Could this be celiac?

[Fsmith]

Hi everyone.

my son is 3.5 years old and has been constipated for well over a year now. He has never been a frequent pooer. He goes at most up to 5 days without pooing. He gets the anal tears and bleeds quite a bit pretty regularly. He is now at the point where it’s effecting him mentally. He is fully potty trained day and night and has been for a year but when he is at preschool (3 days a week) he is wetting himself up to 3 times a day because he doesn’t want to go to the toilet even for a wee or he is scared to go by himself even though he gets reassurance. 
 

He is small for his age and very skinny petite boy. He has always been on the 50th percentile and has dropped in the last year to just under the 25th. 
 

he doesn’t eat a whole lot, but what he does eat includes a good mix of fruit and veg and is balanced.

He has just been perceived laxatives for a minimum of 6 weeks.

has anyone ever experienced anything like this and it turned out to be celiac or similar?

 

thank you!

[cristiana]

Hello @Fsmith and welcome to the forum

I think you are very wise to consider the possibility of coeliac disease.  Often people think coeliac disease = diarrhea, but in fact for some people the opposite is the case and constipation is an issue.   The symptoms you mention there could certainly point to coeliac disease.

Definitely approach your GP for testing.  Because of the timezone you have posted in, I suspect you may be posting from Britain? If that is the case, might I suggest you look at the Coeliac UK website before you see your GP and either print off or list what you find on this page, in case you need to make a case for testing:

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/information-and-support/coeliac-disease/about-coeliac-disease/what-are-coeliac-disease-symptoms/

I  say this because most GPs will be happy to have your child tested with the symptoms you mention but just occasionally you might find a medical professional who might not be so conversant with the intricacies of the condition, or, with the best intentions, suggest that you take your child off gluten to see if it makes a difference. 

That latter approach is problematic because if he does have coeliac disease, you really need to know.   Coeliac disease demands a lifelong adherence to a strict gluten free diet.  It would be a pity to go gluten free if it wasn't necessary.  But also, with a proper diagnosis, your child will be eligible for all sorts of extra help on the NHS such as a referral to a nutritionist, reviews to check bloods and adherence to the diet, as well as for any other conditions that coeliacs can sometimes be prone to, bone density checks, prescriptions for gluten free pasta and bread etc.  Without a proper diagnosis you won't get that support.

As the Coeliac UK site stresses, make sure your son continues to consume gluten until all the testing is behind him.

Cristiana

 

[Fsmith]

2 minutes ago, cristiana said:

Hello @Fsmith and welcome to the forum

I think you are very wise to consider the possibility of coeliac disease.  Often people think coeliac disease = diarrhea, but in fact for some people the opposite is the case and constipation is an issue.   The symptoms you mention there could certainly point to coeliac disease.

Definitely approach your GP for testing.  Because of the timezone you have posted in, I suspect you may be posting from Britain? If that is the case, might I suggest you look at the Coeliac UK website before you see your GP and either print off or list what you find on this page, in case you need to make a case for testing:

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/information-and-support/coeliac-disease/about-coeliac-disease/what-are-coeliac-disease-symptoms/

I  say this because most GPs will be happy to have your child tested with the symptoms you mention but just occasionally you might find a medical professional who might not be so conversant with the intricacies of the condition, or, with the best intentions, suggest that you take your child off gluten to see if it makes a difference. 

That latter approach is problematic because if he does have coeliac disease, you really need to know.   Coeliac disease demands a lifelong adherence to a strict gluten free diet.  It would be a pity to go gluten free if it wasn't necessary.  But also, with a proper diagnosis, your child will be eligible for all sorts of extra help on the NHS such as a referral to a nutritionist, reviews to check bloods and adherence to the diet, as well as for any other conditions that coeliacs can sometimes be prone to, bone density checks, prescriptions for gluten free pasta and bread etc.  Without a proper diagnosis you won't get that support.

