Possible celiac in 6yo - and maybe 10yo? Should I test both?

[ABCDS]

Hi. I am totally new to celiac, although I do have a couple of friends who have been dealing with it - but I have been dealing with food allergies for my 6yo son since he was an infant.

He has been complaining about his stomach hurting almost every day for the last few weeks. He is afraid to eat sometimes, because he worries it might make it hurt more. I thought it was constipation and tried to treat it that way, but then he ended up with diarrhea/ loose stools for the last 4-5 days. What finally made me think of celiac was that he improved over the holiday weekend, and by chance, we had hardly eaten any wheat products those days. Once school started up and he was eating bread, crackers, pasta - things got worse again. Looking at lists of symptoms, I'm now realizing that the random vomit episodes, or times when he thought he might vomit but never did, over the last few months - this could be related. He also has complained of what sounds to me like acid reflux (something in my throat, and my mouth tastes sour). 

He is going to the doctor next week and I am going to request testing.

My question is about his older sister. As I started reading more about celiac, I started wondering if I should have her tested as well. When she was 6 she had similar symptoms, but they eventually went away (removing dairy for a about a year seemed to help). More recently, she has been having rashes on her hands and bum that resemble the pictures I'm seeing of DH. Doctor said they were excema, but the excema treatments only seem to help sometimes. Also, she has started getting random hives (when she wakes in the morning, usually) this past year. Meanwhile, she is very small for her age, has difficulty falling asleep (often complaining she is afraid she will vomit), and has mild anxiety/OCD-like characteristics.

If you were me, would you have her tested right away? Or wait until the 6yo's results come back?

Thanks.

[cyclinglady]

On 4/5/2018 at 1:15 PM, ABCDS said:

Hi. I am totally new to celiac, although I do have a couple of friends who have been dealing with it - but I have been dealing with food allergies for my 6yo son since he was an infant.

He has been complaining about his stomach hurting almost every day for the last few weeks. He is afraid to eat sometimes, because he worries it might make it hurt more. I thought it was constipation and tried to treat it that way, but then he ended up with diarrhea/ loose stools for the last 4-5 days. What finally made me think of celiac was that he improved over the holiday weekend, and by chance, we had hardly eaten any wheat products those days. Once school started up and he was eating bread, crackers, pasta - things got worse again. Looking at lists of symptoms, I'm now realizing that the random vomit episodes, or times when he thought he might vomit but never did, over the last few months - this could be related. He also has complained of what sounds to me like acid reflux (something in my throat, and my mouth tastes sour). 

He is going to the doctor next week and I am going to request testing.

My question is about his older sister. As I started reading more about celiac, I started wondering if I should have her tested as well. When she was 6 she had similar symptoms, but they eventually went away (removing dairy for a about a year seemed to help). More recently, she has been having rashes on her hands and bum that resemble the pictures I'm seeing of DH. Doctor said they were excema, but the excema treatments only seem to help sometimes. Also, she has started getting random hives (when she wakes in the morning, usually) this past year. Meanwhile, she is very small for her age, has difficulty falling asleep (often complaining she is afraid she will vomit), and has mild anxiety/OCD-like characteristics.

If you were me, would you have her tested right away? Or wait until the 6yo's results come back?

Thanks.

It is a simple blood test, so I would have them both screened based on the symptoms you mentioned.  Try to insist on the full celiac screen that includes the DGP tests.  Those seem to work in smaller children.  

Open Original Shared Link

Keep in mind that he could also have a concurrent wheat allergy.  Google EOE which is an allergy that involves the esophagus.  It is pretty new and is found most often in kids.