Testing My Son?

[applegirl03]

I'm wondering if there are any other parents out there with this problem. I have Celiac, and in the last month or so I have noticed my son is complaining of stomach pain and diarrhea, bad gas, and general discomfort. I notice it gets worse after eating things like bread, pancakes, pizza...things with wheat in them. I mentioned this to his Pediatrician and he says that he is too little to have it and he doesn't want to test him. He also has some behavioral problems, not that I'm trying to pass blame or responsibility, but I would hate to be punishing him for something he isn't able to control....should I take him to another doctor? I just want the blood test for the anti-bodies, not asking for a scope or anything. Did anyone else's children have this problem....I dont want to be a worried Mom running her kid to the doctor every time the have the sniffles, but I really think something is going on here....any advice or suggestions are appreciated!

[Cara in Boston]

I am fairly new to this but it is my understanding that ALL first degree relatives of someone diagnosed with celiac disease need to be screened for it (even with no symptoms at all). You need a new doctor.

Ours was the opposite. My son tested positive with very few symptoms (a week of complaining of stomach aches and a noticible change in behavior) and the rest of us then got tested. I was found to be positive too. Looking back, I have/had way more symptoms than my son, I just didn't know they were related.

Get a new doctor, then get him tested. Good luck.

Cara

[tarnalberry]

I would fire your doctor - he's an idiot.

If you want a "real" diagnosis, yes, find another doctor.

You can try the diet and see if it helps if you don't care about a "real" diagnosis.

[Dixiebell]

I have had issues with Dr.s not wanting to test for things I ask for. I just firmly say that I want them done. It looks as if your son needs to be tested. I would try calling the Dr. and telling them that you want the test to be run, if he refused again then I would make an apt. with another Dr.

You Dr. must not be up on celiac info. because even some 18 mo olds have been diagnosed with blood and biopsy. If you have private ins., you are paying for it and should be able to get whatever tests you want.

My son's testing was negative but has had only positive results eating gluten-free and very limited dairy. My son did have behavioral issues and had to sit by the teacher everyday in second grade. He always had bad marks on his behavior sheet. This year he has had two marks for talking and that is it. I have noticed it too especially at gatherings where there are other boys his age. The other boys seem to not be able to be quite, sit still and control their impulses. It was quite embarrasing a few weeks ago when all the boys in his group went to a planetarium and very few could sit still and be quiet and the leaders had to keep loudly telling them to stop.

[hockeymomofceliacchild]

I'm wondering if there are any other parents out there with this problem. I have Celiac, and in the last month or so I have noticed my son is complaining of stomach pain and diarrhea, bad gas, and general discomfort. I notice it gets worse after eating things like bread, pancakes, pizza...things with wheat in them. I mentioned this to his Pediatrician and he says that he is too little to have it and he doesn't want to test him. He also has some behavioral problems, not that I'm trying to pass blame or responsibility, but I would hate to be punishing him for something he isn't able to control....should I take him to another doctor? I just want the blood test for the anti-bodies, not asking for a scope or anything. Did anyone else's children have this problem....I dont want to be a worried Mom running her kid to the doctor every time the have the sniffles, but I really think something is going on here....any advice or suggestions are appreciated!

You have to have him tested. If it comes back negative then fine, it will rule it out and you can look for another reason for it. My son is six years old and I insisted he be tested, my doctor said the rash was just echema and highly unlikely to be celiac due to the fact that he didn't show signs of gastral issues. If my brother didnt have it I would probably went with her advice and treated it as echema.

I had to pay for the test but it came back positive with very high levels. He then had a scope to comfirm yes he has it and damage was already being done. At five your son is not too young to have it.

We are waiting results to come back from Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto where we didn't have to pay for the test. We took five kids down who could potentially have it with minimal signs of it and celiac could be doing damage internally that we are unaware of. This is a genetic disorder and needs to be taken more seriously by more doctors.

Good luck and I hope you resolve your poor sons issuses sooner than later. If you have any other children I strongly suggest they at least have the blood work done at some point as well. I will let you know how it went with my other children and my nieces and nephews.

[zimmer]

I'm wondering if there are any other parents out there with this problem. I have Celiac, and in the last month or so I have noticed my son is complaining of stomach pain and diarrhea, bad gas, and general discomfort. I notice it gets worse after eating things like bread, pancakes, pizza...things with wheat in them. I mentioned this to his Pediatrician and he says that he is too little to have it and he doesn't want to test him. He also has some behavioral problems, not that I'm trying to pass blame or responsibility, but I would hate to be punishing him for something he isn't able to control....should I take him to another doctor? I just want the blood test for the anti-bodies, not asking for a scope or anything. Did anyone else's children have this problem....I dont want to be a worried Mom running her kid to the doctor every time the have the sniffles, but I really think something is going on here....any advice or suggestions are appreciated!

I recently tested positive, so all 4 of my girls have been tested (1 was positive). The pediatrician did not hesitate to test, and actually admitted she needed to maybe learn a little more since she was aware of new research & other developments. I told her some of what I've learned, and she listened. She talked to me about each one, and made notes of their "symptoms" even though I had them tested based not on their symptoms but on my test results.

The 3 she tested were negative, but one of them (age 17) is going gluten free which has helped already to resolve long-standing issues with stomachaches. The other 2 (ages 6 & 4) have complained of stomach aches and headaches after eating pizza, and other small things that make me suspect they are intolerant despite the negative blood work.

I agree with those who say find another doctor. You need to have trust in your pediatrician, and to have a relationship that you can talk to him or her. After such an incident, I would no longer have that trust. I think a good doctor listens to parents because no one knows your child better. He doesn't seem to have that.

Good luck with it, and stand by your baby! I let mine hurt for years at school with vague "stomach aches" and was never able to figure it out.

[Roda]

I had the same problem with our ped after my diagnosis. He REFUSED to test my boys. I was furious. Luckily they were seeing an allergist/immunologist at the time and he ordered testing over the phone with no questions asked! My oldest has been tested a total of three times and all three negative (he is the one who seemed to have symptoms)but his current allergist feels that even though his latest test is negative he is gluten intolerent. He is still on a regular diet right now so that we can go through the proper additional testing. My youngest son was tested twice. This last time his ttg was mildly positive. I put him gluten free without going to the next steps. In one aspect I regret not doing the rest of the testing (GI consult and scope) but the other side feels like it probably would have been a false negative. I'll never know unless I do a good 3 month challenge and redo things. I do have the backing of our allergist though so it has not been a problem at school. Recently they made his whole classroom gluten free for snack. I think it was too much to deal with with 19 other kids eating gluten and 1 who wasn't and the clean up involved. They did not want to take away from instructional time. So far it is going good.

[applegirl03]

Thanks everyone! I really think something is going on with him and I do want to get him tested. Sometimes as a parent you dont want to be too overbearing or be a worry wart that something is wrong when it may not be, but even today when I picked him up from school his teacher told me he had severe diarrhea after lunch (which was macaroni and cheese). I'm going to try to take him to a new doctor and hopefully we can figure this all out soon and he can back to his normal self!

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks everyone! I really think something is going on with him and I do want to get him tested. Sometimes as a parent you dont want to be too overbearing or be a worry wart that something is wrong when it may not be, but even today when I picked him up from school his teacher told me he had severe diarrhea after lunch (which was macaroni and cheese). I'm going to try to take him to a new doctor and hopefully we can figure this all out soon and he can back to his normal self!

Just be aware that false negatives can be even more common in children than in adults and in adults the false negative rate is about 20%. After all testing is done do give him a strict trial of the diet no matter what the results are but don't take him off gluten until you are done with testing. And do get another ped.