Gluten Accident

[kaylee]

Hi,

I just had a call from the daycare. Apparently my son has just eaten an entire mini croissant. I am trying to evacuate my feelings of anxiety before I go to pick him up. The reactionm should start in 1-3 hours from now. He hasn't eaten anything of the sort since he started the gluten-free diet over a year ago. Last time he had a gluten accident it was to medication that continued such tiny trace amounts that nothing was indicated on the bottle. That time he screamed hysterically for 2 hours. The time before the reaction was to one apparently gluten-free potato chip that was produced on a non-dedicated production line. I'm feeling stressed at the idea of what this comparatively enormous quntity of gluten is going to do.

I guess I'm also feeling surprised. I really thought he had understood for a long time already the connection between eating bread-like things and the severe pain he experiences. I'm feeling baffled.

Also - knowing full well that we are about to have a very difficult afternoon to say the least, does anyone have any suggestions about calming the gluten induced cramps? Everything I have read to date says there's nothing to do but wait til it's over. Still, hope springs eternal ....

Thanks for listening,

Kaylee

[Guest taweavmo3]

How old is your son? I was just wondering, b/c I'm always talking to my little girl about gluten, and why she can't have it. Nothing has sunk in yet, but I know in time it will.

How did he get away with eating an entire croissant w/out anyone noticing? Does the daycare know how seriously ill it will make him? I have found in church daycares and such that it's hard to get people to understand the seriousness of it. Since you can't physically see the reaction immediately, and it doesn't cause an immediate life threatening situation, like anaphylactic shock, than alot of people think a little bit is okay. That's how most of my family is too...no matter how much I explain.

That really stinks. For his sake and yours, I hope it all passes quickly.

[KaitiUSA]

A reaction just has to run its course. I would pump him with vitamins. Probiotics and enzymes may help as well.

It is hard to get peope to understand..especially day cares and places like that unless, as stated in the previous post, it is a severe reaction immediately.

[mommida]

I use Smartwater. Ingredients are... vapor distilled water+ electrolytes (calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and potassium bicarbonate) They just made a new product FruitWater it has some crystalline fructose in it, if you don't mind sugar. Most importantly it has magnesium in it and it helps with cramps.

Maybe a hot water bottle would help. Most of the time I just hold my kids until they fall asleep or don't want me to hold them.

Good luck

L.

[kaylee]

Hi again,

thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

Here's the weird thing: it turned out he had virtually no reaction. I am still scratching my head as it is the first time ever this has happened. He has reacted to gluten like clockwork always, up until Friday. He had the worst reaction he's ever had about 10 days ago, which is precisely why I was feeling SO anxious in anticipation of Friday's. So now I'm wondering a) did he actually not get anything or has he suddenly been catapulted into a new kind of reaction? He seemed only to have a gurgling stomach and headache - none of the screaming and writhing about. It's a mystery. Any ideas?

The other thing I did want to say is that I feel I need to stand up for the daycare workers who have really been fabulous. They have watched him very carefully for 8 months with virtually no accidents. This is no mean feat with 2-year-olds, who drop food everywhere (when they're not throwing it!). I've seen what the room can look like following lunch or snack, so I know it's amazing there haven't been more accidents!

Thanks again,

kaylee

[VydorScope]

Maybe he did not realy get much? I mean unless they sat there and watched him eat the whole thing (unlikly) they could only guess that he did. Maybe he only got a few bites?

[Eliza13]

Kaiti....I've noticed you pointing out the probiotics and enzymes a few times. Can you tell me what they are?

Thanks a million.

[KaitiUSA]

Digestive enzymes helps your body aide with digestion and the problems you have with digestion. These definitely have helped me out alot. Problems with the digestion process really seemed to decrease when I got on these

Probiotics are very essential in my opinion.

Probiotic bacteria favorably alter the intestinal microflora balance, inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, promote good digestion, boost immune function, and increase resistance to infection.Probiotic bacteria also produce substances called bacteriocins, which act as natural antibiotics to kill undesirable microorganisms.

[Eliza13]

Thanks Kaiti. I have another question for ya. Can they be purchased over the counter and can you recommend any name brands?

[KaitiUSA]

I get mine from the Vitamin Shoppe but they do sell them at health food stores too.

For enzymes I use CompleteGest by Enzymatic Therapy

For probiotics I use Kyo-Dophilus...I like them alot

Let me know if ya need any more info.

[Eliza13]

Thanks. You're a sweetheart. We don't have the Vitamin Shoppe here in Canada, but I'll check my local drug store.

[KaitiUSA]

I'm sure if you can't find any probiotics at stores up there then you could order something from the US and have it shipped.

If you can't find the brand of probiotics up there then choose one in a dark bottle that you have to put in the fridge. That keeps the healthy bacteria alive.

[Guest nini]

funny thing... about a year into my daughter being gluten-free, I get a frantic call from her daycare that she had grabbed an Oreo cookie from a friend of hers and ate it before the teacher could react. They said it happened so fast. Scared the teacher really bad which in turn scared my daughter , I too thought she understood the importance of not eating anything on her forbidden list, and when it comes to snacks she knows to only eat what the teachers give her, and they keep a stash of her gluten-free foods in the kitchen so she's always got something similar to what the other kids are having. She didn't have a very severe reaction, just some abdominal swelling, gas and some loose stools, but having her tummy hurt really got her attention. She was achey for several days and everytime she would complain, I would remind her it was because she had gluten.

