Coeliac disease or just over-anxious mother...

[minko]

DS is 15months. He goes to a childminder 2 mornings a week. Last week the childminder suggested I should take him to the doctor as his frequent, massive and stinky poos could mean he has coeliac disease which her sister had.

This has thrown me into a panic. Recently he has become a very poor eater, he often seems listless and clingy too. In fact last week we had a few days when he seemed healthy and perky and I felt like I had a new baby, but now he's gone back to being off again. We have had every lurgy going recently what with his sister starting school and bringing lots of germs home so he could just be under the weather.

Any opinions appreciated...

nope....doesn't like it to me. thats not a very reliable method of diagnosing it. you should google it and see what symptoms they come with and test against ds. most people aren't fully diagnosed until at least 3 as the tests they do need certain parts of the body to be mature enough. it is also more prevalent in girls. you can ask gp to test risk with a blood test. (kinda like the blood test for risk of baby having DS in pregnancy)

sorry xposted - it is hereditary, i forgot that bit lol

i think it is a bit of a leap to link frequent massive poos with coeliac disease. I don't think a gp could diagnose that straight away anyway. You would have to cut out all gluten out of all his food to see if it made a difference, and even then it wouldn't mean he was definitely coeliac, he is only 15 months. My ds was dairy and gluten intolerant for the first two years [blood and mucus in his poos] but can now eat bread and yoghurt at 3. I wouldn't think a doctor would diagnose coeliac diseas so young. however if you are worried about him in general you could take him to the gp and explain the symptoms. He may indeed have a food intolerance, but that could be dairy just as well as gluten. He may refer you to a paed gastroenterologist or he may just say he is fine.

Thanks everyone and apologies that my post appeared twice. Just taken DS to the doctor and he is being referred to a Paediatric Allergy specialist. We won't have an appointment for 6 weeks though and haven't been told to do anything different in the meantime.

Am going to take him to be weighed this week to make sure he hasn't lost any weight. But atm he isn't eating anything I offer him (though he will nibble on biscuits given the chance...)

It's all a bit worrying. Not sure what to do next...

Oh crikey - this is a bit gross so look away if TMI! Poor DS woke up up to his armpits in diarrhoea again today. I am so worried about him. He's hardly eating, is all limp and lethargic and must be feeling rotten... How do you go about seeing a specialist privately?

o minko, thats awful for him. i dont know how to get into private care, but it is worth giving NHS direct a call to see what they suggest doing, they might say take him to hospital jsut to check everything's ok, especially if he's a bit down

Poor ds. If you want to go private, ask your GP or call up private consultants yourself - look on Dr Foster website for contact details. Did GP rule out tummy bug?

Pretty sure it's not a tummy bug... he has a chesty virus thing, but the stomach complaints have been ongoing for ages. Am going to get him weighed today and if he's lost weight I'm going to find out about private specialists I think. I just don't know what to feed him.

dry toast

oh dear you need to see a private specialist right away. I know a very good paed gastroenterologist at the Portland, London, but don't know where you are. Your gp will refer you privately if you insist.