another autoimmune disorder. I am on life long B12 shots every month. I'm going to look up the gluten free dite thing. Maybe my B12 get ok on its own
Thanks
Shree
Hi Sanjay, what tests do you need to do find out if you are gluten intolerant?
And by the way, my autoimmune disorders seems to be similar to yours. I also have thyroid - hypothyroid, detected 10 years back and just 1.5 years pernicious anemia was detected not because of syptoms, but coz my doc wanted to check me out for all possible autoimmune disorders and then found B12 deficiency and vitamin D deficiency. My vit had stopped spreading for about 10 years by the grace of god, in fact some parts on my neck got pigment back on its own completely. The moment I left all medication, my vit started spreading at v fast rate and the suddenly stopped for 10 years. But when I came to US, my vit started spreading again. Strange thing it is.
Thanks,
Shree
Autoimmune diseases flare up in cycles. I also had several years of stable vit before it started flaring up again. Since it is your own immune system attacking your own body tissues, the stronger your immune system gets, the worse the disorder becomes. Current medication including protopic, elidel etc weeken you immune system locally so that your vitiligo, psoriasis etc can stabilize or improve. You can not take these medicines forever, so the moment you stop these drugs, vit will bounce back.
Gluten sensitivity is a prequel to full fledged celiac disease which could come at a later stage if you continue ingesting gluten. While leaving gluten will not be much of a help for people who can easily digest gluten, it could mean a matter of life and death for those who are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease. Going gluten free can prevent various disorders which could hit people really bad such as rheumatoid arthritis, infertility, depression, migraines, etc.
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