Can Celiac Cause Extreme Morning Sickness

[Bethinjapan]

I am now in the process of being diagnosed, but am about 95% sure I'm celiac regardless of what the tests say. So now I'm wondering if this could be why I was super extremely sick throughout my last two pregnancies, to the point of being hospitalized for IV fluids. I lost 35 pounds with my first and 30 with my second (which I, unfortunately gained back after their birth). Both my babies were small-ish, 5 and 6 lbs. We've been trying to conceive our third for about five years now...probably infertility due to untreated celiac. I'm hopeful I will become fertile again after going gluten free, and if so, I'm VERY (like, you don't even know how VERY) hopeful that the morning sickness (more like all day and night sickness) was related and won't be so bad. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

[glutenfreeaussiegirl]

I am now in the process of being diagnosed, but am about 95% sure I'm celiac regardless of what the tests say. So now I'm wondering if this could be why I was super extremely sick throughout my last two pregnancies, to the point of being hospitalized for IV fluids. I lost 35 pounds with my first and 30 with my second (which I, unfortunately gained back after their birth). Both my babies were small-ish, 5 and 6 lbs. We've been trying to conceive our third for about five years now...probably infertility due to untreated celiac. I'm hopeful I will become fertile again after going gluten free, and if so, I'm VERY (like, you don't even know how VERY) hopeful that the morning sickness (more like all day and night sickness) was related and won't be so bad. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

Hey Bethinjapan

I had my first baby 19 months ago, and spent the first 5 weeks of my pregnancy having extreme stomach cramps and then the following 25 weeks with horrible morning sickness. No where near as bad as you sound like you've been, but it was bad. I was undiagnosed at that point as well, and am really hoping that when I fall pregnant with number 2 (fingers crossed soon!) I will not be so sick, as I'm now fully gluten free.

I'm sure the two things must be related.

anyway, really good luck with everything, I hope you get pregnant soon.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I had hyperemesis with all three babies, for the whole pregnancy. With the third, it went away about a week before she was born--but I don't remember what I was or wasn't eating that week! I didn't go off gluten until years later.

I also had pre-eclampsia with the first.

[wannaBAmama]

I had 5 first trimester m/c before discovering I am likely celiac (never ended up getting an official diagnosis). With each of those pg, I also had horrible gas pains and cramps (worse than when I wasn't pg - not realizing all my life I had been having more gas and cramping than what is normal) and terrible morning sickness too. I could barely eat or sleep and always lost at least 10 pounds before I'd eventually miscarry.

With the 2 pg I've had since going gluten-free, the stomach/gas pains vanished but I still had pretty bad morning sickness. Unfortunately I lost the first gluten-free pg at 10w due to downs, but am now having a picture perfect (so far) pg - 24 weeks along now with a healthy girl. With this pg, the morning sickness was between 6-12 weeks but did not lose any weight- although let me tell you I'm packing it on now in the 2nd trimester. Now I get a little nauseaus every now and then but nothing like the first trimester.

good luck to you both!

[Bethinjapan]

Thanks for your replies! I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I will probably still hold onto some hope that celiac was at least partly to blame, but I'm sorry to hear you still had some morning sickness. Glad to hear it wasn't quite as bad though, and you're on your way to a healthy little girl! Congratulations and great blessings to both of you!!

[MommaTara]

Is there a way to keep this thread going? even going onto other forums and asking this question... like mothering and so on. there is just not enough research put into this area (HG condition) and the 1% of women who are affected are debilitated to the point of absolute misery. I had 3 pg and lost my 2nd due to the HG condition and had it for 40 weeks with my 3rd pg. It is worse then I imagine the worst to be. Throwing up every few minutes and not being able to drink more then a tsp, at a time. I have 13 cavities since having babies from all the acid of the throw up and still feel weak through my entire body from the experiences.It is horrifying to me to fathom doing it again. Yet I have faith that I can find a connection somewhere to be able to experience a healthy pregnancy. I am in the midst of discovering I am gluten sensitive as are my kids. Oh. Yes I am interested to know if there is a connection. This may sound strange but of all the women I know who have had this condition or even strong morning sickness, they all have a deep vertical line in middle of forehead/eyebrow area, including myself. In Chinese medicine this is the liver area. Just thought I would throw that into the mix as I know liver gets affected by stress body is put under by having Celiac. Thank you to who started this thread!!!!

