Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Getting Pregnant

Moongirl

By Moongirl
in Related Issues & Disorders

Recommended Posts

Moongirl Community Regular
Moongirl
Posted

im 26 and was just dx with celiac disease this month, never really thought that i would have issues with having a baby till i was dx. now i am concerned that i will have complications trying to get pregnant, i dont plan on having a baby probably for another 2-3 years, but it has concerned me more now that i have been dx. aany advice or stories??

thanks

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


traveljunkie Rookie
traveljunkie
Posted

Hi Moongirl,

If your not planning to try for 2 or 3 years and you stay on a healthy gluten-free diet, I see no reason you wouldn't have the same chance of conceiving as any other woman.

Charlene :)

Merika Contributor
Merika
Posted

If you're on a gluten-free diet and celiac, your pregnancy and miscarry rates are the same as anyone else. And they're only slightly higher if you're not diagnosed.

I wouldn't worry about it too much -- as an example, I was very sick for years undiagnosed, it took me & dh ohhhhh maybe one or two tries to conceive, and I had a great pregnancy - felt better than I had in years, lol. I was diagnosed celiac and went gluten-free when my son was 2 years old.

Hope that helps,

Merika

cgilsing Enthusiast
cgilsing
Posted

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Like everybody is saying, if you are on a strict gluten-free diet your risks aren't any higher than a person without celiac disease! I was diagnosed in August of 2004 and in September of 2005 I got pregnant on the first try! My pregnancy has been uneventful and healthy so far. I have heard that babies of mothers with celiac disease (that are on a strict diet) actually average a slightly higher birth weight than babies of mothers without celiac disease! Good luck when you decide it is time to try!

jenvan Collaborator
jenvan
Posted

I echo what's been said here--if you are gluten-free, your chances should be "normal." And some women who are not diagnosed have no problems either--its not necessarily a majority that do. I have a friend with Celiac who is pregnant right now--and she had the same concern! So, there are a lot of babies out there with Celiac mothers :)

pokerprincess Newbie
pokerprincess
Posted
im 26 and was just dx with celiac disease this month, never really thought that i would have issues with having a baby till i was dx. now i am concerned that i will have complications trying to get pregnant, i dont plan on having a baby probably for another 2-3 years, but it has concerned me more now that i have been dx. aany advice or stories??

thanks

After having four, the last one after dx, obviously wasn't a problem. All on time, average weight and at 15,13, 10 and 3 are rarely ever sick. i am a little out of my mind sometimes!

Nadtorious Rookie
Nadtorious
Posted

What are the chances of a celiac passing it on to her baby? I'm super sensitive and don't want another "me". I don't have reactions very often-once a month or so, but I didn't get my period for 2 years because of celiac disease. I'm afraid of infertility and passing this disease on.

Nadia B)

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


cgilsing Enthusiast
cgilsing
Posted

I'm not sure what the statistics for the possibility of passing celiac disease to your children is. It is hereditary, but at least in my familiy the level of sensitivity varies greatly. My mom is gluten sensitive, but she isn't nearly as sensitive as I am. As long as she doesn't eat cookies or cake or something she is ok (doesn't worry about soy sauce, cream soup, the wrong brand bacon etc.) My great-grandmother was as sensitive as I am, but her daughter (my grandmother) only has dh for a symptom and generally eats what she wants and puts up with it. Of her kids only 2 of the 4 have any symptoms. I wouldn't think that your kids would have a sure chance of having a problem, and if they do, they may not be as sensitive as you.

The way I see it, if you have celiac disease you will closely watch your children for any signs and symptoms of celiac disease. If they do get it, than at least they won't suffer for years the way many people do. You can be their advocate at the Dr. office, you can help them learn how to eat right, and they will always have you to understand what they are going through. I don't want my kids to have this either, but if they do, just keep in mind if we have to have something then this isn't THAT bad, there are so much worse things, at least we have something that we have some control over, and we still live a normal life (with the exception of eating what we want :P )

  • 4 weeks later...
Melzo Rookie
Melzo
Posted

As a girl who is currently trying to have a baby, it has been a tremendous relief to find all of you who have had easy / normal preganancies. It might be that I read too much, but I had heard that it is harder for woman w/celiac to get pregant and then also harder to keep the baby full term. We have been "trying" since October and I think now that the celiac is not the problem....it's me stressing out about it!!!! I am happy that I have read your responses!! Makes me feel so much better.

