Failure To Thrive And Celiac Disease

[Nicholasmommy]

Hi! My son has been diagnosed with failure to thrive. He is 19 months and about the size of a 12 month old. He has never liked to eat food at all but it has been getting worse and worse. His doctor thinks he might have celiac disease but I was looking at the syptoms and he just doesn't seem to have any of them. He has a large belly that is the only thing. The thing that he does a lot is put food in his mouth chew it up and spit it out. He will them want more and do it over and over again.

I was just wondering if any of your children have been known to chew and spit their food? Thank you, Kristina

[sugarsue]

Hi! My son has been diagnosed with failure to thrive. He is 19 months and about the size of a 12 month old. He has never liked to eat food at all but it has been getting worse and worse. His doctor thinks he might have celiac disease but I was looking at the syptoms and he just doesn't seem to have any of them. He has a large belly that is the only thing. The thing that he does a lot is put food in his mouth chew it up and spit it out. He will them want more and do it over and over again.

I was just wondering if any of your children have been known to chew and spit their food? Thank you, Kristina

It reminds me of something about my oldest daughter. She would do this (chew and spit or drink and let the liquid drip out of her mouth without swallowing). She would also stick her fingers down her throat to gag herself and laugh (creepy). She has sensory processing disorder. What are the rest of his symptoms?

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This link has a long checklist that might be helpful in getting a feel for whether this may be something going on. It should not give a failure to thrive diagnosis I would not think but maybe it's related? I hope you find what is going on with your son and he turns around. I know you are very, very worried.

[kbalman]

Hi! My son has been diagnosed with failure to thrive. He is 19 months and about the size of a 12 month old. He has never liked to eat food at all but it has been getting worse and worse. His doctor thinks he might have celiac disease but I was looking at the syptoms and he just doesn't seem to have any of them. He has a large belly that is the only thing. The thing that he does a lot is put food in his mouth chew it up and spit it out. He will them want more and do it over and over again.

I was just wondering if any of your children have been known to chew and spit their food? Thank you, Kristina

Not sure if it will help but we tried gluten free diet with my son back in september of 08. We put him back on gluten 2 weeks ago to get the celiac panel ran again. Interesting thing is when he was gluten free he ate really well, now since he is back on gluten he has started doing what your son has been doing, chewing his food and spitting out, or just not eating at all. I think it is connected. I think these little guys aer trying to tell us something, their way of communicating they dont feel well.

[Genna'smom]

Hi

I feel like I am reading my own story. My daughter was 23 months old and all of a sudden decided to stop eating and drinking all together. She went down to 18 lbs.... She ended up in 2 children's hospitals before the ony thing they could come up with is Celiac Disease - they did a biopsy and she had early warning stages but blood work said negative and allery testing showed no. She also had no symptoms at all - NOTHING - and this was so frustrating . Well after almost a year of gluten free she is doing better but did have to be placed on a feeding tube for failure to thrive to help her get back healthy and slowing she has started eating some things. She also put food in her mouth and chewed and spit it out, would tell us foods were bad or yucky or sour and it has been a challenge. We have cut back on the feeding tube and she is eating some but is monitored every month for her weight change. We will challenger her on gluten food again at aroudn age 4 and see what happens. I would do the biopsy as blood work can give false negative and positives. Good luck and keep me posted and fight for you child no matter what . If you want to send me a private message and I will help any way I can. I do go to GCH in Rochester for her GI issues...

[bear6954]

Does your son choke on food or throw up when he is eating? My son did that and the things you mentioned - still does chew food and spit it out. My son has eosinophilic esophogitis. Its swelling of the throat that is not life threating in most cases. It makes it hard to swallow and when he does good gets stuck in his throat. The only way to get a correct diagnosis is by endoscopy, but you may run that by your doctor and look up the symptoms. My son was treated with prednisone and did wonderful - finally started to eat meat. He has been off of it for months now and is again showing signs of EE - chewing and spitting out food, gagging on food and only eating food he can mush in his mouth. EE can cause failure to thrive along with celiacs. good luck

[Nicholasmommy]

Thank you guys for all of your help!! He doesn't really have any other symptom besides failure to thrive, chewing and spitting, and a small belly. He prefers to drink liquids more than eat food most of the time. I have been wondering if it is eosinophilic esophogitis because it just seemed to fit with the chewing and spitting. It is strange because sometimes he will eat a certain food just fine and other times he chews and spits. I am really stressed and I feel like I am fighting a losing battle.

I am also going to look at the sensory issues too. Any other suggestions would be wonderful! Thank you again!