Celiac Symptoms Or Something Else?

[alicia534]

Hi everyone. I'm pretty new here and would like some advice about my symptoms my son is having. He is 14 months old. He has been constipated since he was 8 months old. Diet changes have not helped. He is on miralax but still only goes about every 7 days. Other symptoms he has are fussiness, clingy, never sleeps, gas, he stopped growing for a few months, stomach aches (he puts my hand on his stomach for a massage), no appetite, his top front teeth have enamel defects, and several food allergies. To me these seem like Celiac symptoms but could also be from something else like teething or food allergies.

He is deficient in IgA so the IgA testing could not be used. His GI did genetic testing and he has the DQ2 gene. After the genetic testing we went gluten free. His symptoms have seemed to improve somewhat. His constipation was better for 2 weeks but then started again. This happened once before when we went gluten free before we knew anything about celiacs. I was trying an elimination diet to try to find other sensitivities.

I guess my question is does this seem like Celiac Disease? How long before symptoms improve - especially the constipation. I really thought the gluten free diet would help that, but so far I see no improvement in that area. Is there something else we should be looking for?

[mushroom]

Is he still drinking cow's milk? If he is celiac it is quite likely he would have problems with this. Try substituting one of the other milks - soy, rice, hemp, almond - and see if this makes a difference for him.

[squirmingitch]

Also 2 weeks is probably not enough time for everything to resolve. Shroomie is right about the milkl. But I imagine the same thing we say to adults would apply to kids. There will be ups & downs with his symptoms & you have to give it time --- at least a good 6 months. No one can say exactly how long it will take because everyone is an individual.

[alicia534]

Thank you for the fast responses. He does not drink cow's milk. He never has. He had yogurt once and had a bad allergic reaction. He is still breastfed and I have not had any dairy since that reaction when he was around 7 months. He has tested positive for allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, strawberries, banana, and yeast. I have tried goat cheese and yogurt but he broke out in hives. Right now he gets coconut milk and yogurt but he does'nt really like it. We eat almost all whole foods. I do give him chex and gluten free rice krispies for snacks.

[squirmingitch]

Well, with the milk not an issue then you just need to give it time. I'm wondering though --- you say he gets yogurt --- that is dairy & dairy can be the cause of constipation. You might want to remove the yogurt & see what happens.

Have you tried giving him 1/4 tsp. of prune juice?

[alicia534]

Sorry, I meant coconut yogurt. He gets no dairy at all. He broke out in hives and his throat swelled up the one time he had dairy when he was 7 months old. I have given him prune juice. I give him prunes also. He eats tons of fruit and vegetables. I have given him ground flax seeds, probiotics, every kind of fruit and juice, metameucil. He now takes miralax every other day and we just started giving him lactulose every day. His GI said he does not seem to have any physical cause for not going. He suggested either Celiac disease or that he is nursing too much and not eating enough. He has had a great appetite and nurses a lot less since going gluten free but still is constipated. We have been trying to find a cause for this constipation for months. The other symptoms I never really thought much about until I started reading about Celiacs. I just hope that more time on he diet will help.