Allergens/Sensitivities?

I've dabbled with this before but not really by choice. I have always had a "sensitive tummy" and steered clear of certain foods or ate them knowing I would be paying for it later on. The most recent was the first 7 months of Little Miss' life... She had bad tummy problems so I had eliminated wheat, dairy, garlic, peanut butter, and tomato. I felt so good {and dropped weight like crazy!}

And then I got the first PCOS diagnosis.

Didn't think anything of my diet other than to stay away from hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics that is pumped into foods.

My thyroid is bonkers. I believe wholeheartedly that my thyroid is not the problem but that it is a symptom of an underlying cause. Dr agrees. Suggests food I'm consuming could play a role in that too.

Food plays a role in every aspect of our life should we want to believe that or not!

Now we're trying to conceive baby number two and the darn PCOS diagnosis is back, with a vengeance. {I thought pregnancy was to lesson or get rid of it?} Argh.

So off to google I go... I am coming upon site after site unofficially referencing gluten sensitives with infertility, PCOS and Endometriosis specifically. Then comes up dairy and soy. We all know soy interrups the hormonal receptors so we should steer clear of that even though it is seriously found in like everything!

At the "establishing patient" appointment today with the new Dr {whom I officially love!} he absolutely agreed that it sounds like my symptoms are all pointing to a definite gluten allergen or even just a sensitivity with how my wacko body is. He told me immediately following the blood draw that I should eliminate gluten and even if the test comes back negative, I should still eliminate gluten for a few months and then reassess.

He ended up running a couple panels on me for household allergens and the common food allergens. We'll talk once those labs come back and go from there. Hey, maybe removing gluten would also eliminate the horrid tonsil stones that continue to plague me?

So I'm searching for any personal stories... Have you eliminated gluten, dairy, or anything else from your diet? What did it help with? How long did it take for your to notice changes? What was the hardest food to give up? Tips?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I thought PCOS was due to insulin resistance. The body needs to produce more insulin than normal to digest sugar and starchy foods, higher insulin means the body turns more sugar into fat (higher chance of obesity) and insulin also makes the body produce more testosterone (hence the unwanted body hairs). Because of higher testosterone levels, you produce higher LH-levels, causing ovulation to be delayed or stopped and also cysts on ovaries. I have never heard of gluten allergy being the cause. All research point to the culprits being sugar and starchy foods. We who have PCOS have a much higher likelihood of getting diabetes 2 and being overweight due to the insuline resistance (which is the pre-stage of diabetes 2). I try to not eat so much sugar and carbs, although it's difficult.
squirrelgirl said…
I'm currently looking into a link between thyroid issues and celiac disease. My thyroid has started to go crazy again, after being stable for 20 years. I'm curious to see what other responses you get about foods to avoid, what was hardest, etc.
Once A Mother said…
I consider myself borderline PCOS in that some docs have told me I have it, others have told me I don't. I am very irregular, struggle with my weight etc. etc. Anyway, I find that when I eat according to the Glycemic Index (i.e. South Beach) my PCOS symptoms diminish drastically, and I more easily lose and keep weight off. I am breastfeeding twins right now, one of whom is allergic to milk, so a lot of that goes out the window right now, but when I am not breastfeeding that is the diet I follow. Coincidentally I did two rounds of IVF. The first I ate whatever I wanted, and it failed. The second I ate low GI foods, and it took--now I have twins.