Distended Belly

[jcnfc]

My todder was diagnosed 2 weeks ago with Celiac. She has a huge distended belly. She has been on the diet almost 2 weeks and she has shown a significant improvement in her behavior and eating. She has gained some weight however her belly is still really big. I was wonderng what others experiences have been. I guess I was expecting her belly to get back to normal by now.

Thanks

[Amyleigh0007]

It took a few months for my son's belly to go down. We are 4 months into the gluten free diet and I would say it's almost gone. He has gained 7 pounds.

[*lee-lee*]

would it be the same for adults too? i'm 1 month gluten free and my stomach still has that distended look. i don't look 8 months pregnant or anything but it definitely isn't normal looking yet.

[Nancym]

Mine went down very gradually, it took months, maybe even a year really. I can't remember. I had to give up dairy too though because it was also contributing to the problem.

[KristaleeJane]

I noticed some change immediatly I went from looking 8mths prego to 2 mths prego and it was gradually from there, but I did notice with Dairy it contributed to it, even now after 3mths gluten free I cannot milk or I get the prego look again. But honestly after about 2 mths I felt my stomach was back to normal, I have actually lost about 10 pounds and went down 2 waist sizes since going gluten free, which I won't complain about. I was swollen everywhere from the gluten. I know most people gain weight after going gluten free, but I am just eating so much healthier and rarely can eat out anymore which I used to before everyday.

[*lee-lee*]

i've been dairy light for about 3 weeks now. i have a little half & half in my coffee, maybe a yogurt twice a week, a little mayo on my turkey wraps (made with corn tortillas) and that's about it. oh and some parm cheese here and there. i wonder if that's still too much? i have cut down considerably - i was all about cereal for breakfast, a yogurt every day and ice cream whenever i could get my hands on it! - but i'll try to cut more out if it'll help this belly go away quicker.

[jcnfc]

It took a few months for my son's belly to go down. We are 4 months into the gluten free diet and I would say it's almost gone. He has gained 7 pounds.

Thanks! I didn't realize it tool that long although it makes.

[Juliet]

It took my son a full 2 years before the distention completely went away; he was diagnosed at 2 years and 2 months. Not that his belly was fully distended for 2 years straight, but it took a long time before he looked completely proportional to the rest of his body. He's a tall kid with skinny legs, tiny but round bottom, and relatively narrow shoulders, oh, and did I mention, he's crazy active? He's not the thinnest kid in his pre-school, but he is one of the thinner ones and definitely the tallest for his age. And even with that, his belly was big by comparison. Now his stomach isn't a lot bigger than the rest of him; he's actually developing a little muscle definition at the top (he's almost 5). It can take a long time, depending on the person. But I can say the rest of his very serious problems at the time started going away in less than 2 weeks. We accepted the bigger belly as long as everything else improved as much as it did

[CeliacAlli]

For different people the time is different, but first the intestine has to heal which takes at least a month. After that your body has to absorb many nutrients it has been robbed of for however long so to answer your question, it takes lots of time!

[CeliacAlli]

Mine went down very gradually, it took months, maybe even a year really. I can't remember. I had to give up dairy too though because it was also contributing to the problem.

You may be able to have dairy in a few years once your body is completely healed...just figured I would let you know. I was a very severe case of celiac as an 11 month old and was dairy free until I was about 8 but now I can have milk..just limited amounts.

[Ashley]

It varies from person to person.

For me, it's never went away---and I've been strictly gluten-free for 3 years

My right side painfully sticks out and I just don't know why. My GI isn't too worried about it. Oh well.

Just give your daughter's small intestines time to heal. The better she adheres to the diet, the better her stomach will be. Most people see the distended belly vanish.

Hope your daughter feels better

-Ash.