Child Not Staying Focused At School

[Roda]

I am the celiac of the family. My oldest son is almost 8 and in second grade. He had the IgA tTG done in Nov. and was 2. I am assuming it was negative. He has not had anything else done. I am a little suspucious of gluten intolerance in him. From birth he had problems with constipation. I didn't think there was such thing as a constipated breastfed baby! Anyway at age 2.5 years he had a gastrografin enema that did not diagnose anything but at least was theraputic and cleaned him out. He then started on miralax and took it for appx. the next 1.5 years. He battled with strep tonsillitis almost every month or so until we had his tonsills/adnoids taken out at age 4. Then he kept chronic sinus infections until age 6 when he was finaly diagnosed with allergies to dust mites, cockaroaches and a bunch of weeds. He takes allergy shots every week. He used to have what I called "hissy fits" from about age 3 on. They improved at around age 6. I just figured he was having a hard time expressing himself in words and was acting out. He is a very sensitive (feelings wise) child. For the most part he is well behaved and I get comments about how well behaved he is. The thing I have noticed lately is that his teacher has been saying that he is spending too much time talking and playing and not getting his work done. He has been bringing it home to finish. We went to my inlaws for a few days around Jan. 18th. He was able to eat all kinds of things that he has not been getting at home. His allergies are a bit worse also. He had a single hive on his face and he has been sneezing alot. I have noticed in the past when his allergies are bothering him more he has concentration trouble at school. Was wondering if it could be a gluten thing also since he is "gluten light" at home and he loaded up on things at grandma's house. His allergies are always worse when we come back from there also, but his grandmother smokes in the house, so all of us (except dad) are miserable. I know that people can be gluten intolerent without having celiac disease. His allergy panel showed he does not have a wheat allergy, but I know that is different. Any thoughts would be appreciated. By the way the last he had his height/weight checked was Sept. 08. He was 47" and 47 lbs. At the begining of this school year he was still able to wear some things that he wore in kindergarden shirts mostly. I put them away because it was bugging him. He will be 8 on Feb. 3rd.

[maile]

jmho, but it's certainly a possibility....not the same thing but my son was diagnosed with a dairy allergy at 3 and that was on top of the lactose intolerance they identified at 6 weeks (public health nurse had me put Lactaid drops in his mouth b4 breast feeding.....woman was brilliant )

at about 8 or 9, after we had been "assured" he'd grown out of his allergy he started eating "mini pizzas" and ice cream and all of a sudden his ability to concentrate at school nose dived.....the teacher told us she would be presenting something in front of the class and look over to see my son just standing beside her....he just couldn't sit still. They tried the ADD label, we had him tested for practically everything, eyes, ears, brain! they found absolutely nothing wrong with him.

Long story short, we removed the dairy and problems went away....and his writing improved (the physical part....it was generally illegible b4) so I would suggest that given your diagnoses that the possibility is extremely likely that your son could be gluten intolerant

[Amyleigh0007]

Your story sounds similar to mine. When my son was diagnosed last year at age 8 he was only 43 pounds. Have you tried the gluten free diet with him? Gluten light just doesn't cut it. You must eliminate all gluten from his diet (unless you want further Celiac testing then he must stay on gluten but I'm sure you already know that). If you do decide to go completely gluten free I would let his teacher know so she can not only help him avoid gluten at school but document his behavior and let you know if she sees a difference while he is on the diet. I would give the diet a few months to work, at least. Good luck!

[elye]

I was diagnosed with celiac three years ago, my husband one year ago, so the chances of our kids having a problem with gluten are quite high. Both my son and my daughter had negative blood panels (which can mean nothing), and like you, I was suspecting celiac with my 9-year old boy due to his concentration problems, temper flare-ups, inability to focus at school, trouble sleeping, headaches, etc. He decided to try the gluten-free diet himself, with my full endorsement.

Well, it took a couple of weeks, but the changes were dramatic. I hadn't informed his teacher initially, and she called me three weeks after he started the diet, telling me how things had really changed with him - -he was paying full attention, getting all his work done, no anger, much calmer.....she was curious to know if I had any idea why this great turnaround was happening. Elated, I told her the little-known story of gluten and its potential neurological effects.

