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Worried About Headaches....

jmjsmomma

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jmjsmomma Apprentice
jmjsmomma
Posted

Hi all,

I've posted a couple of times. My 5 yo son was confirmed celiac in Jan 09 and has been gluten free for 9 weeks tomorrow. We have seen tremendous improvement in all aspects in his little body. I know it is working since his big distended belly is gone and his overall body has thickened out. He also has SO much more energy.

I do have one concern though. About 4 weeks ago, he started complaining about headaches......for the first time in his life. After complaining of a sore throat, he ended up at the pediatrician with strep who said that headaches are a sign of that...well it's been 3 weeks and the strep is gone and I keep finding him, at least 1-2 times a week, laying down holding his head saying he has a headache.

Of course, as a new mom of a celiac child, I am freaked out that he is somehow getting gluten. Our home is gluten free...he goes to a private 2-day kindergarten where my best friend is his teacher and totally on top of things.

Is this a gluten side effect in your experience? I guess I'll get his eyes tested too, although he doesn't seem to have issues there yet either..........UGH!! I am just worried :o(

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mimommy Contributor
mimommy
Posted

Two things come to mind--migraines or allergy.

I have read a ton of info. lately about the neurological symptoms associated with gluten, including migraines. Search this forum and the web, I know you'll easily find more discussion of it.

Is it possible their could be another food sensitivity happening here, as well? If you are now using more soy (or dairy or other) as a wheat alternative, it may be that you never used it enough before to cause an obvious reaction. Some foods can cause a histamine reaction, as well. Could it be a sinus head ache?

I wouldn't wait too long to see the ped. Headaches can be a sign of so many different things it can't hurt to check it out.

Hope your little one feels better soon. Don't get discouraged--the diet is working. Unfortunately the disease is tricky. I believe that it can affect every body system, not just tummy.

A&Z'S MOM Apprentice
A&Z'S MOM
Posted

i am bit baffled by unexplained head aches too.My daughter has been gluten-free for six months.The improvement has been tremendous and i do keep a food diary.However have been unable to pin point a reason for her headaches.They usually occur once in a while....what could it be...but they reslove by themself...last two episodes where the same time as a nasty throat infection...and she was also exhibiting some sings of allergy too...but no change in her diet we have all things in moderation...could a detergent change set her off....celiac disease is tricky but would like to hear others on this topic....

lbd Rookie
lbd
Posted

Having suffered from migraines most of my life, removing gluten resolved most of the headaches. It wasn't until I was tested through Enterolab and antibodies to casein were detected, that the final puzzle piece revealed itself. I am not strictly dairy-free, but removing most of the casein containing products from my diet took care of the remaining migraines. You might try cutting back on the little guy's dairy and see if that helps. I use almond milk for most things and cut way back on cow cheeses. Goat cheeses (which contain less casein) seem to be less of a problem.

Laurie

finally diagnosed Apprentice
finally diagnosed
Posted
Hi all,

I've posted a couple of times. My 5 yo son was confirmed celiac in Jan 09 and has been gluten free for 9 weeks tomorrow. We have seen tremendous improvement in all aspects in his little body. I know it is working since his big distended belly is gone and his overall body has thickened out. He also has SO much more energy.

I do have one concern though. About 4 weeks ago, he started complaining about headaches......for the first time in his life. After complaining of a sore throat, he ended up at the pediatrician with strep who said that headaches are a sign of that...well it's been 3 weeks and the strep is gone and I keep finding him, at least 1-2 times a week, laying down holding his head saying he has a headache.

Of course, as a new mom of a celiac child, I am freaked out that he is somehow getting gluten. Our home is gluten free...he goes to a private 2-day kindergarten where my best friend is his teacher and totally on top of things.

Is this a gluten side effect in your experience? I guess I'll get his eyes tested too, although he doesn't seem to have issues there yet either..........UGH!! I am just worried :o(

Hi, have you had him retested for strep. Sometimes one round of antibiotics doesn't kick it out. Kids can be dehydrated as well and get a headache from it. my daughter while in preschool would just totally complain of a headache and be lethargic out of the blue, well come to find out she is hypoglycemic and when we changed a few things around and keep up her fluid intake her headaches went away. I too will get a headache out of the blue, then i realize my sugar is low and i haven't drank enough (hypoglycemia) , my daughther doesn't have celiac, i do, but she gets tested every two years ask him to explain his headache to you without any prompting,(meaning tell me what your head is doing now...) does it go away with tylenol, does the light bother it/ noise. unfortunately kids can get migraines and w/ celiac as most of us have experienced is migraines. good luck, try to think of simple things why this is happening. but i would also take him to your pedi, but from experience they will or i hope will ask you these questions and you will be prepared , this way if they want further testing it will not be delayed by saying (lets try this and that). hope it all works out.

jmjsmomma Apprentice
jmjsmomma
Posted
  • Author

Thanks everyone for your responses. He does suffer from seasonal allergies and takes Claritan and Nasacort daily for that. The pollen IS high so maybe that is what it is, he's just never complained about headaches before and he is a very verbal, communicative little boy :o) I pray that it is not early migraines. My husband has been plagued with chronic migraines for almost 4 years now. He went gluten free with my son and they are better, but still pretty bad. I may try him on a dairy free diet....milk isn't a problem but cheese would be.

