Should I Get Son Tested...has Had Stomach Pain For 5 Wks

[carecare]

Hi all,

First, I will say that my husband went gluten free (actually following the paleolythic diet) since October and has felt wonderful since. His indigestion and diarrhea have disappeared. He decided to cheat at thanksgiving and was sick for 2 wks...and indigestion was immediate. So he now knows he will never have gluten again.

Now my 8 yr old son had a stomach bug back on valentines day. He threw up a couple times that evening, slight fever and diarrhea that evening too but recovered except for stomach pain that has persisted every day since. I brought him to the dr's after 3-4 wks. She felt he had an inflamed stomach lining and started him on prilosec which has not helped much. He's now been on that for what 3 wks or more. I decided to start a probiotic on him as well back a few weeks ago. I was hoping that with the combination of the meds and the probiotic he'd be 100% but he's not. Still complains of stomach pains off and on during the day. I don't think it's as bad as it was a month ago but still he's in pain. I have not seen a correlation to his eating and the pain...it seems to be random but I've started a journal to try and pinpoint what's going on. Worst times are morning and evening.

I asked my dr about going gluten free and she said not to change his diet just yet (that was back 3 wks ago when I brought him in). I am wondering if I should bite the bullet and just have him go 100% gluten free and see if it clears up his stomach pain or if I should call his dr and ask to have the blood test drawn before I attemp going gluten free? I know the tests aren't always completely accurate but we could at least see if there's something there. Or...would you just go gluten free and forget about the testing? I bought enough things for him today that I could easily start him on a gluten free diet. My dinners are always gluten free but his lunches and breakfasts are not....but that can be changed easily. What do you think? Could something like that stomach bug have kind of triggered him to become gluten intolerant?

CC

[Mrs. N]

Yes, illness can trigger Celiac Disease. Testing is great if something shows up, but where gluten is concerned, negative results don't necessarily mean gluten is safe for him. The biggest thing to me is that his Dad has had such a positive response to going gluten free. Since it's genetic, and it won't hurt him, I'd be inclined to eliminate gluten and see how it goes. Keep in mind that gluten sensitivity can often be accompanied by other food issues, especially dairy. [Editing to add that you might need to take other foods into consideration if he improves but his symptoms don't go away.]

[Jony]

Hi,

Whatever your son has sounds very very similar to what I have experienced since Dec.28th 2009. The Flu hit and after a couple of days I got better BUT then my stomach lining inflamation never subsided and I started to loose weight quick. Acid blockers and antacids did not help at all. Mornings and Evenings are the worst for me, too.

I am going gluten-free as of April 3rd and see where it leads me. I hope that direction will help your son as well since it did seem to help your husband. The constant stomach upset can really cause emotional havoc as you might have noticed by now.

All the best and stay hopeful.

Jony

[carecare]

Thank you Mrs. M and Jony. As of Monday he's been gluten free. Today has been the first day since Valentines day he has not complained of his stomach hurting. Crossing my fingers that this is it and the gluten was the culprit. Though I will be sad for him having to watch so closely what he eats. I know it doable...just an annoyance for someone so young. I also stopped giving him the prilosec as of Monday too...so being pain free isn't being helped by meds. I hope you are having success too Jony. Keep me posted!

CC

[carecare]

So, his pain over the past week hasn't completely gone away but he's not complaining that his stomach hurts. If I ask him if it hurt at all during the day he just says "a little." He definitely seems in less discomfort. Well, the other day was a cake auction for cubscouts and he really wanted a piece of the cake. I let him have it. I figured we'd see him either get worse or stay the same as he's been the last week and 1/2. He didn't seem that bad the next day...said his belly wasn't hurting much. Then he continued to have gluten things the next day and now today he said his belly was really hurting at school today. I wish I would have stuck to my guns and continued this glutenfree challenge longer before giving it back to him. I guess we continue gluten free for another longer period of time and then I think I'll see how that goes. Then part of me just wants to have him continue to eat gluten and just get tested. Since we didn't go gluten free very long maybe I should make an appointment. And a couple weeks after the onset of the stomach pain came his chewing on his shirts...first it was the cuffs and I finally broke the habit in him by constant reminders and showing him how he's ruining his shirts...but then he started chewing around the collar area of his shirts which also puts big holes in them too. He's ruined so many shirts the last 2 months. I know some kids just go through that but I wonder if it means anything more. I figured it was a form of comfort in him ...in order to help ease his stomach pain he's finding a coping mechanism which ends up being chewing/sucking on his shirts.

CC

Thank you Mrs. M and Jony. As of Monday he's been gluten free. Today has been the first day since Valentines day he has not complained of his stomach hurting. Crossing my fingers that this is it and the gluten was the culprit. Though I will be sad for him having to watch so closely what he eats. I know it doable...just an annoyance for someone so young. I also stopped giving him the prilosec as of Monday too...so being pain free isn't being helped by meds. I hope you are having success too Jony. Keep me posted!

CC

[Mrs. N]

I'm sorry it has been such a long time since I've checked this. How are things going?