Zinc Deficiancy

[Mom2six]

Hello, I have been on the board alot. Here is where we are at. Daughter who is 18 months on Monday has been gluten free for 2 weeks. I pulled her off as soon as the blood work was done. She is doing much better. Her diaper rash is gone, her stools are firmer, smell like they should, and her color is just all around better. Plus she is walking. You can tell she just feels better. Her blood came back inconclusive for Celiac but there was a Zinc deficiancy. He said it could be seconday to Celiac-- the only way to know for sure is to do the endoscopy. We haven't decided about that. We have also started zinc therapy. He said zinc deficiancy can cause some of the same symptoms as Celiac. THe deal is, she improved so much the first week off gluten. It was 10 days later that she started the Zinc. She seems even better on the zinc. Has anyone else had expericene with this? Thanks in advance.

[Katie O'Rourke]

Hello, I have been on the board alot. Here is where we are at. Daughter who is 18 months on Monday has been gluten free for 2 weeks. I pulled her off as soon as the blood work was done. She is doing much better. Her diaper rash is gone, her stools are firmer, smell like they should, and her color is just all around better. Plus she is walking. You can tell she just feels better. Her blood came back inconclusive for Celiac but there was a Zinc deficiancy. He said it could be seconday to Celiac-- the only way to know for sure is to do the endoscopy. We haven't decided about that. We have also started zinc therapy. He said zinc deficiancy can cause some of the same symptoms as Celiac. THe deal is, she improved so much the first week off gluten. It was 10 days later that she started the Zinc. She seems even better on the zinc. Has anyone else had expericene with this? Thanks in advance.

Hi. Just to elt you know, that because malabsorption is a big problem for a lot of coeliacs, well until a gluten-free diet anyway, it is highly probable she has both coeliac disease and also zinc deficiency. Different coeliacs are deficient in different vitamins/minerals. For example, my dad is deficient in zinc, B vitamins, and also potassium - for the latter he has been told to eat 2 bananas a day. On the other hand, I am anaemic and also appear to have a vitamin K deficiency,as my blood doesnt clot properly. Malabsorption affects everyone differently. Good luck with the treatment though, and hope it all works out for you. Its such a shame to have so many problems at such a young age. Take care

[ryebaby0]

Good heavens, what is that doctor thinking? All sorts of deficiencies are bound to turn up in children who've been untreated celiacs. My son was deficient in zinc and iron, and borderline in just about everything else. He took a zinc supplement and it cleared up in about 4 months.

Endoscopy seems very scary, but it really isn't as awful as you imagine if done in a facility that does lots of children's. She'll need to go back on gluten for it to mean anything, and that's never much fun; don't let a doctor bully you into "confirming" what is obvious if she's dramaticaly better gluten-free. Scope results can be inconclusive too!

joanna