Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity and Infertility
My Journey to Fertility and Joy. by Thursall
Trying to conceive (TTC) was the focus of my life between 2006 and 2010. Looking back now… well, I guess I try not to look back because it was so painful. Hmmm, this post is bringing all that back. But, I have overcome so much, and thankfully, I’m not in that grief cycle anymore.
I have endometriosis. It was a horrible, painful part of life that I mostly tried to ignore (since I was 13). Then I started trying to conceive when I was 28 and endometriosis became a heartbreaking possible cause of my infertility. I thought that was the problem. In hindsight, I now know there was a trigger involved that I could avoid and by doing so, completely change my body, my fertility, and my health.
Wheat/Gluten leads to Inflammation, which leads to Infertility, Fatigue, Pain, etc
The only reason I conceived my children naturally came from my own recognition that a food might be harming my body. This was tricky because this sensitivity was producing no “real” or “obvious” symptoms. This was key! It took years to be diagnosed with non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
My TTC Story (everyone has a story…)
We tried for three and a half years to get pregnant. It seemed like one obstacle after another, each becoming progressively worse. After the first year, the doctor suspected endometriosis, so we scheduled laparoscopic surgery to resolve the endometriosis. Unfortunately, we had to delay the procedure because I actually got pregnant, but miscarried. (Stage 3 – 4 endometriosis was found when I did have the surgery!) After the miscarriage and surgery, I started the Clomid cycles, followed by Femara cycles, and then we talked to the fertility specialist. He said trying to get pregnant naturally for me was going to be like banging my head against a brick wall. He recommended IVF (in vitro fertilization). We also had to deal with a uterine polyp and endometriomas (cysts on ovaries) before starting IVF.
It was a failed IVF cycle, and even though we got some decent embryos, there were none to freeze. The doctor said that my body was not ready for implantation because we used so much follicle stimulating hormone. He suggested that we should just use donor eggs the next time. I was devastated. Some people breeze through the IVF cycle, but for me (and many others) it was a traumatic life event. We decided to wait six months before signing up for IVF again.
I recovered emotionally. I saw a functional medicine doctor. She ran a food sensitivity test. I changed my diet and added thyroid medication and specific supplements to work on some other issues and to help the endometriosis. My symptoms immediately and remarkably improved with the diet changes, especially period pain and length. After that first six months, we decided to wait another six months to do IVF again. It was just too hard. We wanted a child, but we also wanted to live our lives. I had lost some weight, felt better, started a new part-time job, and was prepared to wait, just live life and accept that maybe we wouldn’t have children or would consider adoption.
A big shock in my infertility journey
About 10 months after the failed IVF, my period was late. I took a test (as I did nearly every month) and it was positive!!! It was the biggest shock of my life! Almost four years after starting to actively try to get pregnant, being told I couldn’t over and over again, I was stunned with disbelief. I cried, still in shock. I called a friend, since I couldn’t get my husband on the phone, asking her if I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing on the pregnancy test.
I was 20 weeks into the pregnancy before I bought anything baby related… too good to be true? My son is now almost seven.
A miracle?!?!?!?!? No. I had healed my body enough to support a pregnancy.
And we tried again….
Well… I really didn’t totally accept that I shouldn’t eat gluten at all. I mean, I didn’t have celiac disease… and I didn’t really have obvious symptoms. Looking back, the symptoms are clear, but at that time I couldn’t connect the inflammation, acne, fatigue, endometriosis pain, and not being able to work full-time with gluten/wheat. So I wasn’t very strict with what I was eating. When we were trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant a second time, I knew in my mind that I should stop eating wheat again. Every day, I ate some kind of wheat. I knew what I had to do, I just couldn’t do it. So I got help. I saw a hypnotherapist. Willpower restored and pregnant on the next full cycle!!!
During my second pregnancy I began to eat wheat again and finally had a ‘symptom’ that I could link to it. Several hours after eating a small/moderate amount of wheat I had pain in my lower abdomen, what I now know was inflammation from my body’s reaction to gluten. I was extremely fatigued during that pregnancy and was very concerned that I was not on enough thyroid medicine. I saw five doctors before I found one who helped me. She ran a lot of tests and found that I was nutrient deficient and have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Finally, a diagnosis!!! My little girl was born and I was able to nurse her for 20 months. I felt better than I had in years.
Since then I have taken a much more active approach to my own care. I started to feel better with nutritious food and became fascinated by healing diets. The real-life testimonies I saw every day blew me away. I was finally able to put all the pieces together, and even my own story amazes me. What if I hadn’t paid out of pocket for these ‘other’ doctors who helped me on my journey? What if….
Awareness and Joy
Through this series of life events I came to fully understand the effect food has on our lives. I’m a live-to-eat type of girl, planning social events around food and planning my next meal, even if it’s 10am on a Tuesday. It was difficult to realize how food was hurting my body without obvious symptoms. It took the natural conception of my two children to finally prove it to me.
