Reintroduction Of Gluten, Symptoms Have Changed?

[nurseross]

I have no idea if my daughter is having a gluten issue, but I'm desperate to help her, so I thought I'd try this board. She is 14 months old and had infrequent (every 2-3 days), very loose, foul smelling stools for 4 weeks, along with frequent, foul smelling gas. We eliminated dairy first, no improvement after 1-2 weeks. Then we eliminated gluten, and her gas was gone in 48 hours, and her stools returned to normal in 5 days. We added dairy back into her diet, and the stools were normal, every 1-2 days, formed while on the gluten-free diet. 

Pedi ran stool and blood tests, all negative, including a celiac panel, which now I've read is not unusual. Re-introduced gluten and 48 hours later she pooped in her overnight diaper for the first time in 9 months. In the last two days, she has pooped three times a day including in her overnight diaper, hard, pellet, constipated-like stools (slightly painful to pass). Bloating and fussiness are other symptoms that have come and gone with the gluten-free diet and then reintroduction of gluten. 

So she went from infrequent loose stools, cut out gluten, to normal daily, and then with gluten she is now having very frequent hard stools. Her diet has stayed nearly the same, although she has decreased her nursing from 2 times a day to once a day. 

Do we go back to gluten-free? Pedi told me to call her if the diarrhea returned, and instead we've gone the other way. I would have thought if it was in fact the gluten she was having trouble with, that it would cause the same reaction when we re-introduced it; I don't understand why the same thing wouldn't cause the same reaction...There is no history of celiac in our families, and the only reason I finally came across it was after googling over and over various descriptors of her stool. 

 

If any of this sounds familiar to anyone, please let me know. I don't know what next to ask of my pedi, and I'm hoping this board has some experts that can advise me! If it is relevant, my daughter was on antibiotics for a double ear infection a couple weeks before this started. Her stools were normal then; but turned abnormal about 10 days after stopping the amoxicillin. I have wanted to blame this on antibiotics, but we've been keeping a food diary for 4 weeks now, and it's hard to ignore the gluten possibility.

[wmramsel]

Hi!  My daughter has Celiac and was born with it active.  She is 4.5yo now.  Before diagnosis and going gluten free, her poops were always constipated hard, she had trouble passing gas as an infant.  After going gluten free, her poop is normal and regular.  When she gets glutened, and when we have had to do gluten trials, she bounces between diarrhea and constipation.  Both are normal reactions for a celiac.  Our families didn't have any history either....then after my daughter's diagnosis, an aunt and a cousin on the same side of the family were diagnosed.  Prayers- this initial period of trying to figure things out is so hard!