Your Top Life

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Four Tests that Can Help You Find the Cause AND Solution to Your Insomnia

 

You are here because you have tried everything else. The natural stuff hasn’t worked for you. Maybe you’re taking medications or self-medicating just to get a few hours of shut-eye. Or maybe even those aren’t working for you anymore. Don’t worry, there’s still hope. For my patients with insomnia, I recommend the following:

1. Check your oxygen supply
Oxygen is the number one most critical fuel source that we have and it’s not only crucial for your sleep, it’s crucial for your life. You can go weeks without food, a couple days without water, but literally only minutes without oxygen. If anything is diminishing the oxygen supply to your brain during the day or night, it will interrupt your sleep.

Here are a few ways to tell if you’re not getting enough oxygen to your brain:

  • You’re tired and pale
  • You have trouble concentrating
  • Your heart rate is fast (above 90 beats per minute at rest) and you feel it pounding
  • You need to take deep breaths, or you sigh a lot
  • You snore loudly at night
  • Your feet and/or hands are cold and sometimes look blue
  • Your feet and/or ankles are swollen and when you touch them the indentation stays even after you take your fingers away (pitting edema)

If you answered YES to any of the above, please call your doctor right away. These are serious issues that need to be addressed immediately. Very often there are functional things that can be done to improve your oxygenation, but the life-threatening variables need to be ruled out first and foremost.

2. Check your blood sugar levels
If your blood sugar is unstable, it could wreak havoc on your ability to sleep, as your brain needs a constant supply of fuel to function properly. Blood sugar swings can make your brain feel like it is starving and throw off your entire system. Dysregulated blood sugar can make it hard for you to get to sleep and/or stay asleep throughout the night.

If you crave carbs or sweets, have low energy during the day, have a hard time sleeping and/or have trouble losing weight, these are all warning signs that your blood sugar is not balanced. Blood sugar testing is simple and routine, and regulating blood sugar is one of the keys to health and wellness, including healthy, restorative sleep. Three important tests to have done are: fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1c and fasting insulin.

3. Test your hormones
A complete hormone panel is important to do when you suffer from insomnia.

I look at adrenal gland hormones, especially cortisol, and especially before bedtime, if sleep is an issue. Stress can cause spikes in cortisol levels; cortisol levels that are too high at bedtime or that increase during the night can keep you from sleeping, and not sleeping can put stress on the adrenal glands and lead to a very vicious cycle. Testing allows us to develop a plan to unwind the cycle and help normalize the stressed system.

Melatonin is an important hormone for sleep and normal circadian rhythms. It should be higher at nighttime and lower in the morning when it’s time to wake up.

If your sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone) are out of balance, this can also greatly affect your ability to get to sleep and stay asleep. Your temperature regulation centers may also be affected by these hormone shifting and you could be too hot or too cold during the night.

Thyroid hormones that are too low OR too high can affect sleep and sleep quality. Thoroughly testing your thyroid function is important for helping you figure out why you aren’t sleeping well.

4. You could have an imbalance between the excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in your brain
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that communicate information throughout your brain and body. In general, we have excitatory neurotransmitters that are important for wakefulness, learning and thinking. Inhibitory neurotransmitters are important to help us wind down, feel calm and to help us sleep (some neurotransmitters have both excitatory and inhibitory functions, depending on where their receptors are located).

To grossly oversimplify the function of neurotransmitters, think of the accelerator and brakes on a car. The accelerator is like the excitatory neurotransmitters. They get you moving and going. The inhibitory neurotransmitters are like the brakes. They slow you down and let you stop (sleep).

If you have too much excitatory and not enough inhibitory neurotransmitters, or if the areas of the brain that release these chemical messengers are overworking or underworking, you can experience insomnia (these imbalances may be seen along side other brain-based issues such as anxiety, depression, and trouble focusing, to name a few).

This is where functional neurology comes in, and a doctor who is certified in this field can detect these imbalances and develop a plan to help you. Specific brain-based exercises and natural neurotransmitter precursors can help balance your accelerator and braking system–your inhibitory neurotransmitters and the areas of the brain that produce them.

