why does my child keep having diaherrea?

[dafty1967]

my 10 year old son had loose bowels for three weeks in january, his stools were tested for bacteria and came back clear. He had no ther symptoms apart from chronic wind and stomach pains at times. He has since had the same problem since this three weeks for three days and has again started with these symptoms sunday of this week.

[FurballsMom]

Another big food intolerance to consider is gluten intolerance.  I think it is wise to test your son for Celiac.  If it comes back negative, this is good news.  But, a person can still be gluten intolerant without having Celiac.  The treatment for it is the same either way, which is to avoid gluten and dairy, particularly cow's milk.  I can't tolerate any kind of lactose, cow or goat.  Your son seems to be displaying the classic symptoms of Celiac.  It's worth testing to find out for sure.

You can figure out if your son is gluten intolerant or not simply by removing gluten from his diet.  My nephew has Celiac.  But, my brother and I are both gluten intolerant.  I still believe it is Celiac in my case, even though I tested negative for it.  But, since I am definitely gluten and lactose intolerant, I still need to follow the Celiac diet.  By the way, if you have an Irish background, then you or your kin will have a higher chance of having Celiac.  But, the Irish are not the only ones prone to Celiac, they just have a higher rate than other groups of people.

There are websites that have recipes suitable for Celiacs.  Even though Celiac is like a really big allergy to gluten, Celiacs are also lactose intolerant.  So, I would definitely agree with Rack42 about lactose intolerance.  I do all my own cooking, because I also have a laundry list of food sensitivities, so I know about where to find gluten free products.  For starters, I suggest finding out information about which grains contain gluten and steer clear of those.  The biggest one is wheat, which is pervasive in the Western diet.  Corn isn't a gluten food, but most people with digestive problems don't tolerate corn well at all.  Corn is one thing that will give me an instant migraine, so I haven't touched anything with corn in years.

There are some breads made from rice that are entirely gluten free.  I haven't tried them yet, because they cost so much more than other breads, but it's something worth keeping in mind, so your son can have a sandwich for his school lunches.  Trader Joe's has some wonderful options available for Celiacs that are affordable.  They have pastas made from rice without any gluten in them.  I know of people who are extremely picky about their pastas, but if it's cooked right, most people would never know that this pasta isn't made with traditional semolina or durham wheat.  Trader Joe's also has some rice tortillas available that only have three ingredients in them.  These are also gluten free.  Treat them like you would corn tortillas. (Don't buy corn tortillas, because they still have some wheat and some other ingredients in them that aren't good for people with digestive issues.)  There are also some milk substitutes made from rice that are suitable for Celiacs.  I don't suggest soy milk, because there are too many problems with soy that make it not a health food, even though the propaganda about soy tells people the opposite.  There is soy in so many other foods, that you're better off avoiding the soy milk, so you don't end up with a soy overload.  Rice milk or even almond milk are safer bets.  If someone is sensitive or allergic to nuts, obviously almond milk is out, too.  "Til I discovered I'm sensitive to all nuts, I had tried almond milk a few times and found that it really tastes good.  The rice milk is the safest, and Trader Joe's has a few options there, too.

When avoiding gluten, you'll want to investigate the bulk foods section of your other grocery stores.  There are actually several grains that don't have gluten in them that you might not be familiar with that you can try out.  There are many kinds of rice, too, that you won't find in the aisles of ordinary grocery stores.  Wild rice is NOT really rice, which is good news for people sensitive or allergic to rice, as some are.  Quinoa is actually really good, and has a nutty flavor.  The trick is to rinse it well with warm water before cooking, because it has a NATURAL waxy coating that is an insect repellant.  I learned about this on Care2.com.  When I follow the advice I read there, I find that the quinoa does actually come out with a much sweeter natural flavor.  There are three varieties of quinoa available.  Trader Joe's even has the white quinoa available.  It's just called quinoa on the package, but that's the white variety.  There is also a red quinoa and a black quinoa.  Millet is another good option for Celiacs.  Food grade millet has the indigestable hulls removed for human consumption.  I have found amaranth, which is another ancient grain that was mentioned along with millet in the bible a couple of times when talking about what people were actually eating back then.  I think I prefer amaranth cooked separately, because of it's different cooking needs, then mixed with other cooked grains.  Don't bother with teff, which is used in the Ethiopian flat bread called Injera, because Celiacs can't tolerate teff either.  It's also very expensive and hard to cook.  Most people don't even know what it is and it's not widely available anyway.  Buckwheat and kasha (toasted buckwheat) are really very good by themselves with nothing else added to them.  Some people cook it just enough and add a little bit to their salads.  I've never tried that, because I never got a chance to before I developed a terrible food sensitivity to the main ingredient of any good fresh tossed salad.  But, I can imagine it and can see it tasting good.  Any of these grains can be cooked to the bite and added to salads.  Quinoa would be an excellent choice.

I included these tips about what is still possible to eat when avoiding gluten, because when a person first approaches the whole gluten-free world, it seems so overwhelming at first.  People's first thought is "Wheat and gluten is in more food than I thought it was, so what CAN I eat?"  Don't forget to avoid lactose if your son is gluten intolerant.  The two things go hand-in-hand.

I was going to try to mention this yesterday, but I had some problem with my server for my computer and was unable to see your post 'til now.

[rack42]

I sent a response a few days ago to you but don't see it posted. I'll try again.....Our twins sons had severe diarhea for a long time. Back when not too much was known about lactose intolerance. We took them to the best gas and intestinal doctors in the New Jersey/New York area. No answers. After researching the reference sections at the local libraries and spending countless hours night after night we came up with the possibilities of lactose intolerance. Thank God that Lactaid pills became available at the time. My wife and I take our time in reading food labels for milk and milk products. If there's even a remote possibility that a food has milk or dairy in it we make sure a Lactaid pill given with the meal. It's like a miracle. Even the generic brands of Lactaid pills work such as the kind you find in Walmart, CVS or Drugfair. It might be worth a try......Rack42