BTW, I have read in a book (and that's where I get into trouble) that direct relatives have a 1 in 5 chance of having celiac disease. One in 132 Americans have celiac disease. I also read that if you breastfeed, you lessen the chance of your child getting celiac disease. Has anyone else heard about this?

Melanie

Merika Contributor
Merika
Posted

Hi Melanie,

I've heard similar statistics - 1 in 10 immediate family, 1 in 133 north american population. Breastfeeding has been shown to lessen odds of celiac. :) :)

The important thing, you know, is to have fun trying ;-) LOL

Merika

Roxyk Newbie
Roxyk
Posted

From my experience, I did have a hard time getting pregnant, probably due to celiac. I was only diagnosed because my father was. About 9 months after my diagnosis & going gluten free I had normal periods. Exactly one year after diagnosis - I was pregnant. I am now 33 weeks. I do "appear" smaller in the belly - but who knows.

We will be watching our child closely for signs of celiac & will have him/her tested around 2 years of age. We found a pediatrician with expericence to help us out. That was very important to us.

Good luck, try to relax (I know I hated to hear that in the 2+ years we tried), and if you do have problems - see an acupuncturist (they rock - stick with Traditional Chinese Medicine dr) & see a fertility specialist.

Melzo Rookie
Melzo
Posted

Thanks guys!

I actually am having "normal" periods because I was on birth control for years (got off of them in August) and seem to be regular. However, this month I tried taking my basal temperature in the a.m. and tracking it, it seems that I am not ovulating because my temperature has not spiked at all this cycle. I wonder if it could be the celiac, or that 5 months ago I went off of birth control, or both or something else entirely. It could drive a girl crazy.

Merika & Roxyk, I should listen to you and just have fun. Thank you again!

Melanie

Ileana Newbie
Ileana
Posted

Hi!

I'm new on this forum! My name is Ileana and I live in Romania! So, please excuse eventually problem of language! I'm 27 years old! My problem is that in my country were not made any kind of studies regarding celiac diseas, so we don't have too many information about the diseas! Doctors are able to diagnose the diseas, but that's all! They don't give too many information about it! The doctors discovered the diseas to my mother in law almost 53 years ago! She was on gluten free diet for 5 years! After this period the doctors permited her to eat products with gluten! She was ok for a long period of time! She born my husband and after 2 years she remained pregnant with my brother in law! After a month she gaved birth to her second child and one month later she became very, very sick! She entered in the worst phase of the diseas! I have one question: What is the chance for my future child to inherit the diseas! I read a lot of things on the internet and I've seen that the diseas can be genetically transmited, (my husband did not had any simptom of the diseas yet!)

Please excuse my mistakes in translation!

Ileana

Melzo Rookie
Melzo
Posted
Hi!

I'm new on this forum! My name is Ileana and I live in Romania! So, please excuse eventually problem of language! I'm 27 years old! My problem is that in my country were not made any kind of studies regarding celiac diseas, so we don't have too many information about the diseas! Doctors are able to diagnose the diseas, but that's all! They don't give too many information about it! The doctors discovered the diseas to my mother in law almost 53 years ago! She was on gluten free diet for 5 years! After this period the doctors permited her to eat products with gluten! She was ok for a long period of time! She born my husband and after 2 years she remained pregnant with my brother in law! After a month she gaved birth to her second child and one month later she became very, very sick! She entered in the worst phase of the diseas! I have one question: What is the chance for my future child to inherit the diseas! I read a lot of things on the internet and I've seen that the diseas can be genetically transmited, (my husband did not had any simptom of the diseas yet!)

Please excuse my mistakes in translation!

Ileana

Ileana:

Your translation is fine. I was able to understand what you are going through! From what I have researched, your child has a 1 in 5 chance of getting the disease. Breastfeeding though, may slow the onset of the disease. So if you are able to breastfeed, it seems that it would be worth it. Sorry about my translation! Hope you understand and good luck with this. You can do it!!

Roxyk Newbie
Roxyk
Posted

I should have added that I did have normal periods ON birth control - because it's hormones. It was when I went off that things started to change & my period got shorter & shorter.

