Blood in stool?

[Ildiko]

Hi - my 9 year old daughter was diagnosed in February. She had a seemingly routine winter cold and developed stomach pain, diarrhea, and blood in her stool. Blood work and biopsy tested positive for Celiac. We put her on a gluten-free diet right away and she improved significantly and quickly. The blood stopped almost immediately. She still gets almost daily mild stomach pain/gas pain. It lasts only a minute or two. A few days ago her class used flour in science to make play dough (I was not aware). She got diarrhea a day later and a few days later she had some blood again in her stool. Has anyone else had experience with: (1) blood in the stool and (2) ongoing daily mild tummy aches even after gluten-free? I am so worried about her. Thank you!!!

[Ennis-TX]

It could just be many other things, if you see blood in the stool you should take her to the doctor if you keep seeing it or if it is alot. If it is black tarish she really needs to go see a doctor, this would indicate bleeding in the small intestines, esophagus, or stomach. If it is bright red streaks this would indicate it is in the last section of the large intestines or colon, this is a tad less worrisome if it only happens every now and then and could be from the diarrhea stressing the colon or something undigested scratching the inside, a sore from the undigested more acidic stool acting as a irritant. At her age I would like to rule out polyps, hemorrhoids, or ulcers but you never know.

 I ended up with a complication called Ulcerative Colitis which is another autoimmune disease. I got it diagnosed this Feb. via colonoscopy after having bloody stool for years. I am no doctor but you might want to ask and see about getting tested for it. It causes inflammation, bloating, gas, ulcers, bleeding. among other things and the triggers are gluten, dairy, and sugars like glucose, fructose, and sucrose, and varies a bit from person to person, 

I wish you luck and will keep you and your daughter on my prayer list. I know how worrisome the blood issue can be when you have no idea what is causing it.

 

[GFinDC]

4 hours ago, Ildiko said:

Hi - my 9 year old daughter was diagnosed in February. She had a seemingly routine winter cold and developed stomach pain, diarrhea, and blood in her stool. Blood work and biopsy tested positive for Celiac. We put her on a gluten-free diet right away and she improved significantly and quickly. The blood stopped almost immediately. She still gets almost daily mild stomach pain/gas pain. It lasts only a minute or two. A few days ago her class used flour in science to make play dough (I was not aware). She got diarrhea a day later and a few days later she had some blood again in her stool. Has anyone else had experience with: (1) blood in the stool and (2) ongoing daily mild tummy aches even after gluten-free? I am so worried about her. Thank you!!!

I have bleeding/pain if I eat dairy.  one of those additional food intolerances that can happen if you have an irritated gut for a long time.  It's great that she is doing better on the gluten-free diet.  But healing from celiac damage is not a 2 week process.  The recovery can be 18 months or more.  Our immune systems are ever vigilant and don't stop attacking enemies (like our guts) right away after a glutening.  The antibodies can keep going for weeks to months depending on the person.

The simpler her diet is the better.  Whole foods like meats, veggies, eggs, nut are good, and have very short ingredient lists.  That makes it simple to determine if they are gluten free.  Processed foods have long lists of ingredients and more chances of cross contamination.  Plus they often have sugars and carbs that are bad for our healing guts.

There is something called a 504 plan you can work with the school.  It is a plan to protect kids with special needs like diet restrictions etc.  A plan like that could require the teacher to notify you if they are having gluten in the classroom ahead of time.

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