Operation: Pregnancy

[Muffy]

Hello,

I am just re-kindling my gluten/wheat issue research. I have been gluten free for about a year and a half, maybe a little longer. Shortly before going gluten-free I went refined fructose super-lite and right after going gluten-free I went grain, dairy, soy, and canola oil free. I have a long history of thyroid issues, rashes, dead intestines (leaky as all get out and had part of them removed 2 years ago), migraines, nerve issues, muscle issues, insmomnia, anxiety, fatigue, asthma, tons of secondary food allergies (mostly fruits)...the whole works. I am strict, the concept of 'cheating' is alien to me. My house is gluten-free. I know I have a long way to go toward healing my leaky gut but I also know I am the healthiest I have probably ever been in my life.

Since I am trying to get pregnant I realized that I have never researched this and need too. Anyway. I am 38. I had a pregnancy and birth 14 years ago. I was 24 and sick before during and after. I had no fertilty or delivery difficulties but I was not well durng the pregnancy. Tons of ridculously severe acid reflux, high blood pressure, water retention, migraines, thyroid was hard to stabalize, 'morning' sickness...and I was pushing that line between overweight and obeseity at conception and gained a lot of weight during. I know these things are 'normal' to an extent.

I don't really know what I am looking for, I am just starting my way through this thread right now. This is just a shout-out in case anyone out there has some adivce or a kernal of wisdom they'd like to throw back

Thanks!

[jswog]

Hello,

I am just re-kindling my gluten/wheat issue research. I have been gluten free for about a year and a half, maybe a little longer. Shortly before going gluten-free I went refined fructose super-lite and right after going gluten-free I went grain, dairy, soy, and canola oil free. I have a long history of thyroid issues, rashes, dead intestines (leaky as all get out and had part of them removed 2 years ago), migraines, nerve issues, muscle issues, insmomnia, anxiety, fatigue, asthma, tons of secondary food allergies (mostly fruits)...the whole works. I am strict, the concept of 'cheating' is alien to me. My house is gluten-free. I know I have a long way to go toward healing my leaky gut but I also know I am the healthiest I have probably ever been in my life.

Since I am trying to get pregnant I realized that I have never researched this and need too. Anyway. I am 38. I had a pregnancy and birth 14 years ago. I was 24 and sick before during and after. I had no fertilty or delivery difficulties but I was not well durng the pregnancy. Tons of ridculously severe acid reflux, high blood pressure, water retention, migraines, thyroid was hard to stabalize, 'morning' sickness...and I was pushing that line between overweight and obeseity at conception and gained a lot of weight during. I know these things are 'normal' to an extent.

I don't really know what I am looking for, I am just starting my way through this thread right now. This is just a shout-out in case anyone out there has some adivce or a kernal of wisdom they'd like to throw back

Thanks!

Thanks for posting this, Muffy! While I cannot offer any advice, I do hope others can/will as I am in a similar situation as you are. I'm 35 and have only just very recently started on my gluten-free journey, all the while TTC (or, as we like to say, not NOT trying...lol...with very strong hopes). Neither my husband nor I have other children, however, so no history to draw upon. Since going gluten-free almost one month ago now (Sept. 13 was my last day of consuming gluten, so tomorrow will be one month for me), I already feel like I've gained at least 10 years of my life back! Good luck TTC! I hope we both have good news to share soon!

Jen

[addis001]

Just found out Gluten was the key to everything... We've been trying since November to get Prego. And I've been gluten free for a month now.. Any advice on how to get prego would be great!! I have a 2 year old now. We want one more then we are done. It seems like TTC is a struggle since we got prego with our first on the first try. My body feels different and everything feels like its not working right.

[upwitht21]

My advice would be don't rush healing and make sure your doctor is involved. I was gluten free for 2 months and got pregnant completely unassisted after 10 cycles of fertility meds. We lost the baby at 7 weeks and I can't help but feel we just tried to soon. I was just starting to really feel better when I added the stress of a baby into my already weakened body and although I healed enough to conceive it wasn't enough support the fetus.

I hope that helps....

Jess

[addis001]

Definitely does help.. my best friend just had a miscarriage.. And I don't think I could handle that... I want to heal first so i can be as healthy as I can be...But at the same time, I'm not getting younger either.. Its so hard to know when, I'm working with my GI closely.. Maybe he'll tell me when I seem ready.

[Ellymay]

I too had a miscarriage before my current pregnancy but you can't blame yourself if that happens - they can be caused by any number of reasons and are most often nature's way of dealing with a fetus that wouldn't have lived anyway. Personally, if I was 38 I wouldn't be waiting for the perfect time unless there are obvious health reasons to wait.

However if you haven't already been checked for nutrient deficiencies I would get blood tests to check your folic acid, vitamin b12, iron and vitamin c levels in particular. These are often deficient in people with gluten intolerance and can take some time to restore. I had injections for b12 deficiency (which is important for fertility) and along with folic acid this is also important to prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Beware if you are taking a high dose of folic acid when they test your b12 levels this can mask a deficiency. I have just found out I am low in b12 again and it is not recommended to have b12 injections during pregnancy so I recommend you check this out so you can get any injections required before getting pregnant.

By the way, you may find you can have dairy products again. After 6 months on the gluten free diet I found I had healed enough that I no longer had a lactose intolerance. It is good to be able to eat lots of calcium rich dairy products while pregnant, especially when you have cravings for custard....

Goodluck

Eleanor

[JillianLindsay]

Just to share, I was gluten-free for 2 1/2 years when I got pregnant the first time. I was in excellent health and still had a miscarriage. Many perfectly healthy people have unexplained m/c, sadly it is just a part of TTC. I'm happy to say, that I'm now 6 weeks and 2 days along and so far everything is going well

I agree with keeping your DR in the loop and following his or her advice as you go along. I did have initial bloodwork done before we started trying, and everything was in the normal range, even my iron, which hadn't been the case since I was a teenager! Good luck!!