Accidentally glutened while pregnant

DNAincubator · Joined: 25 Jul 2010 Posts: 9 Location: New York

Hi everyone
I am 10 weeks pregnant. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease almost 7 months ago. I'm a patient at the Celiac Center at Columbia and I've been following the gluten-free diet for about 6 months.

Today I went to saladworks for lunch. I asked for nutritional info on the Caesar dressing and I was told the only dressing with gluten is the oriental dressing. I ordered the Caesar dressing. The salad was delicious.

When I arrived home I wanted to get some info online on their soups. I noticed they had a chicken tortilla soup so I wanted to see if that had any gluten. I then looked at the dressings and the Caesar dressing DOES contain gluten. It has wheat. This is the first time I've been accidentally glutened and I'm kicking myself that I was not more careful. I thought it was the most benign place to eat at the food court. I'm worried about this baby now. I've had five miscarriages in a row including a loss at 19 weeks to a cord knot. I want this baby to make it so badly and now I feel like this is going to negatively affect the pregnancy. I'm so upset with myself! Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated.

Oh and the diarrhea has kicked in. Ugh. Sad

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 12530 Location: WI, USA

Hi DNA,

Welcome to the board. Sorry to hear about your accident. It will happen on occasion. Don't beat yourself up over this. All you can do is learn from your mistake and keep moving forward.

Will this particular event affect the baby? I can't answer that for sure, but I wouldn't think so. If you are concerned about it, maybe a phone call to the doctor's office might give you some peace of mind. Is Dr. Green your doctor?

Hope you feel better soon! Please keep us updated on your progress.
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

smalltownslackermom · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 8:54 am Post subject:

Hi DNA - I had multiple miscarriages also before finally staying pregnant. I was undiagnosed at that time but I did manage to stay pregnant even though I was still eating gluten - for 7 more years Shocked

. So I can confirm that it as at least possible to not miscarry even though totally symptomatic. I was taking one baby aspirin per day (also mucinex) to get pregnant that time but I don't recall how long I kept that up after I knew I was pregnant - you might ask your OB if an 81 mg aspirin is ok or not.
I would also avoid all prepackaged foods for a while, GF or not, if at all possible. Lots of veggies and fruits, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda Smile

all to reduce inflammation and overactivity of your immune system. I will keep my fingers crossed for you and put out many good vibes that you and the DNA incubating inside of you are going to be fine.
_________________
son - high ttg - 4/09, pos. biopsy 5/09
self - negative bloodwork 5/09, pos. biopsy 11/09
sister - gf for ~3 years and is a new person
niece - positive ttg 2/10, foregoing biopsy

DNAincubator · Joined: 25 Jul 2010 Posts: 9 Location: New York

Thanks guys! I feel a little lousy today. I kind of feel like I have the flu, sore and achy. No more diarrhea though. The weird thing is I never had any GI symptoms before my dianosis. I had migraines, wide spread muscle twitching, sore joints, brain fog and I would have periods of feeling off balance (kind of felt like I drank two martinis on an empty stomach). One neurologist treated my migraines which were about three a week. Then he diagnosed me with fibromyalgia but I didn't think I had that. Finally I went to a different neurologist at Columbia because I was sort of thinking I had MS. He did EMGs and MRIs with and without contrast and said no sign of MS. The neurologist is a friend of Dr. Green's and he informed me that sometimes when people have Celiac disease, they get some symptoms like I was experiencing. He tested me for Celiac. I was sure I didn't have it. I'm chubby and I thought the Celiac crowd was generally thin. My blood work was positive so I was sent for the biopsy and bingo.

I've seen Dr Green twice now, nice guy. I also see the nutritionist they have over there. She has lots of samples of great GF products.

The weird thing was several years ago I developed an autoimmune thyroid problem after the birth of my second son. Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Following my diagnosis, I had been reading some things online about Hashimotos and I came across some articles about Celiac disease being diagnosed after the patient had Hashis. I asked my endocrinologist about it, but he told me I was too chubby to be a Celiac. I sent him a copy of my medical file from Dr. Green's office.

smalltownslackermom · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:26 pm Post subject:

HadassahSukkot · Joined: 04 Aug 2006 Posts: 480 Location: Hessen, Germany

I am so sorry to hear you got glutened! I was severely glutened in my first trimester last year.. I'm still recovering.. The baby did fine, he's roly poly as ever, crawling around now at 8, almost 9 months old... no complications for him - but it was really harsh on me (I was repeatedly glutened for a month's time). I ended up severely anemic during my pregnancy and got my numbers up enough for the birth, but been battling it ever since.

Try to not obsess, and just eat healthy. I know it's hard - I was SO there.. and between the morning sickness that lasted 7 months after the glutening and the anemia, I was bedridden with a toddler running around destroying the room he was confined in with me. My OB said if it was any worse, he would have me in the hospital. We could not do that with the toddler - there was no one else to watch him. Confused

We made it through, and thankfully my mom was there for three months to help me bounce back after the c-section. It took a long while to get where I could do much at all, and I am still just beginning to feel normal with the lack of sleep I've had between both kids and a few accidental glutenings at communal family meals. Sad

I had hoped by this time to feel more normal and human. I feel more zombie-ish.

If it helps, bring your own condiments and salad dressings when you go out. I have found gluten in some of the strangest things sometimes, and I feel more comfortable if I know what I have is safe and I am not as at risk. I'm super iffy even going out to eat anymore.

DNAincubator · Joined: 25 Jul 2010 Posts: 9 Location: New York

Thanks everyone!

Last week I had an ulltrasound and the little one is growing as it should. My perinatologist said so far things look great. I am a few days past 12 weeks and I go in tomorrow for my nuchal translucency scan. I hope things can continue to stay on this trajectory.
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There is a single light of science and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere.
(Isaac Asimov)