Once Well Adjusted To The gluten-free Diet & Lifestyle...

[JennyC]

My son has been gluten free since March 2007. I think we have done a very good job with the diet. I do buy processed foods, like cocoa pebbles and Ora-Ida fries, but I have also learned some brands to avoid due to cross contamination. We have also replaced everything in the kitchen except glass things. No food or utensil touches any kitchen surface. We are mindful of gluten in non-food items too. I don't put any gluten products on my or my son's body. Even the dish soap is gluten free and the very few dirty gluten dishes are kept separately. We also VERY rarely eat out. My son's daycare provider even "gets it" and also does all of the above things!

So, why does my son get diarrhea about once or twice a week? I feel that we are so careful. How often do people well adjusted to the gluten free diet get D? Is this normal? His tTG is down to below normal range. We went from 21 to 4.3 in eight months (normal tTG range is below 7).

Please help!!! Thank you.

[kbtoyssni]

Is Cocoa Pebbles the one that added gluten back in recently? Or was that another mainstream chocolate cereal? You might want to check that.

[horsegirl]

Maybe he has another food intolerance too, like dairy or soy.

Those can certainly cause upset digestive systems too.

[JennyC]

Thanks for the replies. He was tested for common food allergies and tested negative. I'm just wondering if this is normal??? Maybe I should contact his ped. gastro and do additional allergy tests. I just hate putting him through that. If he does not have common food allergies it could be any little thing. A little boy only has so much blood to give away!

[holdthegluten]

please use enterolab for the food allergy testing. They are the only ones i have 100 percent confidence in. www.enterolab.com

[tarnalberry]

it depends on what else he's taking in. if I eat too many banana muffins, with all their flax meal, I'll get looser stools. if I come across something that doesn't sit well with my stomach, (sometimes happens at a restaurant, and I don't think it's gluten, because that usually has the opposite effect on me), I'll get it. if I get a stomach virus, that'll do it. if I'm on a med that bothers me, that'll do it too. if I were taking in too much magnesium, without something to balance it out, that would do it. if I had way too much of some vegetables (sometimes spinach or beets will do it to me), that's set me off as well.

perhaps keep a food diary?

[JennyC]

it depends on what else he's taking in. if I eat too many banana muffins, with all their flax meal, I'll get looser stools. if I come across something that doesn't sit well with my stomach, (sometimes happens at a restaurant, and I don't think it's gluten, because that usually has the opposite effect on me), I'll get it. if I get a stomach virus, that'll do it. if I'm on a med that bothers me, that'll do it too. if I were taking in too much magnesium, without something to balance it out, that would do it. if I had way too much of some vegetables (sometimes spinach or beets will do it to me), that's set me off as well.

perhaps keep a food diary?

Thanks. I think maybe it was too much yogurt. I know some people here mentioned it can give them problems.