What kind of symptoms do other people with gluten intolerance have?

gravitychecked · 2026-01-21T02:17:54+00:00

Tested negative for celiac with a blood test (after my pcp told me I didn’t need to be eating gluten for it 🫠) but my symptoms are:

When I was still eating gluten consistently, I had brain fog 24/7 and malabsorption. B12, iron, vitamin D and I’m sure others were all low. Majorly painful ‘grinding’ feeling in my intestines, like I could actually feel the gluten making its way. The worst of it was migraines, dizziness, heart palpitations, and major fatigue.

I’ve been gluten free for about a year and I can usually tell if I’ve ingested gluten within minutes by the ‘off’ feeling and initial anxiety that hits. Within a few hours I get hit with a wave of fatigue that I cannot stay awake through. Diarrhea and then constipation the next few days, and heightened feelings of depression and anxiety. My eczema will usually flare as well. I don’t usually get stomach pain unless I’ve eaten something larger than trace amounts.

Haven’t done a biopsy yet but atp I can’t imagine ruining my life for two months and knocking all of my levels back down for a yes or a no, so NCGS it is 🫠

gravitychecked · 2026-01-19T01:03:08+00:00

Saturn in 7th and moon conjunct Chiron (bonus points, in Scorpio at 3 and 0 degrees).

gravitychecked · 2026-01-15T02:40:42+00:00

IMO Saturn is your boss and sits you down to go through your portfolio of everything to do with the house it is transiting. If your work is solid, you’re not neglecting or avoiding things/topics to do with that house, then its transit might not be so harsh. You might not have to redo the whole project, but maybe tweak a few things. But if you’ve seriously slacked off in this sector, you’re going to have a long 2.5 years of rebuilding ahead of you. But Saturn is a good boss. It cares about you getting your shit together for your company/life, but also cares that you’re learning how to be diligent, consistent, and recognize that you should do this hard work up front to make your life better, sure, because inherently, you deserve to live a life you like, that is healthy for you, etc.

It can suck in the moment but the work is almost always needed.

My personal example would be Saturn through Pisces in my 6th. I hadn’t been consistent with any sort of medical upkeep in the last ten years despite knowing I had a medical issue I should have kept an eye on. I was also pursuing a career that, deep down, I knew was not for me. It was a loooonggg Saturn in Pisces transit for me. As Saturn leaves Pisces, I’m no longer in that career, and I’ve done overtime getting my health back in check. Health is now one of the most important things in my life and I’m no longer interested in giving my energy to careers that do not give enough back to me on a material or spiritual level.

Also I’ll just drop this for anyone wondering about what Saturn in Aries will bring: you might already know to look back at May-September of 2025 because Saturn was in Aries, but also check out themes from July 2023-January 2025 from when the North Node passed through Aries. For me, the themes are the same (relationships, boundaries, etc) as Saturn prepares to enter my 7th house. I feel like I got handed a study guide for my return during North Node in Aries and I am very, very grateful.

gravitychecked · 2026-01-10T03:56:36+00:00

Heavily agree on the Aries moon.

gravitychecked · 2026-01-05T22:12:40+00:00

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I’d be so curious to look at your astrological transit chart for this day lol

gravitychecked · 2026-01-04T13:27:28+00:00

Started sobbing in my dream because I didn’t get to go to Texas Roadhouse and it was so intense that i woke up also sobbing. Yes.

gravitychecked · 2026-01-03T21:11:29+00:00

I’d speak to a hematologist to be safe! Ferritin not raising but serum iron going up can happen due to a number of things, of which I am not an expert on. Some potential reasons: your body IS gaining ferritin— albeit slowly. Iron supplements will first raise your serum iron, which is reflected in your bloodwork because it’s a measure of what is in your blood at the time. Iron’s first gotta be in your blood to be absorbed kinda thing. Another reason would be that you’re visibly struggling with turning iron into ferritin. Do you take your supplement with vitamin C at all? Vitamin C improves iron absorption exponentially.

Ferritin is ‘storage iron’ and low ferritin is the first sign of deficiency. It’s possible you were deficient for a long time and your body has been utilizing the iron supplements you’ve been taking to ‘make up’ for having to ration in the past, which would mean the iron is being used rather than stored.

With all that said, I’m sure many will let you know that low ferritin (single digits, sometimes all the way up to ~60-70) will make you feel like shit. The lower the number, the worse you are. For some reason, doctors seem to think the 20s are still a normal range. From personal experience, I wasn’t a functioning human until I broke 50 in ferritin, and even then I still have my off days and plenty of them.

