cyberprof

June27.....I am sitting here reading the Autumn 2012 edition of the Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, which is published quarterly by Celiac.com and there is an article on the association between Sjogren's and Celiac. What jumped off the page at me?
This statement.....complications of Sjogren's include tooth decay and corneal ulcers. So.......it looks like another piece of the puzzle is coming to light for you. Maybe you should take a copy of the article to your doctor to further educate them. This should convince them that you need the blood work!

Wow, good catch Gemini!

Should I be concerned that Vitamin A would start him into puberty before a catch up spurt even if he's not 110 pounds?  Maybe a good question for his doctor?

glutenfreex4, The way I understand it is that puberty doesn't have to occur for the growth window to close, but yes ask your doc. You might also ask for a bone-age scan too.  It's a 5-second x-ray scan and tells bone-age in years.  If his age is higher than the bone age, he likely has time to grow.

Glutenfreex4,

I agree with gottaski - you should get levels tested for Vit A, Vit D, B Vit and Iron. Calcium too if possible. Even if he's not deficient, I don't think taking a Carlson's capsule would be harmful. You can look up reputable maximum supplementation levels of specific vitamins via sites like National Institute of Health (US) or Mayo Clinic.

If he's not dairy intolerant, a Boost drink daily is a good idea.

Regarding the recipes, the carrot cake, cornbread and enchiladas aren't really "mine" - I make the Gluten Free Goddess's version found here: http://glutenfreegod...arrot-cake.html And the cornbread is hers too but I make it without the green chilis: http://glutenfreegod...een-chiles.html
Chicken enchilada recepie: http://glutenfreegod...enchiladas.html (Sorry to call them "mine" but she has great recepies that have become family legends. And her dark chocolate brownies are to die for - even for gluten eaters.)

I make chili from an old Betty Crocker cookbook and I'll post that later.

What kind of curry does your family like? Spicy? Authentic? With cream or coconut milk? I have several curry recepies.

Also, I'd like to put in a plug for Stephanie O'Dea's "A year of slow cooking" blog - she cooks only gluten free and these are great family meals. http://crockpot365.b...ili-recipe.html

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Oh, a few more things:

I read a medical article/study that said that for boys, they don't go into puberty until they reach ~110 pounds. Another study proved that Vitamin A supplementation for boys was as effective as hormone supplementation to reach puberty.

So when he went gluten-free, we had him take Carlson's Cod Liver Oil capsules (lemon flavor and they don't taste like anything at all and no aftertaste) that have lots of Vit A and D and are easily absorbed by damaged intestines. We also had him take a sublingual Vitamin B and a gluten-free multi-vitamin.

We also tried to get him to eat more, which was hard because eating hurt at least until he healed a bit. So whatever he wanted to eat, I'd cook. It took him a while to get used to gluten-free replacements but he liked my home-cooking "tweaked" to be gluten-free, like chili and cornbread, chicken enchiladas, chicken curry over rice, pot roast and mashed potatoes.

Your son could try diary-free for a while and then add it back in to see if it helped being df or not. But it is hard and limits the diet more, so you could also wait and see.

We used Earth Balance for butter substitute and I use it in baking. I'm a butter snob but I even like it in cake frosting and can't tell the difference. He loves my carrot cake recipe.

Let me know if you need recepies or brown-bag lunch ideas.

Thank you for all of the information and advise. Much appreciated. Because my initial concern (since he really had no conclusive outward symptoms) was his slow growth, I am really hesitant to go back onto gluten UNTIL he has a chance to grow. He's at a really critical point in his social development and his size is causing him a great deal of distress. He is completely on board with trying whatever we can to get healthier and, hopefully, get taller. So, he really has been a breeze to convince that gluten free is the way to go. However, I totally agree that he may be less cooperative in his later teens At which time, provided he has shown some decent catch up growth, I would be willing to start him back up on gluten and challenge the test for that conclusive answer that he may need to continue. Hopefully he'll be mature enough to understand the damage he'd be doing and, perhaps, he would develop symptoms that would remind him why we're doing this in the first place...

That's where I'm at at this point anyways. Hopefully that sounds semi rational

This does sound rational, if he's on board with staying gluten-free and not cheating.

My son's story- short version.

I was diagnosed when he was 14. He was 100th percentile height and 100th percentile weight until he was 5, then fell to 5th percentile weight, 25th height at age 14. He only gained 4 pounds from age 12 to age 15 but the doc would say "Look he gained weight." And they would look at me (5'3") and say "Well he's just destined to be short." But hubby/dad is 6'1", my dad is 6'4" and son has four uncles and an aunt that are taller than 5'11".

At age 15 he was:
5'3" 96 pounds
Zero testosterone (not in puberty at all)
Bone age 12.3
Negative on celiac panel, diabetes, thyroid etc.

He was totally unhappy that he was short and slim. Dad/hubby vetoed endoscopy after negative blood test so son and I agreed that if his gene test was positive for celiac, he would go gluten-free. It was and he did and he went dairy free too. He didn't notice too much improvement right away but he did say that "I didn't realize that eating wasn't supposed to hurt."

Now at age 19 he is 6'3" and 165 pounds. He TOWERS over his pediatrician that told him he was destined to be short. He only grew about four inches the first year but he was in puberty six months after going gluten-free. Coincidence? We'll never know.

He went to high school and had two friends in his group (he was in a separate gifted program where they had all classes and activities together) who were celiac or gluten-intolerant and another who was also dairy free so it was a supportive environment. His friends were so helpful - they would pick restaurants for prom and homecoming dinners that were gluten-free (Maggiano's, PFChang's). He's now in college and they have gluten-free dining options in the dorms there and you don't need a doctor's note (big public university - University of Washington). He says he's never cheated.

Son will eat at places that would make me sick (for example, he'll eat tacos from Taco del Mar where they steam the corn tortillas in the same place as the wheat) but is pretty strict with himself and will send something back in a restaurant if it's prepared wrong. He knows how to read labels. He stocks his dorm with gluten-free canned chili, hot dogs, hardboiled eggs, pre-cooked rice, gluten-free soup.
He has a microwave and fridge and does just fine.

I've always told him that once he was grown he could do a gluten challenge but he says he's ok with what he knows now. He does get sick if he eats something that he shouldn't, so that is enough proof for him.

So, that's one kid's story. I hope your son grows and gets healthy.