to be concerned about DS pot belly and (tmi)..

[midastouch]

.. how do i put it... he wakes up every morning with a smelly bum that leaks out of his pull up and goes all over his pjamas. And every evening either before or after bath the same thing, plus sometimes at nursery which is very embarassing (I am trying to toilet train DS since he was 2 its not going well hence the pull ups!)
He is 3.8.
My DM has cealiac disease so thats a concern. Ive mentioned it to the doctor 8 months ago ish? and he just dismissed me with everyones bowel movements are different.

That doesnt sound normal.

Go and see another GP.

YANBU, bloody doctor was totally unreasonable. Can't believe you were fobbed off so easily - the situation you describe is NOT normal. A simple blood test would rule out coeliac disease. Get yourself down to GP and don't leave until it's done, or you have a phlebotomist appointment.
Good luck.

See another GP. Definitely. And insist you want this investigated. I am cealiac, as is my mother and we strongly suspect her mother was too (lifetime of stomach trouble). Of course it doesn't always run in families but if one of my children develop stomach probs it will be one of the first things they check for.

For us leaky nappies meant food intolerances. So I did an exclusion diet for dairy/soy first as that's what I am intolerant to. That improved things massively, and we slowly tested other foods too, the other one was egg.

Thanks, didnt think it was right, Will ring them when they open after lunch, see if they'll answer the phone!

The prob with an exclusion diet for gluten ClimbingPenguin is that once a coeliac stops eating gluten, their antibodies to it disappear and any blood test for coeliac disease will come back negative.

It's really important to do the test before cutting out gluten, although if it's negative you might want to try cutting it out anyway (I am an antibody negative coeliac).

climbingpenguin how long did it take to see an improvement? Im not sure whether to cut the wheat/gluten out if they need to test for it i thought it had to be in the body

Definitely persist with GP.
If this has been going on a while, it could well be intolerances as much as anything.

I had the same sort of thing with DC. Everything came back inconclusive but we've eliminated some offenders and the symptoms have practically gone. It took a couple of years of nagging and me feeling a nuisance but I knew something was wrong!

Absolutely see a different GP.

1% chance of anyone having coeliac, but rises to 10% chance if you have a direct family member with it (something like that anyway). I had both my DCs tested as my DH is coeliac. They were both clear but I'm glad I had it confirmed.

Do not cut out gluten before the test - if he doesn't eat it he won't create the offending antibodies that are shown up by the test.

OP does your DS have thin arms and legs? A pot belly with thin limbs is a sign of Coeliac disease. DD was diagnosed with Coeliac disease at 14 months and that was one of the first signs we had.
Agree with other posters - do not excluded gluten until you have a diagnosis.

He has always been quite thin, he never had the rolls of fat babies have iyswim. His arms and legs are thin wasnt sure if its just his pot belly that makes them look thinner, not boney just not much fat on him. The only thing thats chubby is his face still? I havent got anyone to compare him too

Sorry I wasn't clear enough, I wasn't saying to exclude gluten. I strongly suspected soy intolerance so for us it was the place to start. .

I do know people who are intolerant enough to gluten to be affected but not react to allergy test. Or who self diagnosed first and reintroduced gluten for the test to take place. Once test is done you can exclude stuff?

Sounds very much like coeliac. Does he have pains too?
When my mums dh was diagnosed he was told not to avoid gluten until it had been confirmed so get back to the dr quick and demand a test. Do they realise its in your family?

Unless he has a but that is not a normal situation for anyone. Poor thing. Hope you get a sensible GP this time and that your DS is ok.

Just a quick update, we saw a different GP today, he hasnt eaten a great deal today so his bellly wasnt looking for pot bellish- typical!)
I told her my mum has coeliac disease and thats my main concern.
He does get pains, mainly after his dinner especially if we have something junky like pizza.
She felt his belly and said it was fine and nice and soft. And from what ive described she said she isnt concerned, told me to keep a food diary and to avoid anything that seems to cause him a problem. She was adamant he didnt need a test. Not too sure where to go from possible have a word with health visitor shes pretty good at sorting things for me.

sorry my spelling is atrocious!

