Lfrost

So my son has many other allergies besides wheat, peanuts being one of them. Prior to going gluten-free he never showed rashes or anything, he was just stuffy and always constipated. We still struggle with the constipation. Now that he is eating again, we have decided to trial peanuts again. While keeping a food diary, something caused him to break out in a rash. I assumed it was his peanut butter sandwich, but he also ate grapes and other things that day. His peanut allergy is pretty low, so his doctor had said maybe we should trial peanut butter again and see if that was it.

Yesterday we gave him a peanut butter sandwich on gluten free bread. No rash! However, last night he had a night terror and he hasn't had one in quite some time. Does anyone know if this could have been triggered by the peanut butter? Should we trial it again today and see if it happens again? The night terror did not last long, about 10 minutes, but I hate that nothing comforts him when he has them. He thrashes around crying and swings and kicks at anyone trying to help him.

Ok, so my doctor is still an idiot, but at least we got a referral! Thank goodness I insisted on my husband getting off work early and coming with us to my son's appointment.

So we got in there and talked about my son's improvement since cutting his allergies out, but our concern is with the constipation still recurring. My doctor thinks the improvement on the diet and the constipation is all behavioral?! I showed him pictures of my son's outbreaks in rashes after eating certain foods, and the doctor said 'that would be suggestive of allergies', but in the next breath went back to it all being behavioral and Colton will grow out of it, blah, blah, blah...


Everything I showed or argued was put on a deaf ear. Then my husband speaks up and says he thinks it is something more, something GI related. The doctor asks if we would like a referral for a pediatric GI at OHSU. Um, hello! I am standing right here and have been asking for a referral for months!!! In the next breath the doctor did have to add that he doubts a GI will find anything wrong, but if it will put our minds to rest then fine.

Anyhow, at least we have a referral now. Unfortunately, our doctor's office takes care of the referral process, so I can't switch doctors at least until we have the GI office call and get us in! As soon as we hear from them, bye bye doctor!

I had heard that home test kits for Celiac Disease were available in Canadian pharmacies. My mother is up in Canada and went to 3 different pharmacies, but each said they have never heard of them. One even told her they were only available in US pharmacies. Was I mistaken?

So a few days ago my son seems to have lost his appetite. He has been gluten free for almost 4 weeks now, but I am having to basically force him to eat. Before going gluten free he ate like a bird, but at least he always ate a waffle for breakfast and a pb&j for lunch, then he would pick at his dinner.

Now he's not eating much of anything. I am at the point where I will let him eat ANYTHING (that doesn't contain his allergies) if he would just eat! He was on a huge banana kick a couple of weeks ago (eating up to 3 a day) but he won't eat them now. He loves watermelon, but won't eat it. Today he told me he was hungry and I asked what he would like, I made it for him and then he changed his mind--said he wasn't hungry. At most he is eating two or three bites of his meals and that is only after we tell him he has to eat it in order to get up. He will eat a fruit snack here and there or some popcorn, but I am getting worried since it has been going on for a few days now.

My parents say not to worry, he will eat when he gets hungry, but I am concerned.

Interestingly, I joined this forum because of my son's GI issues. He was tested for celiac through blood tests, but they were negative. However, he is allergic to wheat and other foods. I have changed our kitchen to a 'mostly gluten-free' place. Therefore most snack foods, convenience foods, etc. are gluten free. Also, dinners have been gluten free. So, in a round about way I have been eating gluten free along with my son.

My doctor also tested me for celiac because I am extremely underweight, have ADD, have been very tired, etc. (Also my mother has ulcerative colitis, hypothyroidism, arthritis, etc).. However, I didn't expect anything to come back positive because I don't really have any GI issues (besides having my appendix removed less than a year ago) and I was right. My blood test was also negative.

Well my dad is visiting from out of town and he and my husband were commenting on not having any 'normal bread' in the house, so last night for dinner I made gluten free lasagna, corn on the cob, and added some 'normal' garlic bread for the men. I also ate the garlic bread after basically eating gluten free for a couple of weeks now. (I say basically because I honestly haven't been paying attention to what I eat, but can't remember the last time that I did eat anything containing gluten).

Anyhow, last night I started getting an itchy bump on my finger. I thought I must have been bitten by a mosquito. Then this morning, I now have blisters on both of my hands (on the fingers). It is Dyshidrotic Eczema. I haven't had this for years (since my last pregnancy) and I used to get it bad and chronically! My hands hurt and itch so bad today. I also developed a cold sore on my bottom lip over night. And to add insult to injury, I also just got a sore in the corner of my mouth.

Now, I know that cold sores or 'fever blisters' can be caused by the sun and there is some correlation to dyshidrotic eczema and the sun, too. I did watch the 4th of July parade for our little town (about an hour) on the 4th, and it was sunnier than usual, around 76 degrees (hey, this is Oregon). But I haven't been outside since and that was 2 days ago. I also didn't even get enough sun to turn pink. Neither have I been stressed out (I am a school teacher and am on vacation).

So, what do you all think? It is so strange to get these all at once, all overnight, and all the day after eating some stupid bread. Am I getting caught up in the hype and it is just coincidental? Could it all have been caused instead by a sunny day in Oregon?