Pregnancy To Term And Undiagnosed Celiacs

[T.H.]

I've been trying to determine when my celiac disease triggered, and the one factor that I can't figure out is my pregnancies. I have read many places that miscarriages are often caused by undiagnosed celiacs disease, but I wondered if anyone knew if a woman can carry a baby to term with undiagnosed celiacs disease, or how common/rare that might be?

I'd love it if anyone has any information on this!

For info...

When I was diagnosed, I had no gut symptoms, was overweight, and had very few major vitamin deficiencies (assumed that I was managing that by overeating like crazy). I got sick all the time, got injured easily and recovered slowly, had depression, nerve and soft tissue issues, and off and on vertigo and headaches.

All this went away once going gluten free. I'd always assumed that I likely triggered after having my second child, 8 years ago, but a friend mentioned something that made me really sit down and think.

I was a very, very healthy kid, and then when I hit 16, I had depression, got sick constantly, suddenly was getting injury after injury in all the sports I'd previously done injury-free. The nerve issues popped up the year before my first pregnancy. The vertigo popped up 4 years after my last pregnancy.

So now I"m wondering...could I have had this THAT long? Since I was 16? That's 22 years! And the only way it would be possible is if I could have carried two BIG babies to term during this time, and I didn't think that was possible. Does anyone know?

During both pregnancies, one thing that I've been remembering, now that I'm looking back, is that I couldn't STAND major wheat products like crackers, breads, pasta, etc... I ate mostly corn and rice products that second pregnancy, or pretty plain fruits, veggies, dairy, or meats. I'm sure I still got gluten, only a lot less of it.

Hoping someone here has more knowledge on this subject than I do and can help me figure this out!

[kareng]

My docs & I think maybe I had it while pregnant and before. I have always had iron deficiencies but no one thought to test for other ones. It wasn't as common to do that then. I still ate wheat but my stomach issues were better during pregnancy (except morning sickness). I didn't have diarhea. That may have been due to the large amounts of iron they had me taking. It stops you up. I ate Corn Chex & Rice Krispies for morning sickness. They may have had malt in them back then but probably a lot less gluten then Saltines. My boys are 14 & 17. I had no problem getting pregnant when I wanted to. I did have at least 2 early miscarriages (4-6 weeks).

[GFRPH]

I found out I had celiac disease when I was about 8 weeks pregnant. I suspect I had celiac disease for at least 10 years before I was diagnosed. I got pregnant the first month I tried and had no complications with my pregnancy. I ate gluten free after I found out I had celiac disease but I already had quite a bit of gut damage. My doctor said it would take a couple years to heal. I only showed a Vitamin A deficiency when I was diagnosed. I also have autoimmune hepatitis (probably caused by undiagnosed celiac disease) which settled down during my pregnancy, as autoimmune diseases often do during pregnancy. The hepatitis flared after delivery, so I guess I'm healthiest when I'm pregnant :0). My thoughts are that celiac disease affects everyone differently. In my case, I developed autoimmune hepatitis and ulcerative colitis from it. But, it didn't seen to affect my ability to get pregnant or maintain a pregnancy. Others have difficulty getting pregnant but might not have other autoimmune diseases etc...

[txplowgirl]

I have been sick since i was 7 to 8 yrs old. You name it I had it. Major depression at the age of 8 is not normal. But then finding your mother in the bathtub with her throat and wrists slit will do that to you. She made it by the way.

Anyway, my first pregnancy was bad. Had been anemic most of my life. Was sick 24/7, iron pills made me sicker, crackers made it worse. The only things I could seem to keep down was rice and liver. Yeeacckkk! I hate liver to this day.

Son was born 2 months preemie due to preeclampsia and toxemia. Had 7 miscarriages in 5 years after that. Dr's could never tell me why. Just that it wasn't meant to be. I genuinely believe it was due to the gluten.

[T.H.]

Thank you all so much for your replies, especially sharing some things that I'm sure were very painful. Hearing from you, it really does make me think that I may have had Celiac disease for a lot more years than I was thinking, but...sigh, what a frustrating thought, eh?

At least things are on their way up, now though. So glad I was diagnosed.

[lovegrov]

Of course you can carry to term with undiagnosed celiac, but it certainly would make it tougher in most women.

richard

[dilettantesteph]

I think I have had celiac disease as long as I can remember. I missed a lot of school growing up. I was diagnosed with IBS in my late teens due to bad stomach pain. I was having uncontrolled diarrhea by my late 20's. (i.e. going elsewhere than the toilet) Nevertheless, I had two normal pregnancies with healthy babies. My son was almost 9 pounds. I also didn't have any fertility problems. First try for the first and third try for the second. I was diagnosed in my late 40's. I'd say that it is definitely possible, but obviously difficult for some.

[gflooser]

I had successful pregnancies before dx and now 1.5 after i'm pregnant now, 14 weeks. all my pregnancies were pretty much the same. i'm one of those people who didn't show symptoms before dx. my kids' weight ranged from 8-9 lbs. the only thing (hopefully) i've ever dealt with durning preg. is pregnancy induced hypertension. it never went into preclampsia thankfully. but, i have always been an overweight and at times morbidly obese person. thankfully, i have lost 110 lbs before consieving this baby, so i'm hoping it will go a bit better this time! i'm not one of those super skinny celiac people, i went the other way.

so yes, i believe LOTS of people have babies before dx! good luck to you!!!!!

