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Gluten Free With New Symptoms

honeypond

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honeypond Rookie
honeypond
Posted

My son is 3.5 years old. And we have just recently started the Gluten-Free diet as well as dairy free. He has had chronic constipation since he was around 4 months old, never had a good appetite, and is extremely small for his age. He looks malnourished to me (though I have taken him to several doctors and apparently they think he is fine) 28 pounds at 3.5 years of age, he has dark circles under his eyes all the time. And has always had a little bloated pot belly look to him, with a very flat little bottom. Anyway, I have come to the conclusion myself that he is celiac and even more so since I have seen the changes in him in this last month on the diet. He has been on an adult dose of stool softener for several months, and if we even missed one day he would be constipated. Now gluten/dairy free he has been off of stool softener for 7 days with one or two bowl movements a day :)

Anyway, my question is this, over the last few days I am noticing celiac symptoms that he has never had before. Yesterday he told me his mouth hurt and so I checked and he has a mouth ulcer. And last monday he had a BM that was smelly diarrhea and it was extremely pale and fatty (he has always been constipated, he has never had a stool like that before), after lurking on this site a bit I realized that that is symptom of celiac disease. Oh and also he has been scratching at his chest and he looks like he has a little rash there.

Why would he suddenly have all these other symptoms if he is gluten free, and am I correct that these all are celiac symptoms??

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RiceGuy Collaborator
RiceGuy
Posted

There is often an increase in sensitivity and allergic reactions after beginning the gluten-free diet. However, if you haven't already done so, check for hidden gluten, such as those found on the unsafe food list.

One other thing to watch out for is candida (intestinal yeast infection). This is probably not an issue though, but something to keep in mind.

Hope you get it figured out soon!

Welcome to the board!

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