Day 4 Of Gluten Trial On 5-Yr Old

[julandjo]

Both of my kids have had a LOT of food intolerances since day 1. Gluten has always been the worst, so they've both lived a gluten free life. Because of their issues, and the fact that we couldn't test them (due to living gluten-free), I got myself tested last year. I am a Celiac with a LOT of gut damage - surprise! So we made the whole house gluten free and life has been improving.

Well, in the past 2 months we've been doing food trials on the kids, and some of the "really nasty reaction" foods we've been scared to trial have gone over perfectly fine. Peanuts and tomatoes are now back in my son's diet, which is huge. So we decided to get brave and test the BIG BAD - gluten. He's on day 4. There hasn't been any obvious reaction. We have noticed extra, well, spaciness, and a tiny increase in emotional outbursts. But we're pushing ahead with gluten anyway because this could just be normal 5-year-old stuff, you know?

How long into a gluten trial can a kid start showing a reaction? Our plan is to keep this up for as long as there's nothing obvious, and then get the blood test after 6 months (if it goes that long). Can this be a slow-onset type of thing? For myself and my daughter, even exposure to Play-Doh will have us sick within the hour. Could his gluten problem be something he truly outgrows, like he did with the other foods?

[Skylark]

Kids commonly outgrow wheat allergies if that is what was going on. If he's celiac, it may take a couple months for the intestinal damage and all the symptoms to appear. By three months, kids in gluten challenge studies are usually back to positive biopsies.