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

A Concerned Husband With Questions...

LenSan

By LenSan
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

LenSan Newbie
LenSan
Posted

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

 

Question:

 

This past year my wife found out she had celiac disease, and so for it has been an up hill battle for her and our family. I know I can’t possibly know what she is going through, but I want to be there for her and let her know she is not alone. However, I have recently noticed she has been extremely irritable and impatient. She becomes mad very easy and does not even notice. Not that this is a huge deal, but her sex drive has also went away.

 

I am no doctor, but what can I do to help her? Are these symptoms of celiac disease? Also, has anyone else gone through this? I want us to be normal again.

 

Thanks,

 

Len

 

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Welcome!

 

Is it possible that your wife has not removed all gluten from her diet?  Many of us become quite irritable when we accidentally ingest gluten.

 

Both of you should read this thread to see if her diet is as strict as needed:

 

Newbie Info 101 - Celiac Disease - Coping With - Celiac.com Celiac Disease & Gluten-Free Diet Forum

 

Hang in there -- many symptoms can take quite awhile to resolve :)

cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

How old is your wife?  Besides, possible exposure to gluten in her diet, she may be experiencing issues with her thyroid or going through perimenopause.  I was a crazy woman for the past two years due to the combination of all three issues!  I was diagnosed in March, went gluten free, got back on hormone replacement therapy (to help build bone and sex drive!) and my thyroid stabilized.  Whew!  It was hard on my husband and daughter.  Now, I'm back to my normal grumpy self! :lol:

 

So, nice to hear that you are willing to support your wife.  I am blessed with a husband who's been gluten free for 12 years.  I can say that he gets grumpy too when he gets glutened.

 

Best of luck!

1desperateladysaved Proficient
1desperateladysaved
Posted

Her body could be busy healing and it can take some time.  Thanks for your efforts to assist her.  My children watch labels for me; you can help do that.  Do you have a gluten free house?  It can make life easier.  I have good hopes for your success as you work together.

 

D

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

I suggest you and your wife read this book.  REAL LIFE WITH CELIAC DISEASE by Melinda Dennis and Daniel Leffler

 

Really. It will help you both understand what is going on, how to deal, what else can be going

on besides celiac, and what follow up care she may need.

 

Good for you for being so sweet and wanting to help her.

 

but gee, Len.....going to be blunt here.

 

She has been very, very ill in her body and brain from gluten. This disease is DEADLY...

and involves the entire body. She has been malnourished and suffering and her intestines do not work right now.Think: starving babies in Africa we used to see on TV.Celiac Disease is malabsorption.

And malabsorption wreaks total havoc.I was a walking dead woman from it. I could barely lift my own arms. My husband had to dress me at one point.

 

This means NOTHING in her body works...including hormones. She does not mean to be irritated; she's sick. hon..

 

and so, yeah, sex is not the first thing she is interested in right now.

Would you want to have sex if you had the worst flu of your life and you felt like hell ?Nope.

You may need to take a break on this idea for a while,  Len. Give her some time to heal.

 

She has vitamin deficiencies and anemia and all kinds of horror going on inside...including hormone dysregulation.

 

Please, be patient with your wife. Just be extra sweet... and read the book.

Make sure she is not being glutened inadvertently somehow (this can happen in a shared household, for example),,, and soon, you'll be back to normal. 

squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

Len, Gluten turned sweet lil ol' loving me into a dyed in the wool fire breathing dragon lady. I could easily have been an ax murderess. I didn't want anyone to even speak to me & for a long time I could not see what a harridan I had become. Sex? Forget about it! 

You see Len, celiac disease affects every. single. cell. in. your. body. And it doesn't matter if we realize how we're acting or not ~~~ it's sort of like you could say, "the gluten made me do it".

The others gave great advice. Both of you should read the newbie 101 & the book IrishHeart suggested. Have patience, we did not get sick overnight & we will not heal overnight. It takes time. But that time will come, I can guarantee you that. 

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

Celiac killed my sex drive too. When I felt bloated and full to the point of pain in the abdominal area (did not want anything else in there - LOL), had migraines about half the time and felt fatigued, I'm afraid sex was about as appealing as vacuuming... except I could at least frown and sigh while vacuumin gwhere as with "lovin'" I was expected to smile and enjoy myself when I just wanted to sit or sleep even though I love my husband dearly... Every husband's nightmare. It did get better for me (and him) but it did take many many months as well as addressing other health issues like underfunctioning adrenals and thyroid, as well as nutritional supplements.

 

Give it time.  I know it's easier said than done, but hang in there.

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


NoGlutenCooties Contributor
NoGlutenCooties
Posted

Hi Len -

 

First, let me say that I think you're brave and very sweet to reach out to a bunch of strangers in this way - and I commend you for really wanting to help your wife.

