Growing After Gluten Free Diet...is It Too Late?

[ImWithStupid]

I'm a 6'2" 20 year old male, self diagnosed celiac. I've had stomach issues since is was 12-13 which progressed into many debilitating symptoms. These are the symptoms that subsided after going gluten free:

migraines

fatigue

diarrhea

purple/blue hands

brain fog

low blood pressure

uncontrollable muscle twitches

I've been gluten free for about a year now but I still have issues with nutrient absorption. I take a multivitamin daily, but if I don't take it for a few days I start to feel a bit off. I am now also able to eat most dairy products without issue, but milk can sometimes give issues.

Now to the point of the post. I reached 6'2" when I was 13-14 years old. My doctor told me that with my genetics and rate of growth I should easily hit around 6'7". Unfortunately as I kept getting weaker and fatigued as the years went on, I never grew another inch. I guess this is aimed at people that had it diagnosed in their teens or have kids that are now gluten free. Is it possible to start growing again once nutrients and balance is restored to your body? I know that this is a long shot but one can hope. Before I got sick I played as many sports as I could in school but unfortunately I had to give them up. Now that I am feeling better and can exercise without feeling like I am going to die, those few inches of height I missed out on are much desired.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

[saintmaybe]

I'm a 6'2" 20 year old male, self diagnosed celiac. I've had stomach issues since is was 12-13 which progressed into many debilitating symptoms. These are the symptoms that subsided after going gluten free:

migraines

fatigue

diarrhea

purple/blue hands

brain fog

low blood pressure

uncontrollable muscle twitches

I've been gluten free for about a year now but I still have issues with nutrient absorption. I take a multivitamin daily, but if I don't take it for a few days I start to feel a bit off. I am now also able to eat most dairy products without issue, but milk can sometimes give issues.

Now to the point of the post. I reached 6'2" when I was 13-14 years old. My doctor told me that with my genetics and rate of growth I should easily hit around 6'7". Unfortunately as I kept getting weaker and fatigued as the years went on, I never grew another inch. I guess this is aimed at people that had it diagnosed in their teens or have kids that are now gluten free. Is it possible to start growing again once nutrients and balance is restored to your body? I know that this is a long shot but one can hope. Before I got sick I played as many sports as I could in school but unfortunately I had to give them up. Now that I am feeling better and can exercise without feeling like I am going to die, those few inches of height I missed out on are much desired.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

For girls in your age bracket, I'd say there's a very slim possibility that any growth may occur. This is because the growth plates on the bones of the vast, vast majority of girls have fused by age 20. In fact, they've usually fused by the time a girl hits 14 or 15 years of age. This means that any more lengthening of the bone structure is unlikely. This is why most women reach their maximum height by early puberty and never put on more.

Guys however, is a different story. Guys can hit a late growth spurt in their late teens or early twenties. Unusual, but it definitely does happen. There may be hope for you yet, but I wouldn't necessarily count on it. 6'2" is a great height though. Unless you want to be in the NBA, I wouldn't stress about it too much or consider it stunted.

I was predicted to be 5'7", and ended up being the mouse of the entire family on both sides at 5'2." Girl here though, and I don't think growth patterns were as well understood back in the early eighties when they were making my predictions.

[stanleymonkey]

guys don't stop growing on average until 21, girls 18 as they usually hit puberty earlier, so fingers crossed!

[maximoo]

It depends on what stage of puberty you are in. Stage 5 the last stage when chest hair, full beard etc are in full bloom. Boys complete stage 5 @ different ages up to age 21. But if you really want to know you will need a bone age xray to see if your growth plates are fused.

[rosetapper23]

Okay, I think I know the answer to this particular question. My son, who has celiac, was projected to be between 6'5" and 6'8" inches, but his celiac was triggered at 11 just as he entered puberty. Until then, he'd been at 110% of the population, but then he began to fall behind. He was finally diagnosed with celiac a month before his 16th birthday, and I thought that he'd probably never reach his full height potential. However, he (like the other celiacs in my family) grew until he was 25 and ended up at slightly over 6'4", which is close enough to what his doctors had predicted. Also, at a conference I attended several years ago, the main speaker mentioned that celiacs' bone plates can fuse later than normal because the hormone involved in halting bone growth isn't well absorbed. I can attest to growing an extra inch in my 25th year, and I didn't yet know I had celiac. Whenever I attend annual conferences for celiacs, I'm amazed at how tall most of the attendees are--I think it's because of the growth plates not fusing as they're supposed to. Hope this helps...

[ravenwoodglass]

It is possible but it is also possible you won't. My DS was diagnosed at 19 but his growth plates had already fused so he didn't grow any more at all. As another poster mentioned you could get x-rays to see if your growth plates have fused. 6'2" is a great height though. Be glad your growth wasn't stopped in earlier childhood as happens with some of us.