Neurological and Psychological Symptoms of Celiac Disease

“I’m sorry for what I said when I got glutened.” People with celiac disease have been making this joke for years, but we now have data from a recent survey highlighting a number of neurological and psychological symptoms that people with celiac disease report experiencing after exposure to gluten.

Despite there being over 300 symptoms of celiac disease, many doctors still only focus on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and malabsorption of nutrients. But people with celiac disease often report highly varied presentations of their disease. In the latest Gluten Exposure Survey, Beyond Celiac explored the symptoms people with celiac disease actually experience after getting glutened. Around 1,500 participants filled out the survey and many of their answers focused on neurological and psychological symptoms. Fascinating!

Brain fog (86.0%) and fatigue (90.8%) were the two most commonly reported non-GI symptoms...yes you read that right. Over 90% of participants reported that they feel tired after getting glutened. This is consistent with a 2018 study that found a link between fatigue and celiac disease. But fatigue still needs to be better understood and treated. While it may be a natural part of life, in a chronic condition such as celiac disease, these symptoms are unrelieved by adequate sleep or rest. Once diagnosed, the fatigue suffered by people with celiac disease often improves with the gluten-free diet, though not always, according to the study authors.

So, long story short, brain fog and fatigue ARE symptoms doctors and researchers should be aware of and they should be considered common symptoms of celiac disease!

As you already know even the tiniest crumb of gluten can make someone with celiac disease very sick - so avoiding cross-contamination is crucial to maintaining a gluten free life.

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1. Go Beyond Celiac We Can We Will https://go.beyondceliac.org/

2. Green, Peter HR, Benjamin Lebwohl, and Ruby Greywoode. "Celiac Disease." Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 135.5 (2015): 1099-1106.

3. Kelly, Ciarán P., et al. "Advances in Diagnosis and Management of Celiac Disease." Gastroenterology 148.6 (2015): 1175-1186.

4. Sapone, Anna, et al. "Spectrum of Gluten-related Disorders: Consensus on New Nomenclature and Classification." BMC Medicine 10.1 (2012): 13.

5. Jelsness-Jørgensen, Lars-Petter; Bernklev, Tomm; Lundin, Knut E.A. "Fatigue as an Extra-Intestinal Manifestation of Celiac Disease: A Systematic Review" Nutrients 10, (2018) no. 11: 1652. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10111652