Melzo Rookie
Melzo
Posted
I should have added that I did have normal periods ON birth control - because it's hormones. It was when I went off that things started to change & my period got shorter & shorter.

My periods don't last as long (2 days instead of the 4/5 on birth control). They also have been further apart (31 days instead of 28). What is the sense of having your period if you're not ovulating? (Being sarcastic). I am going to contact my ob/gyn soon if I don't start soon. AGAIN, I am worrying too much, aren't I?

Roxyk Newbie
Roxyk
Posted

No, you aren't worrying too much, just taking charge. I really don't think drs did as much for me as my acupuncturist did. she told me 9months of treatment & I would see a difference - and I did. Combine that & my injectable drugs for fertility & I got pregnant. I would recommend looking for a Tradition Chinese Medicine dr/acupuncturist in your area. It really was the best way to go.

  • 4 weeks later...
Guest watermanlee
Guest watermanlee
Posted
As a girl who is currently trying to have a baby, it has been a tremendous relief to find all of you who have had easy / normal preganancies. It might be that I read too much, but I had heard that it is harder for woman w/celiac to get pregant and then also harder to keep the baby full term. We have been "trying" since October and I think now that the celiac is not the problem....it's me stressing out about it!!!! I am happy that I have read your responses!! Makes me feel so much better.

BTW, I have read in a book (and that's where I get into trouble) that direct relatives have a 1 in 5 chance of having celiac disease. One in 132 Americans have celiac disease. I also read that if you breastfeed, you lessen the chance of your child getting celiac disease. Has anyone else heard about this?

Melanie

I just wanted to mention something to think about. Not just for Melanie, but, for anyone who reads this.

I have two children. I did not breast feed the first for very long, only 4 months. She had some issues with the milk based formula, so she was on Soy Formula for the rest of her first year. She is very healthy, has no allergies to any foods, according to the RAST testing and thriving very well, considering she was 7 1/2 weeks premature. She is 10 now and very intelligent, calm and average height and weight. On the other hand, I breast fed my second child for 10 months. She has suffered chronic ear infections and throat infections, gas, and Diarrhea. She had her tonsils and adenoids removed when she was 5. She also complains of having a headache alot. As she got older, she mentioned her chronic stomach pain, and after every meal she was on the toilet with the big D.... As a matter of fact, until I took her off of the wheat last year,(she is 7 now) she had never had a formed stool. I have recently discovered the term STRATORRHEA( I think that is spelled incorrectly) and without a doubt, she has had that too. Unfortunatly, I often gave in to her pleads for a cookie, pizza, and cake, and every time, the diarrhea returned, within an hour after eating. At age 6, she was diagnosed with some mild food allergies, including milk, egg, corn, wheat, yeast, and a handful of environmental allergies. She is also allergic to cats and dogs, the two things she loves the most. She also has been placed in special classes at school for reading , it is hard for her to concentrate when others are around, she is a little hyper, bouncing around like a ball, all the time. She hasn't napped since she was 11 months old. She has a very short attention span and she is underweight, although her appetite is huge. She can easily eat 4 chicken drumsticks in a whack!

This past January, she has also been diagnosed with celiac disease. It is also pretty conclusive that I have celiac disease. Having said all of this, I can't help but wonder if the breast feeding may have been a contributor to her multiple food and environmental allergies, especially since they are all the same as mine. Also, the fact that my other daughter has nothing! I know that when I ate a food that I am allergic to, my body must have made the histamines or whatever happens when you have an allergic reaction, and I am pretty sure these things are passed through to the baby via the breast milk. Toward the end of breast feeding her, I was told to not eat or drink any dairy products because they thought she was lactose intolerant. If the milk I drank passed through my digestive system, and still affected her after all of that, ( I am allergic to milk too, found out recently) could she have, in effect, caught the allergies from me? If your breast milk is supposed to give the baby immunities, could it also give her allergies? She didn't seem to get all of the benefits I was told she would have, as a matter of fact, it turned out to be the complete opposite. Maybe with all of the reactions I was (unknowingly) having to foods,( I just found out about my allergies 2 years ago, I was 29) I could have passed something along?

