Elimination diet thoughts / experience please

[jgenie]

DS has pretty much stopped gaining weight. He's 22 months and 18.5 pounds. He's happy, alert and learning everyday. We've been to a ped GI and had blood tests and stool tests run. Everything came back normal. The next step he suggests is an upper endoscopy done under general anesthesia. We're trying to get a second opinion but can't get in to see the other specialist until mid January. I was thinking of trying an elimination diet to rule out celiac disease in the meantime. Anyone have any experience with an elimination diet? TIA

[deannanb]

I haven't been through this - but is DS eating?
do you think he isn't gaining weight because he is more active?
is he losing weight

[wellyes]

I wouldn't phase out different foods to rule out celiac. You need to cut all wheat and oats (oats are a controversial topic among GF, but for testing purposes I'd take them out as well as wheat) for at least 30 days to see if it makes a difference.

A diet heavy on proteins, fruits, veggies and dairy is the best bet. Use rice and potato as starches instead of bread and pasta. Instant mashed potatoes are your friend. Mix in some store-bought GF muffins, cookies, mac-n-cheese, pizza crust etc. for variety. Don't make yourself crazy by trying to make bread with non-wheat grains. For the short-term, store-bought is just as cost effective and MUCH less labor intense.

If it is celiac --- it is SO much more easy than it used to be (DH has it), there are lots & lots of resourced for you to look at. It ends up being not a big deal once you get used to it.

But here's to hoping it's just a blip, that he'll start gaining weight on his own without any issues. It's a great sign that he's happy and healthy. We went through a failure to thrive scare with DD when she was about 12 months and it ended up being just fine. We never really did figure out what was wrong, or if anything WAS wrong in the first place or if it was just a phase of her growing up. Anyway, good luck.

[Elilly]

Is he constipated, bloated, have diarrhea? In the absence of those symptoms, I don't know that I would jump to celiac. Do you have a family history of celiac?

[hellbennt]

I don't think 'they' can test for celiac until 3 yrs old (someone chime in here) bcse that's about when they would show that they're producing the Ttg antibodies (?)

also there is such thing as an intolerance or even an allergy to wheat...and there are definitely people who are gluten sensitive and don't have celiac...

[jgenie]

Thanks for the responses.


I haven't been through this - but is DS eating?
do you think he isn't gaining weight because he is more active?
is he losing weight

He's not losing, but not gaining nearly what they want. I need to check his records to see how long it has been since he's gained anything significant. It seems lately that he's just too busy to be bothered with eating. He seems to really only want to eat cheerios. He used to eat cheese and milk pretty well, but now it seems harder to get those in him. It's really hard to tell how much he's eating - I guess I'm going to start measuring things before I give them to him so I can record exactly how much he's eating.


I wouldn't phase out different foods to rule out celiac. You need to cut all wheat and oats (oats are a controversial topic among GF, but for testing purposes I'd take them out as well as wheat) for at least 30 days to see if it makes a difference.

A diet heavy on proteins, fruits, veggies and dairy is the best bet. Use rice and potato as starches instead of bread and pasta. Instant mashed potatoes are your friend. Mix in some store-bought GF muffins, cookies, mac-n-cheese, pizza crust etc. for variety. Don't make yourself crazy by trying to make bread with non-wheat grains. For the short-term, store-bought is just as cost effective and MUCH less labor intense.

If it is celiac --- it is SO much more easy than it used to be (DH has it), there are lots & lots of resourced for you to look at. It ends up being not a big deal once you get used to it.

But here's to hoping it's just a blip, that he'll start gaining weight on his own without any issues. It's a great sign that he's happy and healthy. We went through a failure to thrive scare with DD when she was about 12 months and it ended up being just fine. We never really did figure out what was wrong, or if anything WAS wrong in the first place or if it was just a phase of her growing up. Anyway, good luck.

We're hoping it's just genetics. DH & I are not big people and were small as children.


Is he constipated, bloated, have diarrhea? In the absence of those symptoms, I don't know that I would jump to celiac. Do you have a family history of celiac?

No, none of these and we don't have a family history that we're aware of.

[KpbS]

I wouldn't change a thing until after the endoscopy. You need the results of the endoscopy to accurately reflect what is currently going on w/ your DC on the inside. Do you have a scope schedule or are you waiting til you see another specialist? Make sure they do an upper and a lower endoscopy (at the same time) to get a full picture of what possible gi issues he might be experiencing.

I would also suggest you schedule an appointment with a pediatric allergist--esp. if your DC exhibits any allergic symptoms--rashes, hives, eczema, reflux, food aversions, etc. and have a complete allergy work-up.

DS1 has a limited diet b/c of multiple food allergies and intolerances. It is a challenge but can be done.

I know it is so hard to see your DC having problems and not have answers to understand why. Hang in there and hopefully you will learn something soon. :hug: :hug: :hug:

PM me if you have any questions.

[ThreeofUs]

Just a thought: my DS1 started refusing cow's milk items (and we were only feeding him yogurt and cheese, because of a strong family history of dairy allergies) when he was about your DS's age. It was because they were making his throat itch and his tummy feel bad, not just a childhood refusal-to-eat. If I were looking, in your case, for a smoking gun, I'd be more likely to pull dairy as a 2-week trial.