Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Growing Pains?

covsooze

Recommended Posts

covsooze Enthusiast
covsooze
Posted

Both myself and my sister are coeliacs. My son was tested a year ago and his bloods came back negative. The drs aren't concerned for him as he's big for his age. He often complains about his tummy hurting and has fairly loose stools on a regular basis, but isn't a sickly child, so I don't know if I'm just being paranoid being concerned about him. Believe it or not, the GP says his stomach pains are most likely due to him eating + drinking too fast! Anyway, that's me going off at a tangent..

What's concerning us at the moment is he often complains that his knees hurt, and his foot has started hurting today as well. Sometimes he'll wake up in the night crying like mad cos his knee hurts. It's not swollen or anything and he's never sustained anything more than the usual bumps and scratches. So my question is, do small kids really have 'growing pains' for no reason other than they're just growing, or could this be something to do with celiac disease, or indeed something else? I feel like if I asked the GP, he'd think I was wasting his time...

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Carriefaith Enthusiast
Carriefaith
Posted

I remember having knee, hip and mild ankle pain in the months leading up to my diagnosis. My knee and hip pain were the worst by far. I had trouble walking sometimes and had a bit of a limp by times because of the knee pain. All this greatly improved after being gluten-free for a few months, the hip pain bothered me for at least 3-4 months after going on the gluten-free diet. I do get knee pain every once in a while, but never as bad as it used to be!

nikki-uk Enthusiast
nikki-uk
Posted

Suzie, I would consider getting him tested again as this was what my son most complained of.

My son's first coeliac panel was neg, but came up high positive around 11 months later.

My hubby was dx 2 yrs ago and it was only this that made me look for symptoms in my kids.

My middle son never complained of stomach ache but did have pretty loose stools (but we kind of got used to that!)

It was his complaining that his leg hurt (or has he described it 'my bone is broke' !) that made me pursue testing.

In the last few months before his dx we really noticed a downturn in his overall wellbeing - and he didn't want to walk anywhere as his legs hurt too much and was now overly tired.

IMO it can't do any harm to get him tested.

Good Luck :)

Nancym Enthusiast
Nancym
Posted

I have an autoimmune disease called Akylosing Spondylitis. It can affect people pretty early in life, especially boys. It is connected to Celiac disease, as most autoimmune diseases are. But I've read that some people with this disease had a lot of bone pain in their teen years that doctors always blew off as growing pains. Hopefully it isn't AS but it is something to be aware of. Since I've gotten off of wheat and dairy and been taking Sulfasalazine for my AS it really has been MUCH better.

FeedIndy Contributor
FeedIndy
Posted

My older DD often complained of pain in her shins and her knees. Her ped at the time called them growing pains, too. She would wake up in the night screaming in pain. Through this board, I've become aware of some other issues with her that could be signs of celiac, rather than just how she is which is what we always thought.

We started the older two on gluten free yesterday and either I'm looking real hard or things are already improving! If you are getting negative test results, but still feel like something is going on a dietary trial is the way to go. I really think it's the only real way to know for sure.

covsooze Enthusiast
covsooze
Posted
  • Author

Thanks everyone. I think we will have him tested again in the new year. He is complaining of his stomach hurting quite frequently now. I'll let you know how it goes.

Susie x

PS Nikki - yes please to one of those mince pies :D

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. trents
      - trents replied to SamAlvi's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      5

      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

      Currently, there are no tests for NCGS. Celiac disease must first be ruled out and we do have testing for celiac disease. There are two primary test modalities for diagnosing celiac disease. One involves checking for antibodies in the blood. For the person with celiac disease, when gluten is ingested, it produces an autoimmune response in the lining...
    2. SamAlvi
      - SamAlvi replied to SamAlvi's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      5

      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

      Thank you for the clarification and for taking the time to explain the terminology so clearly. I really appreciate your insight, especially the distinction between celiac disease and NCGS and how anemia can point more toward celiac. This was very helpful for me.
    3. Jsingh
      - Jsingh replied to lizzie42's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      1

      Son's legs shaking

      Hi, My 7 year daughter has complained of this in the past, which I thought were part of her glutening symptom, but more recently I have come to figure out it's part of her histamine overload symptom. This one symptom was part of her broader profile, which included irritability, extreme hunger, confusion, post-nasal drip. You might want to look up "histamine...
    4. lizzie42
      - lizzie42 posted a topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      1

      Son's legs shaking

      My 5yo was diagnosed with celiac last year by being tested after his sister was diagnosed. We are very strict on the gluten-free diet, but unsure what his reactions are as he was diagnosed without many symptoms other than low ferritin. He had a school party where his teacher made gluten-free gingerbread men. I almost said no because she made it in her...
    5. trents
      - trents replied to Paulaannefthimiou's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      1

