[mardigan]

I posted this in another section but thought I should ask here as well:
My 2 year old son has been gluten free since last week. He has not yet been tested. He frequently has six bowel movements a day containing undigested food and has had a slowed growth rate since he was four months old. If gluten is responsible, how long should it take before I see a change in his bowel habits(I haven't seen any difference yet)? He has also been off of dairy and soy since last week. Thanks so much for you replies!
Lisa

[April in KC]

Hi there. I was diagnosed as an adult. I had been losing weight at a rate of about 5-10 lbs. per month for three or four months at the time I was diagnosed. After going gluten-free, I still had "D" and lost another 5 lbs. over the next two months. The weight loss definitely slowed, but did not stop until 6-8 weeks later. Then I started slowly putting on weight again.

When my 3-year-old middle son went gluten free, he had a similar experience. His change was gradual over a month or two. He was having 3-4 soft stools before going gluten-free - a couple of months later it was 1-2, now a year later it is 1.

Some people have different experiences. I'd say 2 months should be enough to see a change. Before that, there should be fewer acute tummy aches.

Sensitivity to gluten seems to increase a couple weeks into the diet. So crumbs and things may start to be an issue after a couple of weeks - that's when I really noticed getting "glutened" by little exposures. Any time you get glutened, you have the same old symptoms. So if you're seeing an overall improvement, but occasional regressions, I would stick with it and really examine things like toasters, cooking pans, shared utensils, etc.

[April in KC]

Also - are you planning to do the blood tests for Celiac? If so, you should do them while ON gluten. The values start to fall as soon as gluten is removed.

[mardigan]

April in KC, on Aug 28 2008, 10:03 PM, said:

Also - are you planning to do the blood tests for Celiac? If so, you should do them while ON gluten. The values start to fall as soon as gluten is removed.

I am planning to have testing done through Enterolab. I am hoping the materials come soon because it takes about three weeks to get results.
I didn't even consider the toaster oven(or dried crud in the corners of the booster seat-ugh!!) I'm just trying to keep his hands of of his older brother's plate!

[JennyC]

It may take a little while until he is completely gluten free, despite your best efforts. If he does have celiac disease it only takes a crumb to start the celiac immune reaction, and he won't stop having symptoms as long as that's taking place. Cross contamination is a hard issue to takle, and it's something that doctors don't tell you about. You should be a search here about cross contamination and spend some time reading. You also should check his and other family members' body products. If you're wearing a gluten product and he puts his mouth on you, he can get sick. You may also want to check his toothpaste. Oral-B/Zooth don't consider their products gluten free. There's so much to learn when you're starting this lifestyle. Don't feel bad if you make mistakes. We all make them, especially in the beginning.

[B'sgirl]

My son will be 2 in November and has been gluten-free for about 6 months. His diaper rash went away after a few days, his bowel movements lessened after about two weeks, and they started looking normal about a month later.

[aprilh]

Just a little something to add to what's already been said....

You might look into helping his body heal the damage done. For my son I used L-Glutamine everyday to help heal leaky gut and heal the intestinal lining. I also introduced good bacteria - probiotics. Those two things should be done in the very least.

That worked well for my son. I find that I tend to now focus on digestion. I do give him digestive enzymes every now and then. I also like to give him fresh fruits away from meals for better digestion and not too many carbs. However...that's hard with young ones!

[conviviality]

Please don't get too discouraged by this, but it could take 6 months to a year for the diarrhea to stop or even longer if there is somehow gluten exposure you are unaware of. I was very careful about my son's diet and could not understand why he wasn't improving faster once going completely gluten-free. However, he continued to have loose stools and still does sometimes.

One factor that clearly contributed to his slow recovery was that I was giving him Rice Dream rice milk. They say it is gluten-free but its not. They use barley in the processing. They will admit that on the phone but say that they are well within the 20ppm and have every right to claim they are certified gluten-free. So why don't they list barley in the ingredients so people can make a choice? They are unethical in my opinion. I certainly cannot be the first person to call them and complain about this. A large company like that is looking for profits and does not care about the health of your child, so I suggest making your own rice milk, or whatever you feed your child. Make it from scratch and make your entire home gluten-free. Then at least you will have a better idea of where he might be getting exposed.

Best of luck to you and your family!

[nmlove]

My son's been gluten-free for a month now and I noticed differences in the first week, more the second. I'm curious to see how my 2 year old changes once gluten-free (he just tested positive too). Just wanted to say I didn't know about Rice Dream (by all appearances, it looks gluten-free). I typically use Trader Joe's brand, plain but I have to get there to stock up. So meanwhile, we've been using RD and I've noticed no reactions with him. He's been drinking it about a week.

[AKcollegestudent]

nmlove, on Nov 16 2009, 01:25 PM, said:

My son's been gluten-free for a month now and I noticed differences in the first week, more the second. I'm curious to see how my 2 year old changes once gluten-free (he just tested positive too). Just wanted to say I didn't know about Rice Dream (by all appearances, it looks gluten-free). I typically use Trader Joe's brand, plain but I have to get there to stock up. So meanwhile, we've been using RD and I've noticed no reactions with him. He's been drinking it about a week.

I'd been using Rice Dream since long before I went gluten-free and didn't think to call the company for probably a month after I went gluten free. (It said it was gluten free on the box, and I never thought to question it.) But I went from no associated symptoms with the RD until probably that third week of being gluten free.

[nmlove]

AKcollegestudent, on Nov 18 2009, 02:11 PM, said:

I'd been using Rice Dream since long before I went gluten-free and didn't think to call the company for probably a month after I went gluten free. (It said it was gluten free on the box, and I never thought to question it.) But I went from no associated symptoms with the RD until probably that third week of being gluten free.

Hey thanks, I'm heading to Trader Joe's tomorrow to stock up. I like theirs better anyway! My boys are just flying through the stuff!