First Appt With The Gi

[dandelionmom]

I know to talk to him about the biopsy and diet but what other questions did you ask at your first GI apt? What should we expect (I want to be able to prep Julia)?

[Darn210]

Can you give us a little info as to where you are in the process? No testing but symptoms? Have you had a positive blood test and looking to see if they want to do a biopsy?

[dandelionmom]

We've had symptoms since May, positive blood work last week, and are just starting gluten-free.

[JennyC]

At my son's appointment all the GI wanted to do was listen to me explain his symptoms and order a biopsy. (My son already had positive blood tests.) He would not discuss treatment until he got a positive biopsy. He's not the greatest doctor in my opinion. Since we had already started the gluten free diet and I refused the gluten challenge we did not get along too well.

[Darn210]

At our first GI appointment, we talked symptoms, scheduled the endoscopy and discussed what they were going to look for. We were expecting the endoscopy based on a conversation with the pediatrician. The doc gave us his top three guesses as to what was going on - Celiac was not one of them. Her symptoms were acid reflux that got better but did not go away with medication. They drew blood during the endoscopy to test for other things - that's where she tested positive for Celiac. Her biopsy was inconclusive but he said, after the fact, that he had not expected celiac and did not biopsy her properly for it (6 samples instead of the two he took in the small intestine). He did not feel the need to rescope her though.

I asked that they check for lactose intolerance. That was one of the guesses from my pediatrician even though she was not having classic symptoms there, either. However, lots of people with celiac have lactose intolerance until they heal since lactose is processed in the area that is damaged in the intestine. So you may want to ask about that, too.

After her official diagnosis, they recommended an appointment with a registered dietician which we did do - however, by the time I got to see her, I had already self-educated myself to the degree that I didn't really learn too much.

If you are going to do a biopsy, don't start your gluten-free diet yet. It will affect the results of the test - kid's start healing fast.