6 Months Of No Answers With 18 Month Old Son...help!

[allinschenk]

DS is 18 months old and was found to be critically anemic roughly 6 months ago. Since that time he had been taking iron supplements until about 2 months ago at which time he had reached a "normal" level. After taking him off the iron, his levels dropped to critical again. As a parent I'm really lost on what to do at this point. Here are his symptoms...

*Extremely difficult bowel movements (screaming and crying for 10-40 minutes for one movement) with days in between. Dr. prescribed Miralax but it didn't seem to make things any easier.

*Weight loss when not taking the iron

*Huge stomach...it protrudes and he doesn't like anyone to touch it :-(

We're headed back to the Dr. in the morning. We've been going around and around for 6 months with no answers. We tried removing dairy and that did not seem to do anything. Other than being on the pale side, DS is running around and playing like big brother and eating well. Should we be looking at celiac? What kinds of tests should I be asking for. Thanks in advance.

[Dixiebell]

Hi and welcome! Yes, you need to ask for a complete celiac blood panel, vitamin levels. Critically anemic is a symptom of celiac and the iron may have caused him to be constipated. Arm yourself with some information about celiac symptoms and get the tests done. Understand that the tests can be negative but it can be a false negative. The celiac tests are not 100%. Also an endoscopy and biopsy can be done after the blood test results to see any damage or if something else is going on. Make sure you obtain copies of all the tests and you can post them here and others can help you with the results. Oh and please don't let the Dr. talk you out of it. Good luck

[tarnalberry]

heavens yes, he needs to be screen for celiac. bad doctors for not thinking of it earlier. AFTER the testing, you might try taking him strictly gluten free and see if it helps.

[Lisa]

Request an anti-deaminated gliadin peptide (DGP) test for your child.

[Skylark]

Huge stomach is the classic symptom of childhood celiac. I'm shocked he hasn't been tested. Insist on having him tested and I agree with everyone else to try taking him off gluten no matter what the tests say.