4 Year Old With Stomach Pain

[karenhockley]

I'll try to make this as short as possible. My four year old started complaining about stomach pains a little while back. I thought it maybe a stress thing because his daily schedule has change. We started driving my oldest to school and picking her up everyday. Over the Christmas break the complained a little more than usual but I figured it was because we were out of town and it wasn't home (he's a home body) Now not to compare him to his sisters but his BM are looser than "normal" but I wouldn't consider them diarrhea. I still have him in pull ups because when he complains about his stomach pain he usually ends up with nasty diarrhea. I took him to the Dr's for his regular well child check up and explained everything to the Dr. And since Wyatt was getting 4 vaccination shots the Dr and I thought it would be a good idea to monitor his diet and when he gets these pains. Well I'm on the fence on getting him tested. Because I have celiac should I still get him tested or just say hey no more wheat/gluten for you? The Dr thinks it maybe a stress thing because he's not in pain all day and his growth charts aren't being affected. Is getting this confirmed worth it?

[mommida]

My opinion is from my experience. Get the testing done.

Our daughter only went as far as "probable" Celiac diagnoses. She later was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis.

Have the information and a baseline to start your child's health history. Yearly check-ups to make sure the gluten free diet is working. If any other health issue develops in the future you will have a better chance at an earlier diagnoses. You will probably find a pediatrician with experience with Celiac and other disorders associated with celiac disease.

It is a very hard decision. In your mind it appears to be Celiac, and why would you put your child through testing? In the future there may be doubts and restricting the diet for a rebellious teen ager may not be easy.

[OBXMom]

I'm sorry about your little guy's stomach aches. Could you do a blood test at least? Then if it is positive, and based on a genetic predisposition, maybe you could choose to skip the biopsy. The only problem about just cutting out the gluten is that if his tummy still hurts (and a lot of times it does for quite a while during healing or because the celiac has caused other issues) it will be hard to figure out what to do next. Prior to my son's diagnosis, one doctor had implied that my son's tummy aches were pychological, and when I told his GI doctor, he became angry. I remember him saying, "There is no way this is all in his head." But even he was shocked when my son's bloodwork indicated celiac so strongly because he didn't fit the profile in many ways. Enterolab is another noninvasive alternative - that's what we used to diagnose my second child, who strongly (very strongly!) objected to a biopsy. Hope your son feels better soon.

[karenhockley]

I'm sorry about your little guy's stomach aches. Could you do a blood test at least? Then if it is positive, and based on a genetic predisposition, maybe you could choose to skip the biopsy. The only problem about just cutting out the gluten is that if his tummy still hurts (and a lot of times it does for quite a while during healing or because the celiac has caused other issues) it will be hard to figure out what to do next. Prior to my son's diagnosis, one doctor had implied that my son's tummy aches were pychological, and when I told his GI doctor, he became angry. I remember him saying, "There is no way this is all in his head." But even he was shocked when my son's bloodwork indicated celiac so strongly because he didn't fit the profile in many ways. Enterolab is another noninvasive alternative - that's what we used to diagnose my second child, who strongly (very strongly!) objected to a biopsy. Hope your son feels better soon.

I'm leaning toward doing the test but when we were at the doc's a few days ago he got 4 vaccines and I didn't want to case him anymore pain. I thought I would wait a week or two to see if it's a stress thing. I just want to know what others would do or if they've been through this.