"toddler Diarrhea"- Diagnosis?

[omgmegg]

I took my son to a GI doctor who after seeing that he's on target with everything (height and weight) "diagnosed" him with Toddler Diarrhea.

 

He gave us a list of foods he should avoid, mostly saying to stay away from sugar and hidden sugars and to make sure he take Benefiber once a day. He hasn't had any traditional celiac or gluten sensitivity issues other than not having solid stools with undigested food.  And after changing his diet and adding the fiber, his poops have solidified and he poops 1-2 times a day (instead of his usual 4-6 times.

 

Thing is, he wasn't eating that much "hidden" sugars to begin with and I'm wondering if the fiber supplement is masking a gluten sensitivity- or if it's really what he needs.

 

Confused.

 

ETA: He had a traditional celiac panel done on him and came up negative (I think he scored a '2' )

[snowmom]

I had a similar issue with my non-celiac younger child. Around the time his sister was dx-ed celiac last fall, he was experiencing chronic diarrhea. His height and weight and behavior were right on track, though.

 

The pediatrician was a little skeptical that he had anything more than "toddler diarrhea" (whatever that is!), and she said that the testing might not be that accurate since he wasn't 2 yet. Still, she humored us, and we ran two rounds of tests that revealed IgA deficiency but no celiac antibodies.

 

I was all set to push for more comprehensive testing in January, but then the diarrhea pretty much resolved on its own very suddenly, with no dietary changes (he has never consumed a lot of refined sugar or juice, so there wasn't much to eliminate from his diet). I think in total he had diarrhea almost daily for about 6 to 8 weeks, and the pedi was never able to give us a satisfactory explanation for what was going on. At this point, he doesn't have any celiac symptoms other than some weird stuff going on with his teeth that I've posted about elsewhere on this board.

 

I'm not sure if this throws any light on your situation, except to say that we went through something similar, and are now pretty satisfied that he's currently healthy. We're gluten-free at home, but he eats a conventional diet at daycare. We do plan to re-test him periodically because of the IgA deficiency and the prevalence of celiac and other autoimmunes in our family.

[mommida]

The doctor needs to put down a "diagnoses" so insurance will cover the visit. IBS and toddler diarrhea might be code words for "pay me".

[dilettantesteph]

From what I understand, celiac testing is not very accurate with young children.  The test was negative so the doctor looked for other causes.  The changes you made seem to have resolved the problem.  That is really all you can do for now.  If problems return, you can take him back to the doctor and he may decide to run another celiac panel.  Do you have reason to believe that he has celiac disease?  Do other family members have it? 

[omgmegg]

I had a similar issue with my non-celiac younger child. Around the time his sister was dx-ed celiac last fall, he was experiencing chronic diarrhea. His height and weight and behavior were right on track, though.

 

The pediatrician was a little skeptical that he had anything more than "toddler diarrhea" (whatever that is!), and she said that the testing might not be that accurate since he wasn't 2 yet. Still, she humored us, and we ran two rounds of tests that revealed IgA deficiency but no celiac antibodies.

 

I was all set to push for more comprehensive testing in January, but then the diarrhea pretty much resolved on its own very suddenly, with no dietary changes (he has never consumed a lot of refined sugar or juice, so there wasn't much to eliminate from his diet). I think in total he had diarrhea almost daily for about 6 to 8 weeks, and the pedi was never able to give us a satisfactory explanation for what was going on. At this point, he doesn't have any celiac symptoms other than some weird stuff going on with his teeth that I've posted about elsewhere on this board.

 

I'm not sure if this throws any light on your situation, except to say that we went through something similar, and are now pretty satisfied that he's currently healthy. We're gluten-free at home, but he eats a conventional diet at daycare. We do plan to re-test him periodically because of the IgA deficiency and the prevalence of celiac and other autoimmunes in our family.

I think i would be all fine if it were for the fact that he'll be 3 in July and without benefiber, he hasn't had a solid stool.

 

I had a friend who's son had diarrhea really bad for a few months and then it stopped. Her brother-in-law who is a doctor said it isn't uncommon for a virus or bacteria (can't remember which) to hold on for a while and cause diarrhea. Thing is, his isn't just a few months, it's been all his life which is fine when you're a baby but as a toddler coming up on 3 years I feel like there should be some solid stools, sometimes. But he's never had one.

 

Thanks for sharing

[omgmegg]

From what I understand, celiac testing is not very accurate with young children.  The test was negative so the doctor looked for other causes.  The changes you made seem to have resolved the problem.  That is really all you can do for now.  If problems return, you can take him back to the doctor and he may decide to run another celiac panel.  Do you have reason to believe that he has celiac disease?  Do other family members have it? 

 

I guess what I'm wondering is lets say if a kid has gluten sensitivity or celiac and they take benefiber and their only indicator that they may have a problem is diarrhea that is now solved by the benefiber, isn't their issue just being masked? OR if the benifiber has taken care of his loose stool, is it really that he's just having fiber issues?

[dilettantesteph]

I guess what I'm wondering is lets say if a kid has gluten sensitivity or celiac and they take benefiber and their only indicator that they may have a problem is diarrhea that is now solved by the benefiber, isn't their issue just being masked? OR if the benifiber has taken care of his loose stool, is it really that he's just having fiber issues?

 

Good question.  Do you have any reason to suspect celiac disease despite the negative tests?  Does it run in the family?  Is there any correlation between symptoms and gluten ingestion?