Symptoms In Children

[7mommy]

Hi

I am a mommy to 6 great dc. My youngest has been dx with a myriad of food allergies and we are still trying to figure him out. He is also wheat free although he appears to tolerate a little gluten. He could not tolerate Spelt at all and will not eat Rye.

Recently, I have been wondering about a few of my other dc, though. Both of my other ds's are very thin. They eat quite a bit, but never put on weight. My younger son concerns me most. He was 9lbs at birth, but is only just 40lbs at 6 1/2. I also stopped bfing him and put him on 24 cal formula to no avail. My older son has always been constipated and has spots on his teeth which are not cavities or flourosis.

My middle dd is short for her age and had poor enamel on her molars. Recently, I was with her in the bathroom at a resteraunt and I noticed that she had a very loose yellow stool. She also appears to possibly have an enlarged thyroid although does not appear to have any symptoms of either hyper or hypo thyroidism.

I have Hashimoto's and I have never been tested for Celiac. My father and grandmother both have/had RA. My father also has Barret's Esophagus from years of undiagnosed GERD. No one ever listened to him : ( He also has diverticulitis (?) which was dx after he had blood in his stool. I also have a brother who has many strange rashes. I do as well, but his are all over his legs, itch intensely and do not go away. If they do, they always reappear soon somewhere else. He also has moth sores. He recently tested borderline hypothyroid. He has extensive food allergies and has a great difficulty with food. I have a friend with Hashi's and Celiac so I know that there is a link between Hashi's and Celiac.

I am trying to figure out whether I should talk to my ped about Celiac. There could be very good explainations for all of this that is not Celiac. But I am concerned. My dc also have all had (except one) a urinary tract defect VUR. I have read that this can effect growth and the meds that they were on ould effect dental health as well. The middle boy also had two surgeries before 1yo. So that could explain it all. However, I see how wonderful my youngest ds has been doing off of wheat and it makes me wonder. Of course, he is not eating a lot of other things as well (dairy, soy, beef chicken, pork, peanuts, and eggs).

Can some of you share symptoms for me. I have read lists, but I'd like to hear personal experiences. My friend with Celiac wondered if my ds might have it because he also had strange rashes on his bottom due to wheat. However, we had to eliminate it since he was reacting so violently and I did not have him tested. He eats very little processed foods so about the only gluten he gets is in some cookies he eats once in awhile. I do not want to take my other dc off of wheat at all unless they are tested. I just am trying to decide whether to talk to the ped about this. I definitely want him to do a TSH on my dd.

Thanks for the help

Becca

[celiac3270]

Symptoms?

Mine:

- Abdominal Pains

- Vomiting

- Nausea

- Diarrhea

- Bloating

- Gas

- Weight (low)

- Smelly Stools

- Constant Rumbling/Gurgling in belly (gas?)

Other Symptoms:

- Constipation (instead of diarrhea)

- Height (short...little growth)

- High Weight (or low weight...both common)

- Arthritis

- Cancer

- Osteoporosis

- Rashes (DH)

Mariann (gf4life) made a long list of symptoms that she noticed -- really good one -- on the old board where she as "fernandofamily"....Jessica (angel_jd1) pasted it into a post on this board...I think it was in the coping section...I don't remember, though....you might want to check for it...it was awhile ago, though, so you might have to go back a few pages. I have heard of Celiacs having their teeth go bad on them.....

-celiac3270

[Boojca]

Every thing you mentioned are symptoms, DEFINITELY have all your kids tested including you and your spouse. You can have celiac disease and not have ANY symptoms at all, and that's the worst bc going untreated raises your risk for so many other horrible things. Oh, and if you want a REALLY accurate blood test on the first try get the TTG test. It's more expensive, and has to be sent to one of the only 5 labs in the country that run this test, but it's worth it. It's like over 90% accurate. I've heard other tests have a high rate of false positives and negatives.

By the way, Spelt and Rye are not gluten-free, and neither is Barley. Oats are easily cross-contaminated, so even though they are gluten-free in theory there is a high probability they contain gluten so they are "out" too. You also say your son is "off wheat" and the only gluten he might get is in cookies....those contain wheat! Wheat does not mean whole wheat, it includes processed white flower, etc....

Bridget

[ROYAL BLUE]

Well, my son was diagnosed with Hypothyroid at 3 months of age. They did not think it was hypothyroid because when you are Hypo, your over weight. The reason for this, explained by his Endocrinologist is, his Pituitary gland was working overtime to compensate for the lack of his Thyroid Gland. His thyroid levels were normal but the pituitary levels were high.

He was almost 8lbs. when born but after 1 years old he was still in his infant car seat, those were only up to 20lbs. He in now 7 this month and just weighs 40lbs. We discovered this Celiac condition last fall and are still weighting to see noticable improvment. His stools have always been very loose and yellowy orange, floated, stunk something awfull, and had what appeared to be fat floating in toilet. Dr's told me not to worry, no big deal. So, I figured it was because he ate alot of cheese (the fat content). NOw we finally know different. He also had a very bloated looking tummy, he looked like he was pregnant or more like he was a poster child for a 3rd world country. He also had an extremely horrible temper.

Tracy

[7mommy]

I did know that Spelt any Rye were wheat realtives and are not gluten free. He will not eat those. The cookies I mentioned have barley flour so they are wheat free, but not gluten free. I did realize that. He eats them sometimes, but hardly any other processed foods so I know that is about all the gluten he would get plus in my baking with vanilla. He does eat ketchup, but I found out the one that I use is gluten free when I was looking for information on its allergen contents. I have not been able to tell if he is reacting to the cookies. He certainly is not reacting like he was to wheat. His rice milk is gluten free and I make his ice cream. He might eat some Rice Dream once in awhile and I don't know if there is gluten in that. I am not specifically avoiding gluten, just all wheat-like items except for barley. I don't bake with barley -- it's just in those cookies that I know of.