Sleep is important, and our bodies and brains will simply break down if we don’t have enough of it. Today in the functional medicine fieldswe have more tools than ever to help you experience restorative sleep naturally. Contact Dr. Engelbart today to schedule a consultation to determine the best plan of action for you!

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“I’m Just SO Tired!” Five Signs Your Adrenal Glands Need Help

The adrenal glands are small glands that sit above your kidneys, but don’t let their size fool you.  They are a very important part of your body, especially when it comes to energy production and managing stress.  They also work hand-in-hand with:

  • Your pancreas for blood sugar regulation;
  • Your thyroid for metabolism;
  • Your other hormones such as progesterone, estrogen and testosterone; and
  • Important brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.

If you’ve been under a lot of stress or experiencing imbalances in any of the above systems, your adrenal glands could need some TLC.

Five Warning Signs:

1.  Fatigue

If you are having trouble dragging your body out of bed in the morning, suffering a mid-afternoon slump, relying on caffeine to get you through the day, or falling onto the couch in a heap after you get home from work, you are experiencing fatigue.  Better do something about this now, while you can at least still drag yourself out of bed and before this fatigue becomes more chronic and severe.

Your adrenal glands produce cortisol, and normally they should be able to produce a healthy dose for you first thing in the morning, as part of a normal circadian rhythm. This high dose in the AM helps you get out of bed and take on the day.

It’s no surprise then, that the fatigue caused by adrenal gland dysfunction is especially noticeable first thing in the morning.  You may also notice a significant slump in the mid-afternoon, and generally low energy throughout the day.  You may also notice that after you have a busy, high-demand day, or miss a night of sleep, that you can barely function the following day.

As fatigue gets worse, you rely more and more on your thyroid gland to help you out to produce more energy. Soon this gland can get overworked as well.  Thyroid dysfunction and adrenal gland fatigue are almost always seen together.

2.  Trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep

It seems counterintuitive because (as mentioned in warning sign #1), you’re sapped of energy and tired most of the day.  But when you finally get the chance to crawl into bed, you may find that you cannot wind down, or that you don’t get restorative sleep.

 If you are like many of my patients, you feel like you are finally getting your deepest sleep right about the time your alarm clock is set to go off.  After hitting snooze repetitively, it’s time to start the day and do it all over again.

Normally, cortisol levels should fall gradually throughout the day, and be nice and low at bedtime.  If your cortisol level elevates in the evening, or if it spikes during the night, you won’t be able to sleep.

 And here’s the Catch-22: lack of sleep puts additional stress on your system, putting even more of a burden on your adrenal glands.

3.  Craving carbs and salt

When you are under stress and tired, your brain knows you need fuel so that it, and you, can function.  And the fuel it craves is easy-to-digest simple carbohydrates that it can quickly use for energy.

Most patients describe to me that they don’t want anything in the morning except a cup of coffee and maybe a piece of toast or cereal. But then they have cravings and hunger throughout the day. A lack of appetite in the morning is a cardinal sign of blood sugar imbalance, and very commonly seen accompanying adrenal gland fatigue.

The cravings for salt and sugar are a compensation mechanism.  Your body knows that eating will boost your cortisol levels to give you some much-needed energy and make you feel a little less dead.

The problem is that this creates a vicious cycle.  The more simple carbs you eat, the more of the same you crave.  Your blood sugar spikes and then plummets, and the easy, yummy pick-me-up needs to happen more and more frequently.   This causes blood sugar dysregulation and insulin resistance.  Excess weight comes on and won’t come off, and energy becomes non-existent without a caffeine or carb boost.

Adrenal fatigue and blood sugar imbalances like reactive hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), insulin resistance, and pre-diabetes go hand in hand.

The adrenal glands also help regulate sodium, potassium, magnesium and chloride levels in the blood through a hormone called aldosterone. If your adrenal glands are fatigued, you might not be producing enough aldosterone and will crave salt.  Craving salt is a sign of mineral imbalance, and is a tell-tale sign of adrenal gland fatigue.

