Enterolab Results For My 3 Y/o

[wonkabar]

Hi! I got Zachary's results from Enterolab tonight. He was already on a strict gluten-free diet for 2 1/2 months prior to sending in his stool sample!!! He also tested positive for one main gluten sensitivity/celiac gene as well as one non-celiac gluten sensitivity gene. According to Enterolab, having two copies means there is an even stronger predisposition to gluten sensitivity than having one gene, and the resultant immunologic gluten sensitivity or celiac disease may be more severe. Well, this all certainly makes sense!! BTW-his labs (blood) came back negative while he was still on a regular diet...go figure. In addition, he showed a sensitivity to casien which was a little surprising considering he doesn't show any overt gi symptoms to cow's milk. But, I do understand that properly digesting dairy is an issue for many people until their tummy heals. He's, unfortunately, allergic to soy so we'll have to try rice milk.

For those of you who are wondering about the quality of the lab report, we were quite pleased with the details and explanation. It was, for the most part, "reader friendly", and the results were available in less than two weeks. Although it was expensive, it was a worthwhile investment...I'm happy I did it. I'm going for my annual exam mid-July and plan on asking the doctor to order a full Celiac Panel along with the routine labs. My husband is going to get an Rx from his pcp as well for a full panel. Zachary's issues with gluten came from somewhere! One of us, or possibly both, passed this along to him. Poor little guy! We're just thankful we figured out what was wrong with him sooner than later. We never thought we'd be this happy to see a solid poop!

--Kristy

A) Gluten Sensitivity Stool and Gene Panel Complete *Best test/best value

Fecal Antigliadin IgA 46.5 (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Antitissue Transglutaminase IgA 23 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score 71 Units (Normal Range <300 Units)

Fecal anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA antibody 24 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

[AndreaB]

It's nice to have some more solid answers isn't it. I had my family tested by enterolab also and was pleased with them.

[shai76]

My sons been on rice milk for a year now. He's 2. He's done real well on it. The Westsoy brand does not have gluten in it that I know of. The Rice Dream brand does, so be careful with that.

[Guest nini]

Lundberg has a gluten-free rice milk...

my guess would be that both parents have it, esp. if he's got two diff. genes for it... Even if the testing from the standard labs comes up inconclusive, I hope you consider making your entire house gluten-free for simplicity's sake. (I wish my husband would go gluten-free... I think it would help him)

[CarlaB]

I, too, was very happy with Enterolab. I'm glad you got answers. I was surprised by my high casein score and ignored it for a while. I didn't get completely better until eliminating dairy. Many celiacs have a problem with lactose while their intestines heal, but casein is the protein in milk and is considered to be a permanent intolerance like gluten. Unfortunately, it's not something that goes away like lactose intolerance does.

[wonkabar]

...but casein is the protein in milk and is considered to be a permanent intolerance like gluten. Unfortunately, it's not something that goes away like lactose intolerance does.

I didn't realize casein was a permanent intolerance . Thanks for the info. I'm just glad we're finding all of this stuff out now while he's 3 versus when he's 13; he doesn't know any better at the moment! We hope this will just be so much of his life as he gets older that it'll be second nature. We'll see what happens when he's a teen!

--Kristy

[Guest Robbin]

Kristy, I am so glad you finally got some answers and the little guy is doing better. I am a big fan of Enterolab and recommend them to anyone who has symptoms but negative blood work. Can your son have nuts? If so, almond milk is excellent. It is better tasting than the rice milk and I use it for myself. My son will only drink rice milk with chocolate in it. (Unfortunately, he can't have soy or almond milk) Then again, he IS a teenager and that proves your point that it is better to get them used to different foods when they are young

[wonkabar]

Can your son have nuts? If so, almond milk is excellent. It is better tasting than the rice milk and I use it for myself. My son will only drink rice milk with chocolate in it. (Unfortunately, he can't have soy or almond milk) Then again, he IS a teenager and that proves your point that it is better to get them used to different foods when they are young

Hi! Zachary is allergic to nuts among other things. He loves chocolate milk, though. So I'm sure I can get him to drink the rice milk with chocolate in it. (He used to be a huge fan of Ovaltine.) Is Hershey's Syrup gluten-free??

Speaking of chocolate milk, here's a funny little gluten story to share... As bad as Zachary's poops were, my husband and I would always comment on how much worse they seemed to be when he ate chocolate chip pancakes (bisquick) and drank chocolate milk (ovaltine)! What we thought was that he had an allergy/sensitivity to chocolate!! This was, obviously, before our concerns about gluten resurfaced. We never put the reaction with the Bisquick and Ovaltine together with gluten until we found out he WASN'T allergic to chocolate...duh! We were just giving him two of his favorite things, and unbeknownst to us it was wrecking his stomach! Poor little guy!!

[penguin]

Hi! Zachary is allergic to nuts among other things. He loves chocolate milk, though. So I'm sure I can get him to drink the rice milk with chocolate in it. (He used to be a huge fan of Ovaltine.) Is Hershey's Syrup gluten-free??

Speaking of chocolate milk, here's a funny little gluten story to share... As bad as Zachary's poops were, my husband and I would always comment on how much worse they seemed to be when he ate chocolate chip pancakes (bisquick) and drank chocolate milk (ovaltine)! What we thought was that he had an allergy/sensitivity to chocolate!! This was, obviously, before our concerns about gluten resurfaced. We never put the reaction with the Bisquick and Ovaltine together with gluten until we found out he WASN'T allergic to chocolate...duh! We were just giving him two of his favorite things, and unbeknownst to us it was wrecking his stomach! Poor little guy!!

The milk chocolate flavor of ovaltine is gluten-free, but I think it has casein. I called the company in March and it's a-ok for us.

As with all other processed products, beware of cc. I haven't had a problem, though. It's a great way to get some extra nutrients.

[wonkabar]

Fortunately Zachary has never had failure to thrive or issues with malabsorption. He's always been way above the 50th % in weight since he was a baby; that's why it was so difficult to convince the jack-ass ped gi that something WAS wrong with him!

Last year we started having Zachary evaluated to address some sensory issues and developmental delays...he was an 32 week preemie. I'm a self-contained special ed teacher, so I was concerned that we were possibly looking at a mild PDD-NOS Dx for our then 2 y/o. Much to our relief, it was not that at all. It was sensory integration dysfunction with a processing delay being the root of the problems. (He just started pre-school and is doing fine, BTW! )

Anyway, there IS a point to this...when I was concerned about the PDD-NOS Dx we put him on a strict gluten and casein free diet for a month. WOW did we see a change in Zachary. His vocab increased by 40+ words in one week, he was sleeping through the night, he had a "calmness" about him, wasn't crying/yelling all the time, was able to focus more easily, could follow simple commands and not to mention all of the gi symptoms cleared up just like that! After he had a neuro-developmental evaluation and we were told that he had a processing delay, not PDD-NOS, we were elated but asked how she rationalized him doing so well on the gluten-free/casein free diet. She didn't know....well now we do! He's obviously got issues with gluten. Better late than never, huh?!?!?!? I have known something was wrong since he was a baby. Maternal instinct is not a force to be reckoned with!!

--Kristy