The Kids Folks Apprentice
The Kids Folks
Posted
Thanks everyone for your responses. He does suffer from seasonal allergies and takes Claritan and Nasacort daily for that. The pollen IS high so maybe that is what it is, he's just never complained about headaches before and he is a very verbal, communicative little boy :o) I pray that it is not early migraines. My husband has been plagued with chronic migraines for almost 4 years now. He went gluten free with my son and they are better, but still pretty bad. I may try him on a dairy free diet....milk isn't a problem but cheese would be.

You might want to double check the side effects on the Nasacort. We never used to check until DD was on a med to help her with reflux and one of the side effects was that the medication can cause nausea. Great huh? You can google Nasacort and see if it can cause headaches. His system might be reacting to the medication differently now that he is gluten free so what was a side effect before didn't effect him.

Good luck on figuring it out.

The Kids Folks

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purple Community Regular
purple
Posted

My friend's son, 12ish, has headaches often, he's not celiac. His doc told him no dairy. His headaches are better but I saw him eating potluck food that had dairy in it so I don't know if he is really df or not. I told my friend it might be gluten and she just said "everything has gluten in it", so it all makes me wonder.

He also has big circles under his eyes, kinda reddish, not black.

jmjsmomma Apprentice
jmjsmomma
Posted
  • Author
Hi, have you had him retested for strep. Sometimes one round of antibiotics doesn't kick it out. Kids can be dehydrated as well and get a headache from it. my daughter while in preschool would just totally complain of a headache and be lethargic out of the blue, well come to find out she is hypoglycemic and when we changed a few things around and keep up her fluid intake her headaches went away. I too will get a headache out of the blue, then i realize my sugar is low and i haven't drank enough (hypoglycemia) , my daughther doesn't have celiac, i do, but she gets tested every two years ask him to explain his headache to you without any prompting,(meaning tell me what your head is doing now...) does it go away with tylenol, does the light bother it/ noise. unfortunately kids can get migraines and w/ celiac as most of us have experienced is migraines. good luck, try to think of simple things why this is happening. but i would also take him to your pedi, but from experience they will or i hope will ask you these questions and you will be prepared , this way if they want further testing it will not be delayed by saying (lets try this and that). hope it all works out.

He was retested for strep and it was negative. He's old enough that he will tell me if his throat/ear/whatever needs to be checked out. The dehydration is a good point. He doesn't usually drink except with meals so I need to push more water. I can't pinpoint anything in particular that is happening when he tells me that he has a headache. It does go away with Tylenol/Motrin.

jmjsmomma Apprentice
jmjsmomma
Posted
  • Author
My friend's son, 12ish, has headaches often, he's not celiac. His doc told him no dairy. His headaches are better but I saw him eating potluck food that had dairy in it so I don't know if he is really df or not. I told my friend it might be gluten and she just said "everything has gluten in it", so it all makes me wonder.

He also has big circles under his eyes, kinda reddish, not black.

Hmm. No circles here. And he never complained of headaches until he went gluten free. I'm going to do some research to see if he is deficient in some way nutritionally that I am not picking up on.

A&Z'S MOM Apprentice
A&Z'S MOM
Posted

my daughter also is not keen on fluids,so dehydration could be an issue for us too......this forum has kept me sane...bless you all

purple Community Regular
purple
Posted

I just saw some headache/migraine info towards the end of this thread:

https://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/index.php?showtopic=55628

they also posted some links

skihorse Newbie
skihorse
Posted

This is very common in people with celiacs. He may get them for 1 year as his body is healing or he could permanantey get migraines. I would see an allergist asap as he may have allergies that are coming about now that he is healing and that is causing the migraines. There is a roll on homeopathic remedy called heads on that works very well. Also stop all chocolate and anything cold. Also have you had his blood pressure and sugar tested?

Hi all,

I've posted a couple of times. My 5 yo son was confirmed celiac in Jan 09 and has been gluten free for 9 weeks tomorrow. We have seen tremendous improvement in all aspects in his little body. I know it is working since his big distended belly is gone and his overall body has thickened out. He also has SO much more energy.

I do have one concern though. About 4 weeks ago, he started complaining about headaches......for the first time in his life. After complaining of a sore throat, he ended up at the pediatrician with strep who said that headaches are a sign of that...well it's been 3 weeks and the strep is gone and I keep finding him, at least 1-2 times a week, laying down holding his head saying he has a headache.

Of course, as a new mom of a celiac child, I am freaked out that he is somehow getting gluten. Our home is gluten free...he goes to a private 2-day kindergarten where my best friend is his teacher and totally on top of things.

Is this a gluten side effect in your experience? I guess I'll get his eyes tested too, although he doesn't seem to have issues there yet either..........UGH!! I am just worried :o(

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