7 Year Old Celiac Daughter With Persistent Tummy Aches But Gluten Free

[tncboyd]

Hi. First time member. I have a 7 year old daughter who was diagnosed one year ago with Celiac. She is tiny due to years of malabsorption. We've been meticulous about her diet and she recently tested gluten free - blood tests and another endoscopy showing healthy intestines - yea!. However, she has had persistent tummy aches for five months now (ever since a bout with Norwalk virus in January). Every evening and sometimes throughout the day she is in pain, which can be severe. Her poops are fine - no constipation nor diarrhea. The Dr's do nothing for her. We are at wits end. Has anyone had similar issues or have any ideas? Thanks! Tim.

[Mizzo]

HI,

This may be completely different but; My daughter 7 has been G.F. for 9 weeks. At 7 weeks she was still having daily pains and we put her on Prevacid. Now tummy pains gone.

We're actually not sure if it's the Prevacid or just her tummy healing but trying a Antacid can't hurt. It worked in 3 days.

[mommida]

My daughter was diagnosed and put on the gluten free diet since she was 17 months. It seemed like she was having gluten reactions while she was gluten free when she turned 6. She was vomitting and complaining of stomach pain. The dark circles under her eyes came back and she seemed to be suffering from GERD or acid reflux. She went for further testing and was diagnosed Eosinophilic Esophagitus. The further testing was to rule out parasites, H. Ployri, defects of the digestive tract, or see if Celiac was causing more damage.

[T.H.]

Phew, okay...few ideas.

1. Could be giardia or an H. Pylori infection. Has she been tested for that?

2. Could be other foods, dairy especially, considering the Norwalk issue. Any damage to the intestine, even from a tummy flu, can make a person lactose intolerant for a while, and if they have dairy during this period, it can make it difficult to heal properly. Also, celiacs, are more prone to food allergies, to sensitivities to food dyes, additives, pesticides, and genetically modified foods (according to my GI doc).

I'll relate what went on with my kids - maybe it'll help! After going gluten free, my daughter was actually MORE tired than before. Huge dark circles under her eyes. My son was grumpy and angry a lot, complained of tummy aches a lot, had mouth sores all the time. Docs had ideas, like my daughter simply not getting enough sleep, but none of their suggestions ever helped. It was very frustrating.

Then we found out I had a bunch of food allergies I'd never known about, and I wondered about the kids. My allergies gave no hives or itching or rashes, they would just affect my gut and cause pain and tummyaches (some do that, I've been told now). So I put the kids on a special diet. Not anything bizarre, we just cooked everything from scratch, from organic produce if we could afford it, with no dyes or food additives, and we stayed away from the 8 major allergens (wheat, dairy, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and eggs), plus a few allergies on the family tree. Then I kept food journal detailing what they ate, and how they were feeling.

Best thing I ever did. My daughter's exhaustion disappeared in three days. My son's tummy troubles disappeared in about the same amount of time, although his would come back intermittently. After going down to basics, however, we figured out that he was having trouble with corn.

Right now, my son stays away from dairy(we knew this was a problem since birth), corn, eggs, and gluten. My daughter stays away from gluten, can have corn and dairy in limited amounts, and we're still trying to figure out something else that seems to make her feel terrible periodically.

However, the things is...I know that some, possibly all, of these aren't food allergies. My kids do not get hives, itching, nothing like that. In fact, one of the foods is honestly just bizarre. If my son has corn, there is only one thing that happens. The next 2 days it's like he's little demon possessed child: furious, uncontrollable, no frustration tolerance. It's awful. He doesn't eat corn, he's like a normal little kid with normal upsets and outbursts. I have read that some intolerances can interfere with absorption of tryptophan, which means the brain can't make enough seratonin the next day, which means the child will have a low ability to regulate emotions. I'm really wondering if that's what the issue is, but in the end, I don't really care. I have seen what eating these foods does to the kids. My husband - who at first was rolling his eyes at me and just going along with it until I gave up - has been totally convinced by the changes in the kids since we figured this out. Even my father, who was sure this food journal would hurt his grandkids, is a believer now.

I don't honestly know if that is what is bothering your daughter, but I share it because for us, too, the doctors were of no use. There were no easy-to-see allergy symptoms, and whatever reason the food is affecting my kids, it wasn't showing up on the few tests we did. Like dairy. My son used to vomit if he had a glass of milk, or the equivalent in dairy, but he tested negative to dairy allergy, and he didn't have lactose intolerance. Their reaction was: not lactose intolerance, not allergic, he can eat it. No attention paid to the vomiting at all After running into that, when I was concerned about food again, I decided to do it - safely - on my own. It might not help me know why they are reacting to a food, but as long as I am careful about their nutritional intake, and they are healthy and happy without these foods, I'm really okay with that.

  On 6/21/2010 at 11:13 AM, tncboyd said:

Hi. First time member. I have a 7 year old daughter who was diagnosed one year ago with Celiac. She is tiny due to years of malabsorption. We've been meticulous about her diet and she recently tested gluten free - blood tests and another endoscopy showing healthy intestines - yea!. However, she has had persistent tummy aches for five months now (ever since a bout with Norwalk virus in January). Every evening and sometimes throughout the day she is in pain, which can be severe. Her poops are fine - no constipation nor diarrhea. The Dr's do nothing for her. We are at wits end. Has anyone had similar issues or have any ideas? Thanks! Tim.

[Kelly&Mom]

I feel for you. My daughter (14) has been gluten-free since this last Sept. The Dr. said it would take about 6 mos. for her to heal but she still had stomach aches every time she ate....... she did gain weight, skin color looked better, had some periods of time where she felt better but we had a week where she just felt terrible so took her back. This time he said she has irritable bowel syndrome which often runs hand-in-hand with celiac. Gave us medication (muscle relaxants) and sent us on our way. The pills didn't make her feel better, just made her drowsy so I went online and looked up what foods were IBS triggers. Lo and behold, the watermelon she loves is a trigger as were many other foods she loves such as onions, peppers, spinach, most things with insoluable fiber and dairy. Put her on the cleansing diet, mostly chicken, rice and she suddenly felt better. Wish the Dr's would tell you about that instead of prescribing drugs! So, we're slowly going through foods on the "No" list and figuring which ones are her particular triggers. She's a teenager so she knows gluten is not an option. I told her all other foods were up to her. She knows she will feel bad but it won't really harm her otherwise so it's her choice. Goodluck to you!

[tncboyd]

Thank you to all! What a great response! We have ruled out acid reflux, parasites, bacteria, viruses and dairy intolerance. Since the doctors have given up on us and said its all in her head, I think we will further test the food allergy approach, which seems to be the predominant suggestion We'll put her on an extremely simple, fresh diet for three days, and if there is an improvement, we gradually introduce food groups until we find the culprit(s). Wish us luck! And thanks again for all of your inputs. Good health to all! By the way, I've recent been diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis, which has been seriously inhibiting my active lifestyle, but my little one tested negative with her recent colonoscopy. Hmm. And what a trooper she's been through all of these invasive tests. A very proud Dad, Tim.