Is It Time For Enterolab?

[salexander421]

We have been struggling with my daughter's symptoms since she was 2 months old, she is now a little over 2. She went through an unplanned 3 month gluten challenge along with her older sister which was miserable, she definitely had obvious symptoms. Her older sister tested negative and since there is no "known" history of celiac in our family the GI decided it wasn't necessary to test her. I was so tired and ready to get her feeling better again that I didn't push it and just took her gluten free immediately. It has been up and down ever since, she was doing so good before the gluten challenge and now she has had diarrhea ever since...it has been about 7 months now. We started a grain free diet a few months ago and that has helped a lot but she still has her good and bad days. I don't really want to go back to the doctor because I really don't see it being any help, I mean I really don't think there's anything they could do without me putting her through another gluten challenge and that is just out of the question. I am super strict about what she eats but my husband refuses to keep his gluten bread and stuff out of the house so I really think it could be a cross contamination issue. The problem is, he really thinks I'm over reacting and that it's not celiac because the doctor wouldn't test so he sees no reason why he can't have his gluten in the house. Frustrating!

I'm thinking enterolab's testing might be good at this point. I would do their genetic test (I already know she has at least one copy of DQ8 from me) and their celiac test. I've also thought about pursuing some blood allergy testing, something we had decided against in the past. I'm 99% sure this is celiac I just think he needs more substantial evidence to be on board with me. She also gets what appears to be DH but that too would require a gluten challenge to be tested.

What are your thoughts, what would you do if you were in my shoes?

[Skylark]

I don't think much of Enterolab's tests scientifically but you will get a "celiac" gene and a stern warning about the consequences of eating gluten on the results. If that is enough to sway your husband perhaps it's worth the cost.

I would write or call Enterolab first about testing children. Little kids are notoriously difficult to get positive antibody tests and it would be worth finding out if they think they can catch antibodies with her gluten-free.