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Will An Allergy Specialist Do? Or Do I Need A Ped Gi?

buttonburger

By buttonburger
in Doctors

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buttonburger Rookie
buttonburger
Posted

Hi All

I ask because my youngest DS is currently under the care of an Allergy Consultant due to multiple food allergies.

He's currently on a dairy/wheat/gluten/soy/nut/egg/fish free diet (with a few oter exclusions thrown in there for good measure!) but until I discovered this site I was unaware of the risk of CC or the fact that Rice Krsipies (recommended by one of the allergy nurses :angry: ) contain gluten.

Having recently discovered that I'm allergic to wheat & dairy myself, and having monitored my older son & his poor weight gain/moodiness/sore tummy/headaches & floating poo (sorry for tmi!! :lol: ) I'm now strongly suspicious of celiac disease and am trying to prepare my speech for the Allergy specialist when we see him on Friday - we see him about every 6-8wks currently. I would like him to assess DS1 who has dropped from the 50th to the 9th centile in 12months but I want to get my argument right.

Will he know enough about celiac disease to rule it out or confirm it - in all 3 of us if need be? or should I insist on see a ped GI for the kids who tbh I'd prefer to have a diagnosis for so that I can get bread etc on prescription & get the eldest boys school to take the issue of glutening seriously...

All help appreciated

Julie

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chrissy Collaborator
chrissy
Posted

when our allergist tested one of our kids for celiac and it came back positive, he wanted to turn her over to a GI. a ped gi is more likely to know more about celiac than the allergist.

powderprincess Rookie
powderprincess
Posted

I took myself to an allergy specialist 3 years ago and saw them often when I was young. They didn't catch the celiac.

The GI will most likely know much more. Good luck and hope your fam feels better soon!

Rice krispies!!! bad! (except ones you make yourself) I think you answered your own question since you were told by someone in the allergy office to have those malty rice krispie things.

when our allergist tested one of our kids for celiac and it came back positive, he wanted to turn her over to a GI. a ped gi is more likely to know more about celiac than the allergist.
happygirl Collaborator
happygirl
Posted

An allergist is generally not the right doctor to see for Celiac.

However, the fact that your child is gluten free anyways....a doctor would probably recommend that your child eat gluten for a few months, then do bloodwork and biopsy to 'see' if they have Celiac. Problem is---the treatment is the same if they have a gluten allergy or gluten intolerance or Celiac----a gluten free diet. The testing is helpful if the problem has not be identified, but can be a problem wen gluten has already been identified as a problem "somehow"

April in KC Apprentice
April in KC
Posted
Will he know enough about celiac disease to rule it out or confirm it - in all 3 of us if need be? or should I insist on see a ped GI for the kids who tbh I'd prefer to have a diagnosis for so that I can get bread etc on prescription & get the eldest boys school to take the issue of glutening seriously...

Some allergists (like mine) are not taught in school to test for anything other than anti-gliadin antibodies. Mine agreed to do a blood test, but only asked for anti-gliadin antibodies, IgA and IgE (of all things--I'm not having hives--he could have at least asked for an IgG in addition to the IgA). You really want a full Celiac panel (both antigliadin tests, anti-endomysial antibodies, tissue transglutaminase, plus a "total IgA" in case there's IgA deficiency and it skews the other results). If you like your allergist and want to give him a try, you might scan this board to see what blood tests should be included, ideally, and take that information with you to the visit.

I'm nursing an 8-1/2 month old with multiple food allergies, and I'm wondering about his celiac status as well. He couldn't hold down cereal, but has not tested positive on IgE tests for oats and wheat. It might just be too early to say whether it's all allergies or partly celiac.

Good luck!

buttonburger Rookie
buttonburger
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for everyones advice.

I spoke with the allergist yesterday & he was totally dismissive of any opinion but his own - & that is that my youngest has multiple food allergies & that is that. He said how could I even be suspicious of celiac disease when he hasnt been exposed to grains/gluten yet? :angry:

So what about his reactions to basically everything I ate & possible CC & the gluten in the Rice Krispies his nurse advised me to give him??? He tested +ive for a non IgE wheat allergy @ 4&1/2mths (amongst other things) & hasnt tolerated *any* of the grains we have tried so far (oats, corn & millet) but to him thats not indicative of a problem other than allergy.

I briefly discussed my elder son & he said he was an ideal candidate for testing but that the family doctor could do that - he didnt even suggest what tests should be carried out! (luckily I have the list from here to take along with me on wednesday :lol: )

The fact also that I recently discovered I have a wheat & dairy intolerance, coupled with my sons current dietary problems seem irrelevant.

It was almost as if he didnt want to consider celiac disease as it would mean he would lose a patient. Hes the top guy here so I am reluctant to discharge ourselves from the clinic - and my son is still so young that we really need dietic advice for him for a while longer, but hes helped me answer my own questions - he isnt the right guy for the job.

Ok, I could be wrong (my gut instinct tells me I'm not though), but he could at least try to put my mind at rest rather than dismiss me like I'm a neurotic mum. So I have made an appt for out family GP for this wednesday to request the full set of tests for my son & to heopfully get a referral for a pediatric GI.

Thanks to everyone once again,

Julie

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