Did Your Child Have A Bloated Belly?

[norahsmommy]

What did it look like? My 2.5 year old has a big belly but you can see his ribs. He's small for his age too. He frequently points to his tummy and says 'hurts', but I can't find anything wrong.

http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a554/brightersideoflife1/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpscc1ef96f.webp

Does this look like a normal toddler belly to you? He is 24 lbs.

[greenbeanie]

My daughter's belly looked like that at that age (still before her diagnosis) - sometimes a bit bigger, sometimes a bit smaller. It varied a lot from day to day. Now that she's been gluten free for just over a year, it still swells up a bit when she has too much dairy, but not nearly as much as it swelled up before.

[norahsmommy]

I'm just tying to see if it's normal toddler belly or not. I may just be paranoid

[GF Lover]

He looks more toward normal to me.  His weight distribution looks pretty even (arms and legs not skinny).

 

If I remember correctly you are in the process of testing for DH?  What are other symptoms aside from the rash he is suffering with?

 

I think we could help more with some additional information if you feel comfortable sharing it.  Getting to the bottom of these issues is hard work, takes time and is nerve wracking.

 

Hang in there Nora, hopefully we can help.

 

Colleen

[norahsmommy]

My 4 year old daughter is getting the testing for the rash. Unfortunately the appointment isnt until December 3rd. Apparently the dermatologist is very good/popular so the wait is long. I'm trying to document ever stage with pictures and a food journal.

She has had the rash most of her life and as a baby was gluten free ( no rash) because of severe tummy issues. The tummy issues seemed to go away at bout 2 when we tried her on gluten again. Lately though( the last6 months or so) she's been alternating between very loose stool and fairly back constipation. Her stool has mucous on it frequently.

This is a pic of my 2 year old son. He is starting to fall off his weight and height curve. He usual has a very taught and bloated looking belly even though he is pretty thin. His legs are actually fairly thin. He has a big 'thigh gap' and no typical fat creases I see on other kids his age. His arms do have some fat though, so that's good.

He's always complaining about his tummy hurting and I can't find anything wrong like a bump or bruise. He has Diareah frequently.

Our 10 year old dd has fallen from the 25th percentile in weight to the 4th and from the 18th in height to the 8th in the last 2 years and randomly throws up a few times a month. She also alternates between very loose and hard stools and has told me her stool has blood on it sometimes.

I have another daughter that is 6 but she seems normal and healthy. I'm just getting concerned about my kids. I'm trying to figure out what's going on.

[GF Lover]

Do you have Celiac?  Any family?

[norahsmommy]

No one has been diagnosed. I suspect my dad has it. He's always had intestinal issues. He can't poop but every 3 days or so and that is while taking 8 tablespoons of Metamucil in water a day. Before that he only went every 7-10 days. He's always had a large bloated stomach, and always had constant gas. He also has very painful 'gallbladder' attacks randomly despite the very strict low fat, whole grain diet he keeps. His doc can't find a thing wrong with his gallbladder. His doc days he has IBS.

I also started having a lot of extremely painful attacks that feel like every description of a gallbladder attack I've ever read. They also match my dad's symptoms. I would get bad horrible smelling loose stool and then constipation with mucous on stool then an attack. Then my belly would be very swollen for days and I'd be vomiting off and on with smelly somewhat loose stool with mucous. I had 11 of those attacks during the month that I ate strict gallbladder diet. So I eliminated things I felt made it worse. I eliminated all grains. I felt so much better after a while! I did reintroduce rice and corn after a while. I've found I can't eat too much corn without tummy issues but I can eat rice just fine. I only have attacks when I eat gluten items.

I'm the biggest bread/ gluten lover you will find and sometimes I cheat and it doesn't seem to affect me, so I cheat more and WHAM! I've experienced enough pain now that I have lost my interest in most foods I used to think I couldn't live without.

So perhaps our issues are not really gallbladder?

[GF Lover]

I would want to rule it out.  Keep in mind that a gall bladder diet will not help if the gall bladder is too far damaged.  Maybe start a gluten challenge for yourself.  It would help yoru kids get a diagnosis if they have it.  Keep in mind that a gall bladder diet will not help if the gall bladder is too far damaged.

 

You have to start somewhere, consider a gene test?  

