Constipation And Rice Products

[Guest Rosany]

Hello everyone. I am new to this website and new to celiac disease. My son is autistic and was diagnosed this Tuesday and also has soy, egg and milk allergies. I have been running around trying to get all that I can Gluten free. The problem I am having is that we ordered some food and are waiting for it but for now we are giving him mostly gluten free rice substitutes. He has corn tortillas he eats and rice pasta and marinara sauce that I mix with carrots, bananas (which usually regulate him), and applesauce. He loves applesauce which I am sure is not helping with the constipation. He is very picky and only 4.5yrs old. He is set in his ways and will not taste anything he does not recognize. So rice milk, rice pasta with meat and tom sauce with carrots in it, applesauce, banana, corn tortillas today and he is distended and in pain. What do I do? I gave him some green tea mixed with white grape juice and a banana which usually makes him go and nothing yet. Is green tea ok? I assume yes as I read the ingredients and it is fine but I just don't know what to do. I am really feeling overwhelmed and trying to take things one meal at a time. Thanks everyone for reading my post and any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. Hugs to you all and have a great night.

Hugs,

Rosa

[kbtoyssni]

Green tea is usually ok. Always have to check just to be sure, but there's a 99% chance it's fine.

My first thought is that he's only been gluten-free for a few days which probably isn't long enough for him to have done a lot of healing. So the stomach pain could be a holdover from the intestinal damage. Once your gut is damaged, it seems like lots of foods will aggravate it even though you don't have an issue with them. Or you could still have CC issues. It takes a while to get all gluten out of the diet. Have you replaced wooden spoons, collenders, toasters, opened new condiments that might have been "double-dipped" with gluten knives, checked pet food, shampoos and lotions?

Note that gluten free substitutes can be hard on the stomach. They're very dense, and many people find they don't feel that great eating them. They often don't taste great, either. You might be best sticking with very plain meals, plain meats, veggies, etc.

I wish I had some better advice, but I think you have to just keep reading ingredients and give it a bit more time.

[Izak's Mom]

Hi Rosa,

I've been battling the constipation issue with my Celiac 2.5 year old for months now - he's also been getting more and more picky about his foods, and tends to exclusively want breads and muffins (not the most poop-inducing foods). Thankfully, he's a pretty good drinker and loves hot tea so I often make him the decaf herbal flavored stuff - apple cinnamon, or orange - but he also loves decaf early grey with honey and milk! Anyway, our biggest solution has been to put him on Miralax which is a stool softener/laxative. I had some serious reservations about the word 'laxative', but the way I understand it, Miralax different than other stuff because rather than stimulating the bowels to move, it helps to draw more water into them to make the poop mushier (doesn't that sound technical!). It's actually been great for us - after some fiddling with dosage, I've found that a half capful in his morning milk does the trick (you can mix it with whatever liquid, it has no taste or texture), and I've also been extra careful about making sure he has enough to drink throughout the day. We've got water-filled sippies stashed about the house, in the car, in his bag, etc. so there's also some water available. He still tends to hold it in after having had a couple particularly painful poop experiences, but the whole ordeal of actually going has been progressively improving. It's still definitely an event, but he's learning that it's not going to hurt (even though I swear the poops this kid makes are like the size of his entire body - gigantic!). So you may want to look into that. Does he like pears? My son also loves canned pears, which from what I understand also have a lot of fiber in them - those might also help. Good luck!

-E

[hayley3]

Have you tried apple juice to help make him go? It always helped me.

Also, as someone else mentioned his intestines have not had time to heal. Try to stay with unprocessed foods. I just started this diet and now find that corn is irritating to me and is causing me GERD symptoms. I know it's hard trying to feed a child, but you have it extra hard with those other allergies. I would not feed too many grains. Stick with meat and veggies and fruit. Maybe try alternating with almond milk instead of rice milk all the time, and also the almond milk will have omega 3's.

However, without regular milk he will not be getting regular amounts of vitamin D unless you give him a multivitamin. Just something to think about.

[Juliet]

Your body also produces vitamin D when your skin is exposed to the sun (sans sunscreen). I believe the recommended "dose" is 10 minutes every day.

When our son was blocked from constipation, we were told to give him mineral oil. It started helping so much, and made him feel so much better because of it, he would suck down 15 ml. of mineral oil 3 times a day like it was candy we were giving him! And he was only 2.

