I was diagnosed with celiac disease back in 2007. I had a bunch of life long health issues that looking back pointed to this fact – but when i was younger i was diagnosed as being lactose intolerant not knowing that many people with active gluten damage also can not tolerate lactose.
As an adult I knew something ‘wasn’t right’ when i was on my honeymoon with my husband. I always had digestion issues and never really thought too much of it – it was my normal. Until that week long vacation. Literally all i ate was tomatoes and french fries and i felt amazing. Amazing.
I went on a very strict diet – liquid calories for 6 months because my stomach was so damaged and I was not able to digest or absorb anything. It was tough but i had more energy then ever, no headaches, no joint pain, my hair stopped falling out and no more digestion issues or horrible stomach pain. After the 6 months other food was very slowly introduced (gluten free of course) and i was doing great.
I had 2 children at that time – 16 month old and a 3 month old at the time i was diagnosed. We still had gluten in the house and when i went back on solid foods we just kept our food separate. Celiac disease has a genetic component to it so we held off introducing gluten into Princess R’s diet until she was 14 months old (Big P was already eating gluten and we didn’t limit that since he was already exposed).
After 4 months of gluten into her diet it was very apparent that she had a problem. 18 months old and in the 4 months she has lost 5 pounds. Her stomach was bloated like she was pregnant, she had digestion issues that went from constipation to diarrhea and she was in pain. She was thirsty all the time and refused to eat anything that contained gluten. I thought that point was interesting. She was tired, clingy and had very dark circles under her eyes.
I KNEW exactly what this was.
 |
I love hearing from you! Leave a comment below ♥ Accustomed Chaos | Gluten Free Attachment Parenting™ Email: accustomedchaos@gmail.com |
Find Me:
There are currently
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow so sorry you have to deal with this especially your little ones. But look how far you have come. You are so well educated and now you are helping so many women and families. You should be very proud
Thank you so much. I am so glad i knew the signs to watch for – so she doenst have to go through the health issues i had before being diagnosed.
What a poor muffin – I'm so scared to give gluten to my boy cause I don't want to see him suffer, but things will be simpler for him, when he ventures out in the world if he doesn't have issues with gluten.
I'm so glad that you knew the signs and were able to get everything in order for her…also amazing she knew to refuse foods with gluten. I truly believe our bodies talk to us, if we only listen. As a child, my brother refused fruits that we would later realize were huge triggers for asthma.
Amber
My mom has celiac disease. I've been lucky in that I don't have it. I've been leery in introducing gluten into my children's diets because I know it's hereditary. Thanks for posting this. I love knowing what to keep an eye out for.
Also, I tagged you in Eight is Enough…
http://maple-leaf-mommy.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-little-blog-etiquette-upkeeping.html
I had a room mate with celiac disease, he described how he felt before he cut gluten out and it sounded incredibly unpleasant.
I'm glad you and your little ones have things sorted out!
L
hi, do you know of any connection between gluten and tics, gluten and rashes? I was diagnosed this past August with Celiac Disease. I went gluten free and am now feeling so much better. I was hoping this was the answer to all of my 8 year old’s problems. So, I had both my children blood tested for Celiac and they both came back negative. Then I took him to a Dermatologist to biopsy the skin near the rash to test for dermatitis herpetiphormis. She didn’t even bother and just said it was eczema. He has a perpetual rash that flares up and calms down day after day. His pediatrician chalks his tics up to anxiety (which I have read can also be linked to gluten). Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated…I’m at my wits end.
{ 1 trackback }