Ok...this Is What The Doctors Said....

[shaleen]

Okay, so to recap...my 19 month old stopped gaining weight when he was 10 months. We've had numerous blood tests, a sweat test, have gone to appointments with gastroenterologists, a naturopathic and a dietician. The first doc we went to was the naturopathic (when his pedi she didn't know why he wasn't gaining)...and he did some testing and told me that my son had a gluten/dairy/corn/orange intollerance and to keep him away from those foods and he would start gaining...the pedi thought this was radiculous and begged me to give my son whatever he wanted. I did this...4 months later not only is he not gaining..he's dropping weight (he's 17.5 pounds and 19 months old currently). So then I go to the gastro doc who wants me to put him back on gluten for 2 months so they can do a celiac test. I made it 1 week before he got his first ear infection and was totally miserable...headbanging constantly. I called the gastro doc and told them no way was I putting him through this and that whether they got their celiac diagnosis or not, he was not going back on gluten. So they just told me to follow back up with them in December (big help there)...anyway, he also had all types of allergy testing with an allergist, all coming out negative. His lactic acid test and pryvate tests were high but when repeated the lactic acid was normal and the pryvate was lower than it was previously. After yesterday's appt's the naturopathic and dietician told me that what they think happened was that my son does have celiac and that when he got the swine flu last December (he was 10 months) it kicked his celiac's into high gear and that because I didn't know, and was still feeding him gluten food, it ruined his stomach lining, making it seem like he's allergic to everything (he gets bad, bad rashes, headbangs and is just miserable when he's on corn/gluten and dairy). They seem to think that once the stomach lining is healed my son will be able to eat more foods again. I was wondering what you all thought about this diagnosis???

[ravenwoodglass]

I agree with it. I was in that position myself when allergy testing showed me reacting to 98 out of 99 things tested for. Within six or so months gluten free most of those other allergies had resolved.

It does sound like the flu was likely a trigger event for him. I hope he improves quickly on the diet. You will want to limit dairy for a bit also as until he heals he won't be able to digest it. Kids generally perk up and start gaining within a relatively short time.

Make sure you go ahead and test all family members for celiac. Even if they don't seem to have issues it is advised to test.

[mommyto3]

If you can afford it, I had my son tested through Enterolab. I refused to put him back on a gluten diet for the testing and with this test, you don't have to.

Good luck

[jackay]

I agree with it. I was in that position myself when allergy testing showed me reacting to 98 out of 99 things tested for. Within six or so months gluten free most of those other allergies had resolved.

ravenwoodglass,

What did you eat for the first six months if you reacted to 98 out of 99 foods?

[ravenwoodglass]

ravenwoodglass,

What did you eat for the first six months if you reacted to 98 out of 99 foods?

I wasn't tested just for food allergies. I don't remember all he tested for I was too overwhelmed with the comment 'well your not allergic to beech trees' to pay much attention as the nurse rattled off all the reactions. I was thinking I would have to live in a bubble. After the reaction to my skin tests the allergist immediately, as in that day, put me on a strict elimination diet. He questioned me about everything I usually ate and then formulated a starting diet with 5 foods that I honestly hated and almost never ate. I started with turkey, sweet potatoes, peas, pineapple and cranberries. Only cranberry juice and water. No spices, butter, no sugar or seasoning of any kind, no coffee, tea, soda etc. After a month on just that I was allowed to add in one food a week, withdrawing it if I had a reaction. Wheat was the second thing I added in, I got violently ill the 3rd day and then got referred back to the GI doctor to confirm celiac. The allergist told me to never eat wheat again but of course the GI demanded a challenge which made me very ill. After I recovered from the GI demanded challenge I continued adding foods back in one at a time for a couple more months and never reacted to anything else until a couple years later when my soy reactions appeared. Within the first few months gluten free my asthma was gone and so were my allergy symptoms to things like my cats and dog, pollen etc.

The allergist told me on my return visit after seeing the GI that when I showed up allergic to so much he was pretty sure at that point I was celiac. He said my immune system was in hyperdrive because of the celiac and that was why I reacted to so much.