3Yr old recently diagnosed and still having problems

[fishermom]

my 3 year old son was diagnosed at the end of January. He still occasional complains of stomach pain and of back pain. He has tells me he has no energy... he'll lay on the floor and say "mommy, I'm just out of gas". I'm concerned that either we've missed another medical issue or maybe we're not being careful enough about gluten or does the body take a long time to recover? He had 25 days of vomiting and diarrhea in January, ended up losing 10% of his body weight and was hospitalized for dehydration which resulted in his diagnosis of celiac disease. His pediatrician thinks that maybe he's constipated (he's having bowel movements once or twice a day but he's straining more with them) and has us trying musalax to see if that will fix the issue. Any thoughts?

[cyclinglady]

I am sorry that your little boy is doing so poorly!  My heart goes out to you.

Perhaps your doctor told you that by going gluten free your son would bounce right back.  Unfortunately, not all of us bounce back so quickly.  A lot depends on the severity of intestinal damage, other health issues and frankly, learning the gluten free diet.  It is a lot to take in at one time.  That's typically why it takes so long to heal as the learning curve for the diet is steep!  

The end of January....that is just about two months ago.  I know kids tend to heal faster, but two months is a short amount of time.  To speed healing, take some tips from our Newbie 101 thread under the "Coping" section of this forum.  Consider eating whole nourishing simple foods that you cook yourself.  Do not eat out for the next couple of months until you have seen improvement.  Avoid gluten-free processed junk food.  Avoid dairy products as many of us become temporarily lactose intolerant since the enzymes to digest lactose are released from the ends of intestinal villi.  If the villi are destroyed, there's no enzymes = tummy ache and/or constipation. 

Focus on eat-to-digest foods (stewed meats in a crockpot), well-cooked veggies, rice and even cooked fruit (baked apples, etc.) are easier to digest.  When he feels better, add in dairy, slowly and keep a food diary.  Chances are he has other intolerances to foods (or food additives)  other than gluten that might just be temporary.  I  myself was lactose intolerant, can not still eat garlic or xanthan gum (a binder used in gluten-free commercial breads), got nuts back, and the list goes on. 

Then in the future, learn to bake and freeze goodies for him to take to parties, etc.  

Finally, I do not know how many others are in your family, but I would try to make your house as gluten free as possible until you see healing and are confident your other family members can keep him safe.  Let them eat gluten outside the house.  My kid gets her gluten at school for the most part.  We always wash our hands when we return home.  

Hang in there, Mom!  

 

 

[mommida]

Go back to the doctor's, there is a chance you missed something else.

Don't make any diet changes, as diet may determine other food intolerances or immune reactions.

Sorry about the constipation.  We have dealt with that.  Or best advice~ figs.  A high dose of magnesium and high fiber with iron too.  (anemia can cause constipation) All those little seeds act as colon scrubber.

[basmmm]

I am so sorry to hear that your 3 year old little boy isn't doing much better. I definitely don't know the answer but can share that my 3 year old son was diagnosed in February of this year after repeating blood work from November and then having an endoscopy in February. Within just a few days on a strictly gluten free diet, my son was doing remarkably better. He's been gluten free for about 6 weeks now and is doing great. We do have to watch his lactose consumption and have him on lactaid milk. His physician said to give it about 4 more months and then try him on regular milk as his intestines should have healed enough by then. I say all of that to say that my 3 year old had great improvement in a short time and maybe there is still something out there for your son to feel much better, too. Best of luck to all of you. It is tough seeing your little one not thriving.