[hayley3]

That's not true anymore. For some reason, there is starting to be a widespread deficiency of vitamin D in children. Maybe it's because of the ozone. Maybe they are being born with a deficiency from the mother. Who knows, but rickets among children is on the rise, according to some articles I've read.

I do remember reading that, initially the reason they added vitamin d to milk was to combat rickets because of children who moved from rural communities to towns and that was in the early 1900's and the air was a lot cleaner then.

[bluejeangirl]

Hello everyone. I am new to this website and new to celiac disease. My son is autistic and was diagnosed this Tuesday and also has soy, egg and milk allergies. I have been running around trying to get all that I can Gluten free. The problem I am having is that we ordered some food and are waiting for it but for now we are giving him mostly gluten free rice substitutes. He has corn tortillas he eats and rice pasta and marinara sauce that I mix with carrots, bananas (which usually regulate him), and applesauce. He loves applesauce which I am sure is not helping with the constipation. He is very picky and only 4.5yrs old. He is set in his ways and will not taste anything he does not recognize. So rice milk, rice pasta with meat and tom sauce with carrots in it, applesauce, banana, corn tortillas today and he is distended and in pain. What do I do? I gave him some green tea mixed with white grape juice and a banana which usually makes him go and nothing yet. Is green tea ok? I assume yes as I read the ingredients and it is fine but I just don't know what to do. I am really feeling overwhelmed and trying to take things one meal at a time. Thanks everyone for reading my post and any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. Hugs to you all and have a great night.

Hugs,

Rosa

I don't think your giving him foods that are constipating. Unless he's having candida problems then fruits would be a problem. Candida thrive on sugars and fruits are naturally high in sugar. Its not unusual for autistic children to have issues with candida. You might want to look into it further. I good book to read, An Extraordinary Power to Heal by Bruce Semon M.D.

Gail

[Guest Rosany]

Hello ladies and thank you so much for all of your advice. Last night Brian finally pooped and just like Izaksmom said it was enough for a few people.. He felt so much better afterward. I had given him Green tea mixed with white grape juice as well as a banana and it seems that it did the trick. Last night I made him chicken with corn flower and he really liked it. One meal at a time. The diet is rough but starting to not feel hopeless. Brian is also allergic to soy, milk and eggs so Almond milk and is not an option as I hoped (soy lechtin). Thanks for the suggestion Hayley 3 it would have been a great idea. Currently Brian is on a multivitamin, B12, B6, Cod liver oil, Brain Vitale, and carnosene for the autism. Do any of these affect the celiac disease? What about labels that say "made on equipment that also processes say , milk and egss"? Don't they clean the equipment between uses? I give my son the same spoons we use after we wash them. Is this a problem? I am still overhwhelmed by the dx but working though it. This website is a great resource. Thank goodness.

Hayley3 - apple also binds him and it sucks because he loves applesauce and applejuice. I am trying to add organic prune puree to his Grape juice but he is fighting me on it. Maybe I will be able to add it to orange juice. Thank you so much for all of your advice and suggestions. You are all very sweet here. Hugs Hugs to you and have a great day.

Kbtoyssni - I will definately look into the lotions and shapoos. I didn't even think of it. Thank you so much for your suggestions and advice. I really appreciate it. Hugs Hugs to you and have a great day.

Izaksmom - I will look into the miralax and speak with his dr's about any interactions with what he is taking. He use to eat pears and many fruits but now only likes apples and bananas. He won't even eat grapes. I have to puree them into his applesauce and even then he eats them once in a while. He does like mango juice so maybe that will help. He totally hates veggies so again I am sneaky about getting them into his food. One meal at a time.. Thanks for your advice and suggestions. Hugs Hugs and Have a great day.

Bluejeangirl - I am very interested in the idea of getting him tested for candida. I will speak to the dr this week. I get his hemoglobin tested every year since I am a diabetic and the numbers have been normal. What kind of testing do they do for candida? How is it done? Thank you so much for your advice and suggestion and have a great day.

Thanks again everyone and I am happy to be part of this forum. Hugs Hugs all and have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Rosa

[LuchoWa]

My daugther is 2 and actually her first symptom of Celiac was the constipation.

The PED recommended to give her Miralax (8gms) mixed with pear juice (seems to be the most laxative of all the fruits).

Limit the dairies and the apple sauce (I know how hard this is!!)

We are also buying a lot of lentils and amazingly enough, our daughter is eating them. They are great in fiber and make you go rather quickly.

Hopes this helps.

