2 Yr Old - 6 Days Gluten-free & Still Distended Abdomen!

[LuchoWa]

My daughter who is 2 year old and was diagnosed with Celiac last week, has been gluten-free for almost a week (6 days). Yesterday, we saw some improvements but today her belly is extremely distended.

Does anyone knows if this is normal? How long should it take for the abdomen to go back to normal??

Most postings in this blog talk about miraculous results after a couple of days gluten-free, we have not seen anything that dramatically! Could it be that she is lactose intolerant??

Any advice would be highly appreciated.

Thanks

Worried father!

[CarlaB]

If she had villi damage, there is a good chance she is lactose intolerant. Many recommend avoiding dairy for the first few months.

Also, though six days seems like an eternity, it's really not. Healing takes time. Many here take many months to heal.

Another thing is that it often takes time to completely eliminate gluten. It's hidden, there are contamination issues, etc. It takes time to learn all about what to avoid. So, keep reading, and keep perfecting her diet. She'll see improvement. There will be ups and downs as she heals.

[happygirl]

It takes longer than 6 days to heal from Celiac. It can take from weeks to months, and in a small minority of patients, longer than that.

Gluten has to get out of her system, the damage has to be repaired, and then her body needs to replenish all the stuff that she has been malabsorping.

From a great site: Open Original Shared Link

Q: I've just been diagnosed with celiac disease. How soon will I feel better?

Most patients respond rapidly to a gluten-free diet and will often report an increased feeling of well-being. How well they feel, and how quickly, may vary depending on the nature, severity and duration of symptoms prior to diagnosis. There may also be some "ups and downs" as they work toward the goal of eliminating all gluten from their diet. There is usually a learning curve to finding what food, drink and drug products are safe and which contain gluten.

From another reputable site: Open Original Shared Link

For most people, following this diet will stop symptoms, heal existing intestinal damage, and prevent further damage. Improvements begin within weeks of starting the diet, and the small intestine is usually completely healed--meaning the villi are intact and working--in 6 to 18 months. (It may take up to 2 years for older adults.)

Best of luck. Keep on the gluten free diet, 100%.

This website has a list of companies that will clearly list any gluten sources (wheat, rye, barley, malt, oats). Open Original Shared Link It may make shopping easier not having to worry about hidden gluten.

[Stargirl*]

My daughter's abdomen took about six weeks to go down, and it took about a year for her to feel consistently fine. Cutting out most overt dairy really helped at first. We did notice and improvement after about a week, but it has taken a long time for full health.

She was 10 when she was diagnosed.

HTH

[NewGFMom]

We kept the dairy in, and it took about 4 months for my son (3 now 4) stomach to stop hurting and for his poop to look more normal.

It takes a long time for a lot of kids. Be patient. It also takes a while to get a grip on the diet, and to get used to all the stuff you have to do to make sure they're not getting any cross contamination.

Best of luck to you!

[Juliet]

When my son was diagnosed, we were told to crush up half a tablet of Lactaid and mix it with a little water or food each time before we gave him dairy since the enzyme that breaks down lactose is the first to go when Celiac Disease is active. Verify that it's still gluten free, and try it out. It really helped us.

My son (diagnosed at 2) had seen dramatic improvement on the 9th day, going from being awake for only a total of 3 hours out of the day and walking only a few feet, to suddenly on that very day walking to the point of stumbling and refusing to sleep just because he could move for the first time in months. This being said, the distended belly did not go away. In fact, his distended belly has finally started going away now after 2 years. And if for some reason he hasn't gone in a couple of days (he's still has issues with pooping, mainly because he's afraid of it still, so any change in routine such as people visiting, out a little late, etc., he holds it in), it's distended almost to the point of looking like he did when he was really sick, except at least this time we don't see veins popping out of his skin every time something starts to move in his intestines.

That distended belly problem is one mother of a problem!

[LuchoWa]

Thanks for the great feedback. It helps me to understand what to expect. The Lactaid is a great idea.

When my son was diagnosed, we were told to crush up half a tablet of Lactaid and mix it with a little water or food each time before we gave him dairy since the enzyme that breaks down lactose is the first to go when Celiac Disease is active. Verify that it's still gluten free, and try it out. It really helped us.

My son (diagnosed at 2) had seen dramatic improvement on the 9th day, going from being awake for only a total of 3 hours out of the day and walking only a few feet, to suddenly on that very day walking to the point of stumbling and refusing to sleep just because he could move for the first time in months. This being said, the distended belly did not go away. In fact, his distended belly has finally started going away now after 2 years. And if for some reason he hasn't gone in a couple of days (he's still has issues with pooping, mainly because he's afraid of it still, so any change in routine such as people visiting, out a little late, etc., he holds it in), it's distended almost to the point of looking like he did when he was really sick, except at least this time we don't see veins popping out of his skin every time something starts to move in his intestines.

That distended belly problem is one mother of a problem!