4.  Inability to handle stress

Are you feeling like everyone and everything seems to be on your very last nerve these days?  Are you baffled at how short your trigger is, and the way your body spirals into fight-or-flight mode at the drop of a hat?

Maybe one of your kids spills his oatmeal right before you’re headed out the door, or someone at work makes a joke that you don’t think is particularly appropriate.  Your logical brain knows it’s probably not that big of a deal, but your body reacts automatically and immediately, sending you into full-fledged fight-or-flight mode. Your heart races, your body and hands tremble a little, your face gets flushed, and you feel like you are about to jump out of your skin. You know it’s an overreaction, but you don’t know how to stop it.

This trigger-effect usually happens when you have experienced a significant stress in the past, and your body has not been able to get back to the normal set point you once had.  You are stuck in high-stress survival-mode and your nervous system is now wired to release excitatory neurotransmitters that signal a surge of cortisol to come crashing out when only a little would do the trick.  This trigger-happy state is not a good or healthy place to live, for you OR your family members, friends, or co-workers.  In addition, this systemic overreaction can plummet you further into the adrenal-fatigue downward spiral.

5.  Decreased sex drive (libido)

When you are under constant stress, sex becomes very low on the list of priorities.  This is because your system is prioritizing other functions it deems more necessary for your survival, and is in the full-time business of making cortisol whenever and however it can.

When your system runs out of raw materials to make cortisol, it starts to steal other hormone raw materials to make more cortisol.  The result is that your sex hormones diminish and become imbalanced, and sex just doesn’t sound so good anymore.

If you have your hormones tested, the results may show low or imbalanced hormone levels.  If you try to supply more estrogen, progesterone of testosterone hormone to your body (synthetic, natural, or bioidentical), your body will likely take these hormones, break them down and try to make cortisol out of them.  This result is certainly not a long-term solution or cure, and can leave you feeling worse than ever.

Your hormone levels should be tested along with your cortisol levels so your doctor can determine if cortisol is running the show.  Getting to the true cause of the problem will likely involve some type of adrenal gland support.

What Should You Do?

The key is to have the appropriate testing done.  Test your adrenal glands along with your other related systems (blood sugar, hormones, neurotransmitters, for example).  Nothing in your body works in a vacuum.  You and your doctor need the complete picture of what your body and brain need to re-balance.

Lab testing can help determine what’s out of balance, and then Dr.Engelbart can customize a sound dietary, lifestyle, and supplement plan to help turn it around.  A simple saliva test can show what cortisol is doing throughout the day, and this can be compared to how your blood sugar, other hormones and neurotransmitters (especially norepinephrine, and epinephrine) are functioning.

NOW is the time to address your adrenal fatigue and start on the road to recovery. Schedule a consult with Dr. Engelbart today.

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CORTISOL: The Misunderstood Stress Hormone

Cortisol has a bad reputation. Dubbed “the stress hormone,” it’s tagged as the causative factor for belly fat and stress-related disorders. And it’s true that excess cortisol over long periods of time can cause breakdown of bone and muscle, and it can lead to fatigue, weakness, and emotional problems. But that’s not the end of the story.

Cortisol plays a vital role during times of stress, and is important for proper immune system function. It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects — think of cortisone shots and prednisone prescriptions — and is involved in every aspect of metabolism of our macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates). In adrenal gland fatigue or insufficiency, LACK of cortisol has been linked to extreme fatigue, allergies, arthritis, weight gain, and low brain function.

Cortisol levels should follow a normal circadian rhythm, with a peak level in early morning, followed by a gradual decline to reach the lowest level by midnight. When cortisol follows this rhythm as designed, we have energy in the morning and can fall asleep easily at night. If it does not follow this rhythm (for example, if it spikes at night time, or does not reach a peak in the morning,) our entire wake-sleep cycle is affected.

So how do you know if your health problem is cortisol-related? And how do you know if it’s too low, too high, or out-of-rhythm? The answer is simple: TEST IT.

