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Pregnant And Worried

LindsayS

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LindsayS Newbie
LindsayS
Posted

I am so glad I came across this website. I am 16 weeks pregnant. I have never been officially diagnosed with celiac mainly because I don't have must faith in the medical community when it comes to food allergies and because I never really thought I had "celiac" until this pregnancy. I self diagnosed with obvious DH (skin rash), lethargy, fogginess, and severe mucus response with sore throat, headache, etc. I have been gluten-free (I say that mildly because I tend to cheat and pay for it) for a year and a half.

This is my second pregnancy. I first started noticing symptoms after the birth of my first daughter while fighting candida. I had thrush for months and had to completely change my diet. It was during this time that I realized my real problem was gluten.

Now that I am pregnant again, it seems as though I can't tolerate even the slightest bit of gluten. I have been more careful than usual because I have become very sick during this pregnancy due to eating it. I am on the right track now and committed to the lifestyle but I am still very worried about the baby. Could I have done irreversible harm? Is the baby not getting the nutrients it should be? Wondering if I should see some sort of specialist. I am taking a prenantal but haven't been consistent. Any advice would be appreciated.

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Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Hi and welcome! Women with celiac usually have perfectly healthy babies. The placenta is very aggressive about getting nutrients to your baby.

You might talk to your doctor about testing for B12, vitamin D, and iron as those are most commonly low. Obviously you need to be more consistent with the prenatal and if there are any deficiencies in the blood testing your obstetrician should be able to sort it out.

If you had obvious DH you are definitely celiac. I'm glad to hear you will be gluten-free now. It's much better for you. :)

LindsayS Newbie
LindsayS
Posted
  • Author

Thank you Skylark- I will ask about the testing for vitamin levels. If they are ok, it will ease my mind. As far as the DH, I have had blistery, scaly, extrememly itchy bumps or almost hives on both legs for 3 years or so. It was so bad, I would scratch so hard at night and it would leave scars. I didn't even want to wear shorts or skirts in the summer. When I stopped eating gluten, it healed within a month. Eliminating gluten was such a drastic change for me. I just have to stay commited for myself and the baby.

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

That's DH for sure! I hope you can get the testing easily and that things come back OK. I'm sure your baby is doing fine.

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    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine.  Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine.  Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and  Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats.  Meat, especially organ meats like liver, are the best sources of Thiamine, B12, and the six other B vitamins and important minerals like iron.   Thiamine has antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Thiamine is important to our immune systems.  We need more thiamine when we're physically ill or injured, when we're under stress emotionally, and when we exercise, especially outside in hot weather.  We need thiamine and other B vitamins like Niacin B 3 to keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy.  We can't store thiamine for very long.  We can get low in thiamine within three days.  Symptoms can appear suddenly when a high carbohydrate diet is consumed.  (Rice and beans are high in carbohydrates.)  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so symptoms can wax and wane depending on what one eats.  The earliest symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are easily contributed to other things or life events and dismissed.   Correcting nutritional deficiencies needs to be done quickly, especially in children, so their growth isn't stunted.  Nutritional deficiencies can affect intelligence.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause short stature and poor bone formation.   Is your son taking anything for the anemia?  Is the anemia caused by B12 or iron deficiency?  
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
    • Scott Adams
      Anti-endomysial Antibody (EMA) Testing

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      That is interesting, and it's the first time I heard about the umbilical cord beings used for that test. Thanks for sharing!
    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @lizzie42, You're being a good mom, seeking answers for your son.  Cheers! Subclinical thiamine deficiency commonly occurs with anemia.  An outright Thiamine deficiency can be precipitated by the consumption of a high carbohydrate meal.   Symptoms of Thiamine deficiency include feeling shakey or wobbly in the legs, muscle weakness or cramps, as well as aggression and irritability, confusion, mood swings and behavior changes.  Thiamine is essential to the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine which keep us calm and rational.   @Jsingh, histamine intolerance is also a symptom of Thiamine deficiency.  Thiamine is needed to prevent mast cells from releasing histamine at the slightest provocation as is seen in histamine intolerance.  Thiamine and the other B vitamins and Vitamin C are needed to clear histamine from the body.  Without sufficient thiamine and other B vitamins to clear it, the histamine builds up.  High histamine levels can change behavior, too.  High histamine levels are found in the brains of patients with schizophrenia.  Thiamine deficiency can also cause extreme hunger or conversely anorexia.   High carbohydrate meals can precipitate thiamine deficiency because additional thiamine is required to process carbohydrates for the body to use as fuel.  The more carbohydrates one eats daily, the more one needs additional thiamine above the RDA.  Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses. Keep in mind that gluten-free processed foods like cookies and such are not required to be fortified and enriched with vitamins and minerals like their gluten containing counterparts are.  Limit processed gluten-free foods.  They are often full of empty calories and unhealthy saturated fats and additives, and are high in histamine or histamine release triggers.  It's time you bought your own vitamins to supplement what is not being absorbed due to malabsorption of Celiac disease.  Benfotiamine is a form of Thiamine that has been shown to improve intestinal health as well as brain function. Do talk to your doctors and dieticians about supplementing with the essential vitamins and minerals while your children are growing up gluten free.  Serve nutritionally dense foods.  Meats and liver are great sources of B vitamins and minerals. Hope this helps!  Keep us posted on your progress!
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