Celiac?

[twicker1]

I was just wondering what prompted any of you to have your children tested for celiac? I'm still not entirely sure of what it is, but doesn't it have to do with gluten? I've just noticed that it seems common for diabetics to also have this problem, and I don't know if it is something I should look out for and how. The doctor has never mentioned it.

I'm assuming that it just because it's another defect in the immune system. I guess that could explain my son's allergies (seasonal and cats) and his eczema... I mean the weaker immune system.

[allisa]

Yes, you are right that Celiac is another auto-immune disease. I believe it is common to have children ( with Diabetes) tested periodically for it. I know of a few people who have it along with Diabetes and some who just have it on it's own.....it is a difficult thing to control ( especically in young children )....I think Diabetes is VERY VERY VERY difficult....but if you have a picky eater.....wow it would suck to have Celiac ! MY aunt tells me all the time to get my kids used to eating rice crackers NOW...JUST IN CASE !!!

SHe has 13 kids.....3 have diabetes, 2 of whom have the Celiac as well !!

[Laura]

My son's Endo is in the process of testing all of her diabetic patients. So far, 10% have come back positive. When she asked if we would test our son I said sure, but he doesn't have any symptoms. Sure enough he tested positive. All that time I thought I just had a cranky kid and blamed it on diabetes, he really just felt bad from what he was eating. It was so hard at first to get him gluten free. He kept asking what was going to go wrong next. After a while of eating gluten free, he's adapted very well. He's 8 and he likes the reaction he gets when we go out to eat and order him a burger with no bun and a diet coke. I swear some people think we have him on Atkins but he's sooo skinny. Anyway, I'm glad she had him tested before he got really sick. As much as I hated to change our lifestyle yet again I am glad to know so we can take care of him.

[twicker1]

So I'm curious now, what type of "symptoms" DID your son have looking back on it? You said something about bad attitude... I know there is always a textbook explaination of symptoms, but there are often things people notice that aren't "textbook".

[T_Adelaide]

My son's Endo is in the process of testing all of her diabetic patients. So far, 10% have come back positive.

Here all children are autonatically tested when diagnosed, I was surprised to hear that wasn't the case elsewhere. My daughter has just been re-tested because of an unexplained tummy problem- thankfully the test came back negative (11 months ago it came back borderline).

[amyd]

Our endo also tests for celiac upon diagnosis. My son developed celiac about 2 yrs after becoming diabetic.

There can be 200+ symptoms of celiac disease but the common ones are: stomach pain, bloating, constipation, diahrrea, weight loss, weight gain, anemia, malnutrition, mood swings.

I do know that if my son gets something with gluten in it then his blood sugars are whacky for days. It's horrible!

[Amy C.]

My understanding on dealing with Celiac is you stop eating gluten -- period. And it works.

I have heard that dealing with Celiac is much easier than with diabetes in that the treatment is conceptually easy, but socially difficult in that lots of our food has gluten in it.

[EmmasMom]

Thought the two are linked the chances are still pretty slim that your child will have both. It's around 4% if I remember correctly, and depends on genetic factors.
Celiac is "cured" by eliminating gluten from your diet, (easier said than done)!
When we were testing Emma I was certain that she had it, (she had a lot of tummy problems after dx's), but she didn't. She was however given a probable dx's of Crohns, another autoimmune disease with no real treatment options. If I had to choose, I would rather have Celiac than Crohns. But obviously no one wants any of them :(

Our endo said he'd never had a patient come back positive for celiac, not one after years of testing, so he now only tests kids if they have symptoms or family history.

[BrendaK]

Our endo tests kids for celiac every year. My sister developed celiac at 18 months old and my mom has diabetes (since age 17) and celiac (since age 40). A friend of mine who's son is diabetic and goes go the same endo found out that her son does have celiac -- but he has never had any symptoms. The only reason she found out was through the routine testing at the endo's office and then a biopsy.

If your child is diabetic, they should also have the blood work done for celiac. About 10% of people with type 1 also have celiac and there are so many "non-textbook" symptoms or those with no symptoms at all. It's one of the most misdiagnosed diseases. The average time it takes to diagnose celiac in the US from the onset of the first symptoms is 7 years. The newer blood tests are very simple -- no need for a biopsy unless the blood tests are positive.

[allisa]

twicker1 ......So I'm curious now, what type of "symptoms" DID your son have looking back on it? You said something about bad attitude... I know there is always a textbook explaination of symptoms, but there are often things people notice that aren't "textbook".
Today 01:03 AM


I think symptoms are constant stomach pain, irregular bowel movements and cranky dispostion

[Laura]

So I'm curious now, what type of "symptoms" DID your son have looking back on it? You said something about bad attitude... I know there is always a textbook explaination of symptoms, but there are often things people notice that aren't "textbook".


He had a pretty good attitude overall so I wouldn't say bad attitude. He was just moody. He was very sensitive and would get upset very easily. He seemed frustrated at times for no reason. He would say he had a stomach ache but when he's low he says that so I always just assumed it was diabetes. I had never even heard of Celiac so I wouldn't have thought about it before the doctor asked if we would get him tested. A lot of Endos feel they shouldn't test diabetics until they are showing symptoms. It could have been years before we caught on to the symptoms.

[wendyc]

Hi,

I'm just curious, how soon after eating something with gluten will your child start experiencing discomfort?

My d-daughter will be checked annualy for celiac when they do her thyroid check, but I worry about my non-d daughter also. We are coming off tummy trouble so that would explain her problems, but like d, it's always in the back of my mind.

[Laura]

Hi,

I'm just curious, how soon after eating something with gluten will your child start experiencing discomfort?

My d-daughter will be checked annualy for celiac when they do her thyroid check, but I worry about my non-d daughter also. We are coming off tummy trouble so that would explain her problems, but like d, it's always in the back of my mind.


We were told by our GI that a person has to go 3 weeks of being gluten free to feel better. I haven't heard anything about how you'd feel if you weren't gluten free and ate gluten since it's in so many things that you would never expect so you probably have it at every meal. It's in unexpected things like soup and the taco meat at taco bell. For my son, now that he's completely gluten free, he will feel the symptoms a couple of hours after he has gluten if he accidentally has it. It's only happened twice since he was diagnosed. Now he has serious diarrhea and his blood sugar goes very high for a couple of days.