My boy was so happy about how he felt after the first couple of months gluten-free, he wrote a letter into our city newspaper to get the word out to other suffering kids and their parents. We were so thrilled....they published it:

Open Original Shared Link

[Roda]

I am keeping him eating gluten because I think the allergist may want some other blood tests. I am even going to ask for the dna test. I did not have it before because the insurance will not pay for it. I'm not going to have the dna test for me since it won't change anything. At least I can "rule out" for the boys if they do not have the genes. My oldest son is very bright and does get bored easily, but also can get distracted easily especially during allergy flare ups. Interesting to note, I have mentioned in other posts, that I am almost convinced my brother (he is 38) has celiac. He was diagnosed in 1992 with sarcoidosis and erythema nodosum (?sp). He has really low cholesterol, keeps rashes and bowel issues. He is not the least bit interested in geting tested or treated. But he does have a son with ADDHD. Makes me wonder if he would benefit from gluten free. Oh well, his dad won't do anything, so he won't do anything for his son. Pretty sad. As the saying goes "you can lead a horse to water, but can't make it drink" or something of the sort.

elye--great article. There must be something about the first name. Your son's and mine are the same.

[cat3883]

I am keeping him eating gluten because I think the allergist may want some other blood tests. I am even going to ask for the dna test. I did not have it before because the insurance will not pay for it. I'm not going to have the dna test for me since it won't change anything. At least I can "rule out" for the boys if they do not have the genes. My oldest son is very bright and does get bored easily, but also can get distracted easily especially during allergy flare ups. Interesting to note, I have mentioned in other posts, that I am almost convinced my brother (he is 38) has celiac. He was diagnosed in 1992 with sarcoidosis and erythema nodosum (?sp). He has really low cholesterol, keeps rashes and bowel issues. He is not the least bit interested in geting tested or treated. But he does have a son with ADDHD. Makes me wonder if he would benefit from gluten free. Oh well, his dad won't do anything, so he won't do anything for his son. Pretty sad. As the saying goes "you can lead a horse to water, but can't make it drink" or something of the sort.

elye--great article. There must be something about the first name. Your son's and mine are the same.

[cat3883]

You don't need an allergist. You need a gastroenterologist. When I get glutened I cannot concentrate and I get very grouchy.

[Roda]

You don't need an allergist. You need a gastroenterologist. When I get glutened I cannot concentrate and I get very grouchy.

The reason I am asking their allergist/immunologist for the screening tests is because their pediatrician wouldn't. As of right now they are not having any bowel issues that raise a red flag. If any of the tests come back positive we will refer to the necessary specialists.

[RiceGuy]

At least I can "rule out" for the boys if they do not have the genes.

Just make sure they do the best tests. I was just reading in another thread that some additional genes have recently been associated with Celiac.

And of course, no matter what tests say, it's always good to try the gluten-free diet and see.

BTW, I also had a terrible time concentrating in school, though at that time it was candida along with Celiac, both of which can cause brain fog and so forth.

[Roda]

I was just wondering if anyone has had intermittent episodes of behavorial issues out of their children before going gluten free? My oldest son has been very moody lateley, actually since I started this thread, but it is not every day. He will seem fine for awhile and then all of the sudden get upset or do things out of the blue. I have been blaming it on his other allergies (fall weeds, dustmites and cockroaches), because I notice when they are bothering him he gets moodier and has problems paying full attention at school. I have been giving him zyrtec to help with the sneezing etc from his allergies, but tonight he really was out of sorts. He was really antagonizing his little brother and when I asked him to do something he said "make me you idiot" and stormed to his room. Needless to say his daddy was not impressed and he made him appogize to me. I grounded him from his wii and computer for a week and it sent him immediatly bawling running to his room. Also, no matter what we did or said he would just start crying. A little while later he came out and was acting fine like nothing ever happened. He does not have these "hissy fits" very often now, but when he does it's a doozy. When he was little age 3-5 he would have these episodes very reguarly. He even had a point where he would hit me. I discussed it with the nurse practioner at the dr.s office and said that it was not appropriate behavior, but the good thing was is that he recognized it as wrong and felt remorseful. I had thought about seeing someone for his behavior at the time, but decided that we would wait. Behavoir improved and he no longer hits anyone. There is a family history on my husbands side of bipolar disorder. My husband's sister is diagnosed, we believe his father is, and that his grandmother was as well. My husband is a very "moody" person and we have even discussed the posibility of him having a tendency toward it as well. The peds and I don't think it is an issue right now. I was thinking about waiting until we see the allergist/immunologist next month to discuss a possible gluten free diet, but am thinking about it now, just as a trial. My other concern is he just does not grow very much. He was at swimming class earler this week and told me he is the oldest in his group. The other boys are 6 (he is 8) and they are both bigger than him. I know not all people are going to be tall, he does grow, but just not very much. He did have a negative IgA tTG, but still does not mean that it does not bother him. He had problems with constipation pretty much since the day he was born and reminds me of the constipation problems that I had as a kid. I now I have hashimotos and celiac. I would hate for him to follow in those foot steps.