Cortisol testing involves a simple saliva sample. We usually ask our patients to do four throughout the day to track their circadian rhythm. We also measure DHEA, which is another adrenal hormone that is very important in staving off early aging, and in balancing the effects of cortisol. If sleep is an issue, we can add melatonin testing to the testing panel. Melatonin is one of the most powerful antioxidants known to man, and has been used to help with other disorders such as migraine headaches.

This is one of the simplest lab tests you could ever do, and the information you get back could be life-changing. Here are a few key reasons to CONSIDER TESTING YOUR CORTISOL LEVELS:

  • Fatigue
  • Inability to handle stress
  • Insomnia (inability to get to sleep or stay asleep)
  • Anxiety
  • Adrenal gland dysfunction
  • Thyroid dysfunction
  • Inability to lose weight or gain weight
  • Osteopenia or osteoporosis
  • Low muscle tone
  • Joint dysfunction
  • Frequent infections
  • Autoimmunity
  • Allergies
  • Brain fog
  • Memory loss
  • Frequent headaches
  • Low mood, mood swings, or irritability
  • Prednisone or cortisone use, current or past

If your symptoms match any of the above, it’s time to take action. Contact Dr. Engelbart today to enquire about testing your cortisol levels.

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Are your HORMONES out of whack?

4 Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore

Hormones are involved in almost every function of the body, from reproduction to metabolism to digestion to hair growth.  Women’s hormonal systems are more complex than men’s, and it takes a skillful eye to determine what is out of balance and the best course of action to establish synergy and homeostasis in the body.

Too often doctors have used an overly simplistic approach to try to address women’s hormones, and have used harmful, synthetic substances to take the place of our natural hormones.  A better approach is to first find out what’s out of balance and WHY, and then customize a plan to help restore balance in the most natural way possible.

Below are 4 warning signs that your hormones are out of whack, as well as recommended tests to help you and your doctor figure out how to get you back in synch.

  1. Your Energy and Motivation Are On the Floor.

An imbalance in virtually any one of your hormones can lead to fatigue and loss of motivation.  The most common one we think of is low thyroid hormone. However, high thyroid or autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto’s Disease) can lead to debilitating fatigue as well.

Low OR high cortisol levels can cause fatigue and sleeplessness, and surges in insulin or insulin resistance can lead to fatigue after meals, waking at odd hours of the night, and can affect fuel delivery to the brain which can lead to brain fog.

Progesterone is another hormone that can cause fatigue if it is out of balance with estrogen.  Estrogen dips can cause tiredness as well, and testosterone that is too low, even in women, can leave you feeling like a weakened shell of yourself.

It’s important to have all these hormones tested, test blood sugar levels and check for anemia to find out where the fatigue is truly coming from.   In addition, it can be helpful to look at the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine, as these are all intimately involved in motivation, energy and metabolism.

  1.  Your Moods Have You On A Roller Coaster Ride…and You Want To Get Off.

If you find that you are not handling stress well, happy one minute but crying the next, feel like a different (worse) version of yourself, and like everything and everyone is on your last nerve, these are all warning signs that your hormones are out of whack.

This could be due to adrenal gland fatigue, where your cortisol levels are simply not able to keep up with the continuous stress you have been under.  Cortisol levels become erratic and you find you can’t handle the stresses of every day life like you used to.

Or it could be due to your sex hormones being out of balance.  This is usually most noticeable before your period (yes, PMS is a real medical condition).  In some women this can be severe, and is known as PMDD:  premenstrual dysphoric disorder.  With PMDD the mood swings before your menstrual cycle can be severe and debilitating.  Symptoms can include anxiety, depression and physical pain such as joint and muscle pain as well.

Irregular cycles are another warning sign that your mood swings are hormone-related, as is heavy bleeding during your menstrual cycle.

Women may also start to notice mood swings when they reach perimenopause, a time in our lives when our sex hormones are decreasing, and more stress is put on the adrenal glands to pick up the slack.

