Diagnosing Celiac Disease

1st of all, have the simple blood test done. If it comes back postivie, then schedule an endoscopy. If it is conclusive, then they will set up an appt. with the nutritionist. I was told that if not treated properly, it has lasting repercussions when he's older. I can give you a name of a pediatric gastroenterologist in Spokane.
Good luck!
~been there.....

Hi D.!

I live with very severe celiac sprue and was diagnosed at the age of 30 - so I lived 30 years with itchy excema, horrible fever blisters on my leg and on my face, the awful potty problems, and of course the itchy rash when I would consume too much! Honestly, I just thought everyone had those problems. It makes me very happy to hear that you are exploring the possibility that your son's food may be the cause of discomfort.

My advice to you is to find a good gastrointerologist and make an appointment. The pediatrician can order the blood test which will show if your son is reactive to the glutens but the diagnosis (if no other members of the family have celiac) is not made until biopsy of the sigmoid area of the large instestine is taken to see if there is damage ot the vili. I believe it is important to go to the doctor as opposed to simply trying to omit foods because it is, first, the easiest and quickest way to be certain what the problem is, and second, the only way to say with any scientific certainty what the problem is. You may find that you son has a totally different problem!!

Celiac is a genetic disorder so if your son is reactive you'll want to get the entire family tested.

I will end by telling you that at first the diet seems so very overwhelming...but you quickly learn that it really is no big deal.

Best of luck to you!

*K

Well, dear heart the GOOD news is that there are great support groups and foods available now. MY journey began in 1972 - when my then 13 month old was losing weight and having awful diahrhea ( she'd been breast fed---quite uncommon back then -so that her early months had been fine). The ONLY food I could find that accomodated her needs was by driving 2 hours to a large city ( we lived in Astoria, OR and Portland was a major city) and certain health stores had gluten-free bread. Now you can but ready made pizza ( the franchise called Romios' makes wonderful gluten free products) --- and certain groceries do a great job. Your pediatrician will guide you- it's much better understood now.
Blessings,
J.
aka- Old Mom

In our case the diagnosis was a simple blood test. Luckily our son was negative for celiac's however my husband was positive! Luckily for him he has a transitory version of celiac's. Someitmes it bothers him and sometimes it doesn't so we are luckily able to use some wheat in our diets. We are very careful to not carbo-load and although we eat 90% of our meals at home we have found many restaurants and fast food places that are very helpful. Believe it or not hamburgers are GREAT with the heavy lettuce leaves as a wrap instead of a bun!

It is a challenge at first but it becomes habit and even the other kids learn to watch labels and food items that Dad can't have!

I just want to mention that my sister was convinced her daughter had celiac or at least wheat sensitivity, and her daughter did respond to change in diet. However, it turned out she had giardia, and that diagnosis came from a gastroentologist.
Best wishes.

There is currently a blood test that can be performed on children to diagnose (as opposed to the biopsy). Many people find that eliminating gluten from their diets for 6 months will dramatically improve their physical and mental health. The issue is once you eliminate gluten the intestines begin to heal and will not always confirm celiac in a biopsy or blood test.
Don't wait any longer. Get in touch with a GIG (Gluten Intolerance Group) in your area. They will help you navigate the diagnoses journey and guide you in making any necessary life style changes.

hi there-
There's a specific test that she can get, it's easy.
My naturopath specializes in diagnosing & treating celiac disease & she's an excellent doctor, I take my son to her whenever there is a problem & she's brilliant...her number is : ###-###-####
You can see more about her at http://www.kwanyinhealingarts.com/pactitioners/dr-ilana-g...
Good luck!

I took my daughter to my Naturopath and she diagnosed her when my daughter was 3. My Naturopath also informed me that a usual MD would have said she is NOT celiac because she is borderline. In fact, NONE of the pediatricians in the allopathic community bothered to look at food allergies as a possible cause for all of her symptoms. In the Naturopathic community they treat these allergies much more seriously than MDs do. She is every bit and more seriously ill with this disease than any MD has admitted to. The month I took her off wheat, her mind started to function and she started learning really fast. She had gotten to the point she wouldn't talk any more (at 3). My Naturopath said that my daughter can NEVER have gluten. This proved to be true, when at age 7 she had seizures due to eating wheat.

I read the book "Gluten Free Girl" and realized that getting wheat completely out of the diet is very difficult, due to the problem of cross-contamination. She cannot use the toaster for her gluten-free bread, for example. My daughter actually has learning delays due to this disease, because it wasn't diagnosed until she was 3. Your son may also only be experiencing an intolerance to wheat and not full-blown celiac disease.

