New To This...several Questions

[RakkasanWife]

Hi folks! My name is Melissa and I'm the mom of a newly diagnosed 11yo daughter with DC. The doc didnt run any of the tests, but with my family history (grandfather, sister, and probably father too) and Morganne's symptoms (GI upsets, eating Pepto several times a week) she decided to put my daughter on a gluten-free diet. I really dont have a problem with the lack of testing since I know its genetic and have family members who have gone thru the tests and been diagnosed. In talking to the doctor, I was concerned with my 18mo daughters lack of weight gain (she's gained 1/2lb in the last two months) and the doctor said she "probably" has it too. So two kids on gluten free. Well, I also have a 3 month old daughter(yes I figured out how that happens lol) who is exclusively breast fed. While her weight gain has never been a concern for me, her stools are. She doesnt have the "typical" bf'ing stools...its almost always liquid. For me personally, in my reading up on celiac disease, I would say I have several of the "classic" symptoms and have been diagnosed in the past with IBS.

Ok, enough of the history...now for the questions lol

Aside from the fact that I should be gluten free too...if the baby has celiac disease, can gluten be passed thru breast milk if I ingest it?

Are there any studies that link eczema to celiac disease?

How do I get the military doctors to listen to me (we're Army and in the process of moving...the girls saw a civillian doctor...so nothing is in their military health records) Any tips?

I have several more questions, but it seems a thunderstorm wants me offline. I'll check back soon and ask more then.

Thanks ladies!

[chrissy]

yes, gluten can pass through breast milk.

[Ursa Major]

Hi Melissa, and welcome to this board.

To answer your questions: Yes, gluten will be passed to the baby through breastmilk. But since you're going gluten-free anyway, that shouldn't be a problem, right? I hope you see an improvement in both yourself and the baby on a gluten-free diet.

Yes, celiac disease definitely causes rashes and eczema, as does cows milk (and most people with celiac disease can, at least initially, not tolerate cows milk).

But I can't answer the third question.........I've heard bad things about Army doctors, and it's almost impossible to get them to listen, it seems. So, you might just have to do this on your own.

Mind you, you may be pleasantly surprised by your next Army doctor, I'm sure there are exceptions (as there are everywhere).

[AndreaB]

Well, I also have a 3 month old daughter(yes I figured out how that happens lol) who is exclusively breast fed. While her weight gain has never been a concern for me, her stools are. She doesnt have the "typical" bf'ing stools...its almost always liquid. For me personally, in my reading up on celiac disease, I would say I have several of the "classic" symptoms and have been diagnosed in the past with IBS.

Ok, enough of the history...now for the questions lol

Aside from the fact that I should be gluten free too...if the baby has celiac disease, can gluten be passed thru breast milk if I ingest it?

Are there any studies that link eczema to celiac disease?

Hi Melissa and welcome!

I feel like our youngest are somewhat similar. Mine will be 10 months this week. Yes, gluten can pass through the breastmilk. Not sure about the diapers.....my son's were liquidy but I thought that was pretty normal. Are there studies that link eczema to celiac.....don't know. Do know that allergies and intolerances are and gluten intolerance leads to celiac or celiac type symptoms depending on the genes one has.

My son broke out with eczema just after 2 months of age. I don't know what the trigger was but I wouldn't be surprised if it was system overload from vaccinations. That said, I could be totally wrong. I had dental work done before I found out we were expecting and also during the 3rd trimester. Who knows what that did to him. Anyway, I went through allergy testing (IgE/IgG) and found out I was IgG allergic to wheat, gluten, gliadin and soy among others. See Sig. I went off of those things I was allergic to and his rash got better. Still not completely gone though (in April/May). I was still eating oats occasionaly as well as drinking Rice Dream milk. Those were pretty much it for gluten. Did enterolab testing the end of May and found out the beginning of June I was intolerant to gluten and soy. I promptly removed the rest of the gluten from my diet (went soy free in Feb/Mar) and my babies rash totally went away. In hindsight, my older two had diaper rashes a lot and this one doesn't very much. If only I had known. My oldest two and myself are gluten intolerant. I suspect the baby is too. I gave him oatmeal for a week when he was 8 months old and he was fussy the whole week.

Please, go gluten free. If the rash doesn't totally clear up and you use soy products, cut those out. If it still doesn't clear up cut out dairy and see if you notice a difference.

PM me anytime. I'm pretty new to this too but have been reading on the forum since May. You're the first one I know of who has a similar experience to my little boys.

[RakkasanWife]

Thanks ladies!

I'm hoping (probably futily) that our next duty station will be at least slightly forward thinking considering all I've heard. (Ursela, you might be able to correct me if I'm wrong...please do) We're headed for Germany and from what I've read and been told, they are very educated in not only celiac, but in homeopathy. So, with any luck, the local medical knowledge will have had an effect on the military docs...Hey, I can hope right?

Anyway....thunderstorm passed...more questions lol

For those of you with older children (especially for those children who were diagnosed later), how did you help your little one cope with the diet? My 11yo is having a little bit of a hard time letting go of her favorite foods. She has enough stress right now, I dont want to make the stress worse (which also effects her stomach) but I also want her healthy.

Do you ladies know of any online gluten-free shopping sites that will ship to an APO address?

And lastly, any books that I should read? Any to avoid?

Thanks again ladies!!

[CarlaB]

I liked Gluten-Free for Dummies.

Welcome to the board!

[GFBetsy]

I think that one of the best ways to help your daughter deal with her diet is to replace some of those "gluteny" things she is missing out on with gluten free treats. I've got great pizza recipes, cookie recipes, and cake recipes that are simple and easy to make. (I admit that they aren't as simple as buying them from the store already made, but they are no harder to make than "regular" cookies/pizza.) Tinkyada pasta is a great gluten-free product that is very similar to "regular" pasta. Also (though I'm not sure about Germany) many European countries are much more aware of celiac than the US, and you may find that there are a lot more "ready-made" gluten free food options there.

For dinner recipes, try the cookbook "Saving Dinner" by Leanne Ely - most of the recipes are naturally gluten free.

Try the "Soft Batch Cookies" recipe from www.eatingglutenfree.com . . . I contributed a bunch to a funeral luncheon last week (I don't make cookies with gluten in them at home, because it's not fair for my daughter to smell them and not be able to eat them ) and the family members (from the funeral) asked me for the recipe later!

Best of luck!

[TCA]

My son has celiac disease and my daughter started showing symptoms as an infant. I went gluten-free as a trial and the change was miraculous. She gained nothing the first 4 mos. of life, but gained 17 oz the first 2 weeks gluten-free. She gets very ill if I accidentally ingest gluten, so there's no doubt she has it. My son was also sick as a baby, but it took until he was 3 for us to figure it all out with him. I just stopped puming for my daughter at 17 mos. She's doing really well now. I found that after going gluten-free I felt better than I ever had in my life. It also made it easier having a gluten-free household since we now now that 3 of 4 of us have gluten issues. PM me anytime if I can help! Testing on these little ones is often inconclusive, but we got all the results we needed with a diet trial.