Could This Be Cd?

[Emma's Mom]

I am new to these boards and it appears that they are a wealth of information! My 17 month old daughter was just tested for celiac disease this week and we are awaiting the results. She is generally asymptomatic - the only thing that tipped me off (aside from my maternal grandmother being a confirmed celiac) is that she lost weight between her 12 month and 15 month checkup and hasn't gained much since. She went from about the 75th percentile down to the 5th and is about to fall right off the growth curve. When I introduced oatmeal and barley cereals to her she seemed to become very irritable - so I promptly stopped them. I remember thinking in the back of my mind that perhaps she had celiac disease...that was at 8 months of age..

I'm just wondering if this weight problem could be associated with celiac disease? I'm trying to do as much reading as I can - it's information overload right now!! She doesn't really seem to have any other symptoms such as problems with BMs. The only other thing that may be considered unusual is that she still does not sleep through the night...she sleeps on average 3-4 hours at a time and is a very poor napper.

I am thankful that my family doctor referred us to a pediatric GI and that he was willing to run the blood tests on her instead of just "waiting and seeing". It's going to be a very long 2 weeks before we get the results...so I'd like to find out as much as I can in case the diagnosis comes back positive.

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide

[Jnkmnky]

I think very young children don't always test accurately. You may want to find out about that.

[KaitiUSA]

Yes, testing under the age of 2 can come back inaccurate.

[Guest AmandasMommy]

my daughter was 18 months when we started to notice the celiac disease. she got very boney and a bloated stomach. she was slowly starving to death. since then going on the gluten-free diet has really made her look healthy..

i feel for you at this stage, i was really scared and uninformed at your stage right now.

this forum has really helped us. us i mean i found out i have it too at age 37.

i hope these will help you.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link very, very, informative.

[Emma's Mom]

Thanks for the links - I am going to go and read through all of the information!

I have been reading and did see that testing under the age of 2 can be inaccurate...so what does one do in that case? My poor daughter is about to fall right off of the growth curve - which scares me!! I'm not keen on subjecting her to a biopsy...but would it be accurate at her young age? This is obviously something I'd like diagnosed as early as possible.

I'm not sure what we'll do if the tests come back inconclusive or negative. Perhaps trying a gluten-free diet for a period of time might be our only option.

It's tough not knowing what is wrong and feeling absolutely helpless

[Merika]

I think the important part is "can be" inaccurate. There are many toddlers who DO get diagnosed with a test. Just consider a negative result not a super-firm answer. A positive is still a positive.

Merika