Fever And Vomitting, Coincidence?

[Heidismom]

Hi, this is my first post here, hope I'm not breaking protocol and should be doing this somewhere else, but from what I've read, everyone seems very supportive, so I'm not too worried.

I am super new to the whole gluten thing, really didn't know what it was until this last week. I realized a couple weeks ago that my 2.5 year old dd is having problems with something she eats because her messy diapers are basically diarrhea. I thought that was normal until it hit me that my 9 month old son has been having firm stools since he started eating solids. Anyway, we took her off dairy for a week to see if that was it, no dice, still having problems. Then we took her off wheat, which basically meant taking her off gluten, because most of the things in the stores that say wheat free also say gluten free. After almost 3 days without gluten (to the best of my knowledge, seems there are all kinds of hidden glutens in everything!) she had her first semifirm poo in a year, and has continued through days 4 and 5. I've also realized that gluten could very well be the cause of her failure to thrive, diagnosed last year. DH also realized that he has A LOT of the symptoms for celiacs and he didn't even know that he had a problem, just thought that's the way things were. He's just gone gluten free too now.

Now to my question, yesterday one of my older kids left her snacks on the table and I could hear dd in the kitchen saying MMM. Went in to find her eating animal cookies and cereal, took it away, and scolded the older one, telling her not to leave food out, etc. Wasn't worried because dd has only been off gluten less than a week, so shouldn't have a problem with sneaking a couple cookies, right? Well, this afternoon, she started throwing up, and took her temp and she has a fever over 101F. I called the ped and the nurse said it's probably just a virus (our appointment about gluten isn't until Monday) and keep her hydrated and under 103. None of the rest of us are sick, there are 6 of us. Could this be a reaction to the cookies she had yesterday, even though it's been such a short time? Can a reaction cause a high temperature? She only threw up 3 times, but still complains of a tummy ache, and there really don't seem to be any other symptoms of a virus, no runny nose, cough. Just wondering if it could be a reaction, or if it's just a big coincidence that she gets this sick a day after the slip-up.

Anyway, sorry for the long post, I tried to make it as short as I could. I'm new at all of this, and really floundering here. All of the new, and expensive, foods are so overwhelming to me, and the lists of what has gluten, it's so tricky trying to tell if things are okay. Does it have to say gluten-free on it or not. Anyway, rambling. Thanks for any answers/help/advice.

[debmom]

Anything is possible, and it seems likely that the food is the culprit. I know a gentleman who falls asleep as sson as he has gluten. Others have neurological reactions, so a fever seems reasonable. I would think that her positive reaction to the gluten free diet is a great sign. Keep up the diet and see if she doesn't continue to improve~

[Genna'smom]

Hi

I am sorry to hear about everything going on. It has been 1 year for me and I am finding more and more foods my 3 yr old can eat and likes that are regular foods with regular prices.... Last night I found out she can have cotton candy ice cream at our local dairy (I asked to read the label - It was Perry's and right on the big tub it state GLUTEN FREE) so it is still a learning process..... When Betty Crock comes out with the brownies, cookeis and cake mixes I am hoping it will make my life a lot easier....

Ask anything here as people have great words of wisdom....

PS - my 3 yr old shows no symptoms that you can really notice except failure to thrive.....

[swalker]

It's not at all uncommon for the reactions to worsen after gluten is removed.