All of the sex hormones should be tested, along with adrenal hormones Cortisol and DHEA.  In addition, it can be helpful to look at the neurotransmitters Serotonin and Dopamine, as they are both involved in mood stability.

  1. You can’t lose the weight.

You’ve tried all the diets, you’re being consistent with your workouts, but the weight is Still. Not. Coming. Off.   This is a warning sign that your hormones could be out of balance.

When this is happening it’s very important to do a FULL thyroid panel.  This means having not only your TSH checked, but also free T4, free T3 and other aspects of a full thyroid panel.  I also strongly recommend testing thyroid antibodies, as autoimmune thyroiditis (where your immune system attacks your own thyroid) is the number one cause of thyroid problems in the United States. Effectively treating this condition is vastly different than treating a thyroid that is simply underworking.

Checking adrenal gland hormones cortisol and DHEA is important as well.  The best way to do this is with a saliva test.  The adrenal glands and thyroid gland work hand-in-hand with one another (which is why the symptoms of dysfunction in either one look very similar).  Usually when one is faltering, the other is in trouble too.

I also recommend looking at blood sugar levels and insulin, liver and kidney function, inflammation levels, and other aspects of the immune system that can cause weight to hang on.

  1. Sex is the last thing on your mind.

There are many reasons that women can experience a drop in sex drive and desire, but hormone imbalance has to be at the top of the list of things to consider.  After all, doctors estimate that up to 70% of our libido is hormonally mediated.

Low testosterone, and/or an imbalance between the estrogens and testosterone in a woman’s body can put your libido on the floor.  Progesterone levels that are either too low or too high can also be a culprit.

One commonly overlooked hormone connection to look at is how the adrenal glands interplay with the sex hormones.  It makes sense that when we are chronically stressed, sex is literally the last thing on our minds.  Our bodies are saving energy and resources for what it considers life-saving functions, and sexual desire and activity many times just don’t make the cut.  Testing the adrenal hormones in addition to sex hormones is an important step to take to get your healthy sexual desire back.

Side effects of medications is another common contributor to low libido.  So you have to ask:  if your medication is causing this effect, what else is it doing to your brain, body and hormones?  It doesn’t hurt to have a conversation with your doctor about other options or alternatives.

If you answered YES to any one of these four warning signs, you should have your hormones tested.  Contact Dr. Engelbart today to schedule a consultation to discuss exactly what testing would be right for you.  It’s time to get your hormones back in line.  It’s time to experience Your Top Life TM.

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Confused About GLUTEN?

I can’t blame you. There’s a lot of talk, hype and misinformation out there about gluten these days. Some people think that gluten-free living is just a fad that will go the way of low-fat dieting, margarine, and leeches — and good riddens to you all! Others believe that gluten is the most evil of food-villians, and that going gluten-free is THE key to digestive health, weight management, and health utopia. To confuse things further, the researches who discovered non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS, aka gluten intolerance) published a study in 2011 that says that non-celiac gluten sensitivity doesn’t really exist (more on this below.) Let’s look at the facts and get a handle on this subject. Because let’s face it, I don’t want to avoid gluten if I don’t have to and I know you don’t either.

First of all…what in the world is gluten?

If you ask my brother, he’ll tell you that, “it’s the stuff that makes food taste good.”  And indeed, it is an ingredient that adds thickness, texture, and let’s face it, taste, to our favorite foods: pizza, breads, pastas, baked goods, pastries, and beer. It’s also commonly hidden in non-bread-like foods like salad dressings, soups, energy bars, and even in some vitamins and medications.

Gluten is the complex protein found in wheat (including whole grain wheat, spelt, wheat bran,) rye, and barley.  Almost all oats contain gluten due to cross-contamination, and some studies and laboratory tests suggest that the gluten-like characteristics in oats, corn, rice, and even some unlikely foods such as coffee and chocolate, could mimic the properties of gluten in some people, a process known as cross-reactivity.

Is gluten intolerance the same thing as celiac disease?

