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How Long Does It Take To Heal The Gut And Regain Weight?

Anya

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Anya Apprentice
Anya
Posted

We have a 23month old girl who has been glutenfree for 3 months now. We (incl. our GI) believe that she might be Celiac, since she has the gene and I personally have an undiagnosed condition that got resolved with glutenfree and dairy free diet. She had also recurring c.diff infections for 10 months and Celiac could have created a favorable environment for bacterial overgrowth.

Our daughter used to have some strange emotional behavior that resolved completely within weeks on a glutenfree diet. According to our GI that is typically seen with Celiacs. We have also seen a great improvement in the stools and have less issues with constipation. We have however not seen much weight gain. She has grown some in height, but just not put on any weight. Her appetite has improved some, but not to the point that she would be gaining weight. I am wondering what other people have seen? I would have expected to see bigger improvements in terms of growth within 3 months.

I should add that we had a lot of teething going on over the last few months (4 molars!). We had late tooth eruption and as soon as we were glutenfree, it seemed like all teeth started coming in at once. I am sure that is contributing to the poor appetite, but I would have still expected better results.

I would appreciate any input.

Evelyn

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teresasupermom Rookie
teresasupermom
Posted

We are still working on my dd gaining weight. She has not gained any weight in a year and I am very concerned about that. She is 7 soon to be 8. She has been completely gluten free for a year, but her antibody levels are still high indicating she is getting contaminated somewhere. Was she tested for antibodies at all? For us the antibody check has been very beneficial. I wouldn't have realized that even as close as I thought we were being that she was still being exposed to gluten. With the follow up lab work I realized that the whole family had to go gluten free and I have concerns that my dd is in the super sensitive camp. Just wondering if she could be being exposed or contaminated and that's why she's not gaining. I know that from what I have read it can take a while for the gut to heal. We're not there yet so I don't know. Sorry if I'm not much help. We're still learning a lot.

Kimmik95 Rookie
Kimmik95
Posted

From what I understand, it can take up to 2 years to totally heal, but 6 months is a reasonable time to hope for. My son (he's almost 7) was diagnosed the end of November through a biopsy and he's be gluten-free since that point. He also has ADHD, so while his eating is more normal (not the I'm starving to death binges of before), he's now feeling the affects of appetite suppresent from his meds. Just this past week, we've finally noticed a weight gain. We are supplimenting his diet with Ensure (250 calories each) several times a day to try to help with the weight gain. His weight is currently in about the 3% range (previously 50%).

We have a 23month old girl who has been glutenfree for 3 months now. We (incl. our GI) believe that she might be Celiac, since she has the gene and I personally have an undiagnosed condition that got resolved with glutenfree and dairy free diet. She had also recurring c.diff infections for 10 months and Celiac could have created a favorable environment for bacterial overgrowth.

Our daughter used to have some strange emotional behavior that resolved completely within weeks on a glutenfree diet. According to our GI that is typically seen with Celiacs. We have also seen a great improvement in the stools and have less issues with constipation. We have however not seen much weight gain. She has grown some in height, but just not put on any weight. Her appetite has improved some, but not to the point that she would be gaining weight. I am wondering what other people have seen? I would have expected to see bigger improvements in terms of growth within 3 months.

I should add that we had a lot of teething going on over the last few months (4 molars!). We had late tooth eruption and as soon as we were glutenfree, it seemed like all teeth started coming in at once. I am sure that is contributing to the poor appetite, but I would have still expected better results.

I would appreciate any input.

Evelyn

Anya Apprentice
Anya
Posted
  • Author

We are still working on my dd gaining weight. She has not gained any weight in a year and I am very concerned about that. She is 7 soon to be 8. She has been completely gluten free for a year, but her antibody levels are still high indicating she is getting contaminated somewhere. Was she tested for antibodies at all? For us the antibody check has been very beneficial. I wouldn't have realized that even as close as I thought we were being that she was still being exposed to gluten. With the follow up lab work I realized that the whole family had to go gluten free and I have concerns that my dd is in the super sensitive camp. Just wondering if she could be being exposed or contaminated and that's why she's not gaining. I know that from what I have read it can take a while for the gut to heal. We're not there yet so I don't know. Sorry if I'm not much help. We're still learning a lot.

Thank you for the reply. Yes, she has been tested for antibodies, but it was negative. Her igA was very low, so it could be a false negative. Wouldn't it be possible that the antibodies you are seeing are old antibodies, rather than new ones? I would think antibodies stay around for a while?

