Behavior And Appetite

[Roda]

OMG! My child is moodier than usual and I can't seem to feed him enough. Is this typical with removing gluten in the early stages? He has always had little temper tantrums once and a while but the slightest thing is setting him off right now. Part of the problem is that he stayed up late last night but I don't think that is all of it. Also everytime I turn around he is saying he is hungry and wants something to eat.

[missy'smom]

Whatever the cause don't feed that hunger with refined carbs or juices or sugary things. That'll only make it worse. Protein and fats will do a better job taking the edge off that hunger and keep the blood sugar balanced and at least not contribute to the moods and hopefully help with them. Having a good plan in place for when those cravings hit helps as does being firm. For a while I was serving my son 2 balanced dinners(meat, veg. and a modest serving of carb) a night, a few hours apart, instead of giving in to the snack attacks and he accepted and ate them!

[T.H.]

It was typical for me, at least.

I felt like I was utterly starving in the first 2 months. I've heard of others who have had this for a few weeks or a month of two in the beginning. The theory I've heard is that the hunger isn't so much for calories as for nutrients, when the body is now healing and trying to get all the nutrients it's been deprived of.

I don't know why this doesn't hit some of us until we go off the gluten, honestly, but that was definitely the case for me. I've noticed I get the same hunger when I'm deprived of certain nutrients now.

This also affects the mind, too, because until he heals up, your son won't be able to absorb the nutrients that the brain needs, either. The ones that really seem to get a lot of us are the ones to help regulate sleep cycles and emotions, especially frustration tolerance, argh - melatonin and seratonin, I think.

My daughter has HUGE mood issues when she's healing, but she also has them when she's getting gluten, at least after she's gone off of it, now. If the mood issues keep up? I'd take a look and see if he might be getting gluten CC somehow.

Like...how much gluten-free stuff does he eat, the processed kind I mean? Some of those have more gluten than others, so if he eats a lot of gluten-free cereal or crackers or such, it could get him too much gluten for the day, ya know?

[Roda]

He is eating pretty much what I am, with the exception of a few snacks. He is eating our regular dinners, yogurt (I know it is safe), craisens, nut thins, cheese sticks, glutino pretzels, cottage cheese, fruits/veggies and fresh meats that I cook. I have eliminated a lot of gluten free products because I had been suspecting I was having issues. For flours I have been sticking to Ener G brand and the Betty Crocker mixes. He doesn't like most of the gluten free cereals so he has been eating eggs/toast(Udi's) or cottage cheese/fruit for breakfast. He has eaten Kix and Glutino Apple Cinnamon cereal. He also has had Quaker plain rice cakes. He is in Kindergarden so there could be issues there since I have not been able to get the paperwork signed by the doctor because of the holiday. I've been packing his lunch and he has his own box of safe snacks at school. He still is wanting to eat all the time and the moodiness maybe seems like it is getting a little better. I seem to be able to reason with him better instead of butting heads and us yelling at each other. It's only been one week, so I don't expect a change over night. I don't recall ever having intense hunger when I went gluten free. I did eat a lot though trying out recipes and products in the beginning.

[macocha]

totally! I have a teen and his attitude is horrendous. I can tell when he gets glutened (sleeps a ton) and when he is weaning off it again (attitude and really horrible mood).

I cannot find where he is getting it. but yes, I feel your pain.

[Roda]

Well we haven't had any of the major melt downs in quite awhile. Yesterday he went off the deep end over applesauce (I asked if he wanted it and he said no so his brother ate it then he changed his mind). Even his daddy commented on how he hasn't done that for some time. He also has pimple like bumps all over his legs. They are very tiny but there. I am beginning to wonder if he inadvertanly got glutened somehow. We plan on challenging him the end of Feb. I have a feeling I know what I am in for.

[beebs]

OMG! My child is moodier than usual and I can't seem to feed him enough. Is this typical with removing gluten in the early stages? He has always had little temper tantrums once and a while but the slightest thing is setting him off right now. Part of the problem is that he stayed up late last night but I don't think that is all of it. Also everytime I turn around he is saying he is hungry and wants something to eat.

Oh my god, I could have written your post.

My 4 year old has been gluten free for 5 days now. He is eating us out of house and home he is usually a terrible eater. And the tantrums - foul. I was begining to think that maybe non gluten was making him crazy! Glad to see it seems normal.