No, it’s not.  Most people have heard the term “gluten” in conjunction with celiac disease, a hereditary (meaning someone else in your bloodline has it) autoimmune (meaning that your immune system is attacking your own body like it’s public enemy number one) disease that specifically causes damage to the small intestines.  The most common symptoms of celiac disease are digestion disturbances (stomach pain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, etc.,) but it can affect other areas as well and cause symptoms as vague as headaches, fatigue, and joint pain. Some people may have only minor symptoms or no symptoms at all. Long-term celiac disease can lead to intestinal cancer, severe malabsorption that results in anemia, osteoporosis, muscle wasting, and other autoimmune diseases that then begin to destroy the cells of the skin, brain, or other organs. Celiac disease is nothing to mess around with.

You can be screened for celiac disease by a simple blood test called Tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies (tTG-IgA).  This test will be positive in about 98% of patients with celiac disease who are eating a diet containing gluten. There are a few other tests that your doctor can order to make the diagnosis in the 2% that the tTG-IgA test doesn’t catch, and intestinal biopsy is still considered the gold standard to diagnose celiac disease.  But the tTG-IgA test is the best place to start. Even though celiac disease affects less than 1% of the population, you should absolutely have the tTG-IgA test run if you have frequent or recurring digestion disturbances or if you have celiac disease in your family history.

But let’s say you’ve had this test run and it shows that it’s highly unlikely that you have celiac disease. Congratulations! But don’t reach for that sourdough baguette just yet. There are a couple of other things you need to know about gluten first.

A new villain on the scene.

Back in 2011, there was a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled study that found gluten could cause gastrointestinal symptoms in patients without celiac disease.  This gave major credibility to the idea that even if you don’t have celiac disease, gluten is still the likely villain that is causing your tummy to hurt, and also led to the upswing in the gluten-free food business.

The research team then decided to reproduce the study with a few changes, and the new study published in 2013 in the journal Gastroenterology found that gluten probably wasn’t the culprit after all.  This study tagged a new villain, and it goes by the acronym FODMAPs.

FODMAPs stands for fermentable oligo-di-monosaccharides and polyols, and what you need to know if your tummy is frequently unhappy is that you may have a problem digesting these carbohydrates.  FODMAPs are found in wheat, garlic, artichokes, dairy products, and some fruits and legumes.  Most people can digest them just fine, but for those with chronic digestive issues such as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which affects about 20% of Americans,),FODMAPs can become fermented and produce gas, leading to a host of other symptoms.  If you suffer from chronic digestive disorders, give a low FODMAP diet a try.  And then I would urge you to continue to work with a doctor to find the true cause of your illness. Many digestive disorders, including IBS have an underlying cause of INFLAMMATION along with MICROBIAL IMBALANCE, and these causes can be targeted and treated. You should also notice that even though gluten might not be as big of a culprit for causing stomach symptoms in those who don’t have celiac disease, wheat still contains FODMAPs. So put the baguette down.

What if I don’t suffer from stomach problems?  I’m off the hook right?

Not necessarily. Gluten is still considered pro-inflammatory. This means that it has the propensity to cause inflammation in most people. Inflammation is the cause or major contributor to every disease known to mankind.

In addition, gluten is linked to a host of autoimmune diseases.  It especially has a propensity to affect the thyroid (as in Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis) and the brain, affecting conditions such as Parkinson’s, Lou-Gherig’s, chronic vertigo, and many other neurological diseases. Gluten has also been known to affect the pancreas in ways that can lead to adult-onset diabetes, and the skin and mucosal membranes, causing allergies and chronic skin irritations. If you have been diagnosed with any of these diseases I would urge you to go gluten-free NOW.  My colleagues and I can personally attest to the remarkable recovery of many, many patients who had severe illnesses, after adhering to a strict gluten-free diet.

Which begs the question…wouldn’t it be good to know IN ADVANCE if gluten is accelerating an autoimmune response in your body BEFORE you are diagnosed with a formidable and deadly disease that stole your life away?  What if you could take a PROACTIVE stance and do an easy blood test to see if gluten is indeed a friend or foe for you personally?  What if you could know for sure?

