Awaiting Diagnosis - Think Pregnancy Triggered It?

[waine30]

Hi,

 

I am hoping for some advice and maybe see if anyone has been in the same situation.

 

When I was pregnant with my 3rd child - I fell very ill during the last trimester.

I did not gain any weight, had extreme tiredness to the point I was in bed for two weeks (it was not just tiredness from pregnancy) drying my hair tired me out.

I was sick, then had bouts of diarreah.Severe heartburn and from the beginning of pregnancy i was slighty anemic.

I was put on tabs for heartburn and doc prescribed iron tabs - which i stopped taking as she thought these could be causing the sickness,

My daughter was born 4 weeks early which they think was triggered by placenta abrubption.

 

I was convinced that me being ill and my daughter being early was linked - but docs said that I just unfortunately had a bad time of it,

I have two other children and sailed through the pregnancys with them!!!

 

After the birth I was still getting abdominal pain and severe heartburn - so doc sent me for an endoscopy which showed I had a hiatus hernia, the consultant mentioned a wheat intolerance so took some biopsies - the results showed inflammation in my duodenum 'COMPATIABLE WITH CELIAC' which has confused my doc!! She did some blood tests which were EMA - Negative and IGA - Normal.

 

she has referred me back to the specialist to maybe have a genetic test and to discuss symptoms.

 

I do not feel half as bad as I did in pregnancy - still have heartburn and nausea. Have not been sick! Sometimes have dizziness and bouts of  constipation/ loose stools _not exactly diarreah,

 

I am hoping someone can advise me on what they think!!!!

[powerofpositivethinking]

see if your doctor can give you the full blood panel for celiac.  it consists of:

 

DGP igA (newer test)

DGP igG (newer test)

ttg igA

ttg igG

EMA (you already had this one done)

total igA (you already had this one done)

 

also when you get them done, ask for a copy, and you can post the results here.

 

good luck!

[mommida]

Pregnancy can trigger auto-immune diseases.  Pregnancy is supposed to suppress the immune system to a certain extent so the "invader cells" of the fetus are not harmed. 

 

Some Celiacs are "silent Celiacs" and do not have noticeable symptoms.  Most commonly lead to a diagnoses through anemia.  You may have been a silent Celiac by the time of your 3rd pregnancy and noticed symptoms at the end of pregnancy.  Or you are right and your immune response to the pregnancy was to "trigger" Celiac disease.  (Which you where genetically predisposed to developing).

 

If you want to do further research to validate your theory, "Celiac developed during pregnancy" , a search on fetal maternal microchimerism

[nvsmom]

Welcome to the board.

 

The EMA IgA test is one of the last tests to become positive for celiacs in the course of the disease. It only appears in response to a significant amount of damage that has already been done to the intestines. It really is not the best test for early celiac detection - in fact, it can appear falsely negative in young children just because they haven't lived long enough to build up enough damage for this to be positive... This is just my understanding of the test though, I'm not a medical professional, just someone who has read a dozen books on celiac disease.  LOL

 

The DGP and the tTG tests might serve you better. Try and get your doctor to run them on bothe IgA and IgG because sometimes it only shows up in one type. AGA IgA and AGA IgG are older tests that might work for you too.

 

Remember that you have to be eating 1-4 slices of bread (or equilvalent) of gluten per day for 4-12 weeks to get an accurate test so don't go gluten-free or gluten "light" until your testing is done.

 

That being said, if you have inflammation that is "compatible with celiac", I would interpret that to mean that the biopsies show damage that is caused by celiac disease... You have intestinal damage, and along with symptoms that means celiac disease. there are some around here who had positive biopsies and negative blood work, and then there are some who had negative biopsies and positive blood tests - not everyone ends up positive in both.  When you are done testing, I would reccommend going gluten-free for life. Continuing to consume gluten when it's a problem can lead to many permanent and serious health problems(for some) down the road like cancer, other autoimmune diseases and organ damage.  It's a lot to risk for bread.  KWIM?

 

you should consider testing your children as well since there is a genetic link to autoimmune disorders. Kids will often test negative so if the show symptoms, consider removing gluten, or at the very least retesting every year or so.  My kids tested negative but they showed some symptoms so I made them gluten-free, and I'm glad I did because their health has truely improved, and i know I not doing them any damage.

 

Best wishes.  I hope you get answers soon...and congratulations on number 3. 

[waine30]

Thank you for all the responses. I have an appointment on Monday to see consultant so hoping he will run further tests which have been suggested here.

Does anyone suffer with the supposed brain fog? My memory is terrible to the point where I really have to think about things I did yesterday!

[pricklypear1971]

Are you iga deficient?

Have you been tested for Hadhimotos Thyroiditis or hypothyroidism?

[waine30]

Hi can I ask why you have mentioned these? I haven't been tested for either I have an appoint with consultant tomo

[nvsmom]

Hashimoto's (hypothyroidism) has very similar symptoms as celic disease, and it is commonly triggered by hormones. Hashi's is also linked to celiac disease. I have both myself.

Good luck with the appointment.

[mommida]

Testing the thyroid post partum is a bit tricky.  The thyroid should go a little overactive after delivery.