Long COVID and gluten sensitivity

There were few GF options years ago. GF food choices are better now, but GF is still isolating. A fair percentage of GF people cheat on the diet because of this and other factors. Gluten is hidden in so many things. Also, along with celiac, there is gluten intolerance, difficulty digesting gluten, and inflammation/impacts on other diseases and conditons. Wheat is also one of the major allergens.

Yes to developing a new gluten sensitivity post COVID. The best relief I've found was an app called NERVA. It is an easy to follow 15 minute daily gut-directed guided mediation program.

I am a life-long Celiac... even had the teeth deformities. There are excellent comments already. Can only add that Lactose intolerant can come hand-in-glove with Gluten intolerance. Hope you get your blood test before you start the gluten free diet.
Check out the Celiac Association (both Canadian and American)for lots of info.
It is a frustrating journey in first learning to eat gluten free; but can be done. Soon it becomes second nature.
All the best!

Gluten is hidden in EVERYTHING. Certain beverages, CORN flakes, sauces, and so forth. I read that people cheat on the GF diet, with Celiac, you can’t. I mistakenly purchased planko GF Italian Bread Crumbs for a meatloaf. After eating the meatloaf, I experienced gut wrenching, sweating, and passing out pain. To avoid feeling that type of pain again, I stick with trusted GF brands. Thank You for posting.

At least in some cities there are GF restaurants and bakeries; there are apps that can find them (such as findmeglutenfree). There is also the NIMA gluten sensor, but it is pricey. Navigating through the gluten world gets less messy through time, but it is never fun. One can take GF cooking lessons as well.

I’ve had a similar experience, but I didn’t catch COVID. I got vaccinated 5/21/2021 and 6/11/2021 and within a week of receiving the second vaccine, I became completely gluten intolerant with no previous issues. When I consume even trace amounts of gluten (ex. a pizza made on the same surface as regular wheat dough) I experience intestinal pain, bloating, frequent and mostly liquid bowel movements (which begin almost immediately after consumption), extreme and debilitating lethargy (which lasts at least two days — like I’d taken multiple Benadryl), palpitations and shortness of breath, headaches, and skin rashes. I blood tested negative for celiac disease and experience next to no issues when I eliminate gluten from my diet.

However, still unhappy about this new development. I’m already a vegetarian (I was raised that way), so this seriously limits the foods available to me and it’s really difficult to eat out and socialize with others.

Celiac and gluten intolerance are as much social isolation as autimmune diseases. Gluten is not a joke for us and eating out and with others is hard. There are national and local celiac support groups that help (these also include gluten intolerant), but mostly we just have to live with it and and navigate through it. It takes several years. One thing that I didn't understand before celiac is how food divides us, people in religions/groups/races/etc are isolated from other groups because of what they eat. It was 14 years ago for me (after H1N1). I lost friends because my being gluten free got on their nerves or they excluded me from parties because I brought my own food. I got new friends and interests and cook a lot (also sensitive to some processed foods).

Yes. Celiac negative, ALCAT highly sensitive to gluten and one other thing I forget. 3 month elimination diet is helping CFS/long covid symptoms a lot. Recent small gluten introductions seem to be better tolerated (no 4 day crashes again… yet) but I am nervous to each much of it again…

My life has not been the same from feb 2021. I got my v@ccine 3rd shot on feb 9th and just after one week i had the following symptoms : 4 months of abdominal cramping , greasy stool , flatulence and bladder pain. These symptoms slightly decreased but was followed by random anxiety episodes , dizziness and panic attacks for next 1 year. My mood also started fluctuating affecting my personal and professional life. At the same time i started developing scalp and skin issues of Psoraisis and Dermititis along with knee and lower back pain. I got blood tests almost 6 times throughout the year and everything looked clean. I am from northern part of India where the food predominantly wheat heavy in modern times. After 1.5 years of constant suffering , recently after seeing a youtube about ketogenic diet, I reduces my carb intake which helped me with the bone pain and Psoraisis symptoms tremendously. Then during discussion about the same with my wife, she mentioned about one of her friends wife having issues after covid shots. Boom , it clicked me that maybe i am suffering from an allergy without even knowing . I read some research papers about gluten sensitivity and covid and decided to experiment. I feel i have got a second life. Majority of my symptoms are slowly vanishing . I have replaced wheat flour with Sorghum Millet, Pearl Millet and finger millet flour which are much more nutritious and by default gluten free in their nature. I do not know the reason for the sudden allergy but seeing the timeline of last year, i am suspecting the covid shots. I hope someone going through similar things reads my posts and take actions quickly. I wish someone told about this earlier !!

Great that you are getting better. It would be a good idea to get tested for celiac disease before you are off gluten (full celiac panel and endoscopy). Around 30-40% of people have the HLA-DQ2 or DQ8 antigen that can be triggered by numerous things, including viruses. There are also some pretty good 1 to 1 GF flours to replace wheat in recipes (Bob's Red Mill and Jules are two examples). Other good sources of GF flours are teff, quinoa, buckwheat (related to rhubarb, not wheat), timothy (timtana), and certified GF oats (otherwise contam. from wheat harvesting and such). Good of avoid rye and barley which have the same gluten proteins that cause immune reactions. Gluten is hidden in a lot of things, so check ingredient lists for food, medicine, and others.