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Celiac Symptoms In Teenager?

imvein

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imvein Newbie
imvein
Posted

Hi! I am feeling so bad for my teenage daughter! She has been suffering with violent vomiting, abdominal pain and cramping and diarrhea (or urgency) for years. But it is getting worse! She was almost passing out today from the pain. I am wondering if it is related to gluten intolerance. She has a long history of waking up in the middle of the nite, vomiting and horribly nauseated. Also, migraines, fatigue, joint pain and swelling, malar rash. Her ANA is positive with 1:1280 titers. We just keep treating her symptoms, but I feel there must be an underlying problem. I, myself, have "weirdo" symptoms too. I have been gluten free now for 3 weeks and feel worlds better! Has anyone had a teenager with similar symptoms?

Thanks and happy tummy days to all!

Jill

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rosetapper23 Explorer
rosetapper23
Posted

My son had these symptoms in high school (he had them during his freshman and sophomore years). I had the same symptoms and was more concerned with what was happening with me than with my son. I thought I was dying. When I had practically given up, I did a search on my symptoms and discovered that there was a disease with every single one of my symptoms: celiac disease. I immediately went gluten free and felt like a new person. Since I decided that I no longer needed to consult with bumbling, incompetent doctors at my HMO, I didn't seek any type of testing. However, because my son had the same symptoms that I did, I took him in to be tested. His pediatrician had NEVER tested a patient for celiac disease (believe it or not) and had to consult with a gastro-enterologist on the proper tests. Long story short, my son tested positive for celiac on the blood tests, and after he began to follow the diet, he felt like a new person. Only then did he divulge to me that that he had thought that he, too, was dying. In fact, he shared with me that he had considered suicide. I mention this because it is obvious that you need the same wake-up call that I did--PLEASE have your daughter tested. Even if she tests negative, place her on a gluten-free diet. Her life sounds as Hellish as my son's was....and how I wish I could turn back the clock and do right by him. Seriously--if you're receiving benefit from a gluten-free diet, your daughter needs to receive those benefits, too. It's understandable that your poor health has caused you to overlook the seriousness of your daughter's situation...but now you must stand up and help her. Someday, she'll thank you for it (after she's cried over not being able to go to fast food restaurants with her friends)....good luck!

eatmeat4good Enthusiast
eatmeat4good
Posted

Has she been tested for Lupus? The malar rash and the high ANA make me suspicious as they are consistent with Lupus. A Rheumatologist could rule out Lupus. The rash, could also be Dermatitis Herpetiformis, the skin form of Celiac. All of her symptoms are consistent with Celaic.

I have been gluten free 4 months and have had resolution of all of the symptoms you are describing.

About two weeks into it, I started to suspect my teenage son's symptoms might be related to gluten. He has depression and anxiety that I attributed to my being sick all the time. He had bone and joint pain and severe asthma and was constantly sick with fatigue, colds, and flu-like symptoms. He has had a wonderful response to the gluten free diet. He is energetic and happy and feels really good. He tells me all the time how wonderful he feels. He had gotten to the point where he couldn't do any activities and just keeping up with daily life was a tremendous task. Things are so different now. He started jogging for the first time in his life and he has not needed to use his inhalers...they were a daily medication. He is friendly and social and has no problem keeping up in school now. All digestive problems are resolved. He only gets ill if he accidentally gets gluten. It has changed our lives, and very quickly.

I strongly encourage you to have her get tested or just go gluten free. We had such a strong positive result on the diet that we did not get tested and have no desire to do so. We had both been going to Dr.'s for years with no answers and no help, so for us, this has been a miracle.

The fatigue and depression associated with gluten lifted very quickly for my son.

My migraines immediately became less severe and then less frequent.

I do hope you will try a long term trial of gluten free.

I'm 4 months into this and am still finding things getting better and better every day.

Many strange symptoms I didn't even know were related to gluten have disappeared.

It is a great relief.

And very exciting to be able to finally stop being sick every day.

I hope you have the same results and you both get well quickly.

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    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By knitty kitty · Posted

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    • captaincrab55
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    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      Okay well the info about TTG-A actually makes a lot of sense and I wish the PA had explained that to me. But yes, I would assume I would have intestinal damage from eating a lot of gluten for 32 years while having all these symptoms. As far as avoiding gluten foods - I was definitely not doing that. Bread, pasta, quesadillas (with flour tortillas) and crackers are my 4 favorite foods and I ate at least one of those things multiple times a day e.g. breakfast with eggs and toast, a cheese quesadilla for lunch, and pasta for dinner, and crackers and cheese as a before bed snack. I'm not even kidding.  I'm not really big on sugar, so I don't really do sweets. I don't have any of those conditions.  I am not sure if I have the genes or not. When the geneticist did my genetic testing for EDS this year, I didn't think to ask for him to request the celiac genes so they didn't test for them, unfortunately.  I guess another expectation I had is  that if gluten was the issue, the gluten-free diet would make me feel better, and I'm 3 months in and that hasn't been the case. I am being very careful and reading every label because I didn't want to screw this up and have to do gluten-free for longer than necessary if I end up not having celiac. I'm literally checking everything, even tea and anything else prepacked like caramel dip. Honestly its making me anxious 😅
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      So you're saying that you think you should have severe intestinal damage since you've had the symptoms so long?   DGP IgG antibodies are produced in response to a partial gluten molecule.  This is different than what tissue transglutaminase antibodies are  produced in response to.   TTg IgA antibodies are produced in the intestines in response to gluten.  The tTg IgA antibodies attack our own cells because a structural component in our cell membranes resembles a part of gluten.  There's a correlation between the level of intestinal damage with the level of tTg antibodies produced.  You are not producing a high number of tTg IgA antibodies, so your level of tissue damage in your intestines is not very bad.  Be thankful.   There may be reasons why you are not producing a high quantity of tTg IgA antibodies.  Consuming ten grams or more of gluten a day for two weeks to two months before blood tests are done is required to get sufficient antibody production and damage to the intestines.  Some undiagnosed people tend to subconsciously avoid lots of gluten.  Cookies and cakes do not contain as much gluten as artisan breads and thick chewy pizza crust.  Anemia, diabetes and thiamine deficiency can affect IgA antibody production as well.   Do you carry genes for Celiac?  They frequently go along with EDS.
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      I was tested for celiac at the same time, so I wasn't taking naltrexone yet. I say that, because I don't. The endoscopy showed some mild inflammation but was inconclusive as to celiac disease. They took several biopsies and that's all that was shown. I was not given a Marsh score.
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