Is This A Sign Of Celiac?

[typhoontyty]

Hi. My son is undergoing testing to see if the reason he has had diarrhea and has stopped growing is celiac. One of the lab tests they are doing is to check for fat in his stool. I have noticed that some of his diapers look 'oily' or 'greasy' in addition to being mucousy. Is that consistent with celiac? They are also running a bunch of blood tests; and the GI dr. advised him to go off gluten-free diet in case he needs an endoscopy in the near future. He is 11 months old. Thanks! Renee

[mat4mel]

Renee,

Yes, fatty stools is a major symptom in kids with celiac. My 2 1/2 yr old dd had frequent greasy (and mucusy sometimes too) looking stools until gluten-free diet.

So your child is on a gluten-free diet? Is that helping at all?

Mel

[typhoontyty]

When my son's ped ran the celiac panel 3 weeks ago he came positive for elevated IgG and IgA antibodies; but negative for the Endomysial antibodies. So initially his ped. said he had celiac; to do the gluten-free diet; and to see a GI specialist. We saw the GI dr. last week; who isn't yet convinced it is celiac; and wants to do more lab tests and possibly an endoscopy. So now he has been on a regular diet for about 4 days. When he was on the gluten-free diet his poops were down to about 2 a day; but still looked like greasy peanut butter (sorry if TMI!!) Now he has only been on a regular diet for a few days; I haven't really noticed a change in his poops yet.

How old was your daughter when she went on gluten-free diet? Did she have any tests to confirm celiac; or are you just keeping her on a gluten-free diet because her symptoms have improved? Thanks! Renee

[mat4mel]

Renee, my dd's story is very similar. Around the age of 2 she had loose frequent stools exactly as you described. She also had positive igg and iga at her ped's office but he did not run the endomysial antibodies. We couldn't get into the ped gi dr for a few months, and decied to go ahead and put her on a gluten-free diet. her poops improved a great deal after the gluten-free diet.. also eliminated casein (milk protein) at the same time. Although her poops ar estill not formed at all and I suspect there are several food sensitivities. She still is very sensitive to milk protein. Our ped GI dr ran the endomysial antibodies after being gluten-free a few months and it was negative but he said her total IgA was slightly low so the endomysial antibodies being low was not very reliable. He recommended teh same thing-- do a gluten challenge and endoscopy. We aren't sure if we are going to do that yet. We keep going back and forth. I am pretty sure celiac is in our family because of some of the family history (nobody has been dx'd with celiac, but there are some people with symptoms) so I am hesitant to reintroduce gluten back into her diet right now.

I hope I didn't confuse you any more than you probably are. Excuse my typos if there are any-- I am holding my newborn while trying to type.

Mel