Hello,

Just wondering if someone out there has ever had these symptoms?

1). Blood shot eyes
2). Trapped gas in hips & buttocks
3). hands falling asleep in the middle of the night
4). leg and ankle completely numb and tingly all the time

Also, can anyone tell me if Celiac disease is also a rheumatic disease?

I had a brown spot with pea sized lumps in it on my ankle some years ago,
I went to a foot specialist and he did a biopsy and told me that I had some kind of
rhuematic disease. I have since been dx'd w/fibromyaglia and I just thought
fibro was the rheumatic disease he was talking about but now I am not so sure.

Thanks for any input you can give.

Thanks, Joyce

Fibro can give you the pea size lumps. This can happen in various parts of your body. They come and then just leave. Fibro is a Arthritic syndrome. Mostly people with Fibro feel pain, tiredness and have bad sleeping patterns. It is like a viscious cycle - first the pain, then the pain wakes you up, then the fatigue sets in. Sometimes you can just get unbelivable fatigue that will last for days, then sometimes a depression sets in.

Celiac Disease is not an arthritic disease. It is inherited and is an auto-immune disease. Celiac Disease can cause many other auto-immune diseases. There are over 200 symtoms for Celiac and you do not have to have all of them nor do you have to have any symptoms to have the disease. Some people with Celiac have no symptoms, but were diagnosed because a family member was diagnosed.

Hi Joyce,

well, celiac disease is an autoimmune disease, and so is fibro. Undiagnosed celiac disease can lead to other autoimmune conditions, including fibro. So, it is entirely possible that your fibro may have been caused by celiac disease. All your symptoms are possible celiac disease symptoms.

To find out, there are two ways of going about it. If you are set on a firm medical diagnosis of celiac disease, get tested for it while you still consume gluten (otherwise you may get a false negative). If you don't care about that, just go on the gluten free diet and see if it helps. But don't expect instant results, sometimes it takes several weeks (even months) to feel a difference.

My pain went away within two weeks (after having it for at least 49 years), but not everyone responds that quickly.

Mind you, eventually the pain came back (when my intestines started absorbing nutrients again), because of other intolerances. Once I figured those out and avoided those foods, the fibro improved to the point where I rarely need painkillers now.

Joyce,

This is a sympathy e-mail, I have no solutions for you. But I do experience all of these, so I am meeting with a nutritionist at the end of the month. I know for myself that I have dry eyes. They are scratchy and gluey all the time unless I drink vast amounts of water. My feet go tingly mostly after I have been exercising for any length of time. I've also noticed that my hands and wrists and arms go tingly when my shoulders are tight - at first I thought it was carpal tunnel. The tingling mostly happens when I am laying down - I notice it before I fall asleep, when I sit for too long, and sometimes when I get up in the morning.
I have found that yoga helps as does massage and stretching - mostly calves and hamstring stretches.

I have tested negative for celiac's. I know that I am lactose intolerant so my diet has changed radically in the last year. I think the changes in diet have everything to do with my present symptoms and I suspect that I am gluten intolerant as well.

Have you had major changes in your diet recently?

I wish you the best!

Margaret