[MommaTara]

Thanks for your replies! I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I will probably still hold onto some hope that celiac was at least partly to blame, but I'm sorry to hear you still had some morning sickness. Glad to hear it wasn't quite as bad though, and you're on your way to a healthy little girl! Congratulations and great blessings to both of you!!

Do not forget that it takes years to fully recover from the damage eating gluten has done to those with celiac. I say this cuz women who conceive only a year or 2 after being clear of gluten are still in a fragile state and lowered immune system so who is to say that celiac is not fully the thing to look at here? of course i know there are bound to be other factors but celiac creates a lot of chaos in the body.

[marmar]

I had hyperemesis with my first and am doing OK with the current pregnancy. Part of the problem with my first (I think) was I didn't know enough of my options for what I could eat to counter act the hyperemesis. My doctors were clueless as they told everyone "crackers" and so forth. The gluten-free crackers I like are made of nuts- not good for hyperemesis.

Things that helped:

Pamela's pancakes!

Baked Potato

Rice Puffs (not my favorite)

Corn Chips

Refried Beans

Corn Flakes

Regular Coca Cola (Don't know why)

Popcorn

That's all I can think of for the moment.

[Bethinjapan]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I happened to come across this in my searching. Thought you might be interested! https://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/index.ph...&pid=239583 Looks like I'm not the only one who's wondered about this!

Blessings!

Bethany

[lizard00]

I'm 28 weeks with my second one. I really didn't have a whole lot of sickness with the first, and I've had even less with this one. The remarkable thing for me is that my stomach has overall been calmer and I've felt better since I've been pregnant than before I got pregnant.

I know pregnancy affects every woman differently, but according to all the info out there, I should be sick as a dog during pregnancy because I get motion sickness and my stomach is pretty touchy... but for me it did just the opposite. Could be that once you figure out what's causing you to be ill (if gluten-free does help), removing it will do wonders for you, and you may not be destined to repeat the past... just some positive thoughts for you.

[txplowgirl]

I just had to respond.

I am 45 and I have a son who will be 26 yrs old the 13th of this month.

I have been sick since I was 7 or 8 years old. Anyway, I first became pg at 18, was so sick I could barely move. Projectile vomiting, almost constant D, there were times my nose would start bleeding and I couldn't stop it for about an hour. From 3rd week until right at 6 months. Had to be hospitalized because of premature labor. Preclampsia, high blood pressure and gestational diabetes.

Complete bed rest for another month and a half. Son was born at 7 and a half months. he was 5 lbs. 6 and a half oz.s. He has had a few development and learning problems. But I love him to death. At 2 yrs old tried to start giving him siblings. Had 7 miscarriages in 5 yrs.

Here it is 20 something years later, been gluten free almost 4 months now. I feel better than I have ever in my life and seriously wondering "Maybe?" In a year from now. Am I crazy for thinking this,? Yes, But I have always wanted another 1.

[Ahorsesoul]

Have two children. With both, I was horribly sick from the two week point (before I even knew I might be with child) until I delivered. I finally found I could eat a steak for breakfast instead of the crackers the doctor kept telling me to try. At that point in my life I didn't know I should be eating gluten free. Sure wish I had because I hated being so sick and after twice I wasn't doing it again. lol

[silly celiac]

I've been gluten-free for two years now and am almost 14 weeks with my first. I had extreme nausea and fatigue for about 2 months which was followed by daily dry heaves. I've only puked twice.... mostly I've had symptoms from the other direction, even before knowing I was pregnant. I thought it was gluten, but now I really believe it was just my version of morning sickness. I've never been much of a puker, but my body sure learned from celiac disease how to clean out from the other end!

My doctor recommended taking papaya with my meals to help with the nausea. I was skeptical, but I do think it has helped some. Plus eating small meals and snacking frequently has really helped keep me in balance.