Anya Apprentice
Anya
Posted
  • Author

From what I understand, it can take up to 2 years to totally heal, but 6 months is a reasonable time to hope for. My son (he's almost 7) was diagnosed the end of November through a biopsy and he's be gluten-free since that point. He also has ADHD, so while his eating is more normal (not the I'm starving to death binges of before), he's now feeling the affects of appetite suppresent from his meds. Just this past week, we've finally noticed a weight gain. We are supplimenting his diet with Ensure (250 calories each) several times a day to try to help with the weight gain. His weight is currently in about the 3% range (previously 50%).

Thanks for the reply. Our daughter is also in the 3rd percentile (from 75% at 3 months). Our GI gave us Duocal, which is hydrolized corn that can be added to foods for extra calories. So far, I have not been successful in adding it to anything, will try to add it to rice and coconut milk now. Hopefully she will take it, it does change the consistency.

Kimmik95 Rookie
Kimmik95
Posted

Chris's GI suggested using pediasure (not sure if that contains dairy or not). I was thinking you could also get Ensure in a non-dairy form. Ensure is 250 calories and we also give Chris whole milk. He drinks a milkshake every night that I have up to about 800 calories too :) We use whole milk, bananas, ice cream, and chocolate syrup. The calories are alot more difficult when you can't use whole milk though.

I would suspect that you daughter might be getting some small amounts of cross contamination somewhere. We discovered in December that a breakfast drink we were giving my son all of the sudden contained wheat. Have you gone back through your go-to foods and verified they are still gluten free?

Thanks for the reply. Our daughter is also in the 3rd percentile (from 75% at 3 months). Our GI gave us Duocal, which is hydrolized corn that can be added to foods for extra calories. So far, I have not been successful in adding it to anything, will try to add it to rice and coconut milk now. Hopefully she will take it, it does change the consistency.

Pame Newbie
Pame
Posted

We are still working on my dd gaining weight. She has not gained any weight in a year and I am very concerned about that. She is 7 soon to be 8. She has been completely gluten free for a year, but her antibody levels are still high indicating she is getting contaminated somewhere. Was she tested for antibodies at all? For us the antibody check has been very beneficial. I wouldn't have realized that even as close as I thought we were being that she was still being exposed to gluten. With the follow up lab work I realized that the whole family had to go gluten free and I have concerns that my dd is in the super sensitive camp. Just wondering if she could be being exposed or contaminated and that's why she's not gaining. I know that from what I have read it can take a while for the gut to heal. We're not there yet so I don't know. Sorry if I'm not much help. We're still learning a lot.

I have found that I keep running into things I didn't expect there to be gluten in. Possibly that is your problem with your daughter. I was using a mega green juice to make smoothies in the morning and just discovered after a month of stomach aches that there is barley in it, should have read the label but never thought it would be there. Yogurts, ice cream, sour cream all can have gluten as a thickener in them. You have to contact the company or buy one that says gluten free and then sometimes I see that even though they have gluten free, they are made in a fascility that also has wheat etc., or there are traces of itm which I don't know how they can say it is gluten free then, anyway just a thought for you. also I use gluten free personal care products

Good luck

Pame

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teresasupermom Rookie
teresasupermom
Posted

I have found that I keep running into things I didn't expect there to be gluten in. Possibly that is your problem with your daughter. I was using a mega green juice to make smoothies in the morning and just discovered after a month of stomach aches that there is barley in it, should have read the label but never thought it would be there. Yogurts, ice cream, sour cream all can have gluten as a thickener in them. You have to contact the company or buy one that says gluten free and then sometimes I see that even though they have gluten free, they are made in a fascility that also has wheat etc., or there are traces of itm which I don't know how they can say it is gluten free then, anyway just a thought for you. also I use gluten free personal care products

Good luck

Pame

Yes, we've found a couple places that she has been being exposed to gluten still so we're still working on this. She's getting contaminated out of the home I think, but still working on pinpointing all the sources. It's very frustrating.

Kimmik95 Rookie
Kimmik95
Posted

Does she go to daycare? If so - I would strongly suspect she's getting cross contamination there. My daughter's nanny worked in a daycare that had a child with Celiac Disease (probaby about your daughter's age). Their way of avoiding CC was to sit her in the same seat all the time. They didn't clean very well and didn't tell anyone else their braintrust method, so other workers would set other kids there. I also heard stories of teachers feeding her cookies and stuff without realizing she wasn't to have them. If she is in daycare, I would create a plan to review with the director and her teachers to explain exactly what you expect and why it is so important.

Yes, we've found a couple places that she has been being exposed to gluten still so we're still working on this. She's getting contaminated out of the home I think, but still working on pinpointing all the sources. It's very frustrating.

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