Question About Gluten Sensitivity

[vnm07]

My son is now 18 montha old. Since august he has had loose/diarrea bm's til october when the doctor said to put him on gluten free for 2 weeks. Quickly, he started having normal bm's and Dr said to take him off gluten diet and he did fine for about 3 weeks. Towards the end of november he got sick and had diarrea and thought it was because he was sick. But it hasnt stopped and still has diarrea /loose diapers now. He is gaining weight normally, Dr's did common children food allergies test and celiac but came back fine...so does anyone else know what could be wrong?

[nvsmom]

If your son was gluten free when he was tested for celia, his results probably aren't accurate. Plus very young children do not test well for celiac; they have a very high false negative rate. There is a chance his negative result was not accurate, or he could be a nonceliac gluten intolerant person.

Does your son drink milk? Perhaps his lingering "d" is from a lactose intolerance (common amoungst celiac). Is he still 100% gluten-free so gluten is definitely not a factor?

Best wishes. I hope you are able to find the answer and that his bm issues resolve quickly.

[vnm07]

Thank you, For the whole month of September I didnt give him any milk, only water and no juice. When they tested him I had cut out a lot of gluten but was still giving him some once in awhile..its so expensive for gluten free food! I completely cut out gluten again since Thursday and slowly it looks like he is getting little better w/ diapers. I did notice sime diapers seemed..like maybe they had acidic or something because I would change him quickly but he would be real red. I hope maybe its just a childhood thing and he grows out of this. I was hoping it was maybe one allergy instead of all gluten. He really loves it

[sunburst]

We experienced the exact same thing with our 18 month old; loose stools for two months. We could hear her mess a diaper and even if we got her out of it and cleaned off in 20 seconds, her bottom would already be red, like the stools were caustic. We just did the blood draw for the celiac panel over the holiday and are waiting on the results, but going gluten-free seems to have improved her symptoms.

My husband is celiac and a gluten-free diet doesn't need to be expensive, but it can take a little more effort. Just means you eat more whole foods instead of prepared stuff; I eat better now that I'm with him! More fruits and veggies! Because you're right- gluten-free ready-made food is super expensive and that's why we hardly buy any except for some breads and snacks.

[GFinDC]

The testing for celiacs is not foolproof, so it makes sense to put him back on gluten-free full time for a few months. There has to be a reason he improved the first time right?