Will My Kids Have Cd Too?

[newby]

Hi fellow members,

I was diagnosed with celiac disease a week ago, as well as allergies to all dairy and eggs! Fun

Anyways, my husband and I want to have kids soon, and we are both very worried about them having the same conditions.

Can anyone shed some light on this? How many parents out there have it and their kids have it too? or does it skip a generation?

THANKS

~ NEWBY

[KaitiUSA]

When you have kids they need to be tested. Celiac is genetic and runs in families.

Doesn't mean they will have it but they could. Also they should be tested for any allergies as well.

My mom has a severe wheat allergy but not celiac, my dad has no food restrictions as of now. Nobody in the family has been officially diagnosed with celiac although we suspect my grandma and some other relatives may have it. Digestive problems run on both sides of my family.

If you need help with the foods you can and can't have with celiac I can help you. I have no other allergies so I couldn't help you from that aspect though.

Hope this helps out a bit

[lovegrov]

Some kids will get is and some won't. I don't see the possibility of them developing celiac as a reason not to have children, though. Both of mine tested negative but it turned out my father has it.

richard

[Boojca]

I agree with Richard. The only person in our family that has been diagnosed with Celiac is my three year old, and it's not really a big deal. In fact, I'm starting to think the earlier they are diagnosed the better. I have heard horror stories about teenagers being diagnosed and having real problems adapting. My son only knew "real food" for like 2 years (he was diagnosed last June at 2 1/2) and is becoming quite proficient at looking out for himself. He's always telling other kids, "I can't have that it will make my belly hurt" so apparently all our drilling that into him has worked.

Bridget

[tarnalberry]

Your kids could get it, but there's no guarnatee they will. A lot more people carry around the genes than develop the condition. (Exactly why isn't known yet.) It's worth getting them tested periodically in case they do develop it, but chances are that they won't necessarily. (I say that based on figures showing at least 30% of the population carrying at least one of the genes, but 1% of the population actually having it...)

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Hello Newby,

I can relate to how you feel. My husband and I are married for 1 year and 1 month now and we want to have one baby soon. And i'm very worried for the kid to have celiac, too. But unfortunately there's no way of avoiding this. We will the kid get tested regularly, that's all we can do. And yes, i heard and read, it skips generations. My mother had intestine problems all her life and had cancer also, but isn't tested for celiac YET (i still try to convince her, but that's another story) and I believe my grandma had it. She had diabetes, gall bladder disease and cancer (among other cancers most of it in the intestines). She never got tested for celiac though. It wasn't that common those days, so that's why, i guess.

My only other concern is a miscarriage, which I heard isn't uncommon among celiac women. My husband and I try to get out of this small apartment the next 6 month and then we go for a baby. Maybe we'll have our baby the same time . So we could help each other with baby worries.

Stef

[newby]

Thanks Everyone! Wow, this message board is so helpful.

I am in the same boat as you Stef, - newlywed looking to have kids within 2 years. My husband is so worried about our kids getting it. I can't see it all being that bad, especially because I am a very organic person, and am into natural health and eating well. If my body rejects a processed grain and another mammals milk, is that so bad? I think it is healthier.

I'm more concerned about the damage my small intestine may have, as I am unable to go to the washroom without herbal suppliments for about 15 years now... Doctor's didn't see it as a concern, it took a Naturopathic Doctor 1 visit with me to get me tested for food allergies. I hope that the damage can be reversed. Does anyone have the same problem, and did you find results after going gluten-free?

Secondly, I am now freaking out about infertility, and haven't even mentioned it to my husband. I wonder if Doctors can give you a fertility test if you have celiac disease?

You all must be frustrated trying to figure out where this may have come from in your families. My parents don't seem interested in being test - so stubborn!

[celiac3270]

I'd bet that your parents don't want to be tested because if they were to test positive, there'd be tremendous pressure to stop eating gluten and therefore give up the......rather carefree eating that non-celiacs can do. If they don't know, they don't need to do anything about it--that's just my opinion on it--a lot of people take that approach when a relative is diagnosed.

You might be able to answer some of your questions in the pregnancy section on the board-- I don't imagine there are too many posts there (in comparison to food products, or coping with, etc., so you could probably browse through and see if you could answer those questions.

[KaitiUSA]

Going gluten free will reverse the damage done to your intestine. For some people the damage heals quicker. Depends on the amount of damage.

As far as infertility I have heard that is if you don't follow the diet but I'm not sure if that is true. I haven't done to much research on that side of celiac yet. I'm only 17 still and I don't have to worry about that for quite some time but it would be a good thing to know.

Going gluten-free in my opinion is a healthier way of eating.

My parents have been tested but my grandma and other relatives with think have it are being stubborn! so I know what you guys are talking about

Good luck

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I am right on with you about it being healthier to not have guten and other animals products. You husband has can worry because being glutenfree can be tough but reall there is no need to worry if your child gets it since you will know right away if the child would have it. Because you are gluten-free already they will start off life healthy! If they dot have it they will still be in a household that is healthy! Even people who don't have Celiacs have raised children vegan or glutenfree or veggie.

I think you shhould just check with your docot to see if you are healthy enough now to carry a baby.

My fmaily didin't want to get tested but after my Mom and brother got fed up with being so sick they did. They both have it but they didn't want to get tested because it's hard giving up that life. When I was tested I didn't know what it all meant. Your family knows what it takes to be gluten-free and probably doesn't want to know if they need to be gluten-free yet.

[Merika]

Hi Newby,

I know it's easy to say, but don't sweat it There's no predicting this stuff. Anecdotally, I can tell you I have celiac, as does my mom, as did (we're pretty sure) her mom. We haven't tested my son yet, but he eats gluten free, and he's 3 yrs old and has a soy allergy and is otherwise healthy. I had NO problems getting pregnant - like 2 tries maybe, lol - and had a healthy "easy" pregnancy at age 29 with raging undiagnosed celiac. Yes, I was symptomatic for 12 years, during which time i was pregnant, gave birth, longtime nursing, etc. Oddly, I naturally ate less gluten while preg, and felt generally better then than i do in general.

The "ancient wisdom" passed from my grandma to mom (which she didn't pass on to me until recently) was that women in our family should have all their kids before age 30. Something about being harder to get preg after (which it is slightly anyway), but i think this is a legacy of celiac. My grandma's second pregnancy was much harder and the baby fine, but not as healthy. Would've been nice if mom had told me this earlier, eh, lol.

Best wishes, and as my chinese doc likes to say "don't worry about it".

Merika

[gf4life]

As far as the pregnancy goes, you are at an advantage. You have already been diagnosed and have started the diet. You should be healthier for it and that is great for the baby. As far as the chances of your children getting celiac disease, there is a pretty good chance they will at least be a carrier, but the advantage is that you can keep them gluten free as small children, and then should you ever decide to give them gluten when they are older, you know what symptoms to watch for. You also shouldn't have any problems getting them tested, since they would have a parent who is a diagnosed Celiac. Don't let this fear of passing illness to your child get in the way of having children. Children are a wonderful blessing, and I don't think any one of us parents here would have done it differently, if we had known before hand about this disease. I know I wouldn't. There are far worse genetic illnesses out there to pass on to your children. Celiac is just a life of eating more carefully. It could be worse...