I forgot to also mention, that it took me 2 years to get pregnant with my first daughter. Apparently due to Endometriosis and the fact that I wastold it would be unlikely that I would have children. I had complications with her, including a 63 hour labor after my water broke, that resulted in a 4 lb. baby. I didn't get pregnant again until 2 years later. I was not using birth control during this time. During this second pregnancy, I had Placenta Previa,and reached a whopping 204 lbs. ( I weighed 105 when I got pregnant) due to mild hypertension and hydraminos (excessive amount of amniotic fluid). I ended up having a Cesarean Section with her 3 weeks earlier than her due date. I don't know if having celiac disease had anything to do with these experiences, but, if I could have avoided any of the complications by being on a gluten free diet or whatever, I would sure have liked to know!!!!!

shellhoo Newbie
shellhoo
Posted
im 26 and was just dx with celiac disease this month, never really thought that i would have issues with having a baby till i was dx. now i am concerned that i will have complications trying to get pregnant, i dont plan on having a baby probably for another 2-3 years, but it has concerned me more now that i have been dx. aany advice or stories??

thanks

I was Dx when I was 19, and I didn't really understand the disease too well. I was pretty much told to just stay away from bread and cookies and stuff like that. I still had a lot of symptoms but the bulk of it went away. I got pregnant for my son fairly easy and had a normal pregnancy. I had some symptoms just from not knowing all the hidden glutens and not looking at labels. But I was absorbing nutrients then.

A couple years later, I got preg for my little girl. I had a lot of symptoms, but just dealt with them, mostly bloating and D. I was also under a lot of stress. My sister's baby passed away while I was pregnant. Her baby was 2 monthes old. That was a hard thing to deal with and I just got sicker. They decided my daughter was not thriving in my uterus and I had a c-section at 25 weeks preg. She weighed 1 pound. She's doing good now. She has a couple minor problems, like hearing loss and developmental delays. But she is cute as a button.

I didn't fully understand the disease until last January when I started losing weight rapidly. I lost a total of 55 pounds in 5 monthes. I was hospitalized in June and that's when I found out about all the gluen foods i could not eat. I finally had my period again in September. Then I got pregnant again in October. I am 4 monthes pregnant and I feel great!!!!! I am totally gluten free. Last year was a pretty eventful year for my family!! I try not to think about what I can't eat and just focus on my life and family. I watch my kids closely for signs of the disease and see none yet.

Good luck!!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. suek54
      - suek54 replied to suek54's topic in Dermatitis Herpetiformis
      5

      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      Thank you all for your advice and the dermatitis herpetiformis article. The latter made me realise I had stopped taking my antihistamine, which I will restart today. The Dapsone has cleared the rash entirely but I still get quite a bit itching, absolutely nothing to see though. I know its notoriously hard to clear and its still relatively early days for me...
    2. trents
      - trents replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      So, essentially all of the nutrition in the food we eat is absorbed through the villous lining of the small bowel. This is the section of the intestinal track that is damaged by celiac disease. This villous lining is composed of billions of finger-like projections that create a huge amount of surface area for absorbing nutrients. For the celiac person, when...
    3. catnapt
      - catnapt replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      thank you so much for your detailed and extremely helpful reply!! I can say with absolute certainty that the less gluten containing products I've eaten over the past several years, the better I've felt. I wasn't avoiding gluten, I was avoiding refined grains (and most processed foods) as well as anything that made me feel bad when I ate it. It's the...
    4. trents
      - trents replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      Welcome, @catnapt! The most recent guidelines are the daily consumption of a minimum of 10g of gluten (about the amount found in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of two weeks. But if possible stretching that out even more would enhance the chances of getting valid test results. These guidelines are for those who have been eating gluten free for...
    5. catnapt
      - catnapt posted a topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      after several years of issues with a para-gland issue, my endo has decided it's a good idea for me to be tested for celiac disease. I am 70 yrs old and stunned to learn that you can get celiac this late in life. I have just gradually stopped eating most foods that contain gluten over the past several years- they just make me feel ill- although I...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,256
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Christie Fassel
    Newest Member
    Christie Fassel
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Who's Online (See full list)

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • suek54
      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      By suek54 · Posted