Father of 2yr old with Celiac

[Guest Rosany]

Dear LuchoWa,

Thank you so much for the suggestions and advice. I have not tried the lentils because he is so picky but I will definately give it a try. Best wishes to you and your family and have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Rosa

[Izak's Mom]

What about labels that say "made on equipment that also processes say , milk and egss"? Don't they clean the equipment between uses? I give my son the same spoons we use after we wash them. Is this a problem?

Hi Rosa,

So glad you found this site - it's been invaluable to me. As far as the cross contamination issue goes, I think there are some varying opinions, and it certainly depends on how sensitive your child's system is. Personally, I don't give Izak anything that's been processed in a wheat facility, but some people are less sensitive - I don't actually know what the industry rules are about cleaning equipment between runs, but I probably wouldn't trust them anyway since gluten has a sneaky way of getting in everything, especially if it's something flour-y or dust-y - I don't think all that particulate matter can ever really be 100% cleaned up. At home though, my son uses the same silverware and plates, etc. as us (we're mostly gluten free, but not 100%, although I do try to use paper plates for any gluten bread or whatever that me or my husband might want to snack on) - I just make sure than my dishwasher is always set to high temp & sanitize and it hasn't been a problem for him. I don't have a separate toaster oven - I know many here do to avoid the crumb cross contamination issue, but I do wash/wipe down the rack after I've toasted something with gluten in it. Cast iron pans also retain gluten, but I personally just wash mine thoroughly if huz happens to make a sandwich or something in it (heavy duty cleanser with steel wool) then re-cure it by smoking a little olive oil in there afterwards. Izak's Celiac symptoms have been opposite of your son's - he gets liquid explosive diarrhea, plus a nasty red raised bump rash on his abdomen, so it's pretty easy to tell if he's been glutened. So far we've been OK with the level of cleanliness that I maintain, but like I said, there are varying opinions on the matter and I know many on here wouldn't dream of using the same toaster, pans, etc. if there were gluten products being used in them - but also, it's about how each person's system reacts, and also about maintaining your own sanity - you sort of have to find a balance of how much you can deal with without going completely nuts especially when it's a new Dx and it feels like you're just trying to keep your head above water with all the new dietary restrictions, etc. But don't worry - you'll get through it! it's just another learning process. I will tell you though, if you enjoy cooking/baking at all, it makes things SO much easier - there are so many good recipes to be found on here and on the internet in general, and many of them are so delicious that your average wheat-eater would never know the difference. And the homemade stuff DEFINITELY tastes better than store bought - especially for breads and other baked goods. With all your son's other allergy issues, it's probably much more difficult to find suitable pre-made products anyway, so if you can find a few good staple recipes (a good bread one, muffins, pancakes, things like that), you'll be much better off making them yourself. Anyway, good luck with everything and I hope the diet helps!

-E

[Guest Rosany]

Dear Izak's mom,

Thank you so much for the welcome and I really appreciate your input. You sound like a great mom and I am also so happy to have found this website. Brian is doing great on the gluten free so far. I started slipping carrots into his orange juice and prunes into his orange juice and he has been going better. Thank goodness. Tomm we should get a shipment of foods for him and one of them is the pizza. He will be thrilled with this (I hope). I really hope he likes it. We should also get Pretzels and pastas. I am really excited. Thanks again for all the suggestions and have a great evening.

Hugs Hugs,

Rosa

[crittermom]

Dear Izak's mom,

Thank you so much for the welcome and I really appreciate your input. You sound like a great mom and I am also so happy to have found this website. Brian is doing great on the gluten free so far. I started slipping carrots into his orange juice and prunes into his orange juice and he has been going better. Thank goodness. Tomm we should get a shipment of foods for him and one of them is the pizza. He will be thrilled with this (I hope). I really hope he likes it. We should also get Pretzels and pastas. I am really excited. Thanks again for all the suggestions and have a great evening.

Hugs Hugs,

Rosa

Hi Rosa,

Be careful with bananas, they are binding, at least for us! They things I use most often during C is fresh pineapple, 100% pure cherry juice, and blueberries! A bowl of blueberries at breakfast, and like clockwork that evening my kids a poopin' like crazy! They don't get D they just go a lot! Good luck and I hope he is feeling better soon. Sorry so abrupt, lots o stuff to do tonight!

[Guest Rosany]

Thank you so much crittermom for your response. Brian actually goes with banana and gets binded with apple?? Thank goodness he goes with it or we would be in big trouble since he loves it so much. Thanks again for all the advice and encouragement. Hugs Hugs to you and your family and have a great day.

Hugs,

Rosa