Gluten question

[BikeWP]

Hi Everyone

Question on Gluten please. My son just recently was tested (blood) and he came up having gluten intolerance. We are trying our best at getting him Gluten free but was wondering if anyone knows if the tics get worse before getting better when trying to ween off gluten? I am seeing an increase! Please if anyone could give me some in site, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance with any help,

BikeWP

[Caryn]

was wondering if anyone knows if the tics get worse before getting better when trying to ween off gluten? I am seeing an increase!

BikeWP

 

BikeWP,

 

Our son has been GF for almost 4 years. We originally found out he had a problem with gluten through an allergy/intolerance blood test. We immediately took him off of gluten because he was suffering from chronic multifocal ticcing (doctor's dx) and had signs of emerging OCD. At that time we did not screen him for celiac disease (who would have thought?) but we eventually did stool testing and genetic testing and now he has an official celiac diagnosis.

 

I don't know your exact details with your child, and I can't speak for every child with gluten intolerance, but I can tell you what our experience was like. Initially we saw an increase in ticcing and a period within the first few months where our son's reactions to gluten exposures were pretty severe, unlike when he was eating it every day. It is a weird phenomena that other GF families have also experienced (I won't say all, but others I am in contact with have had similar experiences as I did with my son. He puked after eating things that were 'cross contaminated' with gluten or had minute amounts of gluten in it (like seasoning on potatoes). He would get explosive watery diarrhea after eating something accidentally that had gluten in it. Then we would see ticcing with very mild exposures.

 

With celiac there is a lot of gut damage and possible problems with fungi or digestive bacteria that can further hinder digestion. But the good news is that after the digestive system healed my son's symptoms became less severe, then occasional, and after two years they ceased altogether. But it took two whole years of healing. It didn't happen overnight. We really educated ourselves about how to safely eat gluten free and my son does not cheat.

 

So my answer to you is don't give up, yes it can get worse, but it will most certainly eventually get better. Just be sure to feed your child food that is easy to digest, healthy, and prepare it in a safe kitchen free from cross contamination. Once the body heals and the antibody levels drop into the normal range you will notice a huge change.

[mommyfor4]

We also saw an increase for a few weeks after going gluten free. Our son is not celiac, we didn't see the same physical symptoms but his tics were a give away for if he had a food that had contact with gluten. Hang in there, give it a few weeks. Watch for sensitivities to corn and/or soy as well, as many gluten free foods substitute these and they in themselves are potential triggers for some people. It feels really big at first but it does become part of your regular lifestyle. Best of luck.

 

Megan

[lmcgill]

Similar story, although we did not ever get a dX on our son, the fact that my mother is very celiac and after trying so many things, we put him on a strict GF diet and it took over about a year for him to be (mostly) tic free. We notice now if he has gluten he will have a few eye tics like he did a week ago after some Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate (yes, there is gluten in it). We are very strict with his diet, even a tiny bit will make him tic.

We have followed the same routine for about two years now and the results are the reason: Natural Calm, 6 a day of Bonnies TS plus, and no artificial anything. I know our bodies are very different from each other, but I am glad I took the time to go through the process or as most call it; a journey. I still get a little anxious when he does a few tics, but now I know it will be temporary and adjust.

Lenny