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Potty Training Regression Due To Celiac's?

okgrace

By okgrace
in Doctors

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okgrace Apprentice
okgrace
Posted

Hi,

My daughter just turned four and has been on a gluten free diet since January officially. We were gluten free for most of Dec. but thought a day off for a Christmas party or a piece of Birthday cake would be alright. I quickly discovered this is not how it works. After she had been gluten-free for a week and half any amount of gluten bothers her and the longer we go the more severe the symptoms. Anyway, about two weeks ago she completely stopped using the bathroom. She acts like she has no control over her bladder and bowels. She's been to the doc and she said that there was no cause for this that is was most likely behavioral and will go away on its own. Could this be from gluten sensitivity. She may have been exposed to gluten in a take out meal. I had spoken with the resturant and thought it was gluten free but now I am not sure because she ate leftovers several times and then the regression began that mon. Has anyone else had an experience like this?

I would appreciate any light you can shed on this issue:)

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gfgypsyqueen Enthusiast
gfgypsyqueen
Posted

FYI the glutening symptoms will be far worse after she is gluten-free. I was shocked at how quickly I started to recover and how bad the reaction is for the slightest glutening. It will get easier over the next few months :D .

As for the potty, here are a few random thoughts. Is she a strong willed child? As in, the potty is the one thing she can control? If so, maybe let her pick her foodshelp cook, or taste stuff in the grocery store. Was the reaction in December really bad? As in, so much cramping, diarrhea, skin hurting, rashes, etc. that she associated that terrible feeling with the potty and not the food? (Allergy meds and motrin help me feel tollerable after I have been glutened. I have an allergy to wheat in addition to Celiacs. Joy!)

I have a three year old that is gluten-free/CF. She has been gluten-free since Aug 2007 and CF since May 2007. Since going gluten-free her stools were finally something she could control. She has had a couple of gluten or dairy accidents and each times one of the indicators is a wet bed. She just can't make it to the potty on time and sleeps right through it. But after a few days she starts to recover and she is back to the regular "potty on time" routine.

My other child has problems with dairy that cause skin and potty problems. Minimal dairy and a Lactaid works wonders for her.

Maybe try removing all dairy from your daughter's diet until her system heals? A lot of us have problems with dairy!

Hopefully she will be feeling better and back to her old self soon.

okgrace Apprentice
okgrace
Posted
  • Author

My daughter is very stong willed and very sensitive both physically and emotionally. I have wondered about the dairy but am reluctant to cut it out becuase of the restrictions in diet she already faces. When she first began the diet she didn't mind and she will still ask people if something is gluten free before she eats it. She has begun crying and telling us she doesn't like being gluten free in the last few weeks. It's funny though becuase she rarely says this when there is food present. It's usually if she has seen something on TV that she might like to eat, which doesn't happen often becuase she doesn't watch much TV. Sometimes I think she just thinks about it and starts crying. Her father is Gluten free and we don't buy products that contain gluten so it's not a temptation for either of them.

Her stool seems softer in the last few weeks also and I am wondering if there could still be a change if she had been glutened a few weeks ago. This is much more complex than I originally thought thats for sure :)

gfgypsyqueen Enthusiast
gfgypsyqueen
Posted

lol...strong willed little girls...ugh. I have a very strong willed older child. Stubborn doesn't even come close to describing her. She has food allergies but not Celiacs and her strong willed personality is a blessing and a curse. I have few worries that she will eat what is not safe or take food from an adult without asking to see the label. However, when she says that she is going to "just try a little" because she doesn't think she is still allergic, I know it is just a matter of time before she does it. Scary. We are off to the allergist again.

What worked well with this child was to sit her down and talk about the foods she misses, how much it sucks to have severe food allergies, what friends do and say, and whatever else is bothering her. Then we start figuring out how to make the foods I can't buy easily. She helps makes the treats too.

If you don't want to cut out the dairy completely, start cutting it down. Minimize it to three dairy items a week and give her a lactaid with each one. (check with Dr, but should be ok.) Then slowly just remove the dairy completely. For us, the removal of dairy was a HUGE scene and a direct result of her sisters allergy to dairy. All of sudden rashes and potty issues disappeared. She hated it. She only started to believe it when she gorged on pizza. And when I told her what would happen for the rest of the week, she got a little look of Mom might know about this. The next day all of the problems were back. Now she asks for the Lactaid and drinks alternative milk. (Both kids LOVE English Bay which is a potato based milk.)

hapy4dolphins Contributor
hapy4dolphins
Posted

HI, I"m sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy to see someone posted this experience on here. I have a 3 3/4 yr. old son who's been chronically constipated for the last 2 years. Miralax didn't help. Lactulose didn't help. So, he's now on a gluten-free/cf diet and has been having bowl movements that are much softer and frequent. He wasn't potty trained either until about 4 months ago. With all the trouble with bowel movements, and the terrible pains and fisures, he wanted NOTHING to do with it. We ended up putting on hemorid cream before each movement and that seemed to help just get it out.

How long do you think these kids need to be on a gluten-free/cf diet before we see more changes?

We finally went to see a peds. gi last week and he did a rast test and a few others. His iron was a little low, and celiac for the third time came back neg and dairy came back neg. <<<see me making faces!!!>>>> But doc suggeseted gluten-free, cf anyways.

Nicole

honeypond Rookie
honeypond
Posted
HI, I"m sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy to see someone posted this experience on here. I have a 3 3/4 yr. old son who's been chronically constipated for the last 2 years. Miralax didn't help. Lactulose didn't help. So, he's now on a gluten-free/cf diet and has been having bowl movements that are much softer and frequent. He wasn't potty trained either until about 4 months ago. With all the trouble with bowel movements, and the terrible pains and fisures, he wanted NOTHING to do with it. We ended up putting on hemorid cream before each movement and that seemed to help just get it out.

How long do you think these kids need to be on a gluten-free/cf diet before we see more changes?

We finally went to see a peds. gi last week and he did a rast test and a few others. His iron was a little low, and celiac for the third time came back neg and dairy came back neg. <<<see me making faces!!!>>>> But doc suggeseted gluten-free, cf anyways.

Nicole

Nicole your son sounds like mine. Chronic constipation since 4 months old, miralax, high fiber diets (HA!)... nothing worked. He has been Gluten free for 2.5 months, and started potty training on his own.... sounds great right.... WRONG! Well when you are constipated all the time, you learn to hold your stools. In the last week, he has been holding so he doesn't have an accident. He doesn't go to the potty, he just holds it. Lucky me, here we go with constipation again :rolleyes:

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