Food Sensitivity Changes During Pregnancy?

[celizabette]

I am 12 weeks pregnant (due May/June 2015). I would love to find some kindred spirits here (probably non-celiac) who would like to chat about changes in their food sensitivities -- I respect that celiac is forever, but I haven't been non-celiac gluten sensitive for ever, so I am hoping there's room for optimism in terms of healing. Anecdotally, I've heard that food sensitivities can be dynamic, specifically, they can change for the better or for the worse during pregnancy. I have written quite a lot about my experience below. Feel free to read my tome or go ahead and share your experiences. Fast facts: I was gluten free and gluten intolerant; today I ate gluten on purpose and so far so fine...

 

I have a mild allergy (but severe digestive intolerance) to eggs and have also been gluten-free for two years having determined gluten was contributing to my severe IBS (I tested negative for celiac, FYI). I quit gluten (with great results) for digestive reasons but noticed other improvements too: no migraines, less congestion, less stiffness and achiness, more energy after eating, no more eczema. Fast forward to present moment. I'm pregnant and have been obsessed by the idea of baguette for a week (the cravings can be relentless, right?). Even though I expected to make myself ill, it seemed more expedient to eat the darn baguette and 1) satisfy the craving 2) prove to myself that there is no reason to fantasize about a fleeting fancy that results in a misery that lasts much longer than the pleasure did. Interestingly enough, I ate half a baguette today (it was divine) and six hours later, I have had mild stomach cramps but no other symptoms. I was energized after the baguette -- far from the malaise I'd previously ascribed to wheat. I am shocked but excited by how well it went -- of course I'd rather be able to eat gluten, I am a foodie and a francophile! (Note: so far the digestive process has yet to conclud and said "conclusion" may be telling). 

 

Naturally, I am now craving a croissant because my cravings have gotten cocky and want to test an egg wash as well. I know pregnancy doesn't make me invincible (I'm cautious about unpasteurized things for instance, and follow all the other "rules"); however, I am hoping that 1) either my gut healed over time (something I'd worked on with a naturopath  and a pregnancy craving was the catalyst that revealed this to me 2) or that there is something about being pregnant that fortifies against gluten reactions. I'm intrigued by the theory that because celiac is an auto-immune disease, pregnant women may feel inoculated against gluten because of the repression of their otherwise over-active immune systems -- that repression is the same reason why we avoid unpasteurized things. That said, there is no evidence that non-celiac gluten sensitivity is auto-immune in nature, so I doubt that elegant theory applies to me. I don't think I was always gluten intolerant, but that I developed it as a result of a mixture of the following: 'leaky gut syndrome' (as explained to me by my naturopath), suffering a prolonged period of acute emotional and physical stress, and taking too many antibiotics for too long. Yet just as it came about circumstantially, perhaps it makes sense for it to resolve circumstantially -- in this case, possibly via pregnancy. I'm very curious to hear of 1) other people's pregancy and food sensitivity related experiences 2) theories people may have as to the mechanism of change (why would a food sensitivity get better or worse during pregnancy) 3) any reason to hope the change might be permanent -- anybody find the changes they experienced during pregnancy to last after pregnancy? Thanks! Best wishes to all. 

 

A postscript: the baguette was from an artisan bakery that uses culture instead of yeast. In other words, the same process that creates traditional sourdough. The current theory of mine is that, like sprouting, culturing might make wheat/gluten easier to digest for those of us who are not celiac. 

[AngeryTummy]

When I was pregnant, it was the opposite. It is actually what prompted me to get tested for celiacs disease.
I was like a million times more sensitive while pregnant, I was sick more than I was not during the last pregnancy