coeliac disease? gluten free.diet. and the atkins diet.

[ladysybil]

dd is always complaining of tummy ache. she has a very cute, tummy, but its much more distended than any of her contemporaries. she is quite thin, but not underweight. has previously had excema, and currently still has sensitive skin, which i have always thought was lactose intolerance.
i've googled coeliac and had a read. I will also make an appointment with the doctor. If coeliac disease can be brought under control by a simple diet change, and one that appears to be very similar to the atkins diet, i feel i should give it a go. Has anyone got any advice for me, experience of this, or just any comments at all.
tia

classic set of symptoms, it's more common than you think (I am not a dr)

thank you for your reply nightcat. its good to hear that i might be on the right track. she is always complaining of tummy ache, and i really havent had a clue till now about what to do about it.
today has been a good day. she had egg for breakfast, cheese, rice, salmon and lentils as well as fruit and veg during the day. she did have an icecream, but was a very good girl and didnt eat the cone, or the biscuits that her brothers were scoffing. i hope i see an improvement soon.

I'd just add that you need to be tested for coeliac disease whilst still consuming gluten. In desperation at my son's deteriorating bowel function I took him off gluten earlier this year (I was up to my neck in study and work and couldn't easily take him to the GP) - it seemed to work. Now I have to give him gluten for six weeks (that's his summer holidays taken care of!) before he can be tested.

This approach is outdated and in all honesty not in the patient's favour at all. There is a very wide spectrum of gluten sensitivity and esp in children results can be inconclusive (my ds was).
Many drs now do accept improvement on the diet and in all honesty what will you do if the results come negative but your ds feels better w/o gluten - will you still give it to him?
And as you can't live on prescription stuff alone since it's just carb substitutes, often soya based, you might as well rethink the diet altogether, away from wheat but adding more wholesome foods.

i spoke to the doctor this morning. he seemed to agree that it may well be coeliac disease, and is going to send her for a blood test. he's asked that i give her a usual diet, rather than trying to do the gluten free, to ensure that the results are from her normal routine foods. i wont be able to take her tillmonday, at the earliest. but i am just glad to be getting something done abou tit.

six weeks to go back on gluten for test results? that seems a bit much surely?

Six weeks is to try and ensure that sufficient antibodies (to gluten) have built up so that the test won't show a false negative (for coeliac that is, to further complicate things, as Nightcat says, many people belive there are issues with glutn outside of coeliac disease). If his bowel reverts to how is was, there's no way that I'm sending him to school in that state so I'll probably be making him gluten free before we've got the test results back and then we'll be back to square one if they want to do a biopsy!

My dd4 (21mo) is having her blood tests next Friday to see if she has coeliac disease, her only symptom is a failure to thrive, but if she does have it is the diet fairly simple?

yes, it can be simple enough at home, think away from carbs and processed foods plus add home cooking, it's harder when you go places

I have 2 boys with Coeliac. Personall I would keep your child on gluten until all the tests have been done on your child. You can then get prescription gluten free foods but more importantly you get regular reviews at the Coeliac clinic where they are checked for height, weight etc and any other health concerns. We have found this very reassuring. My youngest had very obvious symptoms of Coeliac but we were able to get my eldest tested who had no symptoms as it can run in families. He came out positive as well.
As for the diet itself is not such a problem at home but it is more tricky out and about. Thank goodness for baked potatoes! Also its the cross contamination you have to think about such as you can't eat chips fried in the same oil as battered fish.
The plus side is you have a healthy thriving happy child so all the effort put in to their diet is well rewarded.
Good luck.

Coeliacs can have plenty of carbs,just not gluten.I would think an atkins type diet would be wildly innappropriate for a child ,they need plenty of complex carbs.Rice is fine,quinoa is fine,you can buy gluten free porrige oats for muesli and porrige,you can easily ger gluten free bread,cakes biscuits etc.Spuds and starchy vegetables are fine.As booner has sadid the main worry is cross contamination,even in friends houses,where a mother might slice a sandwich for one child and use the knife to cut tomatoes or whatever.

helly, the atkins is what i am doing, and have done for four years, ( different phases) i have always found that when i am being strict, i always eat much much healthier food than otherwise. instead of reaching for processed carbs, i will have frutit, veg or a piece of fish. and since i never use flour in any recipes for thickening, its not a problem with the gluten free. the kids always eat rice and potatos as their carbs. so i will continue with that. we very rarely buy cakes or biscuits and i stoped baking four years ago when i went on a diet, so again it wont be too big an issue.

I have a problem with gluten at the moment,possibly coeliac but until I start eating it again I can't be tested.I try not to eat too many carbs myself,but I am greedy and can't imagine a life without CAKE writ large. Gluten free custard creams are pretty good too!

well, results are back and they are slightly high. gp wants me to feed her a high wheat diet and then retest in two months. not to sure a bout this. she is already complaining of tummy ache. surely this will makeit worse? or should i just go with it, and do the no pain, no gain thing?

Hi Ladysybil, when they said the results were slightly high did they say any figures and whether they thought it was likely to be coeliac disesae?

How old is your daughter and is she at school?

For myself I would want definitely want to get a result one way or the other because if it is Coeliac disease it's very important not to be getting any cross contamination and not to have any gluten due to any long term health effects.
I also appreciate the check ups at the coeliac clinic.

Also I'm never sure how seriously people would take it if you just say they have to avoid wheat.

Our school cooks our boys gluten free meals and are aware of the importance of avoiding cross contamination. They also have a treat box at school with a packet of sweets and chocolate in so that if anyone brings in a birthday cake/sweets/chocolate then they can join in.
When the children go to parties i explain about Coeliac disease to the parents then I can take my own food.
At restaurants you can explain the situation and they will take care of the food.

It can also run in families so would be worth knowing for the future.

I myself have been almost gluten free with the boys and have felt so much better that I am currently doing a two months gluten eating challenge so i can have the test myself.

I know its horrible giving them gluten when you think thats what makes them feel bad but i think I'm in the no pain no gain camp!

Good luck whatever you decide

The atkins diet is not the same as the atkins diet So son't worry about that. She'll gain weight and get all the nutrients she needs from it and will also probably take in a little less junk from processed flour products!

Atkins banishes and restricts carbohydrate foods rather than just those containing gluten, whereas on a Coeliac diet she will be allowed as much as she likes form the following starchy foods (as long as not prepared with gluten containing ones!)...

Potatoes, rice, yams, cassava/tapioca, corn, polenta (cornmeal), quinoa, millet, amaranth, arrowroot, and other less common grains and starches.
Some people will tolerate some oats but many prefer to avoid them as a matter of course.

She will also get carbs from fruits, vegetables and pulses/lentils.

All meats and fish in their natural state are free of gluten, as are eggs, dairy foods (check label on processed ones), and nuts and seeds.

So a typical day could be:

Rice cereal such as krispies/cornflakes/millet flake porridge/ with banana and milk

Apple and some cheese/yoghurt/milk/chocolate/ricecakes/dried fruit/crisps for a snack

Gluten free bread/ rice cakes with hummus and veggies for dipping/soup/bean salad/sweetcorn fritters/polenta pie

Any meat or fish with mash/rice/baked spuds etc and veg.

HTH!

P.S. Watch out for sneaky gluten in things like sausages, burgers, and snacks - it's often used as a binder/filler x

wow, thank you so much for these messages of encoragement and help :)
glutne is in so many things :( but i will persevere :)