Ataxia

What is ataxia? It is defined as a lack of coordination while performing voluntary movements, which may appear to be clumsiness, inaccuracy, or instability.

I have had ataxia in the past and I still have it from time to time. It manifested itself in me by making me unbalanced when I walked and I would literally smack right into walls. That would make me cuss and later, bruise. I am sure that the cussing wasn't gluten-induced. I just like to cuss. I had no idea why my balance was so off . . . . until I got myself educated on some of the harmful effects gluten can have on a person sensitive to it.

I know there are worse problems that can manifest in gluten sensitive people; for example, I could have developed schizophrenia, as my maternal grandmother Mimi did. All in all, I will take falling into walls over schizophrenia, and it is my bet that you would as well.

I have been off gluten (mostly -- I still get accidentally glutened now and again) for more than 10 months and I am happy to say that I have hit nary a wall in the past few months. I still can't pull socks on my foot without falling over . . . that one may be a life long side effect. It's okay though as I find socks to be a lot softer than walls.

I read the article below and I found it to be quite alarming. I always assumed that once I got on the straight and narrow and removed the harmful gluten (and dairy and corn) from my diet, most if not all of my gluten-related health issues would slowly begin to clear up. This article, "Research: Celiac's Connection with Neurological and Psychatric Symptoms," questions that theory.

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Don't Mind Me While I Stare at Your Eyebrows (and fat belly)

I have developed a new habit that is rather unseemly.

If we meet one another on the street and you catch me staring at your eyebrows, I apologize in advance. I can't help it! I see the results of gluten intolerance written all over some of your faces . . . and your big bellies.

Gluten intolerance can lead to all sorts of hideous autoimmune diseases, including being hypothyroid. I am hypo, or was hypo until I found a wise doctor who actually believed me and got me on the correct medicines (dessicated thyroid + adrenal support with low dose cortisol). Your thyroid can be run down thanks to a sensitivity to gluten.

If you are hypothyroid, you might very well have lost the outer edges of your eyebrows. I look for that now when I meet people. Those whom I care deeply about I might mention it to, but mostly I am learning to try to keep my mouth shut because I find that many (most?) people do not want to hear that they have an autoimmune problem or that they may, in fact, have to give up bread (and ketchup and cake and cookies and beer and, and, and the list goes on)

A sensitivity to gluten can make you too fat and puffy (as well as it makes some folks super skinny and once was called "the wasting disease"). I watched a very over-sized family near us at the Pappadeaux's restaurant where we stopped on our way home after enjoying Christmas with the family in Baton Rouge.

I once would have thought not nice thoughts about this family's lack of self-control. As I watched them eat two baskets of complimentary bread, followed by fried everything and finishing off with a flour-laden desserts, I felt sorry for their lack of information.

As my wise father tells me all the time, knowledge is power and I thankfully have the knowledge that gluten is lethal for me. Thus, we sent our free bread basket back and didn't touch that poison.

We ordered non-fried food and we left without partaking in floury desserts. We nearly skipped out of the restaurant because we felt good after eating a light meal . . . the overly-large family rather waddled out the door.

Instead of judging them, I just felt bad for them and hoped that one day they learn about gluten and what it does to a body. Nothing good!

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Are We Grain Gluttons??

We ARE grain gluttons. Not just wheat -- we eat too much corn, rice, etc.

My maternal Grandmother Mimi spent three-fourths of her long life living with the condition called Paranoid Schizophrenia. You have surely heard of it and know that if you have it, your mind plays tricks on you and you can have hallucinations and live in a great deal of fear.

Mimi loved her wheat toast, more than anyone I have ever known. She was severely anemic, which points to not absorbing nutrients in the gut, which points to a big problem with gluten. I think she also had a thyroid condition and the end result of not getting the right amount of thyroid is: paranoid schizophrenia.

I am hypothyroid, which means I do not get enough thyroid in my cells. I am thankfully on the right medication and have been able to get back on my feet and off the bed, where I spent nearly a year before I found the right doctor to help me help myself.

Along with cutting edge M.D.s, I now wonder: which comes first, an autoimmune problem such as a thyroid condition or a problem with gluten that results in an autoimmune condition?

I put my money on the gluten problem. It has been linked the following:


Malnutrition
Cancer
Osteoporosis
Kidney stones
Miscarriage or congenital malformation
Preterm delivery
Short stature
Seizures
Lactose intolerance
Infections
Dermatitis herpetiformis
Thyroid disease
Type 1 diabetes
Liver disease
Sjogren's syndrome
Autoimmune polyglandular syndrome --
Uncommon group of disorders that may include type 1 diabetes, Addison's disease (adrenal insufficiency), yeast infections, vitiligo (a skin disease), alopecia (hair loss), pernicious anemia or other conditions.
Collagen vascular diseases
Rheumatoid arthritis
Lupus
Polyarteritis nodosa
Scleroderma
Dermatomyositis


Makes you want to put down that piece of toast, doesn't it?

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