Celiac in a child

[NyMe18]

While trying to figure out things with myself I stumbled on Celiac disease which I check a lot of boxes for, pretty much all of them tbh. However my son who is 5.5 and has had issues with food since he was 6months checks an alarming amount of the boxes. The thing with my son is he has a feeding disorder, they’re just calling it selective eating disorder so he eats very few things. And now I’m wondering if this could be the major reason why this hasn’t been discovered earlier IF he indeed does have this. Symptoms are:

- Decreased appetite and food aversions, always had them. As a baby he would wimper when I fed him solids..
- Yellow pale-ish stool, has NEVER been brown, not once in his life and always been lose. Sometimes more than others. Always very soft. He’s had such problem with diaper rash, more like diaper burns from his stool while he was smaller.
- Low in iron. Confirmed by blood test.
- Developmental delays, mainly speech but also balance.
- He told us today with his limited speech that he doesn’t eat the edges of his French fries because it hurts his teeth.
- He does have heartburn. He’s never expressed it but I’ve suspected it since he was small. He swallows weirdly large amounts and he has a breath daily.
- Doctor thinks he should be ADHD tested because of his focus. I however have ADHD and see none of the symptoms in him. I think it could be mental fatigue.
- Not so much anymore but when he was younger AND we lived in a completely different country and his diet was slightly different he woke up many nights covered in an itching rash. Several nights a week.
- Very slow weight gain and he’s short. He’s turning 6 in September but has the same clothing size as a 4yo. He’s always gained weight but very slowly.

Should he react in a certain immediate way when he has gluten? What do I tell the doctor tomorrow? What/how do you test for this and how long do you have to wait for the answers?

[Kikiwatson]

Well, I myself am celiac and I know how tough it can be on you and your family. And, if he is your family and shares the same genes as you, you can call in to any doctors office and ask to schedule a blood test. And with that they can probably find out. Or, if the blood test is 99% sure, do what my family did and have an endoscopy. My uncle is celiac and somehow that gene spread to me. And after I was found to be celiac, the doctors said that every 2 years the other closest family members need to have a blood test to check.

              Thank you for reading this and I hope it helps.

[NyMe18]

Thank you, we took him last week for a blood test and the doctor will call with his results. He now has gotten the rash again. It’s around his elbow and it itches poor thing. Looks nasty as he itches in his sleep :(

[Bazzerk]

Firstly great job on checking this stuff out for your Son. Secondly get him tested, stunted growth can definitely be a symptom of Celiac disease but not the only thing. You need to make sure because despite what others may say cutting thing s like Wheat, Rye, and Barley from your diet can affect you in other ways if it is not necessary. Testing for the celiac disease antibody in blood is part of the confirmation usually followed by pathology testing of tissue obtained via endoscopy. Of course you can just change your his diet but it is better to be sure and then make changes which will be for the rest of his life. It also allows you to claim for certain things on taxes, like the higher cost of foods resulting from a diagnosis of celiac. Good luck and don’t be afraid to ask the doc questions or even get a new doc if your questions go unanswered, you are in control.

[NyMe18]

Thank you for your comment. I presented my case to the doctor which is how you do it here and he agreed that it was worth testing and he sent in info to the lab from both of us. The tricky thing is that my son has an eating disorder that changes to his diet terrifies me. Removing what he eats that contains gluten would have major impact on his nutrition intake. If he gets the diagnosis and we are SUPER lucky he MIGHT accept a gluten free alternative but chances are he won’t. I have decided not to get myself worked up in advance though.. I am scared of the doctors, I feel like it is a game of saying the right thing at the right time with the right feel to it.. like a job interview. That or you’re sent home with the nutcase mom written on your forehead.