Can Celiac Make A Kid Sick Enough That He Stops Going To School?

[cwnhokie]

I'm just grasping for answers while we try to figure out what is going on with my 12 year old son.  He has been getting progressively sicker over the last 6 months to a year.  He complains of nausea, vomiting, headache, diarrhea, chills, hot flashes, fatigue and he just got over a kidney stone.  His episodes have been more and more frequent.  6 months ago it was for a few days every few weeks, then for a few days every week, now he feels good maybe a day or two a week.  He is now on home bound instruction for school.  Could it be Celiac that is making him feel this lousy?  Thanks!

[notme]

is he under a doctor's care?  

 

yes, celiac *can* make a person that sick.   if you suspect he may have it, you should get him tested BEFORE removing gluten from his diet, because it will make the testing inaccurate.  good luck :/  sorry that your son is feeling so ill

[Ginkgo100]

I'm just grasping for answers while we try to figure out what is going on with my 12 year old son.  He has been getting progressively sicker over the last 6 months to a year.  He complains of nausea, vomiting, headache, diarrhea, chills, hot flashes, fatigue and he just got over a kidney stone.  His episodes have been more and more frequent.  6 months ago it was for a few days every few weeks, then for a few days every week, now he feels good maybe a day or two a week.  He is now on home bound instruction for school.  Could it be Celiac that is making him feel this lousy?  Thanks!

 

It definitely could be celiac disease. Kids with this disease died on a pretty routine basis (I seem to remember reading that 1/3 of all celiac kids died in any given year) before the role of gluten, and the importance of the gluten-free diet, was discovered. Most of the deaths were slow and painful due to malnutrition (malabsorption from damaged intestines). My own son was hospitalized for symptoms when he was barely a year old, which is how he was initially diagnosed.

 

I second the other person who said to NOT go gluten-free until after all testing is completed. Testing and formal dx are important for this disease because it affects your life so profoundly, and if a person stops eating gluten before testing, they could get a false negative. (It was the hardest thing in the world for me, when my son was 12 months old and in the hospital, after his antibody test was positive and we knew it was probably celiac, but he hadn't had the biopsy yet... because I had to make sure the poor kid ate at least some of the bread that came with his meals. Knowing it was probably making him sicker, but also knowing it would prevent a false negative test. Now I'm glad I did it. That positive biopsy result means I never have to second-guess myself when he cries over not getting a treat that has gluten, or when I'm explaining the gluten-free diet to a teacher.)

[nvsmom]

Celiac symptoms can be quite severe in some - there are many adults around here who missed work because of it.  Getting him tested sounds like a good idea.

 

Best wishes.