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Poll- How Tall Are You?

Cinnamongirl

By Cinnamongirl
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

This is one of my sore subjects, as it might be for others.

I'm 5'3". My mom is 5'1" and my dad 6'4" and I have two brothers over 6'.

My hubby is 6'1".

When my DS was 5'3" and 15, three docs told us that he was "destined" to be short because I was. I was trying to get a celiac diagnosis for him and they said no, no celiac. Just dairy-intolerant. Now, this was a 15yo boy with a "zero" level of testosterone (not normal) and a bone-age of 12.5 (again, not normal). When I pointed out that I was probably short because of undiagnosed celiac and that DH's dad was 6'1" they ignored me. He was also sick all the time and was always missing school.

DS went gluten-free at 15 and is almost 18 and now 6'2" and still growing so he's taller than his dad. I have a hard time not being obnoxious with the docs (mainly his pediatrician) to say "told you so!" I can never prove that going gluten-free caused him to grow but I am very happy that we caught him when he still had time to grow.

I still don't know which side I got celiac from, as neither has had genes tested. My dad thinks he has it but my mom has had such stomach issues that I think she might have it too, although both have tested negative. One brother (6') tested negative but went gluten-free and is a convert. Another brother (5'5") is a doctor but he won't get tested because he doesn't have any "textbook" symptoms.

I am so glad you were able to get your son gluten free early enough for it to do some good. I hope you gave those doctors a good 'I told you so!!'. I couldn't get the doctors to put two and two together either even though my son went from the 65th percentile to the -10. They instead accused me of not feeding him. I even told his ped that all he would eat was pasta and was told to just give it to him every meal. If I had only known. I do so wish I had been diagnosed soon enough for it to have made a difference for him but he was done growing before any doctors would even test.

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Rachel W Apprentice
Rachel W
Posted

I'm 6'...my mom is 5'7"..my dad is 6'8" and my brother 7'2" :)

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Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

I'm 6'...my mom is 5'7"..my dad is 6'8" and my brother 7'2" :)

WOW, 7'2"...I wonder what it looks like up there. B)

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Rachel W Apprentice
Rachel W
Posted

he likes to tell me and my mom that "time to get highlights again, your roots r showing:

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Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

he likes to tell me and my mom that "time to get highlights again, your roots r showing:

:P

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cyberprof Enthusiast
cyberprof
Posted

I am so glad you were able to get your son gluten free early enough for it to do some good. I hope you gave those doctors a good 'I told you so!!'. I couldn't get the doctors to put two and two together either even though my son went from the 65th percentile to the -10. They instead accused me of not feeding him. I even told his ped that all he would eat was pasta and was told to just give it to him every meal. If I had only known. I do so wish I had been diagnosed soon enough for it to have made a difference for him but he was done growing before any doctors would even test.

Ravenwoodglass, that is heart-breaking.

In that way, I consider my diagnosis (after 30+ years) a huge blessing because it led to his "diagnosis." I've told this story before but to have a kid go from 75th percentile to 3rd percentile and be ignored and then to have my son say - after diagnosis - that he didn't know that "eating wasn't supposed to hurt." He had 15 years of pain and trauma...

DS wants to be a doctor and I keep saying "You'd make a good celiac doctor or researcher!"

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T.H. Community Regular
T.H.
Posted

I'm 5'8", and I've probably had celiac disease since I was a young teen.

My daughter is 5'3" and she's twelve and had undiagnosed celiac disease for at least the past 5 years.

My father, also positive, is 6' 2"

My brother, also positive, is 6'4"

My son, the only celiac negative test among us (although he does react to gluten), is 8 years old and the only one who is very small - he's in the 3% height range for his age. When he was born, he was 75% for height and has slowly dropped for years.

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Ravenwoodglass, that is heart-breaking.

In that way, I consider my diagnosis (after 30+ years) a huge blessing because it led to his "diagnosis." I've told this story before but to have a kid go from 75th percentile to 3rd percentile and be ignored and then to have my son say - after diagnosis - that he didn't know that "eating wasn't supposed to hurt." He had 15 years of pain and trauma...

DS wants to be a doctor and I keep saying "You'd make a good celiac doctor or researcher!"

Encourage him to study hard and if they have programs in your area that allow high schoolers to go into a local hospital to study that can help give him a good idea of what field he wants to go into. My DD did one here that allowed her to get some college courses out the way in high school She started out in college in the Neuroscience program because of the effects on our family from celiac but then after she got her 4 year degree she switched to nursing. She makes great money in a very good field that is also very secure. I wish him luck.

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    • trents
      Recently Diagnosed Celiac- Need advice

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