Coeliac disease?

[Nightfall1983]

Our consultant wants DS (just 1) to have a blood test for Coeliac disease after 6 weeks of diarrhoea and other symptoms. I don't know anything about it - I've had a google but my head is spinning would anyone please be able to summarise? What actually is it? What might it mean for DS if he does have it? TIA

[pudseypie]

it's where the body can't tolerate gluten which is found in wheat and oats. If he is a coeliac he will need gluten free foods but all perfectly manageable just a bit inconvenient. But I would wait and see what the test results come back with as you don't know yet. My ds was tested for it, as db has it, but ds came back clear.

[RubySparks]

It is an autoimmune disease rather than an allergy as lots of people will say and you just need to be careful what he eats. Bread, pasta, cakes made with wheat are off limits but you can get lots of gluten free alternatives in supermarkets now or make your own with gluten free flour.

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

I have coeliac disease and in a nutshell it is an autoimmune disorder whereby if you eat anything that contains or is contaminated with gluten, the body's immune system will attack many systems in the body such as the digestive system and the nervous system. It has far reaching negative consequences such as a reduced ability to absorb nutrients from food.

There is no cure, yet, unfortunately apart from avoiding gluten like the plague and it is in many, many foodstuffs not just the obvious like bread and pasta but crisps, soya sauce, crumbed foods, white sauces, gravy etc.

It is important that your son continues to eat gluten until he gets a diagnosis as stopping now may give him a false negative. Bless him being diagnosed so young, but better in the long run rather than have years of failure to thrive and unpleasant symptoms.

It runs in families so maybe you should all get tested? Www.coeliac.org is a very useful website. If he is diagnosed you will be able to get gkuten free foods on prescription which is a godsend as they are expensive. Good luck and if you need to know anything else, just ask, i'll be happy to help.

[Nightfall1983]

Thank you all.

We actually suspected that he had an intolerance to gluten and stopped giving him foods containing gluten and it helped, but didn't completely stop the problems. The consultant wants to test for coeliacs to hopefully rule it out but ofcourse he has to be having gluten for the test to be effective so we have to start giving it to him as normal for the next 3 weeks before the test - not looking forwards to it :(

Somehow "Coeliac disease" sounds worse than "intolerant to gluten" but from what you are saying it's not really, it's just a different type of 'problem' with the gluten?

[Charmingbaker]

I went through the same thing last summer with my toddler which for us ended up with a coeliac diagnosis. As others have said, wait for the test results first. They take a few days to come through and don't take your DS off gluten until the doctor says. It seems incredibly overwhelming at first. For me the first thing I felt was relief, as it explained why my DS2 had been quite poorly. Then there is a sense of loss, when you first go shopping you only see the things they can't have. A year in and it's just part of our normal life, our oldest DS has also been diagnosed now and we are a Gluten Free house now. Both my children lead normal lives. My DS2 is 2 now and he takes his own biscuits to playgroup, when we are at the park I have to keep a close eye if he's playing with children who are eating, but other than that life is normal, we still eat out and friends and family have been great (apart from MIL but that's a whole other thread!). My advice would be don't google too much before you get any results, if it does come back positive then there is lots of support and advice from dieticians, health visitors, Coeliac UK and online to guide you through.

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

Coeliac disease is a gluten intolerance. The body cannot tolerate gluten in any shape or form.

[Serafinaaa]

My mother is a coeliac and has been since childhood (late 50s now). It is much easier for her now with all the special foods available in the supermarkets. You can also get bread etc on prescription (which is free for children I think?). Gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. It's in some things that you might not expect, like beer, but I guess that's a long way off! My mother is perfectly healthy as long as she stays strictly on her gluten free diet.

[ALMOSTMRSG]

My Dd was diagnosed with coeliac disease at this age. If your DS has coeliac disease you should be referred to a dietitian and his weight and height should be regularly monitored eg every 6 months. He will also require blood tests to check his vitamin D and iron levels are ok. It is very important that he has plenty of calcium in his diet, osteoporosis is a associated with coeliac disease. Dd's dietitian recommends a serving of calcium with every meal and milk drinking should be encouraged.
My DD is 13 next week and is great with her diet although she does feel like the odd one out sometimes. She is a lovely tall, lean girl, doing well at school and very active.
You should also notice a difference in his general well being too, he will be a lot more content and happy once he is on a strict diet.
Hope you little boy gets well soon. X