Friday, June 17, 2011

Celiac Disease (huh?) a/k/a I can't eat gluten (oooh!)

I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday to go over some test results.  I asked her a few weeks ago to include a Celiac & food allergy test in with blood work.  She got the results back and guess what? I'm positive for Celiac Disease.  As a result, I'm going on a gluten free diet for a few months (at least).  I've been having some gastro issues and have had no interest in food.  I had a sneaky suspicion that perhaps I had a food allergy or couldn't tolerate gluten.  Turns out I was right!

As soon as I heard the news I started eating gluten free.  I think I have to.  There's a difference between wanting to follow on a diet to lose weight and needing to go on a specific diet so your body can absorb nutrients so you can continue to live.  There's a difference in my head anyway.

It especially hit home when I did a bit of googling and found that uncontrolled Celiac Disease in women can result in premature birth, miscarriage or underweight babies.  During my entire pregnancy I didn't want to eat anything.  The only thing I craved were popsicles.  I had to make myself eat.  I gained about 8 pounds.  Elizabeth was born (3 lbs, 6 oz) at 32 weeks because an ultrasound showed the umbilical cord wasn't providing nourishment to her.  I told my midwives I thought something was strange about my lack of appetite but they told me it was good I wasn't gaining a crazy amount of weight (since I'm already a bit over).

So let's get this straight.  Celiac Disease keeps mom from absorbing nutrients, which thereby keeps baby from absorbing nutrients, which results in pre-term birth, stillbirth or miscarriage.

That's some serious stuff!  This diagnosis might explain my illness last year when I had Elizabeth.  They diagnosed me with HELLP syndrome but what if it was untreated CD instead?

To start me on my journey this morning I had a bowl of Eco-Planet Instant Hot Cereal (which sounds odd but really it's the same as oatmeal to me) with sliced donut peaches (which sound fancy but really they're just adorable little peaches that I bought at our local Whole Foods).

My husband has decided to try this diet with me in an effort to feel better & lose some weight.  It's ironic.  I finally got to the point in my  life where I was comfortable with my size and didn't have any urge to "get skinny".  I did want to get in shape, but that urge to fit into a size 8 jeans is gone.  Now I'm going on an eating plan that will inevitably end in weight loss.  Well there you go.

1 comment:

  1. I'm so glad you are figuring it out! Such a crazy diagnosis but maybe it is the reason behind many things.

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