I became aware of just how many people out there are suffering. I became involved in many Facebook communities. I followed the triumphs and pitfalls of people like me and you trying to navigate our health issues. I learned, and I wanted to learn more. Every success story I read was like a balm to my soul, an answer to the suffering of the people.
AND one day, I realized that I was able to feel more joy in my life, that I was able to experience more joy with simple life events than I had before. I want more of that joy in my life every day.
Taking my knowledge and passion to a new level
In 2016, while taking care of my then three- and five-year-olds, I completed the nine-month certification course to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. The Nutritional Therapy Association teaches a module-based program building on the premise of good working digestion and providing your body with the nutrients it needs. They follow the work of Dr. Weston A. Price. He traveled the world to study the native peoples and their traditional diets. His amazing body of work and conclusions are the basics of eating real food and properly preparing it so that we may benefit from it fully. When we get digestion working properly we will be able to absorb nutrients better. Those nutrients are the building blocks for all the complicated processes that our bodies enact every day, processes that include making neurotransmitters for feeling good and hormones to keep our reproductive system primed and our immune system strong.
I also completed Dr. Tom O’Bryan’s certification program to become a Certified Gluten Practitioner. I’m living the gluten-free life for my own health, but this gave me more tools to help others understand and navigate all gluten and autoimmune conditions. There is so much information out there now. Do not let your doctor tell you that your issues are normal, or that there is nothing that can be done. We can always support our health with nutrition and by learning what is hurting our bodies. The evidence is in and growing. Dr. Allesio Fasano, MD is leading the way with groundbreaking studies. Others are using their knowledge and experience to write books and help the masses. What it really takes is a desire to help people.
What can you take away from this blog besides my story?
I often get questions or push back from people who see going gluten-free as a fad. “Oh, it’s just a fad, there’s no real reason to go gluten-free.” “Going gluten-free when you don’t have celiac disease will give you diabetes. There was a study.“
To the first, I’m living proof that going gluten-free impacted me in a profound way. Many others will tell you the same. Is it always necessary? Maybe. Maybe not. Everyone is an individual.
To the second, I sigh and start sifting through the article referencing the study, then sifting through the study. For example, the article is taking some possible impacts of not eating enough fiber and deciding that going gluten-free reduces your fiber intake, which increases risk of diabetes. I would say to that person, going gluten-free for your health does not mean that you sub out gluten products for inferior gluten-free products. Most of the substitutes have less fiber and a higher glycemic index. You must pay attention to what you are eating and make healthy substitutes, such as eating an extra side of leafy greens or root veggies instead of gluten-free crackers or pasta with every meal.
I believe removing gluten from the diet as being almost ALWAYS helpful for several reasons.
- Today’s wheat products are full of glyphosate, which can damage our intestinal lining. The proteins can also cross the blood-brain barrier and cause inflammation there. (Switch to organic if still eating wheat to lesson this risk.) Glyphosate also can impair the production of beneficial bacteria and allow overgrowth of bad bacteria in the gut.
- According to Dr. Alessio Fasano’s work (which I referenced) gluten widens the tight junctions in our intestines and makes it more likely that we will have intestinal permeability (leaky gut). This can cause a storm for our immune system as larger particles can pass through the intestine walls! The body then has to deal with particles that shouldn’t have come through such as gluten proteins, microbes, undigested food particles, environmental chemicals, and bacterial waste.
- Where do veggies fit on our plate when we have a big side of pasta? It’s easy to make pasta or sandwiches, and harder to make a plate full of veggies. We have to consciously choose what we put on our plate. It’s more nutritious to load it up with power foods.
- Most of our gluten-containing products are also enriched with synthetic vitamins – particularly folic acid – and if you have MTHFR, these can be damaging.
This blog was originally published at the Feed Your Fertile Body!TM Blog.
Sara Russell, Ph.D, NTP, CGP is an amazing practitioner and the creator of the Feed Your Fertile Body!TM program.
Some resources/links:
How to start!! (gluten-free tips) http://elementalbloom.com/go-gluten-free/
Endometriosis documentary, a must see!! https://www.endowhat.com/
Q & A with Alessio Fasano, MD https://www.glutenfreeandmore.com/issues/4_15/qa_augsep11-2554-1.html
Glyphosate testing in common foods https://www.ecowatch.com/monsanto-glyphosate-cheerios-2093130379.html
Glyphosate testing full report https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/FDN_Glyphosate_FoodTesting_Report_p2016-3.pdf
Exploring Celiac, gluten-sensitivity and glyphosate with regards to issues including reproductive. Links glyphosate to gut health and celiac and gluten sensitivity. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/
Book: “A Mind of Your Own” by Kelly Brogan. A whole book devoted to feeling good through food! Let’s get some of that Joy! http://kellybroganmd.com/amindofyourown/