Do you think he would test positive for Celiac with only that little bit of gluten? His allergy test to wheat was slightly positive, but over time, we saw problems with it.

I have also noticed that he has poor absorption in his stools. I can often see food in his stools. I plan on bringing this up to the ped as well. He was always constipated before we changed his diet -- even when I was breastfeeding him. The strange rash on his bottom is gone and hardly ever returns. It "looked" something like yeast, but he would get big flat purpuly looking spots before the tiny spots errupted. Both spots were very itchy. Very strange. These did not go away until we went no wheat. He was 10lb 15oz at birth and his weight gain has been very slow. I am guessing he is close to 20lbs now at 23mos. However, all of the weight has been put on in the past 6mos. He did have two surgeries at about 6 mos and as I said before, he had urinary tract issues which can effect growth. However, he now looks like a completely different child. Happy, gaining weight, etc. I realize it all could just be allergens, but when I look at my other dc, I wonder.

Thanks for all of the input. My ped listens to me so I will bring the weight issues up and see what he says. I don't mind my kids being thin, but my middle son worries me. He has no meat on his body. He has no bottom at all. He seems perfectly normal, though. They are a huge contrast to my oldest dd who is thin, but solid and gaining a preteen body. It is difficult to figure out whether they are just thin body types or something is not quite right. It is only the mother's instinct at work here.

Becca

[angie315]

My daughter has recently been diagnosed. My daugher gained weight very slowly and at 4 years old she only weighed in at 29lbs. Her ped. kept reasurring me that she was just naturally thin, she's been following her own growth curve, etc. I finally insisted that I wanted her tested for celiac and she was positive. My daughter's only signs were pale stools and low weight/slow growth and horrible eczema. No we are about to test our one year old because her weight has stalled and it has a noticiably full/distended belly and also had developed eczema after starting solids. Our ped. tells me not to jump to conclusions that she also has celiac. Funny, they really do not know much about Celiac and how it is very heriditary. Trust your mommy instincts!

I did know that Spelt any Rye were wheat realtives and are not gluten free. He will not eat those. The cookies I mentioned have barley flour so they are wheat free, but not gluten free. I did realize that. He eats them sometimes, but hardly any other processed foods so I know that is about all the gluten he would get plus in my baking with vanilla. He does eat ketchup, but I found out the one that I use is gluten free when I was looking for information on its allergen contents. I have not been able to tell if he is reacting to the cookies. He certainly is not reacting like he was to wheat. His rice milk is gluten free and I make his ice cream. He might eat some Rice Dream once in awhile and I don't know if there is gluten in that. I am not specifically avoiding gluten, just all wheat-like items except for barley. I don't bake with barley -- it's just in those cookies that I know of.

Do you think he would test positive for Celiac with only that little bit of gluten? His allergy test to wheat was slightly positive, but over time, we saw problems with it.

I have also noticed that he has poor absorption in his stools. I can often see food in his stools. I plan on bringing this up to the ped as well. He was always constipated before we changed his diet -- even when I was breastfeeding him. The strange rash on his bottom is gone and hardly ever returns. It "looked" something like yeast, but he would get big flat purpuly looking spots before the tiny spots errupted. Both spots were very itchy. Very strange. These did not go away until we went no wheat. He was 10lb 15oz at birth and his weight gain has been very slow. I am guessing he is close to 20lbs now at 23mos. However, all of the weight has been put on in the past 6mos. He did have two surgeries at about 6 mos and as I said before, he had urinary tract issues which can effect growth. However, he now looks like a completely different child. Happy, gaining weight, etc. I realize it all could just be allergens, but when I look at my other dc, I wonder.

Thanks for all of the input. My ped listens to me so I will bring the weight issues up and see what he says. I don't mind my kids being thin, but my middle son worries me. He has no meat on his body. He has no bottom at all. He seems perfectly normal, though. They are a huge contrast to my oldest dd who is thin, but solid and gaining a preteen body. It is difficult to figure out whether they are just thin body types or something is not quite right. It is only the mother's instinct at work here.

Becca

[taweavmo3]

Based on all those symptoms, I would definately pursue testing for you and your children. Especially with all of the auto immune diseases in your family as well. The test for you son may come back negative, since he's on a limited amount of gluten. That's the only bugger with testing, you have to load them up with gluten in order to make them sick enough to test positive. That's one of the reasons many parents bypass testing all together....well that, along with the high false negative rate.

My dd's biggest symptom was lack of weight gain, growth, and irritability. She never had diarrhea or vomiting, but she did have very large and foul smelling stools. I was told for two years that she was fine...she was just petite like me (which as it turns out, I have a problem with gluten as well). By the time she did test positive, she was 3 years old and weighed 20 pounds.

I ended up putting all of my kids on the diet, after they tested negative. They weren't nearly as sick as my little girl, but they all had loose stools, mysterious rashes, and were thin. Even after I told the ped that making them gluten free had solved these issues, I was told it was all coincidence. I walked out of there crying...but I still kept them on the diet and they have been incredibly healthy since.

Oddly enough, my daugther also has VUR. But it is only a grade II, so we haven't had surgery yet. She does still have growth issues though, and I'm guessing it is b/c of this. They keep telling me she will grow out of it, but it's been 3 years!

Whatever you decide, best of luck to you!