Night Terrors, Sleep Disorders And Celiac

[jeremy'smom]

My four year old has suffered with night terrors since birth. The problem goes away according to the strictness of our gluten free diet. (thank god he was finally diagnosed 8 mos. ago) My problem is this, when i realize that he is having a reaction during the day (uncontrollable diarrhea), i know that we will all suffer thru the night, hours of screaming, moaning and sleep walking. i am wondering if anyone can give information about supplementing minerals, or ways to soothe the inflammation of the duodenum (since a typical reaction lasts about 48 hours)

Thanks!

[flagbabyds]

I am a 13 year old celiac who was diagonised when i was 20 months. I have had severe sleep walking problems in the last two months but we found a cure a couple weeks ago. The thing to do is to wake the child up 15 minutes before the time you expect the child to start sleepwalking. I don't know if this will work but it sure has for me

MOLLYDS

[SofiEmiMom]

Dear Jeremy's Mom:

I wish I had an answer for you...I would be interested in what other people say about this as well. My daughter who is almost 4 has the exact same problem, minus the sleep walking. She wakes up screaming several times a night when she has a gluten accident. I know it's coming too when during the day she cries at absolutely everything. I can certainly relate to how you are feeling. It's so difficult. Just wanted to let you know you aren't alone.

[kejohe]

Hi there, I posted in the sleep catagory not too long ago about my son's sleep issues. He's three now, and still has trouble sleeping through the night. He was diagnosed about two years ago, and since then it seems like his night time issues have lessened but he still wakes up 3 and 4 times a night with the occasional night terror as well. He used to have the terrors once every couple of nights, now it's about once or twice a month.

There was a mention of a digestive enzyme that may help a little. I believe it comes in a pill form, but I do not know if they have a childrens dose. You might research it a bit at your health food store to see what is available and then talk to your kids gastro doc or pediatrician. It's worth a try anyway.

I know what it's like to have your baby screaming and to be unable to wake them up and calm them is heart breaking. I hope that this helps a little, if only to let you know that you are not alone.

[snoopylian]

My three year old suffers night terrors when he eats gluten too. When going gluten-free it was a nice surprise to begin sleeping through the night. I'm sorry to hear that others have experienced this but it also nice to know that we aren't alone there.

In regards to your question, I AM NOT A DOCTOR - but I've done a lot of reasearch on probiotics, digestive enzymes, essential fatty acids, homeopathic remedies, acupressure etc since my son was born with severe eczema three and a half years ago. I've also picked the brains of many nutritionists, homeopathic practioners, and anyone who has any knowledge on the prior mentioned subjects. Anyway, I think probiotics daily would help. And I would give him a double dose when he accidentally consumed gluten. You can do some research on probiotics if you're interested. Basically, probiotics are good bacteria that most of us are lacking. They promote a healthy intestinal balance therefore aiding in strengthening your immune system. We use acidophilus pearls by Enzymatic Therapy - the best price I've found is at this website - Open Original Shared Link. Whole Foods sells a liquid probiotic, I can't remember the name, that is supposed to be really powerful & good but it is very expensive.

In regards to digestive enzymes I give my son THERA-ZYME DGST-P, which comes in powder form. I get it from an oriental medicine doctor who does acupressure, acupuncture, kinesiology, allergy desensitisation etc. I don't know if you can order the enzymes via telephone or website but their # is 972-473-9070, website- www.integratedcenterfororientalmedicine.com

Well I hope that has helped. Good luck.

[AlwaysLearning]

Whoa, seven years late seeing this thread!

If you're looking for a simple cause, I read that sleep walking/talking/night terrors can be triggered by acid reflux. So I suppose it could make sense that a person suffering from a digestive problem would be more likely to have these night-time problems.

You could try asking a child if they have any of the symptoms of acid reflux.

If you determine that they do, perhaps limiting foods that are known to cause acid reflux to earlier in the day could be enough to at least lessen the problem?

And I know many parents limit how much water their children drink in the evenings to lessen the chance of bed wetting, but for most adults drinking some water would be the first choice for diluting stomach acid.

Another way to combat acid reflux is to eat foods in the order of how quickly they leave the stomach. So vegetables first, carbs in the middle, and meats last. That is supposed to avoid having the salad start to rot on top as it waits for the steak to move out of the way, something we should all be paying attention to.

And though the medical community used to say that acid reflux was normal in children, now I'm seeing them recommending to mention the symptom to your child's doctor, and that it should go away after infancy.

I know when I was a kid, I thought acid reflux was normal, and I was a big-time sleep walker and talker. I do know that my adult relatives who suffer from night terrors attribute them to acid reflux and GERD.