Could This Be A Glutening?

[hadabaday2day]

I will apologize in advance for the TMI factor.

My son is 2 1/2 and we are starting a gluten free diet. I have been Dx and both my kids had negative tests, but they have symptoms and we are going to do a trial (and probably continue on gluten free either way, but it's nice to know). My son has always had unexplained occasional weird poops. I'm pretty sure he has Celiac or is gluten intolerant. In the past few months it has gotten a lot better. More normal. Now, we have been mostly gluten free for going on 2 weeks and all the way gluten free for a couple days. I only finally got my kitchen all spic and span today though, so I am sure we have been getting contamintaed here and there. The last few days he has been pooping 3-4 times a day and it is gritty and grainy and sticks to his poor bottom like crazy. It seems very dry, but also very acidic because it is burning his skin. It is pretty dark in color also, sometimes dark brown, sometimes green.

I was thinking that maybe it is because we have taken away most of the gluten the past couple weeks and his body is starting to heal, but then he gets glutened and his body has a stronger reaction. Like he is more sensitive now that it has been taken away. I know that is common and that it can stay more dormant when you constantly ingest the offending substance. Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this. Thanks!

[ravenwoodglass]

Yes. Many of us will notice that symptoms become more severe after we have gone gluten free. The body really doesn't like it when we finally remove what has been poisoning us and then it gets another dose that starts the antibody reaction going again. You are doing the right thing by having the him follow the diet. Testing is often a false negative in young children and we often have to go with dietary response and reactions. Even the burning of the skin by the stool fits. I have DH and when I get glutened that is one of the areas that will for sure react. Our mucous membranes are very senstive to gluten. In fact in some countries they use a gluten suppository and then biopsy the area 3 hours later to confirm the diagnosis because this reaction is so reliable and it saves the patient from months of illness needed for a dietary challenge to damage the villi enough to get a chance at an accurate diagnosis.