Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

[Dizzyma]

Hi all, I have so many questions and feel like google is giving me very different information. Hoping I may get some more definite answers here.

ok, my daughter has been diagnosed as a coeliac as her bloods show anti TTG antibodies are over 128. We have started her  on a full gluten free diet.

my concerns are that she wasn’t actually physically sick on her regular diet, she had tummy issues and skin sores. My fear is that she will build up a complete intolerance to gluten and become physically sick if she has gluten. Is there anything to be said for keeping a small bit of gluten in the diet to stop her from developing a total intolerance? 
also, she would be an anxious type of person, is it possible that stress is the reason she has become coeliac? I read that diagnosis later in childhood could be following a sickness or stress. How can she have been fine for the first 10 years and then become coeliac?

sorry, I’m just very confused and really want to do right by her. I know a coeliac and she has a terrible time after she gets gluttened so just want to make sure going down a total gluten free road is the right choice.

thank you for any help or advise xx 

[trents]

Welcome to the celic.com community @Dizzyma!

I'm assuming you are in the U.K. since you speak of your daughter's celiac disease blood tests as "her bloods". 

Has her physician officially diagnosed her has having celiac disease on the results of her blood tests alone? Normally, if the ttg-iga blood test results are positive, a follow-up endoscopy with biopsy of the small bowel lining to check for damage would be ordered to confirm the results of "the bloods". However if the ttg-iga test score is 10x normal or greater, some physicians, particularly in the U.K., will dispense with the endoscopy/biopsy. If there is to be an endoscopy/biopsy, your daughter should not yet begin the gluten free diet as doing so would allow healing of the small bowel lining to commence which may result in a biopsy finding having results that conflict with the blood work. Do you know if an endoscopy/biopsy is planned?

Celiac disease can have onset at any stage of life, from infancy to old age. It has a genetic base but the genes remain dormant until and unless triggered by some stress event. The stress event can be many things but it is often a viral infection. About 40% of the general population have the genetic potential to develop celiac disease but only about 1% actually develop celiac disease. So, for most, the genes remain dormant. 

Celiac disease is by nature an autoimmune disorder. That is to say, gluten ingestion triggers an immune response that causes the body to attack its own tissues. In this case, the attack happens in he lining of the small bowel, at least classically, though we now know there are other body systems that can sometimes be affected. So, for a person with celiac disease, when they ingest gluten, the body sends attacking cells to battle the gluten which causes inflammation as the gluten is being absorbed into the cells that make up the lining of the small bowel. This causes damage to the cells and over time, wears them down. This lining is composed of billions of tiny finger-like projections and which creates a tremendous surface area for absorbing nutrients from the food we eat. This area of the intestinal track is where all of our nutrition is absorbed. As these finger-like projections get worn down by the constant inflammation from continued gluten consumption before diagnosis (or after diagnosis in the case of those who are noncompliant) the efficiency of nutrient absorption from what we eat can be drastically reduced. This is why iron deficiency anemia and other nutrient deficiency related medical problems are so common in the celiac population.

So, to answer your question about the wisdom of allowing your daughter to consume gluten on a limited basis to retain some tolerance to it, that would not be a sound approach because it would prevent healing of the lining of her small bowel. It would keep the fires of inflammation smoldering. The only wise course is strict adherence to a gluten free diet, once all tests to confirm celiac disease are complete.

[cristiana]

Hi @Dizzyma

I note what @trents has commented about you possibly posting from the UK.  Just to let you know that am a coeliac based in the UK, so if that is the case, do let me know if can help you with any questions on the NHS provision for coeliacs.   

If you are indeed based in the UK, and coeliac disease is confirmed, I would thoroughly recommend you join Coeliac UK, as they provide a printed food and drink guide and also a phone app which you can take shopping with you so you can find out if a product is gluten free or not.

But one thing I would like to say to you, no matter where you live, is you mention that your daughter is anxious.  I was always a bit of a nervous, anxious child but before my diagnosis in mid-life my anxiety levels were through the roof.   My anxiety got steadily better when I followed the gluten-free diet and vitamin and mineral deficiencies were addressed.  Anxiety is very common at diagnosis, you may well find that her anxiety will improve once your daughter follows a strict gluten-free diet.

Cristiana 

[Dizzyma]

Hi Trent and Cristiana, thank you so much for taking the time out to reply to me. 
My daughters GP requested bloods, they came back as showing a possibility of celiac disease, she advised me to continue feeding gluten as normal and wait on a hospital appointment. When we got that the doctor was quite annoyed that the gp hadn’t advised to go gluten free immediately as she explained that her numbers were so high that celiac disease was fairly evident. That doctor advised to switch to a gluten-free diet immediately which we did but she also got her bloods taken again that day as it made sense to double check considering she was maintaining a normal diet and they came back with a result of 128. The hospital doctor was so confident of celiac disease that she didn’t bother with any further testing.

Cristiana, thank you for the information on the coeliac UK site however I am in the Rrpublic of Ireland so I’ll have to try to link in with supports there.

I appreciate your replies I guess I’ll figure things as we go I just feel so bad for her, her skin is so sore around her mouth  and it looks bad at an age when looks are becoming important. Also her anxiety is affecting her sleep so I may have to look into some kind of therapy to help as I don’t think I am enough to help.

thanks once again, it’s great to be able to reach out xx 

 

[cristiana]

You are very welcome @Dizzyma.

Gastroenterologists are now following this rule in the UK more and more with children, so I am not surprised your daughter is not having an endoscopy.   Switching to a gluten free diet should begin to help, but also, even if you have to have testing done privately, it would be very helpful for you to find out if your daughter has vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which is highly likely,    In the UK tests are generally offered on the NHS for B12 and ferritin, and sometimes vitamin D.  Shortages in these can really cause any anxiety or depression or ramp it up. If you do end up supplementing, make sure your GP is aware as levels do need to be monitored, for example,  too much ferritin can cause huge health issues.

Re: anxiety, definitely speak to a GP or another health care professional about this if it is an issue.

Hopefully the Coeliac Society of Ireland will also be able to help.

Cristiana