A connection between PM and celiac doesn't surprise me, freelee. When I was at my worst, I realized that eating a piece of bread made me worse, so I began eating gluten-free. Whenever I asked my neuro, he said that there was no clinical proof that a GF diet was helpful. But he also said that (anecdotally) several patients with myositis (& other autoimmune diseases) had reported to him that a GF diet helped them. I was never checked for celiac disease until a year after being on a GF diet, and my blood test came back negative for CD. However, the doctor who ran the test told me that the blood test is only 40% accurate, plus a person must be eating gluten in order to get a positive result. He said that the "gold standard" test for celiac was the intestinal biopsy, but he wouldn't perform one on me because of my compromised immune system. Since that time I've learned that if docs don't biopsy a damaged portion of the small intestine, then the result will be negative even if a person has celiac. So I don't know if I have CD or not, but at the very least I'm gluten-intolerant. Even ingesting a small amount of gluten will raise my inflammation levels within 30-60 minutes, so I choose to stay gluten-free for life. Thanks for posting this website.

Thought you might be interested in reading this article from The Huffington Post, written by a doctor. It's interesting to read that the 'normal' symptoms are changing. The article also mentions a connection between celiac and autoimmune diseases.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerard-e-mullin-md/celiac-disease-_b_6796340.html

Hi Freelee, I do believe there is some connection to gluten insensitivity and autoimmune disease. Nanny also got me interested in the subject of the connections between autoimmune disease and gluten issues.

I try to stick with a gluten free diet as much as possible. I do feel better eating gluten free foods.

Thank you for the article too!

Hi Freelee. I do believe that for some of us there is a connection to diet. Nanny first mentioned it to me a few years back but many others have also posted about how changing diet has really helped with DM/PM. For me there is no connection. I am firmly if the belief that this whole disease pathway is directed ny auto antibodies, some of which are yet to be researched and found. We are all different in how we are affected, our antibidies may be one explanation. Autumm

14 patients is less than ideal but i have seen a larger study linking Celiac and Pediatric Juvenile DM so early on i did a 90 day gluten free diet for myself. I did not find any changes for me.
i have heard of many with joint pains that find they totally go away, so maybe a different type of DM.

Clearly trying a strick Gluten free diet for a time is a good strategy.