They say that it takes an extreme health event to trigger celiac disease. I am not sure if pregnancy is an extreme health event but it did seem to trigger my celiac disease. After I gave birth to my first child in 1991, it seemed that my ability to digest wheat was compromised. But it wasn’t until my second pregnancy with my second child in 1994 that it became more obvious. I had a hard time gaining weight during that pregnancy, and experienced huge amounts of fatigue. Of course I was eating all the “whole wheat” foods that are recommended during pregnancy.
They say that mild exercise is good during pregnancy but I could not do mild exercise without being exhausted. My tummy grew bigger but the rest of my body grew skinnier, if that is possible. The energy and nutrients were all going to the pregnancy! Looking back, I am convinced that my body was not absorbing nutrients and the few that I was able to absorb were going to the baby. That pregnancy was successful so that was a good thing.
But I still did not know that I had Celiac disease until several years after my second child was born! I had back surgery due to a herniated disc and the incision would not heal. I had chronic sinus infections that would not heal. My gut was not digesting food and I had more and more GI issues. I figured out, on my own, that every time I ate a piece of bread it made everything worse and I asked my doctor why that could be. He said I had “gluten intolerance” and said I should stop eating wheat. (No one seemed to know “Celiac disease” back in the mid 1990’s). I never had a blood test or upper endoscopy to confirm my disease but I knew I had a problem eating gluten.
I went gluten free by reading labels and calling food manufactures. It probably took about 1 year to work all the gluten out of my diet. Foods were not well labelled back in the 90’s and there was much hidden gluten everywhere. Finally, going gluten free resolved all my health problems! A couple years later, it became even clearer to me that I truly had “Celiac disease” when my 5 year old son was confirmed to have Celiac disease! (He was that second pregnancy)! Since Celiac disease is genetic there was no doubt that he got it from me!
My son and I continue to follow a strict gluten free diet. My daughter also follows a gluten free diet and she appears to be gluten intolerant. As a bonus, being forced to read labels has forced me to pay attention to what is in the foods that I eat. That, in itself has been a blessing as it has led to most of my other “health discoveries” and my passion for nutrition.
Sounds like you went through a bit of hell! I would imagine that pregnancy could easily become ‘an extreme health event’… That being said, digestive issues are so dicey. I think I may have a bit of gluten intolerance, so I eat (sprouted multi grain) bread, pasta and other grains in moderation.