Gave My Son Barley: Bad Poop Reaction

[brendab]

I know we are all poop detectives here and dang, I wish it paid! LOL

Let me give you a link with (WARNING!!!) poop pictures, the one I am using as a reference is the one labeled, "infraction" above it and there are 2 pictures underneath it, the top one is the one I am going to refer to. These are NOT from my son but what I found today in researching my sons poop issues.

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So, now that we have all lost the contents of our stomaches, let's re-group (or recoup LOL)and discuss my sons issues. My 2 year old is allergic to wheat, dairy, bananas and soy but I am suspecting gluten may be an issue as well. When I research my sons poop issues, it keeps coming back to celiac.com so I am wondering if I should be worried? I gave him barley yesterday afternoon and this morning's poop looked JUST like that 1st picture I referred to with a sharp, mothball like smell to it, the same yellow color and it was an enormous amount! So when I looked it up, the color, horrible smell, undigested food and amount all seem to point to celiac and this after I gave him barley in which he tested negative for it BUT gluten bugs me so I wonder about him. The sores that people with celiacs gets sounds like my son but only in the diaper area and only if he's eaten wheat, but he didn't get it this morning.

Ok, I am not convinced he has celiac's but it's a scary thought to me so what else could this be? I appreciate any and all thoughts!

[Skylark]

Hi there. Have you had him tested for celiac?

[brendab]

Hi there. Have you had him tested for celiac?

No, this is just recently (like the past 2 days) that I am putting things together. I have known since he was 4 months old that he had food allergies, had him tested and he's been MOSTLY gluten-free since 7 months old. I am starting to just now put more things together and tried the barley out (since I know he is allergic to wheat) since it has gluten in it and that picture looks JUST like his poop this morning!!!! Wow, it stunk up the entire 2nd level of the house! LOL He's seemingly healthy so I never really questioned it. If he were tested, don't you think it would come up negative since he's gluten free most of the time? I did that a few years ago for myself with celiac symptoms and the blood test came back negative but I know I feel better off of gluten. Our entire family has recently gone dairy and gluten free for the past 2 weeks or so and so I am now thinking a test wouldn't be accurate

[frieze]

it seems the best test is already positive....

[brendab]

it seems the best test is already positive....

Oh my gosh! Do you really think he's Celiac just from poop? I hope not

[Skylark]

No, this is just recently (like the past 2 days) that I am putting things together. I have known since he was 4 months old that he had food allergies, had him tested and he's been MOSTLY gluten-free since 7 months old. I am starting to just now put more things together and tried the barley out (since I know he is allergic to wheat) since it has gluten in it and that picture looks JUST like his poop this morning!!!! Wow, it stunk up the entire 2nd level of the house! LOL He's seemingly healthy so I never really questioned it. If he were tested, don't you think it would come up negative since he's gluten free most of the time? I did that a few years ago for myself with celiac symptoms and the blood test came back negative but I know I feel better off of gluten. Our entire family has recently gone dairy and gluten free for the past 2 weeks or so and so I am now thinking a test wouldn't be accurate

You probably need to talk to a GI doc. There are lifelong consequences to celiac disease and it might be better to find out for sure. A doctor who is knowledgeable about celiac could advise you about gluten challenge with rye and barley and do the celiac testing. Obviously the tests have limitations, especially in little kids, but my understanding is that it's better to have a diagnosis or at least a supportive doctor who will write notes for school.

[brendab]

You probably need to talk to a GI doc. There are lifelong consequences to celiac disease and it might be better to find out for sure. A doctor who is knowledgeable about celiac could advise you about gluten challenge with rye and barley and do the celiac testing. Obviously the tests have limitations, especially in little kids, but my understanding is that it's better to have a diagnosis or at least a supportive doctor who will write notes for school.

I need to find a knowledgable one first, that is the hard part I think. How long would he have to be on a gluten diet?