[Thyme]

I am now in the process of being diagnosed, but am about 95% sure I'm celiac regardless of what the tests say. So now I'm wondering if this could be why I was super extremely sick throughout my last two pregnancies, to the point of being hospitalized for IV fluids. I lost 35 pounds with my first and 30 with my second (which I, unfortunately gained back after their birth). Both my babies were small-ish, 5 and 6 lbs. We've been trying to conceive our third for about five years now...probably infertility due to untreated celiac. I'm hopeful I will become fertile again after going gluten free, and if so, I'm VERY (like, you don't even know how VERY) hopeful that the morning sickness (more like all day and night sickness) was related and won't be so bad. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi Beth,

I am not celiac, but almost dies twice with hyperemesis gravidarum ~ which looks like extreme morning sickness. Both babies turned out to be gluten intolerant, like their father, although we still need to test them for celiac. We are totally gluten free, so it hasn't been required. They are 8 & 4. I wasn't sick with their little brother at all, he's 1 1/2 now, so going gluten free worked! I didn't even know I was pregnant until 3 months, because I wasn't in the hospital or 80 lbs, so I though I was just needing more protein. I didn't throw up once, & he was 3 lbs bigger than his brothers. Good luck!

[Coleslawcat]

I had hyperemesis with both my children. The second pregnancy was severe HG requiring hospitalization, and spending the remainder of my pregnancy on home health care with an IV and zofran pump. Both were prior to my diagnosis which was just last week. I was diagnosed similarly to you, I went in for a very minor complaint having no idea that celiac was even a possibility and was fully biopsied and diagnosed within a week. Something important I've learned in the last week is that the tablet form of zofran contains gluten. There is an oral liquid form and of course the liquid IV form I got in my pump. I had been TTC my third child when I got this diagnosis. I still plan to do so relatively soon, but we put it on hold a few months to get the diet figured out first. I hope being gluten free will make for a better pregnancy, but I don't have much hope since I was so ill I was literally not eating anything, thus I wasn't consuming gluten. My nourishment came intraveneously.

[brigala]

I would be surprised if Celiac and morning sickness have a lot to do with each other, except perhaps the fact that Celiacs will get worse instead of better on a diet of saltine crackers.

Those of you with H.G. probably should not read this... I don't want to make anybody feel bad...

I have never had any morning sickness. My first 2 kids were pre-diagnosis, but also pre-acute-symptoms so who knows. I am now 6 weeks pg with my 3rd and have been gluten-free for almost 3 years. Still no morning sickness. Of course I know it could still come. My mother had symptoms of Celiac from the time she was a teenager but was not diagnosed until after I realized what my problem was. She never had morning sickness either. Both of us suffer from pregnancy heartburn instead, which I will easily take over morning sickness.

I am so sorry for those of you who have had H.G. or even just particularly nasty morning sickness. I have had other friends who are like this and I know it's a horrible thing to have to endure.

[pugluver31902]

This is bizarre to me that I never even thought the celiac could have been part of the cause for my hyperemesis with my pregnancy. I was SO sick throughout the first tri and half the second that my friends joked the first baby gift they would give me would be a padded toilet seat so I had somewhere to lay me head. At its worst I was sleeping in the bathtub! I needed somewhere to clean up the violent puking! Now Im getting ready to get pregnant again (am I crazy!!??) and have already set up home health care and babsiitters.

[Allergictoevrything]

I had hypermesis with both pregnancies I had it 9 months with both IV fluids all, I weighed a "just in healthy weight range" at 50kgs when I was 2 weeks overdue. 52 kgs with no 2.

Although my celiac isn't confirmed yet.

[jennyfspotten]

Here are my two cents:

I was diagnosed with celiacs in June 2008 and got pregnant the next month after going completely gluten-free. We had been trying to get pregnant for over a year!! I had horrible morning sickness from 8 weeks to 18 weeks pregnant, but otherwise the pregnancy went really well and my boy came out nice and healthy. The worst for me was that I hadn't discovered any good gluten-free substitutes to snack on to help with the morning sickness. Now I know Glutino brand makes really good pretzels and crackers. I found them at Whole Foods and a they now have the pretzels at Giant grocery stores!

Good luck with your pregnancies!!

[StephanieSD]

I would be surprised if Celiac and morning sickness have a lot to do with each other, except perhaps the fact that Celiacs will get worse instead of better on a diet of saltine crackers.

