19 Month Old With Chronic Diarrhea

[alaynasmommy]

My 19 month old daughter has had diarrhea for over 5 weeks now. Some days she goes 5-7 times. I took her to the pediatrician once weekly for the last 3 weeks. The first visit the doctor said that she had gastroentirits. The next week, she had a bowel movement while waiting for the doctor and it had blood in it. The doctor said the blood was probably from where she had so much diarrhea it had busted blood vessels in the colon. She ordered a stool culture to test for parasites, cdiff, and gardiasis. It came back normal. I took her back again and this time the doctor(different ped in the office) was very concerned about the diarrhea and her weight. She weighs 22lbs which is in the 15% for weight. She has always been a slow gainer (she weighed 7lbs 15oz at birth). The pediatrician last week referred her to a pediatric GI doctor. She goes for the appointment next week. The ped also mentioned celiac disease but she said she wanted to wait and let the GI doctor run the tests to save my baby a blood stick (she said he would probably order other labs as well). Her appetite is good some days and some days she hardly eats anything. She does drink well, so I am not concerned with dehydration at this point. She as been waking up at night having bowel movements as well. She has been very clingy and irritable--hard to get to sleep at night. She is very petite and has the ethiopian look (big tummy). She also has had a rash. It begin on her stomach and back but that has gone away and now it is on her face. Her bowel movements contain undigested food (sorry..TMI). The ped last week did give her 5 days worth of probiotics. Her bowel movements did firm up some but she is still having the diarrhea atleast 1-2 times daily. She took her last dose of the Florastor on Monday morning of this week. She had 4 bowel movements yesterday and one during the night last night. She eats all solid foods. I have taken all of her juice away 4 weeks ago. My question is does this sound like celiac disease? I really want to know what is going with my baby. Thanks...

[tarnalberry]

It certainly could be, but there's no way to rule out other things that have overlapping symptoms without some variety of testing. I hope your GI appointment is soon. If you are doing any diagnostic tests, do NOT take her gluten free - it will mess up the tests. Know that tests are not as reliable in children under 2, so even if she tests negative, it may be worth trying the diet (and/or trying to identify other problem foods). You may find keeping a food diary (what she eats and any symptoms you notice (from the immediacy of a bowel movement to skin rashes to crankiness to length of sleep) helpful for yourself and the GI, particularly if you can rotate through the foods she eats so she's not eating the same things every meal.

[misskatie]

If she's had this since birth and she was breast fed it seems unlikely to me, but if she was on formula, and I have no idea what they put in formula, it may be a more likely possibility.

Hope you figure out the cause!

[alaynasmommy]

She has only had the real watery and sometimes mucousy diarrhea for 5 weeks. She was breastfed until 12 months. We started solids at 6 months. I just don't know what is wrong with her. While she was on breastmilk she did have the seedy bowel movements but since she was 12 months she has been on solid foods. I take her to GI doctor next Friday so maybe he will shed some light on this.

[ravenwoodglass]

She has only had the real watery and sometimes mucousy diarrhea for 5 weeks. She was breastfed until 12 months. We started solids at 6 months. I just don't know what is wrong with her. While she was on breastmilk she did have the seedy bowel movements but since she was 12 months she has been on solid foods. I take her to GI doctor next Friday so maybe he will shed some light on this.

I am glad your doctor has already run stool testing and that came back okay. She does sound a lot like she may be celiac. Hopefully the GI doctor will see her soon. I know the ped wants to spare her a 'stick' but it might be helpful to have the lab results from the test when you see the GI. Your ped may be unsure what tests to order for a full panel. That info can be found through the home page here if that should be the case. False negatives are fairly common with little ones with both blood and biopsy so after all the testing is done please do give the diet a try.

[alaynasmommy]

My daughter has begun having regular bowel movements for the last week. They are formed and I if I catch her before she sits down I could dump them in the toilet. I guess the probiotics that the pediatrician put her on worked. This is the first time every that she has had what I would call normal bowel movements. She is still very irratable but I think that is coming from her age and the fact the she is spoiled rotten. Her appt with Ped GI doctor is this Friday. I am thinking of cancelling since she hasn't had the diarrhea in a week. What do you think? If she in fact had celiac, the diarrhea wouldn't stop would it while still eating gluten?

[nora-n]

Most adults with celaic are asymptomatic (meaning they have no diarrhea) so diarreah is not even the main symptom of celiac nowadays.

Some also only have constipation as symptom.

Crankyness and being in the low percentile for weight is enough to get tested, I think.

[mommida]

My daughter's ped gastro would want his own testing. Your ped saved her from an extra poke.

Celiac baby's can react to gluten in breastmilk.

There are enough reasons to keep that appointment.

[mommylovesjosie]

Has anything with your daughter been resolved? My daughter is 19 months also with relentless diarrhea. All results came back negative so no bacteria or anything. Could this just be a very bad virus?

[ravenwoodglass]

Has anything with your daughter been resolved? My daughter is 19 months also with relentless diarrhea. All results came back negative so no bacteria or anything. Could this just be a very bad virus?

How long has she had D? Has she had an endo and testing for celiac? If she has go ahead and to a trial of the diet. If she hasn't had testing for celiac keep her on gluten until that is done. False negatives are even more common in children than in adults so when testing is done a strict trial is advised.