Re: SCD and Pregnancy-HELP!

[Guest guest]

I am a mother of four young children. My main symptom is constipation, though diarrhea is sometimes a problem for me too. I thought I had IBS for about 8 yrs but was then diagnosed with Celiac. I sure could have IBS too. I started SCD after having my children, so have never done the diet while pregnant. But I hope some of my experience can be helpful here.

SCD is a healthy diet and I personally would not be concerned about sticking with it during pregnancy. I have struggled with symptoms of constipation and diarrhea, food sensitivities through all my pregnancies. I am not able to eat dairy, corn, eggs (unless baked in something), soy products, many spices, and now gluten. I had healthy pregnancies, 9+ lb babies and breastfed all four children successfully for 1-2 yrs each.

At least for me, hormones are a factor in how my digestive system works. So I did have more trouble with constipation while pregnant and nursing. The great thing about SCD for me is that by starting with Intro and adding one new food every 7-10 days, I have been able to learn what foods cause constipation and bloating in my body. I imagine this is different for everyone. I read everything I could on pecanbread and the breakingtheviciouscycle websites about constipation and followed those recommendations. I believe there was also a site called fibermenace that I found very helpful. I was quite regular after the first couple weeks on the diet.

Things that I did in the past that were a big MISTAKE were to eat more fiber or take fiber supplements. Also eating raw fruit or veg. Then there are just certain foods that are a problem whether cooked or not. So I think it's important to start with a few well tolerated foods and build from there to see what works and what doesn't. I think it takes longer to sort this out when your symptom is constipation. It usually takes me 10 days or more for my body to go back to normal after having a food that didn't work for me. So it's been a little slow going.

I will also say that in the first two weeks of the diet, I went LONG stretches without going at all. I didn't have any pain from it, I just didn't go. But then it all worked itself out (whether it was because I added one muffin a day or just enough time had passed, I don't know. But I stick with my muffin a day because it's such a happy solution).

I wish I had a magic answer to fix your friend's constipation right now, but I do really think it is just a process of trying one food at a time and figuring things out. The hormone shifts during pregnancy would certainly present another challenge in this process. And there are really no short cuts. But nutritionally, I think it is quite possible to have a healthy pregnancy on SCD.

Best wishes to you and your friend,KelleyCeliac 4/10SCD 5/10

 

I am trying to find some support for staying with SCD during pregnancy. I am SCD and have a good friend who is on SCD for IBS. She is early in her first pregnancy and has recently abandoned the diet due to nausea and alot of conflicting advice she is getting. She is now suffering really terrible GI symptoms and wants to restart the diet but is being told by medical staff to forget it and go to prescription meds. She has been given a prescription for miralax by one practitioner, told it's unsafe by another and she is now beside herself, and really constipated and quite miserable, and just doesn't know what to do.

I have found very little info on the SCD and pregnancy on the net, so any references/advice would be great. Or if someone who has done SCD through pregnancy would be willing to talk to her by phone, all the better. She is does not have a computer and is not internet savvy. She is a wonderful great person and is really distressed right now wanting to do the best for her baby and her health and getting alot of conflicting info and needs some support and reassurance. Thanks so much!

-- Kelley

[Guest guest]

I am trying to find some support for staying with SCD during pregnancyFrom Elaine: I can assure you if you take the whole family of B vitamins as in my book with a few extra mcg (micrograms of folic acid) you will have the most nutritious diet in the whole wide world. All our SCD babies were great and the pregnancies were normal - no toxemia. But you must concentrate on eating lots of legal carbohydrates along with protein and fat. Otherwise the baby will be healthy but may be a bit smaller. It does not always happen but has happened once or twice.Make sure one has adequate legal carbs when pregnant, but it's pretty easy to satisfy any possible requirement for carbs by eating a banana in yoghurt at one meal, and some berries at another, I would think. Certainly, two bananas a day would give one a very large (and more than adequate) dose of carbs, even for pregnancy.Great care was made by Dr. Sidney Valentine Haas to include the foods in SCD™which, when used intelligently, would comprise a well balanced, healthful, therapeutic diet. I worked very hard, even on the infant formula (Available in Breaking the Vicious Cycle) to do the same. Many of you were a bit disturbed with me when I became emphatic (ballistic) when members of the list kept pushing a low carobohydrate diet and I even threatened to take it to the courts because SCD™is not a low carb diet. Four months into my pregnancy, I'm feeling really great. And I have lots of hope that the SCD will get me through any postnatal hormonal fluctuations. My healthcare team has been supportive about my new diet. Here are a few tips for any women out there on the SCD who are thinking about getting pregnant:SCD-legal prenatal vitamins can be ordered through Kirkman Labs. The product is called Prenatals.If your OB wants you to do a screen for diabetes, don't let the lab give you glucose syrup (sugar water). Request to do the bloodwork 1 hour after a meal instead.Consult with a prenatal nutritionist: bring a week-long food diary; a copy of "Breaking The Vicious Cycle"; the label for your prenatal vitamins; and a nutrition breakdown for almond flour, which you can get from lucyskitchenshop.com if you ask Lucy for it. My nutritionist helped me make sure I'm getting the right balance for myself and the baby.Check with your birthing hospital to see if they can meet your special dietary needs. If not, plan to bring your own food and find out if there is a fridge you can use.Something I haven't done yet but plan to do: in the last month before your due date, bake a ton of almond flour goodies (if you can tolerate them) and some SCD-legal meals and freeze them. Then you won't have to stress (as much) when you get home from the hospital.Yes! Here's what Elaine says. The carbohydrates that we consider legal in SCD are plentiful but are easily absorbed as they required minimal digestive capability. There have been many, many SCD babies born. Mothers were on SCD throughout pregnancy and some were big and some were normal (7-8 lbs and some were a bit less than 7 lbs). But as you know, diabetics (on insulin, not considered people in the best of health) have unusually fat babies. I understand it is because of high sugar levels. On the other side if you are pregnant and do not eat enough simple carbs, I believe it can be dangerous to the point where you will have a smaller baby and I will not go into the unending debate about just burning fat and protein. So, in summary, the SCD diet has proven healthful for pregnancy provided that you have sufficient LEGAL CARBOHYDRATES. For example, homemade applesauce if you cannot handle raw apples. Homemade muffins if you cannot eat grains. etc. etc. etc.Here's what says. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease 7 years ago, and made the decision to go on SCD at the end of August last year. I can honestly say it was the best decision I have ever made! My symptoms cleared up almost immediately, fortunately (not everyone feels so good so quickly), and I am now 8 weeks pregnant! I, too, had lots of questions about the diet and pregnancy, especially since my cravings were leaning toward "illegal" foods. That is actually how I came to the list as well. I have been assured by everyone on the list that the SCD IS THE HEALTHIEST THING I CAN DO FOR ME AND MY BABY. I also talked it over with my doctor, and after giving her a food journal of what I eat, she was amazed at how incredibly HEALTHY the diet is. So everything is a-ok, and although it has taken some time to learn about foods and how to prepare everything from "scratch", and it definitely takes perserverence and courage to maintain, I am very sure that this is the way I want to live, and want my baby to live. Remember, when you have a disease that is characterized by malabsorbtion, anything you eat that cannot be digested properly will NOT feed you, and therefore NOT feed your baby!!!!!