What's Going On?!

[Luv2teach]

Hi,

I have a one year old son and had no problems getting preg. I have always had extremely normal cycles, ovulate at three weeks and period two weeks later. I also always have

Symptoms when I ovulate. Anyway, i have been gluten free for 2 months now and have not ovulated and no period!!! What's going on?! My husband and I are ready to try for number 2 and I'm strongly considering going back to my normal gluten full diet!

[Celiac Mindwarp]

Going gluten-free has messed with my periods. Initially I stopped period pain, then when I went paleoish got worse pain than ever. I assume you are intolerant rather than celiac if you are even thinking of eating gluten. Maybe give it a bit longer on the diet. Are there any other ways you have changed your eating? For example I found I was eating lots of extra sugar and bad fats by eating processed gluten-free foods. A good healthy diet is the way to go.

I do understand it is frustrating when you want to have number 2, I kept having miscarriages and took a year longer than I hoped, but now the extra months seem less significant than they did at the time.

gluten-free is a big change, sounds like your body is just taking a while to sort itself out.

Can you talk through with your doctor too?

[mushroom]

Gluten can mess with your hormones.  You had no problems while you were still on gluten, but now your body is having some problems adjusting without gluten.  Give it a few months to get settled back down again.  You are just doing things in reverse

[frieze]

Hi,

I have a one year old son and had no problems getting preg. I have always had extremely normal cycles, ovulate at three weeks and period two weeks later. I also always have

Symptoms when I ovulate. Anyway, i have been gluten free for 2 months now and have not ovulated and no period!!! What's going on?! My husband and I are ready to try for number 2 and I'm strongly considering going back to my normal gluten full diet!

1)  make sure you are not already pregnant.

2)  have you increased you soy intake

[Luv2teach]

I am celiac but had no issues when I was eating gluten and that's what makes me want to go back do that I can get my cycle regular again. But I will wait a little longer to see if it regulates. Will it eventually go back to normal? I think my hormones are out of wack because I have been super snappy and irritated lately and I don't know why. will that get better? Thanks for you help!

And yes, I do eat a lot of soy but always have bc I am a vegetarian...I'm not eating any more than normal.

[Celiac Mindwarp]

As you are celiac you cannot go back to eating gluten, this is your diet for life now. This is especially important if you wish to carry a successful pregnancy.

My hormones have definitely changed, I started my period today and have no pain, bloating, pls. Last 2 months were monstrous.

Give it a bit more time. The suggestion to check you are not already pregnant is good one, it is not impossible.

If you need help to adjust to the gluten-free diet generally, as questions. The folks here can help you transition. Read around if you want to get an idea of what happens if you continue to eat gluten, even if you have 'silent' celiac. For one thing your baby may not get sufficient nutrients.

Good luck (and say goodbye to gluten for good).

[OleMissLass]

I have not had hormone changes since going gluten-free (that I have noticed) but it definitely takes your body longer than 2 months to heal itself on this diet.  I was on it a year before I stopped completely having symptoms and gastrointestinal problems.  Give your body time to repair and prepare for a pregnancy.  I've been gluten-free now for about 3 years and was worried about infertility.  But I am pregnant now - and it only took us 3 months once we started trying.  I credit being careful about the diet and allowing my body to do what it needed to do. 

[GFinDC]

It seems to me at least 6 months should pass on the gluten-free diet before you attempt a pregnancy.  That would give you time to heal and restore some proper vitamin and mineral levels that are going to be needed.  Are you a total veggie or can you eat some fish?  Protein is very important for developing children, weather their mothers like it or not.  We aren't cows or sheep after all.  Our stomachs are not made to efficiently digest massive amounts of vegetation to extract the needed vitamins and minerals.  Cows have 4 stomachs to do that job.

[Luv2teach]

LOL because of all your advise I took a test and sure enough....I AM PREGNANT! Going gluten-free mush have caused me to ovulate super early. GFinDC I didn't have to wait 6 months because my endoscopy showed very minimal damage. The dr said my body was already absorbing nutrition just fine bc the Celia hadn't really been affected yet, anyway, it is going to be hard bc with my last pregnancy I was super hungry and craved pasta all the time!

[mushroom]

Give GeeEff his MD degree now!     He's about as right as any of our doctors are, except most of them don't even know of a correlation with celiac disease.  The only answer to his advice is to carry a healthy baby to term with aplomb    I hope you can 'weather' it out with gluten free pasta. 

[GFinDC]

Well geez Luv2teach, that's great news!    Congrats!  Pasta is ok, there is some pretty good gluten-free pasta out there these days.  Tinkyada brand is good and fairly widely available.  Bia-glut is supposed to be wonderful but kinda pricey if you ask me.    Plus harder to find.  I've never tried it myself.  I haven't liked the corn pastas much myself, but I don't watch the pot like you are supposed to very well.  So I tend to overcook it which is how it turns to glop in a pot.  Yuck!  Tinkyada is rice pasta and they sell it main stream grocery stores here.

 

Shroomie, that 6 month wait advice came from Dr. Peter Green's book on celiac disease.  I guess he didn't know Luv2teach was in a bit of a hurry tho!

[Celiac Mindwarp]

Woohoo, congratulations! This is the best news.

Look after yourself x

[Luv2teach]

Thank you everyone! I am already struggling with this diet (as some of you know I am a veggie too so having a hard time finding food things to fill me up) so I am glad this forum is here for support! I was thinking of stopping for awhile since I was so overwhelmed but now that I'm pregnant I know it is important to stick to it!

[Celiac Mindwarp]

Yes, and we will do our best to help out!

Do you know how many weeks you are so far?

My favorites for filling up are sweet potatoes, rice and rice pasta. Or how about baked potatoes? Potato chips in an emergency??

Bananas. Do you have eggs? A stash of hard boiled ones is useful if so.

[GFinDC]

How about some avocado dip?  I make avocado dip with lemon juice, canola oil mayo, chopped parsley, chopped olives, sometimes a chopped hard boiled egg, and a can of salmon, plus garlic powder, salt and pepper.  It goes pretty well with some tortilla corn chips.  You can also add chopped broccoli florets or fried brussel sprouts or onion.  If you are a cheese eater you can sprinkle sunflower seeds and cheese shreds on top.  Or bacon bits if you prefer.