I Am So Confused!

[Nicholasmommy]

Ok, so my son is 20 months old and is considered failure to thrive. Celiac runs in his fathers side of the family and his PCP seemed to think there was a good chance of celiac. So, apparently his AGA IGG and AGA IGA levels are positive but negative for TTG. The Gi doctor doesn't even think that he has celiac disease. Does that make any sense???

[Tallforagirl]

  Nicholasmommy said:

Ok, so my son is 20 months old and is considered failure to thrive. Celiac runs in his fathers side of the family and his PCP seemed to think there was a good chance of celiac. So, apparently his AGA IGG and AGA IGA levels are positive but negative for TTG. The Gi doctor doesn't even think that he has celiac disease. Does that make any sense???

The blood tests can be less sensitive in young children. Your son is symptomatic, so I wouldn't take the negative tTG blood test as the final diagnosis. If you still want to try for a diagnosis you could ask that he be referred for a endoscopy/biopsy, or try to find a more sympathetic doctor who will dignose on basis of family history, the AGA test results and a dietary response.

I think it's worth trying for a diagnosis, as it will help him later on. Many children grow out of their symptoms as they get older, especially in their teens, so a diagnosis now will remove any doubt that he needs to stay gluten-free in the future.

[bear6954]

At 23 months, my son was considered failure to thrive, short stature, and malnurished. My son had 6-9 messy smelly diapers a day, vomitied at least 5 times a week, really grumpy and had a huge belly. He has classic severe celiacs. All of his blood work came back negative. We opted for a biopsy and is was very positive. At his 1 yr celiac check up Ray had grown 5" and gained 1 lb. He was still not on the growth charts for his age and he had begun to lose weight (this was in Feb).

We are still fighting his malnurishement issue. We have him on an amino acid based formula that has 100% of the vits he needs in a day. He has been on it for 3 weeks and grew 1 1/2" and finally began to get his two year molars. I am not sure if it is the formula or just my sons body.

I was happy we got the biopsy. I wanted to know 100% what my son had. Prior to my son being diagnosed with Celiacs we had never heard of it. If your sons gi doctor wont help you try to switch to a different one. Good luck