Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Could My 4 Year Old Have Celiac Disease?

mama2kade

Recommended Posts

mama2kade Newbie
mama2kade
Posted

I am wondering if my 4 year old has celiac.  He was given a blood test when he was 2 and the doctor said from that test that he did not have celiac.  He has been eating gluten since.  Now he is starting to complain of stomach aches a lot.  His stomach gets very big and bloated and is sometimes very hard.  He can be very gassy.  He has eczema and recently I have noticed dark circles under his eyes.  He was failure to thrive when he was younger.  Now he is very skinny and very short for his age.  He is also very moody.  Sometimes his poop is a very pale color.  He also always has a stuffy nose.  

 

I am wondering what tests if any I should ask my doctor for since the blood test they did before suggested that he did not have celiac.  His grandmother is gluten intolerant (I don't know that she was ever tested for celiac), and his dad has a lot of stomach issues and follows a generally gluten free diet and has also never been testes for celiac.  

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

He could certainly be retested for Celiac.. One negative doesn't mean he won't develop it later. It's a bit like testing for strep throat a- he doesn't have it today but it doesn't mean he won't get it in the future.

Cara in Boston Enthusiast
Cara in Boston
Posted

Celiac can be triggered at any time so being negative at 2 does not mean he would still be negative at 4.  That is, IF he was actually negative at two.  Blood tests are not always accurate in young children and doctors don't always give the correct panel of tests.  He has all the classic symptoms and a family history (probably) of celiac.  Be sure to find a doctor who actually knows what he/she is doing.    A good way to go is to contact a celiac support group in your area and ask for recommendations.  

 

Our first doctor told us our son did not have celiac based on his inconclusive blood tests.  We took him to a celiac specialist and he was diagnosed by both blood test and biopsy at age 6.

 

Your husband should get tested too.

mmcc54 Contributor
mmcc54
Posted

id def make sure he is eating gluten and retest..even in celiacs numbers can vary with time. Emma at 12m had an igg of 16 (anything over 4 pos) and a neg biopsy went gluten-free did great. Dr wanted to challenge so went on gluten for 8 weeks her test just came back igg is over 150 waiting to have a biopsy done

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

I agree. Ask for these tests:

TTG IgA and tTG IgG (most common test)

DGP IgA and DGP IgG (these are superior tests for detecting celiac disease in young children)

EMA IgA (not as often positive in children as in adults)

Total serum IgA (a control test)

AGA IgA and AGA IgG (older and less reliable test)

Sometimes all blood tests are negative but the endoscopic biopsy catches it. It might be something to consider.

If the results are negative and you suspect celiac disease, you could always try the gluten-free diet anyways. Non celiac gluten intolerance (NCGI) is much more common than celiac disease and is not detectable with blood tests (except occasionally the AGA tests). My kids had negative tests but had symptoms and a family history of celiac disease- they are doing much better on the gluten-free diet now.

Best wishes.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,950
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    stichael
    Newest Member
    stichael
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Jacki Espo
      Covid caused reoccurrence of DH without eating gluten

      By Jacki Espo · Posted

      This happened to me as well. What’s weirder is that within a couple hours of taking paxlovid it subsided. I thought maybe I got glutened but after reading your post not so sure. 
    • Mari
      New Celiac Mama in My 30s