 

When I started going through pre-menapausal symptoms I would wake up some days very angry and wanting to kill.  For no reason at all.  Other days I'd be on cloud nine - again, for no reason at all.  One day I had a crying fit that scared my cat.  And I very rarely cry.  It sounds to me like your wife is experiencing something hormonal, not necessarily gluten related.  Although... keep in mind that while she's healing from the Celiac her body is going to be going through a lot that can also affect her hormone levels... vitamin deficiencies, etc. - and her body needs to find her new equilibrium.

 

That said... I got tired of waking up angry - and my sex drive also took a nose-dive, which can be very confusing for women because at first you just don't know what the heck is going on.  I started taking Relacore (the version that does NOT have any synthetic hormones in it).  Basically, it is a Vitamin B Complex with a few additional herbs thrown in to help stabilize mood.  Once I was on it for a couple of weeks, I haven't woken up angry once - and my sex drive is back.

They market it as a "belly fat reducer" because it relieves stress, and if you have stress-induced weight gain I suppose it could help you lose weight.  But I think that's just a marketing ploy.  Marketing gimics aside, it has really helped me to feel normal again.

 

(Vitamin B deficiencies are also very common in Celiac people.)

 

Your wife should get her blood work done to see if she has low iron as well.  Or low Vitamin D.

 

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. Rejoicephd
      - Rejoicephd commented on Scott Adams's article in Origins of Celiac Disease
      8

      Do Antibiotics in Babies Increase Celiac Disease Risk Later in Life? (+Video)

      I had actually forgot about the stretch of time that I was on antibiotics for acne. The more I think back on it, I was on antibiotics for a very good chunk of my childhood and into teenage years for a range of issues.
    2. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to Known1's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      1

      Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water

      I've heard RO water is bad, too. Distilled water has all the minerals distilled out of it, so it will pull minerals out of your bones, too. I only use distilled water to fill up my clothes iron so it won't get mineral deposits inside and quit working. I drink mineral or spring water.
    3. Yaya
      - Yaya replied to Yaya's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      2

      Great Value Veggies cannot be trusted.

      Scott. Thank you for your reply. I'm still having symptoms, but significantly better. I will go back to batch cooking and freezing vegetables. I have had success with Pict Sweet frozen, single item (not mixed) vegetables. My Kroger carries very little Pict Sweet variety. Regards, Yaya
    4. Known1
      - Known1 posted a topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      1

      Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water

      I am hesitant to post this as I have seen many people here recommending RO water. With that said, I want to share my experience and how RO water now impacts me. Three or four years ago a local store installed a RO water refill station. I had been buying gallons of distilled and spring water prior to that. I switched over to using the RO water refill station...
    5. Known1
      - Known1 posted a topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      0

      What would you do - neighbor brought gluten-free pizza from Papa Murphy's

      My neighbor's mom was diagnosed with celiac disease 16 years ago. She is a very kind person and has shared some info about local grocery stores and daily (soon to expire) meat deals. This evening she brought over 2 slices of Papa Murphy's gluten-free pizza. It looks to be topped with chicken and spinach. I asked, "aren't you concerned with cross contamination...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,444
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Squirrel75
    Newest Member
    Squirrel75
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

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

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      I've heard RO water is bad, too.   Distilled water has all the minerals distilled out of it, so it will pull minerals out of your bones, too.  I only use distilled water to fill up my clothes iron so it won't get mineral deposits inside and quit working. I drink mineral or spring water.  
    • Yaya
      Great Value Veggies cannot be trusted.

      By Yaya · Posted

      Scott.  Thank you for your reply. I'm still having symptoms, but significantly better.  I will go back to batch cooking and freezing vegetables.  I have had success with Pict Sweet frozen, single item (not mixed) vegetables.  My Kroger carries very little Pict Sweet variety. Regards, Yaya
    • Known1
      Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water

