Any moms with any of---sleep apnea, chronic fatigue, psoriasis? possibly food allergies

[bobcat]

I am 19 weeks pregnant with my first baby, and have been worried how my health conditions could be affecting the baby. It would be nice to hear from moms who have had any of those 3 conditions, and I'm wondering if you don't mind sharing if your baby is healthy, etc. I think it would help ease my fears.

I have heard, in the chronic fatigue community, cautions about how women with CFS seem to give birth to babies with autism much more frequently, and I have met women like me with CFS whose children had various problems, including austism spectrum, but many other issues as well. I think the rate is estimated at double the risk for autism for a mother with CFS, by the experts who treat and study CFS. Some patients have even told me, for various reasons, not to bother having children! Gasp! Not like I believe the alarmists, but still.....these are some pretty ill people, just giving their input I suppose.

I also read online (accidentally!) that psoriasis doubles your risk of having a child with autism, and I do have psoriasis as part of this as well. For both diseases, they seem to think it's due to inflammation/inflammatory markers in the mother's body, that adversely affects the child during development. So with how crappy I feel, it just worries me. Reading about the psoriasis didn't help. I am pregnant with a boy.

I am trying to do everything I can to reduce inflammation, but there is only so much you can do. I would like to talk to other moms, and maybe some here have suffered with any of those conditions. Hanging out with people with CFS does not ease my fears much, as they are hyper cautious because of how much awareness is needed.

Furthermore, I have sleep apnea, and I know it impacts my ability to get into deep stages of sleep. I have heard that not getting into the proper stages, further raises inflammation in the body. I try to wear my CPAP device, but I don't always (has been difficult, sometimes I doze off without remembering to wear it, etc). Then when I don't wear the device at night, it starts a cycle where I worry all day about the baby, because of how crummy I feel.

I am looking for anyone here with any of these 3 conditions, especially those with children. Perhaps moms with other health conditions too, like lupus, etc. I would like to hear some positive stories. Also any input would be nice from those with opinions.

Thanks!!!!! :) I know that some might say that it's out of my hands, so why worry, but I just need some positive stories. I worry about how much damage I could have done all those nights while pregnant that I haven't worn my CPAP for the apnea, etc. I guess that is the thing I can control the most, but it is not always controlled. Was anyone here really bad at controlling your apnea while pregnant?

Also---I seem to definitely have a food allergy to gluten, and possibly dairy (who knows, the mucus could be the cause of my apnea). So perhaps all this inflammation among women with CFS is really related to inflammation from foods too. So I'd be interested to hear from women with food allergies, and stories on that regarding your baby's health....I know food allergies and CFS can be related. Then there is the food allergy link to autism.

Edited by bobcat - 1/4/13 at 2:31pm

[SweetSilver]

I can't help with most of what you are dealing with, but I struggled with fatigue, and what I was increasingly suspecting were mental health issues.  What I had thought might be PPD was lingering for nearly 2 years after the birth of my youngest.  I was diagnosed with multiple allergies, and eliminating them gave me huge amounts of energy and completely eliminated the struggles with ?borderline depression?.

When you are suffering and looking for solutions--any possible solutions--if you suspect an allergy, by all means, look into it.  Perhaps it is nothing, but in my case, it was everything.

[pek64]

I have multiple food allergies/intolerances, and my son has his own food issues. Because of my problems, he generally doesn't eat what I cannot eat, although he does eat a small amount of soy on occasion, even though I cannot eat soy.

[ruthvought]

Originally Posted by bobcat 

I am 19 weeks pregnant with my first baby, and have been worried how my health conditions could be affecting the baby. It would be nice to hear from moms who have had any of those 3 conditions, and I'm wondering if you don't mind sharing if your baby is healthy, etc. I think it would help ease my fears.

I have heard, in the chronic fatigue community, cautions about how women with CFS seem to give birth to babies with autism much more frequently, and I have met women like me with CFS whose children had various problems, including austism spectrum, but many other issues as well. I think the rate is estimated at double the risk for autism for a mother with CFS, by the experts who treat and study CFS. Some patients have even told me, for various reasons, not to bother having children! Gasp! Not like I believe the alarmists, but still.....these are some pretty ill people, just giving their input I suppose.

