jldurrani's Blog

The blog section is not as active as posting on the regular sections of the forum. If you do not get a good response, try reposting. Sorry to hear about your son. I only had anemia and did not have G I issues either. Ataxia is definitely a symptom of CD. Put ataxia into the search bar and you will find postings from those on this forum who have experienced ataxia. It can take longer than six months based on damage and age. The good news is that your son is young and should recover fast. Watch out for other autoimmune disorders in the future. Research diabetes and thyroiditis there is a link. We have a Ped, Jebby, who also has CD and she posts some very informative articles on CD.

Thanks so much for your response. I greatly appreciate it. I shall try to cut and paste my post to the regular section of the forum. I am very new in the blog world; I shall try to learn to navigate my way around!

I just hope that the neurological symptoms with celiac disease are reversible. Being a physiciain, it is very humbling to see how little physicians in general know about the neurological aspects of celiac disease. When I mentioned it to the pediatric neurologist, she completely blew it off. When my son was being evaluated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the neurologist did not even think of testing for celiac disease, even after all the other tests were normal.

Thanks again for your help.

Greetings. I had pretty significant "gluten ataxia" (from what I understand the antibodies that attack the small intestine also attack specific type of cells in the cerebellum - I'm not a medical person, I'm sure you can google this and get some info). I was not diagnosed with Celiac Disease until in my 50s. Among other problems, my ataxia indeed affected my balance and gait -- my Dr. suspected MS (terrifying!) and I was sent for an MRI. Thankfully that was negative, but I relay that to illustrate how significant the symptoms were. Shortly thereafter I was diagnosed as Celiac, and I would say the 3-6 month mark is pretty much where my improvement happened. I remember reading at the time that "neuro" problems take longer to resolve, once you are on a gluten free diet. I am thrilled to say that ALL of my neuro problems were completely gone in 6 months. I hope this is the case with your son. I have had no relapse, except if I get significantly "glutened" I'll be wobbly and/or dizzy next day or two thereafter. Best wishes for your son's recovery.