Endoscopy Needed?

[tnmtcur]

Hi,

I'm new here.

My daughter who is three and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 21 months was just screened for celiac by her endocrinologist. She was positive for four of five antibodies. The nurse practicioner said that the numbers were so out of whack, she had very little doubt about the diagnosis.

However, she told me that I should not put my daughter on a gluten-free diet until an endoscopy and biopsy were done. I just found this out yesterday, but I have done a little research so far and from what I have read, I think that the biopsy is to find out whether or not damage has already been done and how much. Regardless, the action take will be the same - cut out gluten - correct?

My daughter is very young and asymptomatic; I am hoping that we caught all of this early. If we go gluten-free, why do we really need to subject her to the procedure at this time?

Thank you!

[Rondar2001]

As your daughter is asymptomatic, I would find it very important to have the biopsy done. If she has a definite diagnosis she may be less likely to test the diet as she gets older. Without any obvious symptoms upon eating gluten, she might be likely to ignore that she can't eat these foods.

My daughter's biopsy was quick and painless, we were at the hospital at 6:30 am and home by noon. In our case, we felt the benefits definitely outweighed the small risks involved.

Good luck.

[Amyleigh0007]

I am so glad we went ahead with my son's endoscopy. It turns out he has acid reflux and we had no idea. We also found out that his food allergies were causing a hive like rash on his esophagus. We would have never found out these things if he had not had the endoscopy.

[cruelshoes]

This link may be of use to you. Some of it relates to older people, but most of it applies to younger ones as well.

https://www.celiac.com/articles/978/1/So-Wh...FACG/Page1.html

We had an endoscopy done on my son when he was 6, and I would do it again. He was found to have many pseudopolyps in his stomach that could be directly attributed to gluten. We also got to see the extent of the villi damage, which meant a lot as he was largely asymptomatic at that time.

[silly-ack]

DO IT. It is easy and painless and it will make all the difference in the world. Going gluten free is not something I was willing to do without proof that I needed too, and my doctor agreed. Plus, if you don't do the biopsy and she doesn't have celiac disease but the doctors assume she does, you could be missing a bigger problem that could have been caught by determining it's not celiac. There really aren't many downsides to doing to procedure. But good luck and whatever you do I hope you're comfortable with your decision!