[LittleFrench]

I'm 27 and had my first son at 20, my second son at 25. I juuuuuuust got diagnosed with celiac 2 months ago, but I've been having symptoms since I was 16. Eleven years of unexplained abdominal pain, insomnia, bone crushing fatigue, migranes, depression and of course the big D.

With my first pregnancy I was so weak I couldn't walk through the store to get simple items like toilet paper. A whole shopping trip was out of the question. I weighed 120 when I got pregnant and only gained about 15 pounds, but the docs said that was ok. Baby 1 was born about 2 weeks early. Also not too bad.

Following that I had 4 miscarriages all at about 10-13 weeks. It was horrible.

When I got pregnant with Auz our youngest I was so scared I'd lose the pregnancy. I had spotting the entire time, fainting spells, weakness, horrible anemia even with iron supps. I could eat 3 times what my husband ate, but I only gained about 20 pounds and I'd started this one at a measly 103 pounds so I really needed the weight. He was born 3.5 weeks early and weighed 5 lbs. It was definately rougher than the first time around, but then I had untreated celiac for almost 9 years at that point.

Now that I know that it didn't have to be that hard it makes me sad. Both pregnancies were difficult and I found myself hating being pregnant. My best friend was pregnant at the same time as me both times and she just raved about how wonderful it felt and how much she loved it. Of course I could never understand why in the world she'd love it, but then again she probably didn't feel like she was going to die at any second the way I did.

[Tina B]

I've been trying to determine when my celiac disease triggered, and the one factor that I can't figure out is my pregnancies. I have read many places that miscarriages are often caused by undiagnosed celiacs disease, but I wondered if anyone knew if a woman can carry a baby to term with undiagnosed celiacs disease, or how common/rare that might be?

I'd love it if anyone has any information on this!

Carried 2 babies to term and was diagnosed after the second when I presented with a severe iron deficiency anemia that did not respond to iron replacement. Looking back I always had vague GI symptoms as a kid and was probably undiagnosed since childhood. The demands of pregnancy and nursing the babies made the anemia severe enough to take a second look. I have now been gluten free for 20 + years.

[Swimmr]

I was under the impression that if you have been diagnosed POSITIVE for Celiac, that means you carry a gene for it. In that case, it could be presumed that you've had it since birth, that it was passed on to you from one of your parents. I'm told it's genetic. Thus why there is a gene for it. Then the chances of passing it on to baby is very likely depending on if the husband has Celiac or not. Right?

If this is NOT correct, can someone please tell me how one could just "develop" Celiac if there is a specific gene for it? And if what I've learned, been told, and read is correct, wouldn't a person who "developed" it later in life be considered as gluten intolerant instead??

[kareng]

I was under the impression that if you have been diagnosed POSITIVE for Celiac, that means you carry a gene for it. In that case, it could be presumed that you've had it since birth, that it was passed on to you from one of your parents. I'm told it's genetic. Thus why there is a gene for it. Then the chances of passing it on to baby is very likely depending on if the husband has Celiac or not. Right?

If this is NOT correct, can someone please tell me how one could just "develop" Celiac if there is a specific gene for it? And if what I've learned, been told, and read is correct, wouldn't a person who "developed" it later in life be considered as gluten intolerant instead??

There are different sorts of ways that a gene can make something happen. You're born with blue eyes because both parents gave you a gene for blue eyes. Some genes never turn on. You only have to have one gene, from one parent, to develop Celiac. Having the gene doesn't mean you will get Celiac. It has to be triggered (turned on).

Genes are a lot more complex than we learned in high school biology. They know a lot more since I took Genetics in College.

[mushroom]

Folks have reported all kinds of triggers for their celiac gene turning on, including serious illness or infection, trauma, stress, childbirth - even quitting smoking

[sweetpea]

Reading your symptoms makes me feel like I was reading my own!

Not sure about the pregnancies though b/c I was diagnosed several months before I became pregnant.

[cyberprof]

I believe that I developed celiac at age 16. They were testing me for RA then (it was negative but I think there was a connetion) and I don't remember stomach problems before that. That is also the first time I remember having canker sores.

I wasn't diagnosed until I was 47, so that's a good 30 years of stomach problems, joint problems, mental health/depression. However, I had two extremely easy pregnancies when I was 32 and 34 - got pregnant first time each time, had virtually no morning sickness, never threw up, no sick days while working full time, and 9-10 APGAR scores. (Horrible deliveries, both, but that's another story.) Never had a miscarriage.

But I have three distinct memories from pregnancy: The first I ate a glazed donut and in an hour had such bad stomach pain and gas that I had to curl up in a ball for hours. For the second, I ate a wheat-pasta instant meal and threw up for the first time in 20 years. Again, I was amazed at how much my stomach hurt. And the third is the massive post-partum depression each time, which may or may not be related to celiac.

I feel so blessed that I had such healthy babies and that I was able to have kids, period. I'm a very lucky person.