Would You Suspect Celiac? Poop Urgency But Only Sometimes..

[crunchy-mama]

My son(4y2m) has always had food issues, especially after we started solids. He was a big baby, but his growth just kept getting slower and slower. Of course that is more normal for a bf baby. I suspected dairy early on, but never had any confirmation. I also remember that he had issue w/ cheerios. I remember them causing him to do a lot of screaming and also keeping him from sleeping, so he just didn't eat them. I removed all dairy and wheat for a while. It seemed like things got better. Then I added things back in- he seemed to be doing semi-ok. He has been eating anything for a little bit now. Especially after the house burned down(about 1.5 yrs ago) things got crazy and his diet did as well.

I thought he was doing alright(had convinced myself that I was making something out of nothing and I was crazy). However, suddenly it has hit me that this really doesn't seem alright. He has entirely fallen off the weight chart. About 2 yrs ago (the last time he was at the ped) he weighed 28.5 lbs- he now weighs 30-31 lbs. He was actually up to 33, but has evidently lost weight. From what I can find normal rate of growth is about 2-3 lbs per year for his ago. He has grown a couple of inches, but is still way short, I believe he is abut at 7% on the height chart. He has been wearing the same shoes since the house burned, they are just getting a bit small on him now.

His bowels have always been loose and profuse. However, lately I have started to pay closer attention again. If he eats a sandwich (ham) he has to run to the bathroom 1 hr later (almost to the minute), same thing when he eats waffles, and brownies. I gave him a big glass of milk yesterday to rule out the milk causing the bowel urgency- no running to the bathroom for 3 hrs- let him have a sandwich- boom 1 hr later he is in the bathroom. Often he barely makes it in time and ends up w/ some in his underwear(he has been pt'd for a long while, it is only an issue w/ certain foods) Now it seems if he eats small amounts it doesn't do this- ie a bowl of cereal doesn't send him running.

Also, he just doesn't look healthy. His face has been breaking out- like a teenager- red and splotchy. It has been that way since he threw up on himself in his sleep. This was after a day of binging on oreos. I thought it was related to the stomach flu going around(although he didn't seem to have any other sign). However, now I am wondering. 1 week beefore this incident he had threw up right after he woke up in the morning. Then one week after the oreo incident he threw up in his sleep again. His eating is sporadic as well of course I have always just thought it normal 4 yr old behavior. He used to eat so well and eat anything, but often now I cannot hardly get him to eat.

His clothes are falling off of him. He also has lots of memory issues, but I just took that as he just wasn't ready to learn things, now I wonder if it is related. Behavior issues are on and off. He is always one of those high strung, high need kids. Now I wonder if he is not getting depressed at the tender age of 4 from some of the things he has said- ie he was crying saying that nobody liked him and everyone hated him. My heart is breaking from his low self esteem issues- I saw low self esteem for lack of having a better descriptor. I know it seems for me that gluten causes neuro issues and depression(of course I don't have an official diagnosis and feel I must be making things up as well).

Please, please, please, any thoughts? I am drowning here. One minute I am convinced and the next I think I must be insane.

[RiceGuy]

Oh my!

Please get your child on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet! You are NOT imagining things. You are NOT making things up or exaggerating. He has a number of very obvious signs that certain foods are a problem. The best way to tell is the diet. As for an "official" diagnosis, the tests results are often falsely negative for children that young, and the diet is the best test for any age anyway. I'm confident you'll have confirmation in a matter of weeks, perhaps sooner.

Before long, schooling will start for him, which will make things much more difficult if you delay on this matter. I strongly suggest not to put it off. There is really no reason to wait any longer.

I hope your child gets well soon!

[bear6954]

I would take him to the doctor and dont take no for an answer to see a gi dr. My son is only 2 1/2 but had some of the same symptoms as yours. At one year he was in the 50% for height and more for weight. By 18 months he was in the 20% tile for weight and height. His dr said that growth slows down about now and was not worried. I remember asking him how I potty drain a child that has diahhera 7 times a day. The dr said he had a sensitive stomach and it will get better with age. His 18 month appt was aug 07. By Nov, he was projectice vomiting 5 days a week, normally in the morning. His favorite food was ravilo and spago's. Which he ate most of the time. I took him back to the dr - I explained that I did not think he had an issue with the flu - he would not even cry when he vomited. I would hear a cough and then he would throw up. He put him on a medi for acid reflux (he had it since he was born but said that there was not damage to the throat and they did not want to put him on medi). My son seemed to have cold after cold - which I figured was because my daughter started preschool!

In January 08 WIC said he was boarder line anemic. I took him back to the dr and they ran blood work. Two weeks later, the dr called and said that his liver function tests were off the charts and he wanted another lab to do the test to rule out contamination. Same results. He had an ultra sound of his liver that showed it was abnormal or fatty. At two yrs old he was no longer on the growth charts. Our family dr finally realized that I was not nuts. The ped gi dr said that he had many classic symptoms of celiacs: longer eyelashes, irritability, foul smelling and multiple episodes of diahhera per day, projectile vomiting, failure to thrive, high liver function tests, not sleeping etc. His blood tests were negative, but positive bioposy and DNA test. We have been gluten free since May. He has about 2 poops a day, no more projectile vomiting, liver tests show almost normal functioning and he is so happy! My parents thought that I was just over protective of my son and that resulted in the constant crying etc. When that saw him one month later they could not believe the change. He was a normal acting child. He is still short, but is beginning to grow. He has lost some of his belly.

My point is be an advocate for your son. He cant at his age and if you really feel that something is wrong, dont listen to anyone else. Keep seeing drs until you have an answer.

Prior the to bioposy, we went almost completely gluten free per the dr. I would give my son gluten twice a week. I wanted to make sure his intestines did not heal before the bioposy was done.

Now, if he makes an oops he has diahhera about 1-3 hrs after eating it and it almost always gives him diaper rash and blisters on his bottom.

I notice that my son still has an issue with fruit juices. They give him diahhera. My sons dietation said that it could be that he has a hard time digesting the sugar content because of the damage to his intestines. I only give him about 4 oz a day if that. He wont eat fruit.

My daughter is a high need child in every aspect of the word. I thought my son was that way too, so I constantly held him, breastfed on demand and let him sleep with us. It worked to keep my daughter happy, but not my son. My daughter is DNA negative for celiacs. She is a high need child. Once my son changed diets, he runs, plays and most of the time forgets I am around and he is almost always smiling. i have noticed that his colds dont last nearly as long either.

Good luck and believe in your self. You know your child better than anyone.

[crunchy-mama]

thank you both for your replies. I will be making an appt. tomorrow for the ped, I am praying if he does have Celiac's that it shows up in the blood tests. I am not certain I will be going through w/ the biopsy or not. I think I will pursue the enterolab tests as well. One minute it seems not so bad. Then I realize he still isn't growing regardless of gi symptoms. He does ok unless he gets certain gluten items in fair amounts. The thing is though I cook gluten-free/cf meals so he doesn't get it on a regularly. Usually gluten items are just snacks. I can imagine if he was getting a large amount for every meal how it would be. This celaic's is so frustrating with all the different symptoms. I just wish it was more obvious and easier testing. I am feeling some mourning as well. As many times as I have thought this, for to actually be, is just somewhat scary.