As the Coeliac UK site stresses, make sure your son continues to consume gluten until all the testing is behind him.

Cristiana

 

Thank you so much. Yes I’m from the UK. No one in our family has issue with gluten and to be honest I would t have thought anything of it if he growth hadn’t slowed down too. I have a phone call catch up with the gp on the 21st where I’m going to bring up his growth too and see what she says. 
 

I’m just not sure because as you say so often is diarrhoea, I think I’d end up being fobbed off cx

[cristiana]

You may be pleasantly surprised.  Through a GP brother-in-law I've been made aware that in recent years there has been a real drive to educate health professionals,. The "Think Coeliac!" is one initiative that comes to mind - have a google and see the material that has been put together expressly to inform medical professionals.    Coeliac disease affects about 1 in 100 people, so if your GP has 2,000 patients, 20 of them will be coeliacs.   However, many of them will be undiagnosed, and the NHS recognises the importance of them being diagnosed because adopting a gluten-free diet can address and prevent a number of medical problems.

I'd do a bit of homework before your make that call to your GP, just so you do have facts at your fingertips if you feel you do need to make a case.  This page from the NHS website should be enough to make your case, if you have to make one, but my feeling is your GP will not fob you off.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coeliac-disease/diagnosis/

 

 

[trents]

Constipation and slow growth are classic symptoms of celiac disease in children. For some reason, constipation is a more common symptom in children with celiac disease than it is in adult celiacs. If you get snubbed by doctors when asking for testing, there are third party home test kits available you can purchase. Or, just put him no a strict gluten free diet for a few months and see if symptoms improve.

[Fsmith]

1 hour ago, cristiana said:

You may be pleasantly surprised.  Through a GP brother-in-law I've been made aware that in recent years there has been a real drive to educate health professionals,. The "Think Coeliac!" is one initiative that comes to mind - have a google and see the material that has been put together expressly to inform medical professionals.    Coeliac disease affects about 1 in 100 people, so if your GP has 2,000 patients, 20 of them will be coeliacs.   However, many of them will be undiagnosed, and the NHS recognises the importance of them being diagnosed because adopting a gluten-free diet can address and prevent a number of medical problems.

I'd do a bit of homework before your make that call to your GP, just so you do have facts at your fingertips if you feel you do need to make a case.  This page from the NHS website should be enough to make your case, if you have to make one, but my feeling is your GP will not fob you off.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coeliac-disease/diagnosis/

 

 

Thank you for the help. I’ll defo have more of a look into it all of constipation is a common factor in celiac. 
 

thank you for the advice! X

9 minutes ago, trents said:

Constipation and slow growth are classic symptoms of celiac disease in children. For some reason, constipation is a more common symptom in children with celiac disease than it is in adult celiacs. If you get snubbed by doctors when asking for testing, there are third party home test kits available you can purchase. Or, just put him no a strict gluten free diet for a few months and see if symptoms improve.

Thank you the advice. I wasn’t sure how reliable to at home test kits were. But I’ll definitely look into them if doctors won’t have a look into it x

[trents]

I think the home test kits are reliable and they will probably test for more types of antibodies associated with celiac disease than our GP will order. Especially in the UK, physicians tend to order only the tTG-IGA test, which is pretty reliable for adult celiacs. But children's immune systems are not fully developed and often don't respond in the same way to antibody testing as do adults.

It is important that a total IGA count test be ordered as if total IGA is low then it will skew individual IGA antibody test toward the negative range. And with children, the secondary antibody tests (DGP-IgA and DGP-IgG) will be positive when the tTG-IGA is negative and they will catch what the tTG-IGA and the EMA will miss.

[cristiana]

Definitely try your utmost with the NHS, even if it means asking to see another GP within the practice for a second opinion if needs be.   There are huge benefits in this country from obtaining a proper NHS diagnosis.   I wish you all the very best.  Do come back to us if you have any questions.