I wasn't sure if it was just xmas or whatever. Late nights, lots of food, presents the whole bit.

[Roda]

Oh my god, I could have written your post.

My 4 year old has been gluten free for 5 days now. He is eating us out of house and home he is usually a terrible eater. And the tantrums - foul. I was begining to think that maybe non gluten was making him crazy! Glad to see it seems normal.

I wasn't sure if it was just xmas or whatever. Late nights, lots of food, presents the whole bit.

I think at first is was the removal of gluten that triggered the increase. It does get better and up until yesterday's tantrum everything has been good despite staying up late on his break. I think he may have gotten cc'd by something I just don't know what yet. When I do challenge him I will be doing it on a weekend when I'm off just in case. It will be interesting to see, but I think I may already have my answer. Unfortunately my husband does not think it is related. I will have to challenge(going to do this at the end of Feb.) my son to prove to his daddy that it can affect his behavior. I also want to do the challenge since we went gluten free based on his positive ttg test and my diagnosis. We opted out of the scope/biopsy. I can use the challenge as part of the diagnostic process and do have plans to put him back gluten free when we are done with it.

[beebs]

I think at first is was the removal of gluten that triggered the increase. It does get better and up until yesterday's tantrum everything has been good despite staying up late on his break. I think he may have gotten cc'd by something I just don't know what yet. When I do challenge him I will be doing it on a weekend when I'm off just in case. It will be interesting to see, but I think I may already have my answer. Unfortunately my husband does not think it is related. I will have to challenge(going to do this at the end of Feb.) my son to prove to his daddy that it can affect his behavior. I also want to do the challenge since we went gluten free based on his positive ttg test and my diagnosis. We opted out of the scope/biopsy. I can use the challenge as part of the diagnostic process and do have plans to put him back gluten free when we are done with it.

Its interesting that you hubby doesn't thin gluten can change behavior. I have read in many different celiac books/sites that the most common symptom in kids between 4-7 is irritablity- far more common that GI issues etc.

[Roda]

Its interesting that you hubby doesn't thin gluten can change behavior. I have read in many different celiac books/sites that the most common symptom in kids between 4-7 is irritablity- far more common that GI issues etc.

I tried to remind him of how I used to be when "Aunt Flo" would visit before gluen free. He told me I needed to take something because I was so vicious. Now a few cramps but otherwise nothing bad. I also reminded him of how my father (I suspect is celiac or at least gluten intolerent) has severe mood swings and can get angry and have grown up "temper tantrums" over something little. After the challenge he will be going back gluten free. I just can't ignore his positive blood test. His daddy is doing a good job by keeping him safe and is being suportive otherwise.

[domesticactivist]

My son's attitude has been much better since we went gluten-free, but I think he's getting cross-contaminated and now his anxiety has come back.

HOWEVER, when we went gluten-free *I* developed awful symptoms. I never thought I had a problem with gluten before, but I went gluten-free in solidarity. This was scary for me because I've achieved a delicate balance in the first place in order to stay mostly symptom free with my herpes 2 (medication only during flare ups), bipolar disorder (mild, unmedicated, last major episode in 1995), and migraine auras (unmedicated, usually only get short-lived auras for many years).

In the first month going gluten-free (and messing up here and there) I got sinus pain, headaches, 3 herpes outbreaks, became ***super-irritable***, started crying at the drop of a hat, became kind of itchy, and got the worst migraine aura of my life, which lasted all day, and involved all my weird tingly sensations in arm, hand, mouth, lips, vision loss, nausea, etc. I also had horrendous constipation for over a week at a time, a weird, achy feeling in the back of my throat/soft palate, and extreme hunger all of the time.

I've heard that going gluten-free can help with herpes, mood disorders, and migraines, so it was crazy that they all flared up. People say it's due to "detox."

I've realized that my constipation was due to using rice flours. Now I'm avoiding it and not having the constipation. The constipation was making me not want to eat, which was messing with my blood sugar. When my blood sugar is on a roller coaster, I am an emotional mess.

I'm doing much better now, but I'm still having texture issues which a friend swears will eventually go away, and mood swings if I let myself get hungry. I think switching the diet really increased my sugar cravings, and that the extreme hunger and terrible moodiness/bad behavior are probably also a symptom of sugar withdrawl and candida die-off. Eliminating grains (we cut out all corn products and traces, too) seriously decreases the amount of sugar in the diet.