My Son's Enterolab Results

[lonewolf]

Here are my son's results.

Gluten Sensitivity Stool Test

Fecal Antigliadin IgA 9 (Normal Range <10 Units)

Gluten Sensitivity Gene Test

HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 1 0301

HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 2 0301

Serologic equivalent: HLA-DQ 3,3 (Subtype 7,7)

A lot of you know a lot more than I do, although this seems pretty clear cut. It shows that he is at the high end of "normal" for the Fecal Antigliadin IgA. He has been fairly low gluten his whole life and was completely gluten-free for six months (Jan to June) and then 8 weeks back on low gluten before the testing. I wonder if the results would be different if he had been eating a "normal" diet his whole life.

So now I know that my husband and I both carry at least on Gluten Sensitivity gene - no surprise to me.

My 13 year old daughter saw the results, figured out that she must have one or two of the genes too and decided that she would go gluten-free, "except for oats occasionally". My 15 year old daughter has already gone gluten-free because she feels better - completely her choice. My husband is in denial that he could possibly have a problem himself.

My question is, should I take him off gluten completely, like I would like to? Or should I keep him on low gluten? He's 11, fighting the gluten-free diet and doesn't think it's necessary. He's old enough to cheat when he's out of my sight. But what is best? Waiting until he is really sick or insisting that he starts now?

[CarlaB]

Since he's not currently reacting, I would just keep in mind that it could be a problem in the future. When you cook, I'd cook gluten-free for the whole family, then they can get their gluten outside the home. That's how we're doing it, and it's working out fine. If he does better off the gluten, then keep him off the gluten.

I was really sick with 6 weeks of eating gluten. If he lasted 8 weeks with no problems, I'd say he can tolerate it relatively well. I was gluten-free for almost three months when I was tested and had been gluten free for six months/wheat free for three years prior to the gluten challenge. So, the Enterolab results should have been accurate for your son.

[Guhlia]

I agree with Carla. What I did is I made our entire household gluten free. I don't have anything with gluten in the house whatsoever and I don't allow gluten in the house. If hubby (or in your case, DS) wants to eat gluten, he must wash his hands and face when he comes home. I also make him wipe down anything he touched with gluteny hands. I've basically made it so much of a pain for him that he rarely eats gluten anymore at all. Oddly he's in a much better mood since going gluten free. He'll never admit though that he may have a problem.

[lonewolf]

Thanks for your responses. I should have given more information. I make everything gluten-free in our house except for sandwich bread for my hubby and kids who aren't gluten-free. This son is the one that has horrible gas, gets constipated regularly, is a bedwetter, has eye twitches that are not Tourettes and was referred for testing for ADD last year. When he went gluten-free for six months a lot of this either cleared up or got better. But he was sure it was all in MY head that he had problems that got better.

I decided to use Enterolab after reading about it here and doing some research. I told him that if he tested "normal" then we would look into something other than gluten as being the problem, since he is so opposed to going completely gluten-free. I thought for sure his results would be off the charts. One point higher on the IgA would have been my "proof", but the double copy of the gluten sensitivity gene makes me think too. He's already pretty much off all dairy, and has been since about 18 months, so I didn't test for that.

Part of this is parenting style, but I don't want to get into an all-out battle over food. Like I said before, at his age he can cheat when he's at school or at friends' houses. I'm trying to help him see for himself that eating gluten-free will help him avoid some of the health problems that I've had and help him with some of the struggles he already has. My daughters seem to understand this well and are going gluten-free with no "proof" other than that they feel better without gluten and looking at HIS gene test results. He loves all the gluten-free food I make, he just wants wheat bread for sandwiches and wants to eat treats at school and order whatever he wants on the rare occasion we go out for dinner.

So I guess I'm trying to figure out how much to push this and how strict to require him to be when I don't really have "proof" that he has a problem with gluten. Has anyone else faced this with an older child?