A Question For The Ladies

[mommyto3]

I'm wondering if anyone has found that getting glutened affects your cycle. I got glutened about a month ago (by another Celiac, can you believe it?) and now I'm 15 days late. My doc ran a preg test (negative thank god..I already have 3 kids!) and my doctor even mentioned early menopause. I was shocked. Can she be serious? I'm only 36! It just seems strange to me that I was regular before and now all of a sudden I'm all messed up after getting glutened. I've *never* missed a period in all of my 25 years except when I was pregnant so I have no idea what's going on.

The doc's going to test my thyroid and she did some blood tests too. Anybody ever experience this??

Thanks!

[weluvgators]

Very interesting! I have been suspecting over the past year that getting glutened shortens my cycle, and it seems typically I will start two days after a bad (on my terms . . not cheating, not eating intentional, just screwing up in the total evaluation of eradicating gluten exposure) gluten event. If I am super conscientious about maintaining a truly gluten free diet (no processed foods, well source proven foods, no eating out, not eating at my parents, etc.) then I have my typical 28 day cycle. I still have no idea how to PROVE anything, but *I* have noticed that gluten exposures seem to really mess with my cycle!

[K8ling]

YES! Once I went gluten-free my cycle got all odd...like starting a week early one month and on time the next. Sometimes late. It got CRAZY. Getting glutened does seem to make it late for some reason. My husband bought a pregnancy test just to keep under the sink for peace of mind LOL.

[lucia]

You may know this already, but celiac is one of the major causes of infertility. It really messes us up.

When my body practically broke down in January after 38 years of eating gluten, one of my symptoms was a missed period for the first time in my life. I had spotting instead, which really freaked me out. Since then, my cycles have been inconsistent, sometimes shorter than 28 days, sometimes longer. It's *definitely* related to celiac.

Other people report their periods returning to regular after being off of gluten for awhile (9 months, a year).

[mommyto3]

Thanks for the info. You know it's funny that you mention fertility. It took me 5 years to conceive my first child (went for fertility testing, hubby was fine so it was me). Then once I was lucky enough to conceive him I had my next two kids bang bang, just like that without even trying. My suspicion is that I got lucky conceiving my son and then perhaps the pregnancy put the Celiac into a bit of remission (absolutely no symptoms while preg) and that enabled me to conceive the next two on the first try.

And just as I thought I bet it's the gluten when I got glutened. Hopefully it will show up eventually. I have mixed feelings about my doc's suggestion of early menopause. I don't really need it anymore but I don't think I'm ready for that stage yet. Who knows, maybe all the gluten before diagnosis has screwed me up and will ultimately cause me to menopause early. Wouldn't surprise me.

[firefightersgal]

I suspect gluten to be the cause of my infertility and miscarriage. There appears to be nothing hormonally or physically wrong with me, yet my husband and I have been trying for baby #2 for almost two years. (We had our miscarriage 10 months ago). I do not ovulate on my own and my cycles are crazy-long if left to their own devices.

[India]

This is definitely the case for me - gluten makes my periods stop, being gluten-free makes them start again - I found this out while testing a gluten-free diet and then doing a gluten-free challenge. Since going properly gluten-free in January, I've had every single period. I've only really been glutened in that time and still had my next period, but it was probably caused by a tiny amount of CC, so maybe not enough to make a difference.

Allie

[RachelisFacebook]

I completely believe gluten can cause this. I've had the most erratic periods of any of my close friends. Sometimes it's 40 days apart and lasts 7 days, others it's 35 days apart and lasts 5 days...I never know when I'm going to get it, either. I went from having it in Feb this year, until not having it until April. Once I went gluten-free, though, they haven't really cleared up.

I found out about celiac in April, however I haven't been very good at keeping the gluten out of my life, being the only one in my house with Celiac. However, I wholeheartedly believe that if I would completely cut out gluten, it would clear up these inconsistencies; especially after reading these posts.