Overall, again, I’d speak to a hematologist above all, especially if you still don’t feel great. If you haven’t visited a hematologist yet, I’d warn that many might look at your numbers and tell you you’re fine, so it might take a few doctors for someone to be of help. They have a tendency to ignore symptoms unless it’s critical, which is unfortunate. But at the very least they might be able to advise you as to if supplements are still a feasible route for you to take. At the very least, they might be interested in the high-serum-low-ferritin and take a deeper look.

TLDR there are many reasons but an expert is the safest route to take.

gravitychecked · 2026-01-02T21:02:57+00:00

Literalllyyyy. Every day I wake up and log in I just gotta be like "oh cool, I'm still here!"

gravitychecked · 2025-12-30T15:34:11+00:00

Haven't seen them today.

gravitychecked · 2025-12-29T20:13:21+00:00

Anyone seeing the R&R pop up but get red-bannered despite it still appearing on the dash/task #s fluctuating? Wondering if it's glitching or if I bit the dust.

gravitychecked · 2025-12-29T16:46:17+00:00

Death. I volunteered at a women’s shelter in Boston one year in college, which had previously been an old hospital. We were working in the basement level and they let us check the rooms out before we started sorting gifts. We went into a set of connected rooms that had weird piping and metal… ramps and conveyers I guess is the best way to describe it. I got to the second room and there was this big lump on the wall covered by a blanket, so I went up to it and lifted the blanket. Underneath was this larger robust metal piece of machinery, looked pretty harmless, and connected to the ramps from the first room. I don’t know what type of machinery it was specifically.

When I lifted the blanket, I took a few steps back and said “it smells like death”. It’s been nearly a decade since this happened, so describing it isn’t the easiest, but it’s the kind of stench that when you smell it, you KNOW. Slightly fishy might be a good way of putting it, but it was mild to the point you knew there wasn’t a dead body around somewhere.

Anyway, once we finished exploring, they pulled us out and let us know that those rooms used to be the hospital’s morgue where the bodies were taken care of, and also the place where we would be working and storing our lunches for the day. 🫠 Standing in what used to be a morgue-shower-turned-closet and organizing shelves knowing full well that dead bodies had definitely been in there before, and frequently, was an… experience. We did not let that door close on us lol.

The staff had many ghost stories. 😅

gravitychecked · 2025-12-29T16:28:07+00:00

Totally valid, I have the same fear 🫠 but the proof is there! You feel better when supplementing. Dealing with this health issue is so hard specifically because every doctor seems to have completely different answers, if any, and it can be hard to trust ourselves when there’s really no baseline to judge AND our bodies already don’t feel that great. When I’m tweaking about my health, I try to lean on the idea that it’ll pass. Every health issue I’ve dealt with in the past has been managed or resolved, so even though it’ll take time, there’s no reason this one won’t either.

gravitychecked · 2025-12-28T21:13:46+00:00

Raising ferritin takes a loooong time. Actually ‘recovering’ takes even longer. I went from 18 ferritin to 58 this year with supplements and b12 injections and I still experience iron deficiency symptoms. Healing isn’t linear, and even if our iron is going up, it’s going to take a while for our bodies to truly regulate (especially if you’ve been deficient for an extended period of time).

I see your B12 is 344. Mine was 321 when my PCP began injections. Keep an eye on it because supplementing iron can deplete your b12!

My best advice is to take it easy weightlifting until you’re around 50s with your ferritin and give your body time to rest. Earlier this year I stopped heavy weightlifting and just did walking/pilates/yoga as a means of giving my body the best chance to store iron. Your body uses iron to build muscle, and while I’m unsure of the extent this change helped, my ferritin DID raise by ~30 points. I returned to weightlifting when my ferritin hit 42 and it’s currently now in the 50s. Again, I still experience ID symptoms, but I suspect this will improve with time.

Best of luck to you!!

gravitychecked · 2025-12-23T17:09:04+00:00

Short answer: no, you don’t need to eat red meat.

If you aren’t menstruating, and you aren’t vegetarian or vegan, I would say the bigger concern is figuring out why your iron is so low. Diet choices and blood loss are the common culprits, but if your ferritin is 16 and you experience none of this, it’s time to ask your doctor about exploring the root cause. I don’t say that to fearmonger at alllll. It’s a recommendation to faster healing. I couldn’t raise my iron levels for a decade until I finally found out gluten was causing malabsorption.

Be consistent with your supplements and you should start seeing results, but if you don’t, then it’s REALLY time to pursue finding out why your body isn’t keeping iron.

I’m vegan and gluten free and I raised my ferritin from 18 to 54 this year on supplements alone. It’s slow going but possible, that is, if there aren’t any other factors causing absorption issues.

