Could My 4 Year Old Have Celiac Disease?

[mama2kade]

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.  

[kareng]

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]

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]

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]

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.