      By Known1 · Posted

      I am hesitant to post this as I have seen many people here recommending RO water.  With that said, I want to share my experience and how RO water now impacts me.  Three or four years ago a local store installed a RO water refill station.  I had been buying gallons of distilled and spring water prior to that.  I switched over to using the RO water refill station saving money by brining in my own clean empty gallon jugs.  Every 6-months I would replace the jugs by buying new gallons of distilled water.  This RO water is the only water I would drink while at home.  Two huge glasses every morning before work and two more after work.  I would also use the RO water to make coffee and hot coco. This past December, prior to my celiac diagnosis, my gut was making more noise than anything I had ever experienced.  Seriously, it was crazy, almost like fire works going off in my stomach.  I happened to pick up some distilled water for my 6-month jug rotation.  Literally, as soon as I started drinking the distilled water my stomach settled a great deal.  I could honestly feel the difference after the first glass of water.  I thought that maybe the RO water from the store's refill station was contaminated with some sort of cleaning agent.  I swore to myself I would never drink from that RO refill station again.  Instead I went back to buying distilled along with gallon jugs of spring water.  No issues with either of those as far as an upset stomach is concerned.  Cost, well that's a different story all together. After being diagnosed marsh 3c, I went shopping at Aldi's for the first time in my life.  I noticed they also sell water by the gallon.  Over the course of the last few weeks, I have purchased a total of 6-gallons of their water.  (Thankfully they were out on two of my visits.)  After having my stomach starting to make noises similar to mid-December again, it dawned on me, maybe its the Aldi water?  Initially I had contributed my bubble gut to some sort of gluten exposure or cross contamination.  Even though everything I have put into my stomach is naturally gluten-free or has been labeled gluten-free / certified gluten-free.  I had assumed that the Aldi water was spring water.  Come to find out, that was a bad assumption.  Looking close at the label it says purified by RO or distillation (or something like that). Again, I switched to different water.  Just like last December, the non-RO water instantly calmed my stomach and even felt better going down the hatch.  This was earlier today by the way.  Prior to creating this post, I did a few searches via Uncle Google.  I bumped into a thread on Reddit (where I am not a member) that has multiple people complaining of GI issues related to RO water.  So my initial thoughts on a cleaning agent in the refill station RO water were likely not correct.  Unfortunately, it seems the RO water itself causing me problems.  I am not sure if we are allowed to post links to other sites and hopefully I will not get into trouble for doing so.  I did try printing the Reddit thread to a PDF file.  Unfortunately, the file is 2MB in size, which is well over the 500KB file attachment limit here on this amazing forum.  Again, hopefully this is ok.  🤞  Here is the Reddit thread. This may not be a popular opinion here, but personally, I will not willingly drink another glass of RO water for the remainder of my life.  Who knows, maybe drinking RO water for the past several years is part of what activated my celiac?  No proof, but just a thought.  Come to find out RO water is well known to leech minerals from your body.  With people like us often lacking minerals to begin with, RO water does not seem like a wise choice.  As the Reddit thread mentions, there are RO water filtration systems that will inject minerals back into the water.  However, those systems are likely not being used at the grocery store refill stations nor by the bottling companies producing RO water for sale at your local store. Please do not shoot the messenger as I am just sharing my personal experience and letting others know that most RO water will leech minerals from your body. God bless and stay well, Known1
    • Known1
      What would you do - neighbor brought gluten-free pizza from Papa Murphy's

      By Known1 · Posted

      My neighbor's mom was diagnosed with celiac disease 16 years ago.  She is a very kind person and has shared some info about local grocery stores and daily (soon to expire) meat deals.  This evening she brought over 2 slices of Papa Murphy's gluten-free pizza.  It looks to be topped with chicken and spinach.  I asked, "aren't you concerned with cross contamination"?  She said no and apparently eats it on a somewhat regular basis. I found an old article here along with another thread pertaining to Papa Murphy's gluten-free pizza.  The article is quite old, so I do not think it holds much weight nowadays.  The thread I found was also a bit dated, but certainly more recent and relevant.  The information in the thread I found was a bit inconclusive.  Some said they trust Papa Murphy's gluten-free pizza and others were a big no way.  One person even took time to train their local franchise on how to ensure the pizza remains gluten-free without cross contamination. Anyway, being recently diagnosed as marsh 3c, I am currently working on week 3 or 4 in my new gluten-free journey.  I do not want to be rude and toss the pizza out, but I also do not want to have a reaction.  Since she has celiac and obviously ate much or at least some of the pizza, I am leaning towards eating the two slices for lunch tomorrow.  As this thread's title states, what would you do?  Would you eat it or toss it out?  I suppose I could also just give it back to my neighbor to polish off. I look forward to reading your thoughts. Thanks, Known1
    • Scott Adams
      Great Value Veggies cannot be trusted.

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      That must have been really upsetting to discover, especially after relying on a product you believed was safe. Labeling can change at any time due to supplier shifts or shared equipment, so it’s always important to double-check packaging—even on products we’ve trusted for years. A “may contain wheat” statement usually indicates potential cross-contact risk rather than an added ingredient, but for people with celiac disease that risk can still be significant. If you’ve been having symptoms, it may take days to weeks to fully settle, depending on the level and duration of exposure. In the meantime, switching to fresh produce or brands that clearly state gluten-free status is a reasonable step. It may also help to contact the manufacturer directly to ask when the labeling changed and what their current cross-contact controls are.
×
×
  • 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.