How Long Until Diareah Ends?

[Mommy2boys]

My pediatrician has had me eliminate all wheat/gluten from Brady's diet thinking he may have Celiac. (she doesn't want to test him yet, he is only 1)

We have been wheat free for a week and I was wondering how long should it be that the diarreah would end. He still doesn't have "normal" bowel movements, but then again, I have never seen him have one!

I must add that even in the short week we have been doing this he is a different baby! He is playing like a crazy man, babbling up a storm and even trying to walk! (He is 15 months and we were starting to get worried since he wasn't even trying to walk)

So to sum it up...when should I expect results if it was truely Celiac. Thank you so much, I have a feeling I will be on here a lot!

[Ursa Major]

Hi, and welcome to this board. Well, you ARE seeing results! But sometimes the GI problems take a while to clear up, as his intestines need to heal. Also, he might be dairy intolerant, too. In that case, dairy could cause many of the same symptoms as gluten, including diarrhea.

[par18]

My pediatrician has had me eliminate all wheat/gluten from Brady's diet thinking he may have Celiac. (she doesn't want to test him yet, he is only 1)

We have been wheat free for a week and I was wondering how long should it be that the diarreah would end. He still doesn't have "normal" bowel movements, but then again, I have never seen him have one!

I must add that even in the short week we have been doing this he is a different baby! He is playing like a crazy man, babbling up a storm and even trying to walk! (He is 15 months and we were starting to get worried since he wasn't even trying to walk)

So to sum it up...when should I expect results if it was truely Celiac. Thank you so much, I have a feeling I will be on here a lot!

I am a adult and I had D every day for about 2 months until my Dx in May 05. I stopped having the D 36 hours after starting the gluten-free diet and it has never returned. I will add that for the first 2 weeks on the diet I did not have any dairy except for hard cheddar cheese. I agree with the previous post about the dairy. Good luck.

Tom

[Mommy2boys]

Thanks for the welcome!

Initially we took him off dairy and nothing changed, so thats why we are doing wheat now....

I guess I was just hoping we would cut out wheat and POOF! things would get magically better...guess thats not the case right??!!

[Ursa Major]

Actually, unfortunately, there will be no 'poof' experience usually. Did I understand you right that you only cut out wheat? If that is true, he is still not off gluten, which could be your problem. You need to cut out wheat, rye, barley and oats. And not just in food, but personal care products as well. Any shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion etc. that contains things like wheat germ oil, barley extract, oat bran etc. needs to be replaced. Also, play-doh is a bad one, and fingerpaints could contain gluten.

A lot of foods also contain hidden gluten. Anything with malt is a problem, since it's usually made from barley. Soy sauce is a big one. And there are others. If he eats gluten free toast, he should have his own toaster, as you can't clean a toaster well enough to be safe. The same goes for plastic strainers to strain noodles, wooden cutting boards and wooden cooking spoons, and scratched non-stick cookware.

And NEVER just take a hamburger patty out of a bun and give him the patty, even if you can't see the crumbs (all it takes is one crumb to make him sick), they'll be there (the same goes for things like taking the croutons off a salad). It's tricky, but you'll get the hang of it eventually.

So, while he may be doing better being mostly off gluten, in order to really get well you have to make sure all sources of gluten are eliminated, including cross-contamination.

[tarnalberry]

You said you've taken him off wheat...

Have you taken him off the other sources of gluten - barley, rye, and oats?

Have you eliminated gluten from hidden ingredients (modified food starch, soy sauce, etc.)?

Have you eliminated cross-contamination - shared toaters, cutting boards, etc.?

[mcsteffi]

My two year old has been gluten-free for 6 mths now and still has really soft poop. Sometimes they are normal but mostly soft. I think he is still healing and we are still learning what he can have. lol. Being that he is two he cant really tell us when something makes him feel bad. But like you said everything else improved very quickly. He is running now and talking and really plays. It is such a different child from last summer!

My pediatrician has had me eliminate all wheat/gluten from Brady's diet thinking he may have Celiac. (she doesn't want to test him yet, he is only 1)

We have been wheat free for a week and I was wondering how long should it be that the diarreah would end. He still doesn't have "normal" bowel movements, but then again, I have never seen him have one!

I must add that even in the short week we have been doing this he is a different baby! He is playing like a crazy man, babbling up a storm and even trying to walk! (He is 15 months and we were starting to get worried since he wasn't even trying to walk)

So to sum it up...when should I expect results if it was truely Celiac. Thank you so much, I have a feeling I will be on here a lot!

[kenyonsmommy]

my son, who is 2 1/2, has been on the diet for about 3/4 weeks. His poops have gone from hard to soft a few times. Right now he has diareha, so I'm trying to look back on the last few days to see what it was. I think that this being a new experience for us, it is taking some time to eliminate every thing containing gluten, and learning about cross contamination, etc. I'm sure he is getting at least some on occasion while we figure it out. the best thing is the other improvements, the increased activity, change in disposition and the addition of needed pounds. he also will not stop talking and has learned some interesting things from my five year old. Eventually we will get to a place where we know what we are doing, its very confusing and takes some getting use to. We also tried the dairy route, which did not do much but make him mad because he could not eat his go-gurt. Give the change some time, the results have been amazing for us.

[TCA]

It took my son about 3 weeks to get better with the D, but other things improved more rapidly. It's so easy to make mistakes in the beginning. I finally got so stressed about cross contamination, I just made our house gluten free. He gets sooo sick if something even touches his food. We have to be really careful. I'm so glad you're already seeing some results! Isn't it just miraculous?