      Thank you all for your advice and the dermatitis herpetiformis article. The latter made me realise I had stopped taking my antihistamine, which I will restart today. The Dapsone has cleared the rash entirely but I still get quite a bit itching, absolutely nothing to see though. I know its notoriously hard to clear and its still relatively early days for me.  The iodine issue is very interesting. I do eat quite a bit of salt because I have Addison's disease and sodium retention is an issue. I also have autoimmune hypothyroidism, not sure how a low iodine diet would play into that? Because of my Addison's I am totally steroid dependent, I take steroids 4 x daily and cannot mount any defence against inflammation. I need to increase my meds for that. Now that I know what is wrong I can do just that if Im having a bad day. Life is very sweet, just so damn complicated sometimes! Hey ho, onwards. Thank you again for your advice.  
    • trents
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By trents · Posted

      So, essentially all of the nutrition in the food we eat is absorbed through the villous lining of the small bowel. This is the section of the intestinal track that is damaged by celiac disease. This villous lining is composed of billions of finger-like projections that create a huge amount of surface area for absorbing nutrients. For the celiac person, when gluten is consumed, it triggers an autoimmune reaction in this area which, of course, generates inflammation. The antibodies connected with this inflammation is what the celiac blood tests are designed to detect but this inflammation, over time, wears down the finger-like projections of the villous lining. Of course, when this proceeds for an extended period of time, greatly reduces the absorption efficiency of the villous lining and often results in many and various nutrient deficiency-related health issues. Classic examples would be osteoporosis and iron deficiency. But there are many more. Low D3 levels is a well-known celiac-caused nutritional deficiency. So is low B12. All the B vitamins in fact. Magnesium, zinc, etc.  Celiac disease can also cause liver inflammation. You mention elevated ALP levels. Elevated liver enzymes over a period of 13 years was what led to my celiac diagnosis. Within three months of going gluten free my liver enzymes normalized. I had elevated AST and ALT. The development of sensitivities to other food proteins is very common in the celiac population. Most common cross reactive foods are dairy and oats but eggs, soy and corn are also relatively common offenders. Lactose intolerance is also common in the celiac population because of damage to the SB lining.  Eggs when they are scrambled or fried give me a gut ache. But when I poach them, they do not. The steam and heat of poaching causes a hydrolysis process that alters the protein in the egg. They don't bother me in baked goods either so I assume the same process is at work. I bought a plastic poacher on Amazon to make poaching very easy. All this to say that many of the issues you describe could be caused by celiac disease. 
    • catnapt
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By catnapt · Posted

