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!
When was the last time you had an allergy test done to find out if you are allergic to milk, wheat or gluten?
I actually never have! I was just discussing this today. I really need to. All of my doctors are probably sick of hearing from me about TSH and pregnancy questions, but I do think I’d like to find out exactly what I’m allergic to! I’ll have to decide which doctor I’d like to ask…I’m calling one of them this week, so I will ask then!