Long Two Weeks Until Endoscopy

[megsybeth]

Hi, I'm new to this board and looking for anyone to weigh in on my four-year-old son's symptoms and history. I have to wait two weeks until GI can get him in for endoscopy/colonoscopy and I just feel like I might be making my son sicker every day. I guess I was wondering if he sounds like a typical kid with celiac and if so, do you think I should go gluten free before the test, maybe reintroduce gluten a few days before?

Here's why I'm concerned:

-Starting at just over one-year-old doctors became concerned about slow growth, low stature (3rd percentile and under the curve at times, though birth weight was normal and dh and I are tall; he had blood tests and stool tests and nothing showed up). I don't know the numbers but I know a year ago a full celiac panel was ordered by GI, who we saw for growth issues. He got his tonsils removed so he jumped in weight dramatically and we thought maybe we'd found the root cause.

-I was very skeptical about celiac but then I'm not a doctor, because my son has always been the happiest guy in the world, never had gas or gi issues, never had constipation. I did the tests, but maybe didn't push enough.

-A month and a half ago he started getting every symptom in the book. Terrible,foul smelling diarrhea with mucous, very bloated tummy like a malnourished child, fatigued for days, then a couple days without a bm, constipation. This has been going on for about five weeks. GI has been overly conservative in my opinion because it all started after a round of antibiotics he'd had following another adenoid surgery. But it was more than antibiotic tummy and continues to be bad. I finally got a colonoscopy/endoscopy scheduled. Labs are coming back now but I haven't seen numbers for celiac panel.

-Tried cutting lactose and thought it might help but then he had some more massive diarrhea days

-DS has a very, very short attention span and is kind of classic ADHD

-I don't know if this is related but sometimes DS is really aggressive around food. Like if cookies fall on the ground, he literally can't stop himself from eating them. I always thought it was immaturity but I almost feel like he has a sugar obsession because he's not getting the nutrients

-He seems to be catching everything now, whereas he used to not get sick ever

What do you think? And if you do think it's celiac, do you think I could at least go gluten free for a week, since the wait is so long?

[shadowicewolf]

Smart GI doctor. If you can get an accurate dx, you will be able to get accomodations and whatnot at school for your son.

This way, it won't have a chance to start healing before the test.

I had mine done 4 weeks after i went gluten free and it was negative. Wish i had stayed on it until then.

[ravenwoodglass]

Do keep him on gluten until the endo is done otherwise you risk a false negative. There can be false negatives even on a full gluten diet though. If the celiac panel wasn't redone on the recent tests call your ped or the GI's office and demand they redo them. Just because they were negative a year ago doesn't mean they will be now.

After his repeat blood work and the endo is done then go ahead and get him on the diet for a few months to see if it helps but do be aware that it has to be done strictly.

If they haven't done any stool testing to make sure the issue isn't an overgrowth of a bad bacteria from the antibiotic it would be a good idea to ask that be done also.

I hope your little guy is feeling better soon.

[SandraLAVixen]

He might still have an infection, did your doctor check for infection after the antibiotic treatment?

Another possibility would be an imbalance of probiotics in his gut due to the antibiotic treatment.

Has your son's growth curve fluctuated to any "pattern"? noticeable ups and downs?