I think maybe with some kids the reactions won't be as severe because they are so much younger and their bodies have had an easier time healing from any damage done thus far. Therefore, if they have been gluten-free for at least 6 months or so, they might not have the sensitivitiy or severity of a reaction that an adult would have after years and years of damage and then becoming more sensitive the longer we are gluten-free. This is just my theory and I have no basis in fact here, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! LOL!!!

[kaylee]

Hi Nini,

how old is your daughter? I'm interested to know how the learning process went about staying away from gluten things. I have been explaining to my 2 1/2 year old basically from the start (as of 18 months) that certain things make him feel sick but others don't. He seemed to understand from a very early age as he just about never asked for anything that gave him such bad pain. It has been hard, and I'm sure you know this from first hand experience, to see him puzzle over not having the same things as everyone else (especially when I wasn't prepared enough for the spontaneous treats that seem to happen very often at daycare - I will never forget arriving to pick him up and discovering there had been an unannounced birthday party with cake. Perfectly calmly but in a little voice he announced as we were leaving "no happy birthday cake for me, no, rice cake for me". I fought tears all the way home. He actually brought it up sporadically a number of times over the following weeks).

ANyway, that topic obviously has an impact on me still! And I thought I was doing so well!

I guess it really is going to be a process, less obvious than I was thinking for a while. Maybe the grabbing the oreo comes from the same place as the sadness about "no happy birthday cake for me." I have heard enough about kids who just become matter-of-fact about the whole business, so I think it will work itself out with time, as long as I can be sure he doesn't feel particularly deprived, or standing out, compared to his friends. The gluten-pain connection is so evident to me, but there are different kinds of pain. Here's to hoping the emotional pain is a short phase!

Best,

kaylee

[Guest nini]

Kaylee, she was 4 at the time and had been gluten-free for a little over 1 year. I thought she had been doing so well, I thought she really understood. But she's just a kid, and kids are going to be kids and do stupid things every now and then. She hasn't done it since. The center where she goes for pre-k and after school care has been incredibly helpful, they have an entire shelf in the pantry dedicated to her food supplies (dry goods, snacks, cereals) and an entire section of one of their freezers, I keep a wide variety of stuff there and they let me know when I need to stock up. I'm nervous about her starting kindergarten in the fall because then we will have to figure something else out, but I don't even know who her teacher will be yet and that's who I need to talk to. She will still go to the same place she's been going for after school care, so at least I know she will still be taken care of with the same quality of care.

[Merika]

Hi Kaylee,

I have a 3 yr old on the gluten-free diet. I have never had to tell him "no birthday cake for you"

You can make gluten-free cakes, gluten-free rice crispie treats, tapioca with wild food dye colors, gluten-free brownies, gluten-free frosting, you get the idea. I tell my ds that some cakes have gluten and some don't. He always asks when he sees something at a party "is this gluten free?" It's very cute, and we've never had a meltdown over non-gluten-free foods. I always bring something he likes to a party, and if I'm really organized I color-coordinate it to whatever the host has.

Kids are remarkably in tune with parents emotions, so if the parent is stressing and emotionally wrought over a food, the kid will become so too, yk? In my case, it's pretty easy, because I eat gluten-free and so my ds has someone to model after and he doesn't think it's weird because he eats what I do.

Don't know if that's helpful,

Merika

[kaylee]

No, I would never dream of saying "no birthday cake for you" - that's exactly the point! On monday there was a birthday party and my son had his little (gluten-free) green frog cupcake like everone else. The thing I'm thinking about is more about the transition from my controlling the diet altogether to his taking over and really "getting" it. As Nini mentioned, things appear to be clear, then suddenly they're not, and I guess I just think about what that means ... maybe too much thinking, I don't know. The thinking comes from the fact that there have been almost no exceptions with his seeming so easy-going with the diet.

I eat gluten free too, but man oh man they certainly don't at daycare. Looking at the menu I see that there could be ONE lunch in the month he could have, that is, one that doesn't naturally contain gluten.

Nini, I'm just thinking about the transition you and your daughter had to make - going gluten-free at 3! I can imagine that wasn't so easy. My son went gluten-free before he had any real hard and fast habits with gluten foods, certainly nothing he would now remember. By the way, I copied out a recipe for gluten-free oreo cookies from somewhere during one of my regular jaunts into gluten-free kids' treats equivalents. I haven't tried it yet, so have no idea what it's worth. Probably a whole lot of work!

ANyway, I'm starting to go off in too many directions. Day off work today and I'm basking in the luxury of being able to ramble on paper.

Best,

kaylee

[Guest nini]

It was easier for her to go gluten-free because I was already on the gluten-free diet, plus she was already a very picky eater, and once she figured out that eating certain foods didn't make her tummy hurt, she was more receptive to trying more things. I just had to introduce things slowly to her. Initially I stuck with plain foods like bananas, applesauce, rice and chicken...

we found gluten-free Oreo style cookies made by MiDel... they are ok.