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Tiffany. Thank you for writing your dituation and  circumstancesin such detail and so well writte, too. I particularly noticed what you wrote about brain for and feeling like your brain is swelling and I know from my own experiences that's how it feel and your brain really does swell and you get migraines.    Way back when I was in my 20s I read a book by 2 MD allergist and they described their patient who came in complaining that her brain, inside her cranium, was swelling  and it happened when she smelled a certain chemical she used in her home. She kept coming back and insisting her brain actually swelled in her head. The Drs couldn't explain this problem so they, with her permission, performed an operation where they made a small opening through her cranium, exposed her to the chemical then watched as she brain did swell into the opening. The DRs were amazed but then were able to advise her to avoid chemicals that made her brain swell. I remember that because I occasionally had brain fog then but it was not a serious problem. I also realized that I was becoming more sensitive to chemicals I used in my work in medical laboratories. By my mid forties the brain fog and chemicals forced me to leave my  profession and move to a rural area with little pollution. I did not have migraines. I was told a little later that I had a more porous blood brain barrier than other people. Chemicals in the air would go up into my sinused and leak through the blood brain barrier into my brain. We have 2 arteries  in our neck that carry blood with the nutrients and oxygen into the brain. To remove the fluids and used blood from the brain there are only capillaries and no large veins to carry it away so all those fluids ooze out much more slowly than they came in and since the small capillaries can't take care of extra fluid it results in swelling in the face, especially around the eyes. My blood flow into my brain is different from most other people as I have an arterial ischema, adefectiveartery on one side.   I have to go forward about 20 or more years when I learned that I had glaucoma, an eye problem that causes blindness and more years until I learned I had celiac disease.  The eye Dr described my glaucoma as a very slow loss of vision that I wouldn't  notice until had noticeable loss of sight.  I could have my eye pressure checked regularly or it would be best to have the cataracts removed from both eyes. I kept putting off the surgery then just overnight lost most of the vision in my left eye. I thought at the I had been exposed to some chemical and found out a little later the person who livedbehind me was using some chemicals to build kayaks in a shed behind my house. I did not realize the signifance  of this until I started having appointments with a Dr. in a new building. New buildings give me brain fog, loss of balance and other problems I know about this time I experienced visual disturbances very similar to those experienced by people with migraines. I looked further online and read that people with glaucoma can suffer rapid loss of sight if they have silent migraines (no headache). The remedy for migraines is to identify and avoid the triggers. I already know most of my triggers - aromatic chemicals, some cleaning materials, gasoline and exhaust and mold toxins. I am very careful about using cleaning agents using mostly borax and baking powder. Anything that has any fragrance or smell I avoid. There is one brand of dishwashing detergent that I can use and several brands of  scouring powder. I hope you find some of this helpful and useful. I have not seen any evidence that Celiac Disease is involved with migraines or glaucoma. Please come back if you have questions or if what I wrote doesn't make senseto you. We sometimes haveto learn by experience and finding out why we have some problems. Take care.       The report did not mention migraines. 
    • Mari
      My only proof

      By Mari · Posted

      Hi Jmartes71 That is so much like my story! You probably know where Laytonville is and that's where I was living just before my 60th birthday when the new Dr. suggested I could have Celiacs. I didn't go on a gluten challange diet before having the Celiac panel blood test drawn. The results came back as equivical as one antibody level was very high but another, tissue transaminasewas normal. Itdid show I was  allergic to cows milk and I think hot peppers. I immediately went gluten free but did not go in for an endoscopy. I found an online lab online that would do the test to show if I had a main celiac gene (enterolab.com). The report came back that I had inherited a main celiac gene, DQ8, from one parent and a D!6 from the other parent. That combination is knows to sym[tons of celiac worse than just inheriting one main celiac gene. With my version of celiac disease I was mostly constipated but after going gluten-free I would have diarrhea the few times I was glutened either by cross contamination or eating some food containing gluten. I have stayed gluten-free for almost 20 years now and knew within a few days that it was right for me although my recovery has been slow.   When I go to see a  medical provide and tell them I have celiacs they don't believe me. The same when I tell them that I carry a main celiac gene, the DQ8. It is only when I tell them that I get diarrhea after eating gluten that they realize that I might have celiac disease. Then they will order th Vitamin B12 and D3 that I need to monitor as my B12 levels can go down very fast if I'm not taking enough of it. Medical providers haven't been much help in my recovery. They are not well trained in this problem. I really hope this helps ypu. Take care.      
    • knitty kitty
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Fascinating.
    • DebJ14
      Does anyone here also have Afib

      By DebJ14 · Posted

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.