My dd (5) has been 'not right' since July last year.
We came back from holiday on an 11 hour overnight flight, and to my mind this is what triggered it.
She goes to bed for 11/12 hours a night, but gets up looking exhausted every single morning. She has pale, translucent , patchy skin with deep, dark circles under her eyes. She looks terrible. Her mood and concentration levels are awful. She's very hard to reason with. She has not grown in height or shoe size for almost a year now (has always been very thin anyway). Also, I think her hair has become thinner in places.
We were referred to a sleep clinic and a neurologist. They ruled out epilepsy and she has had a sleep study done which we are waiting on the results from. When they tested her blood they found she had a very low ferritin (iron stores) level and so has been on an iron supplement for two months. At her last blood test it had risen from 20 to 50. She has also had her adenoids and tonsils out because they suspected sleep apnoea. The surgeon said that her adenoids were massive, but although this has had some benefits (her speech is clearer and she is less restless at night) all the above symptoms remain.
But, in the last six weeks or so she has also been having constant loose stools and stomach pains. Maybe this could be the iron supplement though?
Does this sound like it could be coeliac disease to anyone? I heard that it can be triggered by a stressful event (the long flight and time difference?). There has been no respite from this since July, so it would make sense that something she eats every single dy could be doing this. She eats a very, very good diet....and it is like none of this is getting into her.
Any ideas or suggestions most welcome.