Speak to your Health Visitor, or do the unthinkable and challenge your GP w questions:

-why is it OK that he has several loose bowel motions a day, making him v difficult to potty train?

-since when is it normal to get stomach ache after meals? How often would she consider stomach ache after meals to be normal? How often would be abnormal?

-why is she not concerned about coeliac's disease or other gut problem? In other words, what signs and symptoms has she checked for and eliminated (before you go, read through the signs and symptoms page of coeliac uk so you know what to look out for). Her list should match this.

Keep a food diary by all means but if gluten is a problem then it probably won't help much as I bet your ds eats it every day.

FWIW I ate gluten every day and got ill (although acutely) only once every 1-3 weeks. Nobody was more surprised than me when I was diagnosed - in fact I only tried excluding it to demonstrate what a stupid idea it was

OP, I came on this thread because of the "pot belly and TMI" in your title to diagnose your LO with CD (just like mine!)

aged 2 we took her to the Dr with every dirty napy overflowing with thick pasty loose poo & a pot belly - he felt her belly and said she seemed fine, not to worry, made us feel stupid.

took till she was 5.5 and very very anaemic (admitted to hospital for further investiagtions following blood test, needed a transfusion before they would do a biopsy incase she had a bleed) and on the 0.4th centile for growth, before we got any tests - and then initially they thought we were looking at a growth hormone issue

I am shocked and very sad that 2 GPs have ignored here the fact that a close blood relative has CD. My other children are retested every couple of years just in case, before they show any deterioration and become ill.

please please fight to get your child tested - coleiac Uk helpline may offer advice of what you need to say/write down to get listened to - sadly, its still very underdiagnosed and misunderstood

good luck!

Oh, and don't rule out the possibility that you, and any siblings you may have, might also have undiagnosed CD,with or without the classic symptoms

Thanks everyone.
The first GP said because he doesnt look like an illl child he wouldnt want to put a child through the tests, i thought it was just a blood test to start?
Im going to keep a food diary til I see the health visitor when i get DD weighed see if she can help.
They just dont seem to take me very seriously, plus its very difficult to get an appointment!
It took my mum 10 years to be diagnosed in the 60s and by then she looked like a starving african child (her words) she was the one to point out DS pot belly, i hadnt really thought about it.

"Doesn't look like an ill child" WTAF?!? Strange attitude from a doctor. Especially since you said he does have pain. Even my DH who had been undiagnosed for 38 years didn't look ill - it affects people in different ways.

And yes it was just a blood test - though we had to travel to a different hospital as they didn't do that test at the GP (and then the sample got sent to yet another place for results, which took over a week IIRC). They gave us cream to rub on the inner elbow beforehand, we had to cover it in cling film, it numbs the site. DS was totally unfazed - just curiously watched the blood going into the bottle and then started babbling about his apple :o

Apparently in Italy they test all children at age 5.

I have 2 coeliac children, my youngest had the 'pot belly'. I knew nothing about coeliac at the time so just thought he had a tubby tummy. You need to get your son tested for coeliac.
Current NICE guidelines are if a family member has coeliac, you should be tested. As your son clearly has some symptoms (pot belly, runny poo) and a family member with coeliac it is important you get him tested. The first test they will do is just a blood test.
Unfortunately some GPs are not very knowledgeable when it comes to coeliac disease. I had a hard time convincing then to test my DCs.
Print off copy of the NICE guidelines on coeliac and go back to your
GP. You could also check the Coeliac UK website, they have a helpline and may be able to give advice. Good luck.

Well thats what i thought, but they're doctors so you tend to trust them. Probably should have got my mum to come with us she'd have more idea what to say.

If your mum is able to go with you then make another appointment and take her as well. As well as knowing about coeliac disease, it will also be good back up.