Those of you with H.G. probably should not read this... I don't want to make anybody feel bad...

I have never had any morning sickness. My first 2 kids were pre-diagnosis, but also pre-acute-symptoms so who knows. I am now 6 weeks pg with my 3rd and have been gluten-free for almost 3 years. Still no morning sickness. Of course I know it could still come. My mother had symptoms of Celiac from the time she was a teenager but was not diagnosed until after I realized what my problem was. She never had morning sickness either. Both of us suffer from pregnancy heartburn instead, which I will easily take over morning sickness.

I am so sorry for those of you who have had H.G. or even just particularly nasty morning sickness. I have had other friends who are like this and I know it's a horrible thing to have to endure.

I tend to think that these are fairly common pregnancy issues and we notice them more because we're more in-tuned with our bodies due to the celiac disease. Of all my friends with kids, I'm the only celiac and I'm so far having one of the easiest pregnancies out of them all. The celiacs on some level may exacerbate some problems, but there may be a whole bunch of other environmental factors at play. For example, I had high blood pressure pre-pregnancy. But after two weeks of no caffeine and no alcohol, my blood pressure went down to normal. The HBP had nothing to do with celiacs, but could have caused complications later on.

Every woman is different and every pregnancy is going to be different. That seems to be the only thing that experts agree on. For optimal health I think we have to focus on more than just the celiacs.

[momofk&n]

With both of my children I was sick from around two weeks until delivery. With my first, I was undiagnosed and nothing seemed to help except protein. With my second, she was a surprise! Tow months before hand I was diagnosed with acute onset celiac sprue. We wanted another one, but planned to give me some time to heal first. I was deathly ill with her and nothing really helped. I didn't have hypertension or high blood pressure. I had extremely low blood pressure, on a good day it was up to 90/60, was on an oral medication for nausea- which only worked part of the time, and was very anemic. After going into preterm labor two months before I was due, and feeling like my doctor wasn't really paying attention, I switched to a high risk OB/GYN at 35 weeks. She found that after reading my chart, I had been at around a 6 to a 7 on my iron levels almost the entire time. She really paid attention and had me at an 8 before I delivered, which was still low, but not bleed out low. Also, after she helped to bring my iron up, some of my morning sickness eased up. I was sick at all times of the day before, near the end, only once a day. I even managed to go a day here and there without throwing up!

Take the time to really quiz your doctor. If you doctor cannot answer basic knowledge questions about your disease or isn't taking the time to listen, look around. Or if you are comfortable with your doctor and trust him/her, insist that they study up on celiac and the prenatal risks associated with it. It is okay to switch doctors, even right at the end. I had to drive about an hour to my new doctor. But if I hadn't, I may have had severe hemorrhaging during labor. That was the right choice for me as my first doctor didn't seem that interested in studying up. Both of my girls came out just fine in the end, though they both have celiac disease as well. I wish you all the best in your pregnancies! It is the best feeling in the world to hold your little one in your arms.

[chilligirl]

This is my first pregnancy, and I was diagnosed with celiac disease right at the same time as I found out I was pregnant. Went gluten free as soon as I got the positive pregnancy test.

I had no real morning sickness, some nausea for a few weeks, but never actually threw up. And, no doubt as a result of going gluten free, I feel GREAT. I feel better pregnant than I ever did before, lol. I know pregnancy is supposed to make you feel pretty awful, so I can't imagine how fantastic I'll feel after baby's born

I also think if I wasn't preggers, I'd be dropping weight. I've gotten pretty big with the pregnancy (women in my family tend to carry big), but it's ALL belly. At 20 weeks, I've gained about 12-13lbs, and aside from my HUGE belly (I seriously look like I'm almost ready to deliver already), I look thinner.

No more diarrhea, no more constant gas, no more belly aches. More energy, no more ADHD (was diagnosed with it when I was 17, but turns out it was "brain fog"), no more moodiness/irritability. I just feel fabulous

Granted, like I said, this is my first, so I may have felt great pregnant anyway, but I doubt it. My mom, who also has celiac symptoms but refuses to get tested, had MISERABLE pregnancies, with morning sickness (or rather all-day sickness) the whole way through, and they say your pregnancy is typically very similar to your mother's.