Again, the best people for diagnosing this from my experience, are Naturopathic physicians because they have a better handle on how much of the offending item your child can take.

The symptoms can vary greatly - everything from stomach pains, to lethargy, to incredibly impacted bowels from not being able to "go", all the way to seizures, and autism if left untreated.

My husband was diagnosed w/ celiac. Since then, we are keeping a close eye on our girls who are very young for any symptoms. Since you are concerned about this, go ahead and get the blood test done. Make sure that you get the right blood test done and that you doctor is familiar with celiac disease. It could be celiac or it could just be a sensitivity to gluten. There is a difference. Be aware that the blood test is only about 85% accurate, but at least you would have more information to go from. If you don't want to do the blood test, you could just cut gluten from his diet and go from there. Be aware that it is a big change to completely cut gluten when the rest of the family still eats gluten.

D.,
My son and I were both tested for celiac. Neither one of us has it. I am gluten intolerant and my son's reactions (stomachache, vomitting, migraines) are all caused by MSG! Make sure your son is still eating gluten until you are done with all of the testing. The antibodies are quick to leave the body once a gluten free diet is begun.
The first thing to have done is a blood test. I can't remember which specific ones they are, however if you go to the celiac.org website, they should mention which ones to ask for. Your pediatrition may or may not be familiar with the proper bllod tests. We then went to a pediatric gastrointerologist and had a colonoscopy and edposcopic exam done. A colonoscopy is not normally performed, but my sons symptoms were unusual so they opted to do both. I only had a endoscopic exam done. Both of our results were normal.
I knew for a fact that when I ate gluten I had debilitating stomachaches. You can figure this out with an elimination diet. I can eat as little as a bite of gluten and get a stomachache. The doctor said that if a gluten free diet was helping than there was no harm being on it. Many doctors are skeptical of food intolerances and they don't quite believe me when I say gluten is the cause of my symptoms.
My son was better on a GF diet but not completely well. His stomachaches and vomitting stopped but he was still getting weekly migraines. I kept him on a GF diet for almost 3 years and then stopped. Finally, I researched MSG further and found out that there are about 10 different ingredients added to foods that contain MSG. They are not pure MSG so they don't need to be labeled as such. Eating MSG free is a bigger chalenge than eating gluten free! Especially for a picky teenager who wants to eat fast food, pizza and any kind of junk food.
The good news is that my son has been migraine free for almost 2 months! He has had migraines for almost 4 years. A gluten free diet helped relieve his symptoms because in general they have very little added MSG.
There is alot of premade foods available today and lots you can make at home. I have found that most baked foods are better homemade. There are lots of cookbooks and recipes on the web also.
If you do recieve a negative diagnosis of celiac, don't rule out an intolerance. Moms are amazingly insightfull. God has given us wisdom to be the best mom possible for our specific children. If your gut tells you that something your son is eating is causing trouble than have him stop eating it! We were told over and over that my son's migraines were the result of stress because he didn't respond to any medication and we tried most of them. I knew it wasn't stress as he is generally a very happy kid. I kept digging until I found an answer. "If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God...and it will be given to him." James 1:5.
Blessings,
B.

Hi D.,

We are in the process of figuring our whether my 4yo has gluten intolerance (she has been tested for celiac and doesn't have it). What I have learned is that there are a TON of physical and mental symptoms (constipation, attention problems, anxiety, rashes, stomachaches to name a few) that appear to be impressively better when she doesn't consume gluten for a period of time. What is more, many members of my extended family are finding that they are feeling better off gluten...who knew.

I have always limited wheat in her diet because I felt too much made her grouchy, but never in a million years (after the negative celiac test) would I have thought gluten could be contributing to so many other challenges she has (all of which are manageable - but I would prefer they not be problems for her)

I am an MD and it took a visit to a naturopath to get this figured out. Your pediatrician may very well tell you that if the celiac workup is negative that gluten isn't a problem - but please DON'T DISCOUNT IT AS A POSSIBILITY!!!

Good luck,

D.

Hi D.
I have celiac disease too, and know several people that do as well. My advice is to follow your intuition on it. You can do test runs where you remove it and then reintroduce it and watch for symptoms. Or you can just go wheat free, it would certainly be better for all of you if you did. There are many alternatives out there now. Rice flour works great, nut flours are expensive but a nice healthy splurge now and again. I know celiac can present itself in many different ways and the symptoms are different for everyone. Best of luck to you. The internet is a great recourse for wheat free recipes. Good health to you and your little ones.