I also read online (accidentally!) that psoriasis doubles your risk of having a child with autism, and I do have psoriasis as part of this as well. For both diseases, they seem to think it's due to inflammation/inflammatory markers in the mother's body, that adversely affects the child during development. So with how crappy I feel, it just worries me. Reading about the psoriasis didn't help. I am pregnant with a boy.

I am trying to do everything I can to reduce inflammation, but there is only so much you can do. I would like to talk to other moms, and maybe some here have suffered with any of those conditions. Hanging out with people with CFS does not ease my fears much, as they are hyper cautious because of how much awareness is needed.

Furthermore, I have sleep apnea, and I know it impacts my ability to get into deep stages of sleep. I have heard that not getting into the proper stages, further raises inflammation in the body. I try to wear my CPAP device, but I don't always (has been difficult, sometimes I doze off without remembering to wear it, etc). Then when I don't wear the device at night, it starts a cycle where I worry all day about the baby, because of how crummy I feel.

I am looking for anyone here with any of these 3 conditions, especially those with children. Perhaps moms with other health conditions too, like lupus, etc. I would like to hear some positive stories. Also any input would be nice from those with opinions.

Thanks!!!!! I know that some might say that it's out of my hands, so why worry, but I just need some positive stories. I worry about how much damage I could have done all those nights while pregnant that I haven't worn my CPAP for the apnea, etc. I guess that is the thing I can control the most, but it is not always controlled. Was anyone here really bad at controlling your apnea while pregnant?

Also---I seem to definitely have a food allergy to gluten, and possibly dairy (who knows, the mucus could be the cause of my apnea). So perhaps all this inflammation among women with CFS is really related to inflammation from foods too. So I'd be interested to hear from women with food allergies, and stories on that regarding your baby's health....I know food allergies and CFS can be related. Then there is the food allergy link to autism.

[ruthvought]

I am working with a dentist who specializes in sleep medicine. I think I can help you. I am a mother of four so I am empathetic to your concerns. Let me know if you want to talk further.

[pek64]

I think you should keep a food-symptom diary to see if certain foods make any of your symptoms worse, then try eliminating those foods to see if things improve. It's trial and error in the identification phase. Or you can try an elimination diet, where you eliminate a food, like soy, and see if there's improvement.

Let's see if I can name the top food allergens. Corn, dairy, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, and others I can't think of right now. I react to dairy, soy, corn, shellfish, liver and mustard, so it's possible to have trouble with a food that most people can tolerate.

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by pek64 



Let's see if I can name the top food allergens. Corn, dairy, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, and others I can't think of right now. I react to dairy, soy, corn, shellfish, liver and mustard, so it's possible to have trouble with a food that most people can tolerate.

Wheat, eggs.

[pek64]

I knew I forgetting something!

[sbgrace]

I use a dental device to treat my apnea. I worked with a sleep medicine dentist. I actually have something I can wear all the time and it helps with the other issues. If you live anywhere within a drive of Indiana I have an excellent sleep medicine dentist that I would strongly recommend given your other issues. You can pm me for the website.

My chronic fatigue was actually, though I didn't know it at the time, a metabolic condition affecting mitochondrial function. My son was diagnosed with it first. He is on the spectrum BUT his fraternal twin is not. Clearly, they had the same pregnancy and mommy but inherited different genes (the metabolic ones...). For us, that is the connection between autism and my (at the time thought to be) chronic fatigue. I was terrified of autism; there are worse things. My son is happy and doing well.

Do you have lowish muscle tone? It might be worth doing some metabolic tests. I can give information for that via pm if you're interested.

[Ethelpea]

Oh man, real quick here, but I was dx with cfs immediately prior (like days) before my third pregnancy.  I don't know, I've been exhausted for as long as I remember.  Not just the normal "you have 5 soon to be 6 little kids" exhaustion, but the "oh dear, only by the Grace of God am I able to drag myself out of bed today" exhaustion. 

All my children are "fine"  no autism anyway, however we do have food intolerances (who on MDC, doesn't, right).

I find if I take huge amounts of vitamin c, vitamin d, niacin, b12, stay clear of wheat and dairy, take probiotics and stay well-lubed internally (olive oil, coconut oil, cod liver oil, flax oil) and generally eat huge amounts of protein and fat, I'm fine.    I still get very little sleep but doing the aforementioned allows me to function, quite well.