 

Colleen

[norahsmommy]

I haven't had a single attack in 8 months by avoiding gluten. I was having constant attacks while following the gallbladder diet. I would think that if I truly had a ba gallbladder that I would be having a lot of attacks still? I eat very high fat now because in addition to being gluten free I also eat primal.( since about 6 months ago) So no processed foods, legumes, artificial sweeteners, colors, no sugar, etc. I do still eat some corn and rice but it's very rare.

I have slipped up and eaten gluten by mistake and I might have an attack later that day or it might take a day or two to get me, but it always does. It's been a long time since my last slip.

The attacks are so painful, I'm literally rocking on the floor in pain. I vomit, and practically beg for it to end. So I'm not terribly excited about a gluten challenge. I've got my past food journals and I documented how I was feeling in them too. So if I ever get brave enough to discuss my health issues with a doc, I will bring them.

I tend to not talk to my doc very much. I always say I'm fine at physicals. I'm not very good in social situations. As far as I was concerned it's not an issue because I seem to have fixed it.

Talking to my kids docs about there issues is really hard but I do it for them. I feel if I bring myself into it I will get labeled as 'crazy mom'.

My 10 year olds doc is very concerned about her sudden fall off her curve. He's told me to feed her lots and lots of fats, to keep high fat foods out all the time for her to eat ( nuts, cheese, avaxado, etc) and encourage larger portions. He wants her to gain at least 2 lbs in the next 2-4 months and if she hasn't to bring her back. I really doubt she will gain that. It takes her a very long time to gain. So at her next appointment I will ask him to do a celiac panel.

[africanqueen99]

That looks like a normal toddler belly to me. 

 

My youngest had the celiac belly starting at 12 months - huge belly and twig limbs.  Her face was also really gaunt (she looked like she was starving, despite the huge belly).  Once she started gluten-free her belly went down, her extremities formed and her face filled out.  Night and day.

[1desperateladysaved]

There is nothing like celiac and children to make a mild person turn into a Tiger fighting for what is healthy and right! I have been coming to grips with needing to protect myself and my family, and also doing a lot of studying on my own.  I like the way you are searching and think that it will help your family.

 

I actually have now told myself that it doesn't matter too much to me if the doctor does not believe me or even thinks I am crazy.  I have had to tell them a lot of things that would sound crazy to me if I were not ME and felt them.  Find someone to believe you and don't define yourself by the doctor's view of you.

 

Once 18 years back a shaking mother (me) went to a well exam for a two year old daughter.  The doctor found a pinkness in the ear that signaled ear infection and automatic anti-biotics.  This mother had just read a book which indicated the body can heal from ear infection on its own.  She bought the medicine,  went home and left it there two weeks.  She had told the doctor this was her plan unless the sickness seemed too much to bear.  It almost got that bad, but didn't.  After two weeks, they returned to the doctor.  The doctor asked immediately if the medicine had been given.  The nervous mother shook her head no.  The doctor checked and WOO-La the infection was gone!  One doesn't have to be confident to get the job done.  Also one doesn't have to rock the world to make a difference in health care.  Touching one patient, one doctor at one time, can get the job done.  I heard recently that they no longer offer antibiotics for every ear infection as they did back then.  Who is to say that this one mother helped to make a difference.  So, go ahead and do what you have to do to take care of your family.

 

I sometimes wish I would have looked into why my children were small and light for their ages.  I recall a couple of them not putting on weight between 6 months and a year.  I had grown up light and thin.  We just figured it was a family trait.  Especially with classis symptoms like unexplained diarrhea, I would look for celiac as early as possible.

 

Dee

[norahsmommy]

Thanks so much. I just have this feeling that something isn't right. I am not one to take my kids to the doc for any little thing. They go for well visits and and if there is something I can't fix they go in. Out of 5 kids we've had maybe 4 sick visits all together so far ( plus all the visits for one broken arm).

I sometimes feel like a crazy person but sometimes feel tha I'm on the right track. Like today. My husband works for a university and they have a group there that makes artisan bread and sells it. They gave him all the bread they were going to throw out. It was perfect good, just 2 days old. My kids are that bread with breakfast lunch and dinner and 3 out of 5 felt ill after eating it. It wasn't spoiled or even stale. It was just bread. They don't usually eat that much bread because they don't like it. This was very tasty and they gobbled it up.

2 of my kids had Diareah and they went to bed early. I just don't think that is normal.