[Skylark]

I need to find a knowledgable one first, that is the hard part I think. How long would he have to be on a gluten diet?

Most folks around here have had doctors say 4-6 weeks for blood tests, and at least 2 months for biopsy. And yes, finding a good doctor is probably the hardest part of the whole thing.

[Grace'smom]

Hi there

I know there is a lot of talk about finding a "good" GI doctor, but my experience has been wonderful with our Children's Hospital (in Boston). You must live somewhere in driving distance to a Children's hospital in your region; my recommendation would be to start there where the GIs are very familiar with diagnosing and treating celiac. Our Children's hosp GI program was so great that not only did we get teriffic medical support, but were offered nutritional classes for recently diagnosed celiac children, emotional support via sessions w/ GI social workers (no charge, no insurance, just part of the program), and they even found a "match" for my 6 yr old within the town that we live, so the two celiac children could meet and support each other and form a friendhship. Contact the GI dept of your local Children's hospital or ask your pediatrician to recommend one out of there. Its a good place to start. Take care. Emily

[brendab]

Hi there

I know there is a lot of talk about finding a "good" GI doctor, but my experience has been wonderful with our Children's Hospital (in Boston). You must live somewhere in driving distance to a Children's hospital in your region; my recommendation would be to start there where the GIs are very familiar with diagnosing and treating celiac. Our Children's hosp GI program was so great that not only did we get teriffic medical support, but were offered nutritional classes for recently diagnosed celiac children, emotional support via sessions w/ GI social workers (no charge, no insurance, just part of the program), and they even found a "match" for my 6 yr old within the town that we live, so the two celiac children could meet and support each other and form a friendhship. Contact the GI dept of your local Children's hospital or ask your pediatrician to recommend one out of there. Its a good place to start. Take care. Emily

What great advice, thank you!

[Gardening]

That is exactly what my younger daughter's poop normally looks like (well... since this spring).

It was 5x/day, usually 3 poops by noon, but it's improved to 3-4x/day and less undigested food. For a while, it looked like I had taken a scoop full of dinner and just dumped it in her diaper, with a little actual poo to bind it together.

The improvements have come at the same time that I've added tons of high-end probiotics to daily smoothies (her sister gets them for vitamins). She has had a large number of antibiotics and I don't know if that contributed to the undigested poop. But the change in poop this spring also coincides with when I weaned her, so who knows.

We are at the "something appears to be wrong, waiting for her GI appt next week" stage. As you can see in my siggy, her Enterolab results were far from equivocal. Our next step is probably a celiac panel blood test, after she has been sufficiently glutened up (since big sis has been gluten-free for almost two months, little sis has been gluten-lite).

I'd definately make an appt and see what they say.

[brendab]

That is exactly what my younger daughter's poop normally looks like (well... since this spring).

It was 5x/day, usually 3 poops by noon, but it's improved to 3-4x/day and less undigested food. For a while, it looked like I had taken a scoop full of dinner and just dumped it in her diaper, with a little actual poo to bind it together.

The improvements have come at the same time that I've added tons of high-end probiotics to daily smoothies (her sister gets them for vitamins). She has had a large number of antibiotics and I don't know if that contributed to the undigested poop. But the change in poop this spring also coincides with when I weaned her, so who knows.

We are at the "something appears to be wrong, waiting for her GI appt next week" stage. As you can see in my siggy, her Enterolab results were far from equivocal. Our next step is probably a celiac panel blood test, after she has been sufficiently glutened up (since big sis has been gluten-free for almost two months, little sis has been gluten-lite).

I'd definately make an appt and see what they say.

Ya, my son has days where he poops multiple times as well and in retrospect he's shown the signs all along but I didn't know them. I recall many poops like the one I am talking about because the smell is unforgettable! Why does it smell like moth balls? I recall once that what he ate came out so quick that the banana's also came out just like how he swallowed them and I have NEVER seen banana's coming out the back end as we all know they are mostly water. That was quick!!!!!