<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
My question to the list was:
I want to write a letter to my OBG with a copy to the Fertility Doctor
and would like to add articles, etc. about how Celiac can cause birth
defects - so they both understand how important it is to combine the two
together when dealing with a Want-to-be pregnant Celiac!
I received excellent advise - and some sarcastic remarks. Below are the
important parts of their emails. THANK YOU to all who understand what
I'm going through and trying to accomplish.
Michelle
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I recommend the books "Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition", and "The Art of
Natural Family Planning"
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The baby will probably be just fine, its your body you need to take care
of, because there needs to be enough nutrition for both of you, and the
baby gets it first- you may also go to www.celiac.com its a lot of stuff
to go thru but it has many, many articles posted. i am sure they have a
section on fertility and pregnancy and such.
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Wow- the nerve of some professionals. I want to encourage you to get the
book called "taking control of your fertility" by Toni Weisler( not sure of
spelling) she will show you how to start charting your cycle. That will give
you a better idea about what is going on than any test a dr. can give you.
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The body is set up to not throw off an egg if there is stress happening
to the body- and we know a little slip from a restaurant worker or a
change in an ingred. list- we feel some total body stress. Most dr. will
not encourage this- they think women are not smart enough to chart. But
we are- and you are very smart to know that his dr.is off his rocker.
Also another great book is simple called ! " getting pregnant"
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If you want to collect the articles for yourself or to share with a
caring doctor, I think that's great. Go to PubMed at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/ and enter 'celiac infertility' in
the search box. I got 31 articles (four of them were published in 2001).
I hope this advice doesn't sound impolite, it is not intended to be. I
would just try to find yourself a good doctor. Doctors like the infertility
one you described aren't really interested and won't read any of the
information you give them. I have tried to help doctors by sharing great
articles and abstracts with them, but I have been disappointed in the
results.
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I had undiagnosed Celiac through my second pregnancy, and the baby WAS born
with problems. I think personally that the celiac was the reason -- my
blood just had the wrong stuff in it (I wasn't taking any drugs etc.,
though he may have an inherited genetic problem instead). Not to scare you,
it could be happenstance also. But if you are getting sick, taking
antidepressants, etc: I can tell you that pregnancy fouls things up even
worse, so getting healthy is a good thing to do if at all possible. You are
on the right track! I don't know that you can depend on the doctors to 'get
you healthy', though: very few are caring or competent enough to do that.
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It is very important to take folic acid and iron pills before you get
pregnant.
Also get off of your medications if possible. I have been pregnant 5xs had 3
miscarriages. I was diagnosed about 2 1/2 years ago as well.
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suggestion...dig out some Carlton Frederick's books...he helped ALOT of
women get pregnant with vitamin supplementation. Also, homeopathy is
very helpful w/o all those hormones and drugs
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Hi. I had 4 failed pregnancies. All before I knew about Celiac. 2 before the
birth of my first daughter, and 2 after. I went on to have a 2nd child.
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That is not the job of an OBJ. The world doesn't turn around because we are
celiac.
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I don't mean to be rude, but your fertility doctor is right. I went to a
fertility doctor myself (I also have Celiac Disease). I successfully got
pregnant and have had a wonderful pregnancy so far. It isn't the fertility
doctor's responsibility to monitor your diet or find out about Celiac
Disease. He/She specializes in helping you get pregnant and that is that.
Give him/her a break!!
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Think of it this way, would you go to a plumber to work on your car? Of
course not. That's why an infertility expert won't deal with your celiac
disease. It is not that they don't care, they are not qualified to do
it. They have spent a great deal of time learning about reproduction
problems. You will need to see a Gastroenterologist (a GI specialist).
You will need to combine their expertise for YOU to get pregnant and
deal with the celiac disease.
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ARTICLES
1: Hum Reprod 1999 Nov;14(11):2759-61
The prevalence of coeliac disease in infertility.
Meloni GF, Dessole S, Vargiu N, Tomasi PA, Musumeci S Clinica Pediatrica
'A. Filia', Universita di Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Clinica Ostetrica e
Ginecologica, Universita di Sassari, Sassari, and Ospedale 'S. Giovanni
di Dio', 07026 Olbia, Italy.
An increased incidence of reproductive problems, including infertility,
miscarriage, low birth weight newborns, and shorter duration of
breast-feeding, are known to exist in women with coeliac disease; some of
these conditions are improved by a gluten-free diet.
PMID: 10548618, UI: 20018210
____________________________________________________________________________
____
1: Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1999 Feb;106(2):171-3
Screening for coeliac disease in women with a history of recurrent
miscarriage or infertility.
Kolho KL, Tiitinen A, Tulppala M, Unkila-Kallio L, Savilahti E
Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Helsinki University Central Hospital,
Finland.
Because subclinical coeliac disease may decrease fertility or complicate
pregnancy, we screened women with recurrent miscarriage of unknown a
etiology (n = 63), unexplained infertility (n = 47) and infertility with
a known cause (n = 82), for anti-endomysium antibodies in serum to find
undiagnosed coeliac disease.
PMID: 10426684, UI: 99353756
____________________________________________________________________________
1: Am J Clin Nutr 1999 Mar;69(3):354-65
The widening spectrum of celiac disease.
Murray JA
____________________________________________________________________________
1: Dig Dis 1994 May-Jun;12(3):186-90
Infertility, obstetric and gynaecological problems in coeliac sprue.
Sher KS, Jayanthi V, Probert CS, Stewart CR, Mayberry JF
Leicester General Hospital, UK.
There is now substantial evidence that coeliac sprue is associated with
infertility both in men and women. In women it can also lead to delayed
menarche, amenorrhoea, early menopause, recurrent abortions, and a reduced
pregnancy rate. In men it can cause hypogonadism, immature secondary sex
characteristics and reduce semen quality. The real mechanism by which
coeliac sprue produces these changes is unclear, but factors such as
malnutrition, iron, folate and zinc deficiencies have all been implicated.
In addition in men gonadal dysfunction is believed to be due to reduced
conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone caused by low levels of 5
alpha-reductase in coeliac sprue. This leads to derangement of the
hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Hyperprolactinaemia is seen in 25% of coeliac
patients, which causes impotence and loss of libido. Gluten withdrawal and
correction of deficient dietary elements can lead to a return of fertility
both in men and women.
Publication Types:
o Review
o Review, tutorial
PMID: 7988065, UI: 95079678
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