      thank you so much for your detailed and extremely helpful reply!! I can say with absolute certainty that the less gluten containing products I've eaten over the past several years, the better I've felt.   I wasn't avoiding gluten, I was avoiding refined grains (and most processed foods) as well as anything that made me feel bad when I ate it. It's the same reason I gave up dairy and eggs- they make me feel ill.  I do have a bit of a sugar addiction lol so a lot of times I wasn't sure if it was the refined grains that I was eating - or the sugar. So from time to time I might have a cookie or something but I've learned how to make wonderful cookies and golden brownies with BEANS!! and no refined sugar - I use date paste instead. Pizza made me so ill- but I thought it was probably the cheese. I gave up pizza and haven't missed it. the one time I tried a slice I felt so bad I knew I'd never touch it again. I stopped eating wheat pasta at least 3 yrs ago- just didn't feel well after eating it. I tried chick pea pasta and a few others and discovered I like the brown rice pasta. I still don't eat a lot of pasta but it's nice for a change when I want something easy. TBH over the years I've wondered sometimes if I might be gluten intolerant but really believed it was not possible for me to have celiac disease. NOW I need to know for sure- because I'm in the middle of a long process of trying to find out why I have a high parathyroid level (NOT the thyroid- but rather the 4 glands that control the calcium balance in your body) I have had a hard time getting my vit D level up, my serum calcium has run on the low side of normal for many years... and now I am losing calcium from my bones and excreting it in my urine (some sort of renal calcium leak) Also have a high ALP since 2014. And now rapidly worsening bone density.  I still do not have a firm diagnosis. Could be secondary HPT (but secondary to what? we need to know) It could be early primary HPT. I am spilling calcium in my urine but is that caused by the high parathyroid hormone or is it the reason my PTH is high>? there are multiple feedback loops for this condition.    so I will keep eating the bread and some wheat germ that does not seem to bother me too much (it hasn't got enough gluten to use just wheat germ)    but I'm curious- if you don't have a strong reaction to a product- like me and wheat germ- does that mean it's ok to eat or is it still causing harm even if you don't have any obvious symptoms? I guess what you are saying about silent celiac makes it likely that you can have no symptoms and still have the harm... but geez! you'd think they'd come up with a way to test for this that didn't require you to consume something that makes you sick! I worry about the complications I've been reading about- different kinds of cancers etc. also wondering- are there degrees of celiac disease?  is there any correlation between symptoms and the amnt of damage to your intestines? I also need a firm diagnosis because I have an identical twin sister ... so if I have celiac, she has it too- or at least the genetic make up for having it. I did have a VERY major stress to my body in 2014-2016 time frame .. lost 50lbs in a short period of time and had severe symptoms from acute protracted withdrawal off an SSRI drug (that I'd been given an unethically high dose of, by a dr who has since lost his license)  Going off the drug was a good thing and in many ways my health improved dramatically- just losing 50lbs was helpful but I also went  off almost a dozen different medications, totally changed my diet and have been doing pretty well except for the past 3-4 yrs when the symptoms related to the parathyroid issue cropped up. It is likely that I had low vit D for some time and that caused me a lot of symptoms. The endo now tells me that low vit D can be caused by celiac disease so I need to know for sure! thank you for all that great and useful information!!! 
    • trents
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome, @catnapt! The most recent guidelines are the daily consumption of a minimum of 10g of gluten (about the amount found in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of two weeks. But if possible stretching that out even more would enhance the chances of getting valid test results. These guidelines are for those who have been eating gluten free for a significant amount of time. It's called the "gluten challenge".  Yes, you can develop celiac disease at any stage of life. There is a genetic component but also a stress trigger that is needed to activate the celiac genes. About 30-40% of the general population possesses the genetic potential to develop celiac disease but only about 1% of the general population actually develop celiac disease. For most with the potential, the triggering stress event doesn't happen. It can be many things but often it is a viral infection. Having said that, it is also the case that many, many people who eventually are diagnosed with celiac disease probably experienced the actual onset years before. Many celiacs are of the "silent" type, meaning that symptoms are largely missing or very minor and get overlooked until damage to the small bowel lining becomes advanced or they develop iron deficiency anemia or some other medical problem associated with celiac disease. Many, many are never diagnosed or are diagnosed later in life because they did not experience classic symptoms. And many physicians are only looking for classic symptoms. We now know that there are over 200 symptoms/medical problems associated with celiac disease but many docs are only looking for things like boating, gas, diarrhea. I certainly understand your concerns about not wanting to damage your body by taking on a gluten challenge. Your other option is to totally commit to gluten free eating and see if your symptoms improve. It can take two years or more for complete healing of the small bowel lining once going gluten free but usually people experience significant improvement well before then. If their is significant improvement in your symptoms when going seriously gluten free, then you likely have your answer. You would either have celiac disease or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity).
    • catnapt
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By catnapt · Posted

      after several years of issues with a para-gland issue, my endo has decided it's a good idea for me to be tested for celiac disease. I am 70 yrs old and stunned to learn that you can get celiac this late in life. I have just gradually stopped eating most foods that contain gluten over the past several years- they just make me feel ill- although I attributed it to other things like bread spiking blood sugar- or to the things I ate *with* the bread or crackers etc   I went to a party in Nov and ate a LOT of a vegan roast made with vital wheat gluten- as well as stuffing, rolls and pie crust... and OMG I was so sick! the pain, the bloating, the gas, the nausea... I didn't think it would ever end (but it did) and I was ready to go the ER but it finally subsided.   I mentioned this to my endo and now she wants me to be tested for celiac after 2 weeks of being on gluten foods. She has kind of flip flopped on how much gluten I should eat, telling me that if the symptoms are severe I can stop. I am eating 2-3 thin slices of bread per day (or english muffins) and wow- it does make me feel awful. But not as bad as when I ate that massive amnt of vital wheat gluten. so I will continue on if I have to... but what bothers me is - if it IS celiac, it seems stupid for lack of a better word, to intentionally cause more damage to my body... but I am also worried, on the other hand, that this is not a long enough challenge to make the blood work results valid.   can you give me any insight into this please?   thank you
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.