Constant Diarrhea

[Twister2]

Hey there, I am a Celiac and my 14 month old daughter now is having suspicious symptoms. She has had diarrhea for 3 months. The docs first thought it was lactose intolerance, and while the diarrhea gets worse from any dairy, she STILL has loose BM's even when she is dairy free. Her little bottom is a sore mess from all of the wiping and acidic poopie. They are sending us to a pediatric GI but we could not get in until next month. Until then they are doing stool cultures to rule out the possibility of parasitic infection. She has been gaining weight slightly and not loosing any so I guess thats a good sign. I pray she does not have Celiacs! How do your kids handle the diet and if you have more than one child, do you just do the whole gluten-free thing for all of your kids even if one is not Celiac? I don't want to cut out our 3 year olds favourite snacks if I don't have to. Do any of you have kids with diarrhea as a main symptom? Has it just turned out to be a food allergy as opposed to Celiacs?

[MySuicidalTurtle]

All your children should be tested if you have Celiacs.

She sounds like me. When I was really little they said I was lactose intolerant, told us to increase my fiber, and said I just has bad nerves. If they had tested me then I wouldn't have gone through years of pain.

Get her tested while she's young!

In my family I was first diagnosed and ate gluten-free and the rest of my family ate regular. Then, my brother was diagnosed and just us two ate gluten-free. Lastly, my Mom was diagnosed and now we eat gluten-free and my Dad eats regular.

Some people like their whole familyto be gluten-free and others, like us, have gluten-free and non-gluten-free members.

[ryebaby0]

If she is celiac and untreated, it's very likely that the damage to her small intestine's villi is causing lactose intolerance that will go away once she is gluten-free.

If you are celiac, your children need to be tested. If they are celiac and not on a gluten-free diet, it will eventually catch up with them -- and THEN the discomfort, illness, etc. will make the tests seem like a walk in the park!

My son and husband are celiac. Our dinners are gluten-free, but my other, older son and I eat mainstream food. The kitchen has some cabinets marked "Not gluten-free" for the things I occasionally need to use for us and everything else is gluten-free. I don't bake gluten-laden things (too much to clean up with all that flour in the air) but my 16 y.o. doesn't care. He has a shelf in the pantry -- high up where his brother can't see the stuff -- with traditional junk food. It can be very daunting at first but you will be able to make your own system and live happily ever after!

[celiac3270]

Yes--everyone should be tested, symptoms or not, for celiac disease.

Perhaps she has lactose intolerance and celiac disease? It seems like if you have celiac disease, you usually have something else, too. Another allergy, casein/lactose intolerance, diabetes, thyroid problem, something. Not all people do, but it seems that these issues are more prevalent among celiacs than the general population.

When she is old enough, though, your daughter should be tested, even if the symptoms go away. Try not to worry about coping now, when you don't even know for sure. While it may be difficult to give up gluten as an adult or older child, a younger child who hasn't even been exposed to much gluten won't have as big a problem with it. Eating gluten-free since a young age makes gluten-free food "normal food" rather than some strange and restricting diet. The biggest problem for your daughter if she has to eat gluten-free might be the feeling that you're different--but giving up the food is easier at a younger age.......sorry, I'm rambling

[key]

My baby is 13 months old and also is having diarrhea and falling off the charts as his main symptoms. He used to like to eat, but now he doesn't like it. He also has some issues with dairy. He had even worse diarrhea with it. I was breastfeeding and they told me to wean him and then when I put him on dairy his diarrhea was horrible. It is still bad and he isn't gaining weight. It is so frustrating. We are supposed to have the biopsy done next month, but I hate the idea of it. Is there any way to know for sure without the test? He was negative supposedly on some blood test, but the GI doctor still thinks he could have celiac disease. I really am concerned for him though. He used to love to eat. I have him on a soy based Organic formula. I am hoping there isn't any gluten in it. I don't recognize any gluten ingredients, but I am knew to all of this.

Any suggestions for what I should do would be very helpful.

Thanks,

Monica

[Merika]

Hi Monica,

Do the tests. I think all of us adults here with celiac will tell you - do the tests!!! It took me 12 years of awful symptoms to get diagnosed, during which time LOTS of damage occurred and now I am allergic (hopefully temporarily) to many many things.

On another note, many doctors are not aware that you can relactate (at any time, but easier to do if you've just been nursing). Go to www.lalecheleague.com to get the name and number of a expert La Leche Leader near you who can give you the details (for free - it's a nonprofit). Nursing provides an excellent source of nutrition, especially for kids allergic to milk/soy. Mind you, nursing moms need to avoid foods their babies are allergic to, as it can pass through the breastmilk. Email me direct if you want more info.

Warmly,

Merika

[key]

Isn't there just a blood test that could confirm that he has celiac disease without doing the biopsy. I am currently away from his doctors for six weeks and so his biopsy isn't scheduled until June 6th. He is so bad with diarrhea and looking skinny, not eating that I am taking gluten out of his diet. I know I probably should wait, but he is so miserable and I don't really want to go through the biopsy. I feel like that if he has a positive result after taking it out of his diet that that is proof enough for me.

I was going to try to and build my milk supply back up, but once I started weaning, he started biting and he just wasn't nursing well once I started trying to give him a bottle. He hated the bottle, but is fine with it now. THe soy formula I am giving him is gluten free I found out for sure from the company. I would have to buy an expensive pump if I was going to try and nurse again, etc. I wanted to for awhile, but it just seemed hopeless.

Anyway, I hope he gets straightened out soon. We are vegetarian and he wasn't tolerating milk either, so it is hard to find things for him to eat. I am really into the healthfood stores anyway though, so I think I can find some good gluten-free foods I hope.

Thanks for your response,

Monica

[KaitiUSA]

There are blood tests they do to detect celiac. These tests including the gene test they should be testing for.

-Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA

-Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG

-Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA

-Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) IgA

-Total Serum IgA

I was only diagnosed through blood tests

You should not take him off of gluten until tested though because it can interfere with the accuracy of the tests. If he is getting a biopsy and doesn't have damage it will come back negative because of healing.

[momof2]

When my 14 month old was diagnosed, my 3 year old tested negative. We started the 14 month old on gluten-free foods, and now at almost 2 years old, she eats her own foods, and has no problem with it. We know we won't be able to do it forever, but right now we can eat pizza, breads, anything you can imagine, we eat in front of her, and she doesn't care. We think this is because this is all she knows, she was diagnosed young, like your child is now, so it is easier we believe. My 4 year old still eats her gluten containing foods, and has become a little mommy's helper when I give my celiac daughter anything new. She asks me if the new food is gluten-free. She knows to not leave food laying around, or her sister will get a stomach ache. I hope that answers one of your questions.

I agree with the others...get your baby tested!