Incontinence Problems? Help

[cs789]

My 5 1/2 year old son was diagnosed with celiac in November with the blood test and biopsy. HE's been gluten free since then. Very postive change overall.

But for awhile he has been wetting his pants during the day. I don't know if he is lazy, too busy to think about or if this has anything to do with his celiac.

We try to take him at least 4 or 5 times a day and it still happens and he doesn't seem to care....

Has anyone else had this problem?

Any suggestions would be helpful.

[Guhlia]

My daughter (not dx'd) wets herself for approximately 3 days after going out to eat generally. I'm assuming it's a gluten issue. She's already strictly gluten free, but it's likely she's getting trace amounts of gluten when we go out. She's not very careful about where she shoves her fork or her fingers, she's only 3. Anyway, I would check into everything that he could be getting his little hands into. Better to assume it's Celiac and cover all bases than to just let it go and call it laziness. Perhaps he's getting glutened at school? Since it's the end of the school year the teachers are probably being more lax and there are probably school parties with gluten everywhere. If he's not in school yet, the same can be true of daycares. Incontinence can DEFINITELY be a gluten issue.

[Esther Sparhawk]

My daughter Annie has incontinence problems when she gets glutened. Usually, it's loose stool, but occassionally we see wetting problems. Like you, I've wondered if the wetting accidents weren't due to cross-contamination.

I found that she was being exposed to gluten in these areas:

soap at the daycare

touching dog food/cat food then sticking fingers in mouth

exposure to playdough on the tables at daycare

daycare provider was using gluten-contaminated sunscreen

I was giving her Flintstone vitamins without knowing they were not gluten-free -- just didn't think about it...

finger paints at daycare

We've been on a gluten-free diet for two years now, and I'm still learning the many ways a kid can get glutened. Best of luck to you!