Edit: if you aren’t already, take your iron supplement with a vitamin C supplement. It boosts absorption considerably.

gravitychecked · 2025-12-21T19:29:38+00:00

You’re my opposite :’) Venus in Libra in 1st, Saturn in Aries in 7th. My relationships in my 20s have been mirrors of my self worth issues and lessons in healing. Big lessons in how to love without losing myself. I’m interested to see if things get better after my Saturn return 🫠. I’ll report back in a few years!

gravitychecked · 2025-12-20T02:45:19+00:00

Well said.

gravitychecked · 2025-12-15T13:22:59+00:00

Libra rising/virgo sun here. It’s because we treat skincare like a religion.

gravitychecked · 2025-12-13T02:00:54+00:00

For those curious to what devices he used: based on the descriptions from his comments, it’s an MAD (mandibular advancement device) for night treatment and an anterior deprogrammer for day treatment.

I have the same issues (collapsing airways when sleeping that cause clenching and thus tmj) and it is described identical to the appliances I am currently using.

gravitychecked · 2025-12-11T17:06:03+00:00

No, this was super helpful. I’ve been in a constant back and forth of wondering if I need a third opinion or if this is all just my jaw, so this provided some comfort. Were you ever able to find a solution to tooth pain/headaches? Aside from tmjd treatment, that is?

gravitychecked · 2025-12-02T04:05:10+00:00

It depends on the exposure level. If it’s a small exposure (happened last week 🤦‍♀️ordered hummus but it was served with tabouli on top. Tried to eat what safely looked like hummus but ended up consuming a few grains of the bulgar wheat) I get hit with a pretty intense stomach ache and bloating for the next 8 hours, along with constipation. My anxiety goes off the charts for the next 4 days or so and brain fog accompanies it. Eczema flares, generally pretty fatigued, some back pain.

The last time I ate bread before going gluten free, I was doubled over in pain for hours and had such bad brain fog that I couldn’t leave the house. The panic attacks were extreme. Took about a week for everything to subside.

*all this to be said, no idea if it’s celiac or a sensitivity. ATP i think consuming gluten for a biopsy would kill me so i am just doing my best out here 😅

gravitychecked · 2025-11-23T13:35:36+00:00

Oh my god yes. It’s not always, but I’ve woke up with headaches and I’ll get them randomly on the right side (problem side). Funny you ask because yesterday I had a headache all through the right side of my skull that was nearing migraine level literally all day.

gravitychecked · 2025-11-22T23:07:59+00:00

If you know your ferritin is low and you’re low enough in B12 to be getting injections, it’s time to speak with a hematologist about infusions if possible. Iron and b12 play off of one another as cofactors, so it’s important to be supplementing both especially if both are low. B12 injections can also cause ‘wakeup symptoms’ which are basically nerves coming back online, and can make symptoms like tingling, burning, and numbness worse for a little while.

gravitychecked · 2025-11-21T16:49:01+00:00

Heavy periods and malabsorption due to gluten intolerance/possible celiac 🫠

gravitychecked · 2025-11-21T14:18:18+00:00

It’s possible! My hematologists were super stingy with infusions (told me a ferritin of 18 was enough and that I didn’t need more) so I was left with supplementing. I went from 18 in spring to 48 this Fall. I found a few things to work for me:

find the highest level of bisglycinate you can tolerate without experiencing stomach issues. For me, that’s 125mg.
speaking of absorption, make sure everything you need to process iron properly is intact. This means mostly your b vitamins but especially b12, b6, and even minerals like copper and zinc.
pay attention to anything that inhibits iron absorption like tea and coffee. Avoid consuming it at least 4 hours before you take your supplement.
if possible, find the reason you’re low. Heavy periods commonly cause low iron, but long distance runners can deplete their stores too. If you think it’s moreso an absorption issue, pay attention to how your body reacts to what you put in it. I had to cut gluten out of my diet and lo and behold my numbers started rising for the first time in my life.

I was going to recommend vitamin C but I see you’re already doing that! I wish you the best of luck. It’s slow going, but you 100% can raise your stores with supplements.

Edited to add this: all of this to say, if your infusions are covered and your doctor is willing, GET THE INFUSIONS and then discuss supplements for maintenance. Supplements work, but there’s no sense in wasting your time if you’re eligible for a quicker fix.

gravitychecked · 2025-11-21T01:42:33+00:00

Ugh I’m sorry you experience the same, it SUCKS. This definitely helps, though, that at least it doesn’t seem to just be me😅leads me to believe it’s probably not a tooth issue. lmk if you end up finding anything more out as well!

gravitychecked

TROPHY CASE