      Bob red mill gluten free oats

      Not necessarily. The "Gluten Free" label means not more than 20ppm of gluten in the product which is often not enough for super sensitive celiacs. You would need to be looking for "Certified Gluten Free" (GFCO endorsed) which means no more than 10ppm of gluten. Having said that, "Gluten Free" doesn't mean that there will necessarily be more gluten than "Certified...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,868
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    LMGarrison
    Newest Member
    LMGarrison
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

      By trents · Posted

      Currently, there are no tests for NCGS. Celiac disease must first be ruled out and we do have testing for celiac disease. There are two primary test modalities for diagnosing celiac disease. One involves checking for antibodies in the blood. For the person with celiac disease, when gluten is ingested, it produces an autoimmune response in the lining of the small bowel which generates specific kinds of antibodies. Some people are IGA deficient and such that the IGA antibody tests done for celiac disease will have skewed results and cannot be trusted. In that case, there are IGG tests that can be ordered though, they aren't quite as specific for celiac disease as the IGA tests. But the possibility of IGA deficiency is why a "total IGA" test should always be ordered along with the TTG-IGA. The other modality is an endoscopy (scoping of the upper GI track) with a biopsy of the small bowel lining. The aforementioned autoimmune response produces inflammation in the small bowel lining which, over time, damages the structure of the lining. The biopsy is sent to a lab and microscopically analyzed for signs of this damage. If the damage is severe enough, it can often be spotted during the scoping itself. The endoscopy/biopsy is used as confirmation when the antibody results are positive, since there is a small chance that elevated antibody test scores can be caused by things other than celiac disease, particularly when the antibody test numbers are not particularly high. If the antibody test numbers are 10x normal or higher, physicians will sometimes declare an official diagnosis of celiac disease without an endoscopy/biopsy, particularly in the U.K. Some practitioners use stool tests to detect celiac disease but this modality is not widely recognized in the medical community as valid. Both celiac testing modalities outlined above require that you have been consuming generous amounts of gluten for weeks/months ahead of time. Many people make the mistake of experimenting with the gluten free diet or even reducing their gluten intake prior to testing. By doing so, they invalidate the testing because antibodies stop being produced, disappear from the blood and the lining of the small bowel begins to heal. So, then they are stuck in no man's land, wondering if they have celiac disease or NCGS. To resume gluten consumption, i.e., to undertake a "gluten challenge" is out of the question because their reaction to gluten is so strong that it would endanger their health. The lining of the small bowel is the place where all of the nutrition in the food we consume is absorbed. This lining is made up of billions of microscopically tiny fingerlike projections that create a tremendous nutrient absorption surface area. The inflammation caused by celiac disease wears down these fingers and greatly reduces the surface area needed for nutrient absorption. Thus, people with celiac disease often develop iron deficiency anemia and a host of other vitamin and mineral deficiencies. It is likely that many more people who have issues with gluten suffer from NCGS than from celiac disease. We actually know much more about the mechanism of celiac disease than we do about NCGS but some experts believe NCGS can transition into celiac disease.
    • SamAlvi
      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

      By SamAlvi · Posted

      Thank you for the clarification and for taking the time to explain the terminology so clearly. I really appreciate your insight, especially the distinction between celiac disease and NCGS and how anemia can point more toward celiac. This was very helpful for me.
    • Jsingh
      Son's legs shaking

      By Jsingh · Posted

      Hi,  My 7 year daughter has complained of this in the past, which I thought were part of her glutening symptom, but more recently I have come to figure out it's part of her histamine overload symptom. This one symptom was part of her broader profile, which included irritability, extreme hunger, confusion, post-nasal drip. You might want to look up "histamine intolerance". I wish I had known of this at the time of her diagnosis, life would have been much easier.  I hope you are able to figure out. 
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      My 5yo was diagnosed with celiac last year by being tested after his sister was diagnosed. We are very strict on the gluten-free diet, but unsure what his reactions are as he was diagnosed without many symptoms other than low ferritin.  He had a school party where his teacher made gluten-free gingerbread men. I almost said no because she made it in her kitchen but I thought it would be ok.  Next day and for a few after his behavior is awful. Hitting, rude, disrespectful. Mainly he kept saying his legs were shaking. Is this a gluten exposure symptom that anyone else gets? Also the bad behavior? 
    • trents
      Bob red mill gluten free oats

      By trents · Posted

      Not necessarily. The "Gluten Free" label means not more than 20ppm of gluten in the product which is often not enough for super sensitive celiacs. You would need to be looking for "Certified Gluten Free" (GFCO endorsed) which means no more than 10ppm of gluten. Having said that, "Gluten Free" doesn't mean that there will necessarily be more gluten than "Certified Gluten" in any given batch run. It just means there could be. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.