So Confused Now....

[alamaz]

I wasn't sure really where to post this.

I found out I have celiac disease when I miscarried in January. When that happened I had to diagnose myself. All the docs. of course said it's "normal" to have a miscarrige. Well, I knew it was not normal when you considered everything else I'd been complaining about for several years. So, I researched, found out about celiac disease and asked for the blood test. Voila! I am now 2.5 months gluten-free and overall feel a lot better but am trying not to get down that I'm not 100% better everyday. Today is a bad day. I tried to add back in a small amount of dairy over the weekend and that is now "backfiring" on me.

I went to Enterolab and they told me I have the celiac disease gene and a gluten sensitivity gene meaning all of my children will have some type of gluten intolerence gene. Now I'm not so sure anymore that having kids of my own is the right thing to do. I can't come to grips with knowing that I would delibertly bring a child into this world with this predisposition to celiac disease. I mean, I know when you have kids in general you're passing on to them potentially worse diseases than celiac disease but celiac disease is lifelong and why would I want to knowingly let my kid grow up with having to be different? Won't that make life harder for them and for me as a parent having to watch them deal with it? I mean, I have social anxiety about going to dinner with people because I"m terrified I'll get sick or won't be able to eat anything which results in me sitting home more often than not. Why should I pass that on to another person?

I'm obviously having a bad day healthwise so that could have a lot to do with it. And I know no one on here can answer my questions about having kids or not. I just needed to get it out. My husband isn't very empathetic when I try to talk about this because he doesn't want to adopt. He wants his own kids or none at all (such a guy thing!). I would love to hear any stories of people with celiac kids and how it's not so bad. Am I over thinking this?

[CarlaB]

30% of the population has a celiac gene, yet only 1% develop the disease. And, unless you're Asian, EVERYONE has gluten intolerant genes. The ONLY non-gluten intolerant gene is the DQ4 found in Asians ... this is according to Enterolab.

So, if you decided to adopt, you'd have a 30% chance of getting a child with a celiac gene!

I wouldn't let celiac stop me from having children. I've been gluten-free for a year and a half and it's really not that much of a problem. Two of my children eat gluten-free (by their own choice -- one is 13 and the other 19). None of us are actually celiacs, but feel better gluten-free. I am very sensitive to gluten just as if I were celiac, but the two kids are much less sensitive than I.

Eating gluten-free is becoming much, much easier now that celiac awareness is more common. It's really not that bad. And, now that YOU are aware of celiac, YOU will recognize the symptoms before your child gets as ill as you did.

[ArtGirl]

I have two gluten intolerant genes, so my son has at one of them. He is nearly 40 and has shown no signs of any problems with gluten - and he has had gluten all his life (I only found out about my own intolerance this year).

At the time, I was more concerned about diabetes as my sister developed type I at 9 yrs old and died from it at 20. I kept a close watch on him but he didn't develope diabetes either.

You just can't be sure your children will have Celiac or gluten intolerance, just because you do. Even with the genes, there has to be a trigger.

[alamaz]

Thanks for your replies. I really appreciate it. I haven't been feeling well the past few days and I think I have these moments where everything is so overwhelming that I can't imagine being able to deal with my medical problems and potentially a child and/or a child with medical problems. I really don't know how people do it! I'm amazed that women (and men) have the energy and determination to do it all. I know essentially you don't have a choice but it still has to be done and I don't know if I can do it. Thanks for reminding me that either way I go there is still a chance that we'd have a child with celiac disease. Sometimes I feel like I'm the one of the few who have this, I'm really just one of the few fortunate enough to know what I have!

[gfgypsyqueen]

everyone has a hard time with this disease periodically. But overall, it is a healthy way to live. Your kids will grow up feeling not like the rest of the group for any number of reasons whether or not they have Celiacs. If your husband is against adopting, have a baby. See how it goes. Maybe this pregnancy will be easier for you. Maybe you'll find it isn't so hard after you have been gluten-free for a while. We're all here to help if you need to vent and we all need to vent at some point