Hi! It’s been a while since my last post; school has started and life gets busy again. Also, there hasn’t been too much to say, and I’ve wondered if I should continue this blog. But for now, I’ll post the occasional comment. Someday, when I’m actually pregnant, I’ll have more to say on the topic!

However, I have discovered that I may really have an intolerance to wheat. And possibly dairy, when mixed with sugar.

School started, and I didn’t have a single wheat product all week, and felt great. No hives, etc.. Well, Wednesday night I had a skinny cow at my mother’s house, which has some wheat, but it wasn’t much and I was fine. Thursday night, against my better judgment, I had a cup of oatmeal cereal with milk, thinking that so far, it’s been hard to tell when I’m having food allergy issues and when I’m not. Friday morning I woke up with both intestinal issues and hives on my arms and legs. Some hadn’t come through the skin yet, but I was very itchy. I thought that was the strongest evidence of a wheat intolerance so far.

Then, last night while meeting relatives, I had ice cream (larger than I should have had…). I woke up this morning with slight angioedema (hives on my lips). That’s the second time that I’ve had lip hives after an ice cream product late at night. It happened a few weeks ago as well. But in between a few weeks ago and last night, I’ve had ice cream with no problems. So what’s the difference? I think the amount.

I find this whole food allergy this so ironic, because prior to all these health problems, no only was I practically addicted to sugar and carbs, I’d overeat both of them in huge portions on a regular basis. I was trying, and failing, to curb my addictions when this health thing took over and is doing the job for me.

I looked at Celiac’s disease, which is having an allergy to gluten. I know someone with this disease, and her symptoms have been life-long and severe. I’m not necessarily sure that I have that, and more than likely, I’ve just developed an intolerance for gluten, which isn’t the same thing as an allergy. But while doing a little research, I discovered this at http://www.foodallergysolutions.com/food-allergy-news0204.html:

What symptoms may be caused by a gluten allergy?

• Abdominal Pain
• ADD/ADHD
• Anxiety
• Canker sores
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Fatigue
• Fibromyalgia
• Gas
• Headaches
• Heartburn
• Indigestion
• Infertility
• Iron deficient anemia
• Irritability
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Joint Pain
• Osteoporosis
• Poor Growth
• Poor immune function (frequent illness)
• Sinusitis

And it also said this: People with celiac disease are known to be at higher risk for many conditions, including cancer of the digestive tract, thyroid problems, anemia, osteoporosis, and many autoimmune conditions.

So, if I did really have this gluten allergy or intolerance, perhaps it’s also connected to my IBS and Hashimoto’s – in other words, autoimmune issues.

It’s eye-opening! Now, technically oats do not have gluten in them, but typically they have gluten on them, from normal grocery stores. But when I have my organic steel-cut oats, I’ve never had a problem. So that cereal the other night was a bad move. As for the ice cream, I have known for years that too much dairy messes me up (I can’t drink milk with dinner). But in small doses, I’m fine. So I think it’s a case of portioning my ice cream…which is hard, but I’ll do it.

Who knew that my desire to get pregnant would result in discovering so much about my health!