Symptoms In Toddlers

[Alikae]

My mother has Celiac disease

[Avalon451]

Couldn't hurt to call and ask for the full celiac panel, including the genetic marker. You shouldn't have to wait for a month; they can order the tests. Be specific and tell them you need the FULL panel (somebody here with more experience than I will know the ones to ask for right off the top of their heads-- I have still have to google it ), especially since the test can be false negative. But if their blood shows up very obvious for celiac, you'd be kicking yourself for not checking that first with an easy blood test.

Don't go gluten free before then, or before you get the results back, in case they are way positive and the docs want to do the biopsy to confirm. There again, there are so many posters I've seen on here who are regretting not getting their children officially diagnosed, so that the public schools have to make accomodations for them regarding food, etc. when they get to school age.

On the other side of that coin, my younger two tested fairly positive on blood after my oldest was diagnosed, but we didn't have them scoped. Mostly because they really panicked at the thought of going through a scope. So we are just assuming they are all three celiac. I may regret that later, but we've been gluten-free for over a month now, and we're not looking back!

Best of luck to you, hope you figure it out for your little ones!

[Mom-of-Two]

Have the kids blood tested. My kids are being tested with celiac blood panel next month through pediatric GI, if they happen to be positive, I will not put them through the scope, as I have celiac, and a positive blood test for them would be all the info needed.

I do not know if the GI does gene testing for celiac but I will be asking, even though it is not all that diagnostic, I think it would make me feel better to know.

[Esther Sparhawk]

People with DH get a skin rash, and it often occurs on the lower back/buttocks and knees. DH stands for Dermititis Herpetiformis, and it's a form of celiac disease that manifests as a skin rash. The rash can be very unpredictable. I was recently diagnosed with DH, and I find that the rash sometimes happens after eating wheat, but sometimes it just doesn't. You can't predict it.

But you can prevent it. That's the good news. Now that I'm gluten-free, the rash never comes back. It's gone for good!

But as people often remind folks on celiac.com, don't take your child off of wheat until you've had the tests. Otherwise, you'll get a false negative test result.

BTW: there's a forum for people with DH here on celiac.com.

Another thing to remember about the dairy thing is this: many celiacs are lactose intolerant until they get on the gluten-free diet. Once on the diet, a lot of people find their lactose intolerance disappears.