The ONLY way to know for sure is to test (with the right test.)

Thankfully the science behind functional lab testing is catching up with our ailments. There is an easy way to know if you should avoid gluten like the plague or if you can chomp merrily away on your favorite foods, and it’s done by a simple blood test.  Cyrex Labs offers the most comprehensive look at your immune system’s reaction to gluten, and can also test for the cross-reactivity response from other foods so that you can know for sure if you should stay away from it or if you can pick up that baguette and enjoy it without consequences (at least from the gluten it contains). This test must be ordered by a doctor, but it can be performed in just about any part of the country.  For more information, contact me directly.

You should have this test done if you have any of these symptoms:

  • Stomach upset, bloating, gastric reflux, diarrhea, constipation, or nausea
  • Fatigue
  • Joint or bone pain
  • Headaches
  • Skin conditions
  • Unexplained weight gain
  • Hyperactivity
  • Inability to focus or concentrate
  • Insomnia
  • Depression
  • Anxiety or mind racing
  • Progressive muscle weakness
  • Numbness and tingling
  • Balance and coordination problems
  • Autism and other learning or developmental disorders
  • Autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s and rheumatoid arthritis
  • Hormonal imbalances
  • Bladder problems

Can’t I just eliminate it for a few weeks and see if I get better?

Removing gluten from your diet for a period of time and then adding it back in is called a “challenge test” or “elimination diet”. While there is some merit to this method, and it certainly won’t hurt you, please realize that it is NOT conclusive for a couple of reasons.

Elimination diets are difficult to accomplish because of all the different sources of gluten and cross-contamination. Also, it could take months, or in some cases years, for the symptoms you are experiencing to completely go away, so doing a challenge test for a couple of weeks won’t necessarily give you enough time to get the information you are looking for. Autoimmune symptoms tend to wax and wane anyway, and there could be hours or days between the trigger and the symptoms. So the best thing to do is the conclusive test.

My own story:

I love being healthy and I love being proactive about my health. And while I’m not perfect, I do my best to practice what I preach — especially now that I’m older and wiser…and a mom!

I don’t have any type of chronic digestive disorder or symptoms that would have led me to believe that I could be gluten-intolerant.  But as a functional neurologist, I frequently research and study about nervous system diseases, thyroid disorders, and autoimmunity, and I have treated some patients who have suffered with very severe illnesses. The ones that could have been prevented if they had the opportunity to make proactive choices made the most impact on me. What if they could have known? Would they have chosen to change their diet five or ten years earlier if they could have prevented the suffering they were enduring in the present?

I know that in addition to injuries and extreme stress, autoimmune conditions can be triggered by hormonal surges and swings, such as during puberty, pregnancy, and menopause (which is one of the reasons why autoimmune conditions are so much more prevalent among women than men.) So when I got pregnant at the age of 39, I decided it was time for me to get tested for gluten intolerance. And lo and behold, even though I never had an outward symptom related to ingesting gluten, my immune system was certainly reacting to it. I did the cross-reactivity test too and found out that my immune system reacts to dairy as well. Because of these test results, I am gluten-free and dairy-free, and I’m confident I am preventing some nasty future consequences. I do, very occasionally, “cheat” and have a treat (and also take supplements to minimize the inflammatory and immune effects when I do).  And I still never have any symptoms when I occasionally have gluten…although maybe it would make it easier to stay completely away from these foods if I did have symptoms.

But what brings peace to my mind is knowing what I am preventing, and that I’m not robbing from my future to have a quick endorphin fix in the present. For me, it was testing that made the difference. If I didn’t know for sure, I would still be chowing down on my baguettes, and be eating my way into a world of hurt and who-knows-what kind of chronic disease. Knowing the test results makes it easier to do what’s best for my body and brain, and many of my patients say the same thing.

I’d love to hear some comments from those of you whose symptoms decreased radically when you went gluten-free, or had different results, so post away! And contact me when you are ready to do the test!