2 Month Challenge?

[luciasmom]

I just spoke with the doctors' nurse and they rescheduled my daughters appointment to 2 months from now, so that she has these 2 whole months to eat food with gluten before we have her tested. She's only 2 years old..i don't think i can do this..has anyone gone thru this with a young child?? Isn't just one month though?

Help!

[shayesmom]

I just spoke with the doctors' nurse and they rescheduled my daughters appointment to 2 months from now, so that she has these 2 whole months to eat food with gluten before we have her tested. She's only 2 years old..i don't think i can do this..has anyone gone thru this with a young child?? Isn't just one month though?

Help!

I personally haven't gone through this because once I got up the guts to go gluten-free and saw the remarkable changes in my dd....well, I had no interest in challenging and then doing invasive tests in order to satisfy the doctor's curiosity. I asked them if they would work with me as far as documentation of gluten enteropathy (non-Celiac) in regards to dealing with the school should my dd improve on the diet and continue to show reactions when we had accidental exposures. They were willing to accommodate us. So, that is how we've handled the past 3+ years. Dd is thriving on a gluten-free/cf/sf/ef diet. And I am confident that this is what needs to happen to keep her healthy. To me, testing would not change a thing as to how we manage daily life. The only real thing that would have come out of it is that I would have a slip of paper stating that I need to keep my dd on a diet we're already on.

Every parent is different as to what they need to cope with this issue on a day-to-day basis. And the age of the child at diagnosis will also play into this. My dd was 15 months old when we began this process. She's almost 5 now and she has no problem with missing foods she doesn't remember having. And, when she's accidentally exposed, she is miserable to the point where she actively participates in maintaining her diet. A 15 year-old who is less symptomatic would have a much tougher time with this and therefore a firm diagnosis would probably make more sense.

I don't know where you are in the process, but you need to do what YOU need to do. If your dd is very symptomatic on the challenge and you feel her health is being jeopardized, then call the doctor and explain what you are experiencing. I don't believe doctors are inherently cruel....but I do believe that they are somewhat clueless as to the nature of this disease and they tend to exercise their prescription pads more than their common sense.

And you also need to come to grips with the fact that you may stick to the challenge for two months or more and still not get the diagnosis you seek. Unfortunately, that is the nature of this disease. And at some point, you may have to make this call without the asset of a written diagnosis. Hopefully, that won't come to pass because it is a difficult road to walk. But in reading your post, I do think that you have the strength of mind and character to do what needs to be done. And I wish you all the luck in achieving your goals in this.

[luciasmom]

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond....and for your kind words.