Celiac And Stunted Growth

[gottarun96]

I am an almost a 17 year old girl. I am 4'11 and was recently diagnosed with celiac. Will I grow again, or is my growth stunted for good?

[Persei V.]

Gee, it depends. Is your family tall or short? It might be Celiac stopping you from absorbing all the nutrients you need to grow -- females grow, on average, until 18 years old -- but it might also be your DNA, and not even going gluten-free is going to fix that.

I will toss my experience and say I completely stopped growing when I was 13. Stuck in 5'2 forever ( ) and going gluten-free didn't help me. That said, my mother and my sister are roughly the same height I am.

So... What is your case, exactly?

[gfcolorado]

I am an almost a 17 year old girl. I am 4'11 and was recently diagnosed with celiac. Will I grow again, or is my growth stunted for good?

I have just started researching this because I have a 15 y/o daughter who is 5'3 and I am celiac and am 5'4 and my husband is 6'3. My daughter hasn't tested + for celiac but I am starting to wonder if she went gluten-free if she might still grow more. The research I have found says that you can stop growing anytime between puberty and early 20's. It depends when your growth plates stop growing and I read that you can do an x-ray of your hands to see if you will still grow based on your growth plates. It also depends on your genes/parents. How tall are they?

Hopefully it you were meant to be taller and you are going gluten-free you will still grow. Either way, I think you will feel much better going gluten-free. It's hard at first but gets easier. Good luck!

[gottarun96]

My mom is 5'4" and my dad is 5'6", so they are short. I haven't gotten my period yet either but I don't know if that is related.

[nvsmom]

My mom is 5'4" and my dad is 5'6", so they are short. I haven't gotten my period yet either but I don't know if that is related.

Girls often stop growing shortly after they get their periods; by shortly, I mean a year or two. I was an undiagnosed celiac for most of my life, and I stopped growing at age 12... luckily I was 5'8" by then but the basketball player in me always wonders if I could have been taller.

My oldest son (9) is shorter than his brother (7), and although he tested negative for celiac, he's going gluten free now just in case it will help him grow.

17 is a bit late for not starting menstration yet. Because of your small stature and late periods, you might want to check and see if your thyroid is not working well. It's called hypothyroidism. Many people with other autoimmune disorders develop this in the form of Hashimoto's disease which is where your body attacks the thyroid gland (kind of like how celiacs' bodies attack their intestine). Hashimoto's can slow your growth and has many of the same symptoms as celiacs.

To test for Hashimotos, check TSH (will be high, probably higher than 5), T4 (will be low to normal) and thyroid peroxidase antibodies (will be high).

Best wishes. There was another teen/young adult who recently started growing again after going gluten-free... I think it was under "unexpected" but I'm not sure.

[Mdhriggin]

Given your symptoms (celiac, lack of menstruation, shorterned stature) you may want to look into getting tested for Turner's syndrome. One of my students wrote her Master's thesis on the topic (asked me to be on it because of my experience with celiac). It is when you have a missing x chromosome and it is only in women. Other symptoms include a large number of moles, a shortened ring finger, a barreled chest, heart conditions. It couldn't hurt to get tested. There are some great support websites for Turner's syndrome you may want to check out to see if it fits your symptoms.

[ravenwoodglass]

You could gain a few more inches. A lot depends on whether your growth plates have fused yet. Your doctor can answer that question with a simple X-ray. Have the doctors checked your hormone levels etc. in regards to your not having started to have your period? It could just be that your body is not getting the nutrition it needs because of the undiagnosed celiac and that may resolve after you have been gluten free for a while.

I don't know if you are sexually active but if you are please be aware that you will ovulate before you get that first period so do use protection if you are active.

Be as strict with the diet as you possibly can. Also do make sure your parents and siblings are tested for celiac also even if they don't seem to have symptoms.

[gottarun96]

Thanks For all the responses. I think I will have some more tests done to rule other things out. And for the record I am not sexually active.