Worried About My Daughter

[texasmama]

My daughter is just 2 years old. I am very concerned about her fecal fat score, which shows malabsorption in the severe range. She is gluten free now, but I wonder if this much damage can be totally healed. I am giving her a good, healthy diet with organic fruit smoothies and probiotics mixed in to try and help her gut heal. Any other suggestions. She is so young to have such a problem. She is a healthy looking child, though, and is 32 pounds and 34 inches tall. (We are very tall people so our kids are big and Lauren is no exception.) Any feedback is very welcome. Our entire family is gluten free since my two sons have shown to be gluten sensitive with the Enterolab testing, too, and my husband and I are waiting for our results any day now. My sons did not show any malabsorption, though. I am worried most about my baby daughter. Here are her Enterolab results:

A) Gluten Sensitivity Stool and Gene Panel Complete *Best test/best value

Fecal Antigliadin IgA 62 (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Antitissue Transglutaminase IgA 53 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score 1104 Units (Normal Range <300 Units)

Fecal anti-casein (cow

[GlutenWrangler]

Your daughter's damage can definitely be completely healed. Children heal exponentially quicker than adults, and they are also much more apt to fully heal. I would expect your daughter to be completely healed in about a year max. It sounds like you are taking a great approach towards helping your daughter heal. Organic foods and probiotics are great for the healing process. I understand that the Enterolab results look extreme, but with the proper diet and care, your daughter should be fine. Good luck,

-Brian

[aprilh]

The probiotics are great for restoring healthy gut flora. You can also introduce some L-Glutamine to heal the intestinal lining. A Naturopathic Dr. is great for helping with this kind of issue.

Make sure the probiotics are a good Human strain. And I think at that age they need Bifidus Bacterium. Don't quote me on that, but I know some are better for younger ones.

IMO it would be a good idea to avoid dairy considering you need a healthy gut to digest it. Also, avoid too many sugars as this will impair the immune system. Just my 2 cents!!

[texasmama]

Thank you so much for the feedback. Brian, your reply actually made me cry tears of relief! Aprilb, I will look into a probiotic for kids with the correct strain. We are off all dairy and soy, too, so hopefully that will make her healing easier. My goal is a whole foods and organic diet for 90% of what she eats. We already ate organic before this so the transition to gluten-free has not been too traumatic for us.

I am still nursing her and am very grateful for that at this poinit, given her issues. I know that breastmilk is really good for her and probably the reason she is growing in spite of having so much damage. I am off all gluten and dairy, as well, pending my results but also for her.

[aprilh]

I am still nursing her and am very grateful for that at this poinit, given her issues. I know that breastmilk is really good for her and probably the reason she is growing in spite of having so much damage. I am off all gluten and dairy, as well, pending my results but also for her.

It really sounds like you are on the right track! She will probably heal up in no time. I went through this with my little boy when he was about 1 years old. I introduced the L-glutamine to help speed things along with gut healing. But the gluten free diet was key. He went from skinny, swollen belly, dark circles under his eyes and NOT growing to immediate growing.

We also have heavy metals and environmentals we are dealing with but I believe we are on the road to recovery.

[loraleena]

Brian - What did you mean by probiotics should be the right human strain?