Most people think celiac disease is a digestive condition. It's not. It's systemic.
In fact, plenty of people with celiac disease have zero digestive symptoms. (Silent Celiacs). Their clues often show up as depression, infertility, PMDD, brain fog, or a rash that won't quit. And because nobody connects those dots, they go undiagnosed for years. Sometimes decades.
Here are 58 celiac symptoms, starting with the ones that get missed the most.
Neurological
- Brain fog
- Headaches/migraines
- Peripheral neuropathy (tingling/numbness in hands and feet)
- Ataxia (balance/coordination problems)
- Seizures
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Irritability
- ADHD-like symptoms
- Memory problems
Hormonal & Reproductive
- Irregular periods
- Severe PMS/PMDD
- Infertility
- Recurrent miscarriage
- Early menopause
- Estrogen dominance
- Low libido
- Delayed puberty (in teens)
Nutritional & Metabolic
- Iron deficiency anemia
- Vitamin D deficiency
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Magnesium deficiency
- Zinc deficiency
- Calcium deficiency
- Folate deficiency
- Low ferritin
- Unexplained weight loss
- Failure to thrive (in children)
Skin & Hair
- Dermatitis herpetiformis (itchy blistering rash)
- Eczema
- Psoriasis
- Hair loss/thinning
- Dry skin
- Mouth sores/canker sores
- Pale skin
Musculoskeletal
- Joint pain
- Muscle cramps
- Bone pain
- Osteoporosis/osteopenia
- Chronic fatigue
Digestive
- Bloating
- Gas
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Stomach cramps/pain
- Greasy, foul-smelling stools
- Acid reflux/GERD
- Indigestion
Urinary
- Frequent urination
- Interstitial cystitis
- Recurring urinary tract infections
- Bedwetting in children
- Kidney stones
- IgA nephropathy
- Nocturia (waking at night to urinate)
- Urethral spasms
If several of these sound familiar — especially the hormonal and neurological ones — it may be worth asking your doctor about celiac testing. A simple blood test (tTG-IgA) is usually the first step. The testing isn't perfect and many are gluten intolerant in spite of a negative test, but it's worth looking into either way.
A negative celiac test does not rule out celiac. If symptoms resolve completely on a strict gluten-free diet, that's clinically significant regardless of what the test says.
And if you have PMDD, the connection between celiac and PMDD is worth reading about. I wrote about how treating my celiac made my PMDD disappear.
