Vitamins

[mdixon]

Hello All

My daughter is 12 and diagnosed 3 weeks ago. She has small stature. She weighs 69 pounlnds and is a head under her peers. She has been taking 3 calcium supplements a day and a Centrum Vitamin. I'm a little worried that that is not enough especially where puberty should be or will be starting. Is anyone giving addtional supplements. I'm also wondering when I will start to see results in her growth. Thanks in advance for any input you may have.

[gf4life]

Hi mdixon,

You could ask the doctors to run some tests for various deficiencies on your daughter and then you would be able to customise her vitamin/mineral supplements to fit her needs.

Once her intestines heal on the gluten-free diet you should start to see some growth. It may be all of a sudden or it may be gradual, but be very thankful that you were able to get her diagnosed while she still has time to grow!

God bless,

Mariann

[ryebaby0]

If she takes the calcium with oj, that will help a little, but really her doctor should test levels. A low zinc level (which is likely with malabsorption) will really slow down growth; Patrick took zinc for almost 4 months! Iron, folate, potassium -- make sure it's a multi with minerals, but a "regular" vitamin just can't make up for certain deficiencies.

[ashlees-mom]

mdixon,

The first thing we noticed with our daughter was her slow growth, but since she is much younger, she has more time to catch up. We had first researced Growth Hormone Deficiency and in doing that I found that it is possible to hold off puberty in order to let the growth catch up before her bones fuse and it is too late. It definately has it's drawbacks (it may be hard on her to see friends develop before her, and I'm sure there are medical considerations) but you may want to discuss it with your doctor and make the best decision for her. If you feel she is lacking so much height that it could affect her throughout life, it may be worth considering. Just a thought!

[celiac3270]

Try not to worry about growth. It might take a few months. Over the past six months I slowly went from 5' and 70 pounds to 5'2" 79 pounds (oh, btw, I am a 13 year-old boy). Over the past month, my previously continuous symptoms haven't appeared at all!! Additionally, I've gained 5 pounds in 3 weeks (now I'm 84)!!! It will come......try not to stress out, cause it can take months before serious growth begins. I haven't taken any supplements or vitamins consistently and I'm doing MUCH better.....I'm actually starting to look normal (no longer boney).....

have patience.....the growth will come....although I guess a supplement couldn't hurt.......just trying to pass on some encouragement.

p.s. I, too, drink oj w/ calcium........well, I have been drinking a glass a day until recently when i had to eliminate acidic foods/drinks from my diet.