13yo Son Has Red Ears/face, Bloated Belly..........

[Homegirl]

Eczema, attention problems, and mood swings. I currently have an appointment with a doctor for suspected celiac and have been researching it. I suspect that he might have this and was wondering how to tell for sure. Should I wait to see what my biopsy results are and go from there? Or should I take him to his pediatritian and let them do blood work or just take all wheat out of his diet? The last option seems pretty drastic.

[wonkabar]

Eczema, attention problems, and mood swings. I currently have an appointment with a doctor for suspected celiac and have been researching it. I suspect that he might have this and was wondering how to tell for sure. Should I wait to see what my biopsy results are and go from there? Or should I take him to his pediatritian and let them do blood work or just take all wheat out of his diet? The last option seems pretty drastic.

My three year-old son has food allergies, eczema and asthma. He has a MAJOR problem with gluten, and is on a strict gluten-free diet. When Zachary is glutened, he's a lot "bouncier", has a lot more difficulty focusing and his behavior is just awful. That is, low frustration level, yelling/crying/tantrums for no apparent reason, very irritable and difficulty with sleep. His labs were negative, but he's had an amazingly positive dietary response. We saw a major difference with his GI symptoms and behavior in just a couple of days.

I would not change your son's diet if you have appointments set up for testing. He MUST be on a regular diet for bloodwork and biopsy. Even starting to limit his gluten intake can skew the results. Currently, the gold-standard, as it's called, for Dx of Celiac is a biopsy. However, there are many people who have major issues with gluten, like my son, who have gotten negative lab results and/or biopsy. The thought behind this is that the damage to the intenstines hasn't gotten to a more advanced stage to clinically call it Celiac Disease but gluten is a problem none-the-less. The full Celiac panel consists of 5 labs, so just confirm that all 5 labs have been ordered by your gi.

Yes, removing all gluten from your son's diet is drastic, but it is what has to be done in the event he's Dx with Celiac or you at least suspect that's the problem. If gluten is the culprit and he continues to have it as a part of his diet, it can cause other serious issues in the future. Most of us believe that the greatest indicator of Celiac or Gluten Intolerance is, in fact, a postive dietary response. You'd treat both Dx the same exact way...a gluten-free diet. If his labs/biopsy come back negative you can certainly try a gluten-free diet for awhile and see how he does. It certainly won't hurt him. There's a major learning curve and it's overwhelming at first, but it does become second nature after awhile...I promise!!

--Kristy

[Homegirl]

Thanks, I guess I should clarify the testing is being done on me. I thought that if I tested positive then the liklihood of his symptoms being Celiac would be be greater. My blood work showed low IgA and ferritin so they want to do more testing.

What are the 5 labs?