I want to take ds off wheat but would like some advice first

[ilovecaboose]

My ds had terrible colic as a baby and since then (he's now nearly 2) has had a constant swollen stomach (hard to the touch) that is very painful and sometimes wakes him up, constant dioreah (sp?) and constipation, and terrible wind.

as a result of this he is very funny about eating.

Drs aren't interested at all. It's been suggested by several people that I try taking him off wheat.

The problem is a lot of the foods he will eat are wheat based and the only other thing he will eat is fruit and ricecakes.

He has recently started drinking milk and I am gradually increasing this (now on about a pint and a half per day) so that if he doesn't eat he is getting something.

Any advice? Would a diet based around milk, ricecakes and fruit be balanced enough? I want to be prepared as I know if he doesn't get food he likes he just won't eat.

Just looking for someone with experience in this really.

[loopylou0612]

I don't have any personal experience with this but we had a child at nursery who seemed to be allergic to everything! His parents were at their wits end because the drs could find nothing medically wrong with him. We spoke to the parents about it, as obviously they were concerned and basically, we agreed on a trial and error method of just feeding him and recording it, then any reaction that may occur.

We discovered after about 2 months of this, that wheat was the common one and his parents decided on a wheat free diet which seemed to work.

Sainsburys I know do wheat free alternatives which you could maybe try. I don't know about other supermarkets or about the cost, but it might be worth looking into.

Not very helpful I know, but I didn't want to see your post relegated to the unanswered bucket!

[tribpot]

Agreed - it sounds like wheat-free alternatives might be the best way forward, he doesn't like rice or potatoes?

Sainsburys have a good range of Free From products, they will all be in one place somewhere in the store, you can ask as they don't seem to have a consistent aisle for it. Or check out Goodness Direct - they have a good range of stuff to buy online.

Wheat free bread isn't fabulous but is okay toasted. Wheat free pasta is fine as long as you don't overcook it, otherwise it suddenly loses the consistency of pasta and goes all gloopy.

[longwaytogo]

will be watching with interest as have to put dd on wheat free for 2 weeks.

[ilovecaboose]

Thanks I think I just mostly want reassurance cos I haven't got drs support or anything and as ds diet is so bad anyway I don't like cutting things out without being totally prepared.

Hopefully I'll get down to Asda today and have a look round.

Just heard through a friend of another kid with the same problems as ds whose drs refused to give a shit as well. He's now 7 and his mum was labelled as a hypochondriac and over protective mother and similar. They've recently found out he's allergic to wheat and gluten.

WHy can't they just listen and actually give a shit if your child is constantly in pain? Mine never even looked at his stomach . But I ain't waiting till he's 7 or older and they decide to do something.

Sorry - bit of a rant.

[clerkKent]

If you want some supprot and advice, you coudl do worse han contacting the coeliac society .

[ilovecaboose]

Thanks

[alison222]

Hi I can't beleive the doctor will not refer you to a Peadiatrician at the doctors.

The dietician at the hospital can give you advice if you telephone - you don't need to visit or have an appointment or anything here in west London so assume it is same elsewhere?

Tesco do the best gluten free selection of stuff.
Sainsbury's aren't bad either Otherwise Health frood shops all stock a good selection. If you bake yourself buy some Guanthan Gum (not sure of Spelling) which you add to help improve texture. Cakes biscuits pastry etc crumble as the gluten is the "elastic" part that stops it all from crumbling

I would recommend a food diary too and see if anything is obvious from that.
Also because this is what I am like a would go and see the GP again and again until he did soemthing - I did this with DS when he was small - and eventually when I argues enough re food and his excemea got him refereed to the hospital. Turns out he has got food allergies.
After being seen at the hospital and recommended that he was taken off wheat and milk as well as the things he is actually allergic to we were prescribed lots of foods so there was no cost for the special diet.

Good luck

[clerkKent]

That would be Xanthum Gum.

There are lots of horror stories among coeliacs of late diagnosis. Many GPs are ignorant about the subject - the patient often has to spell it out to the doctor. My GP was not keen for me to have a biopsy.

The Coeliac Society is doing its best to raise awareness, and threads like this help too.

[ilovecaboose]

Thanks for your posts

Ds just gone to bed, but we started today and has gone really well so far.

Has had - 6 oatcakes and half a melon for breakfast
Ricecakes and raisins for lunch
Banana for tea
Plus about 3 pints of milk .

Few tears this morning when he couldn't have toast (he runs downstairs in the morning yelling 'toast' 'toast'), cos I haven't managed to get any wheat free bread yet, but they were over quickly and then he was fine.

He's eaten quite a bit today so I'll keep this up for the next month and see how it goes

[ilovecaboose]

Meant to say if there's no difference in a month or not much I'm gonna try cutting out gluten as well.

[ilovecaboose]

Update - have really seen an improvement in ds stomach since we took him off wheat - though not as quickly as I thought.

He had some wheat on Monday and had a bad stomach for next couple of days so definately seems to be a link.

Not eating much though - but is drinking 2-3 pints of milk a day, so not too worried.

Hoping his eating will pick up soon (somedays will eat say 2 strawberries and 2 rice cakes and that'll be it). Keep asking him though and doesn't seem to be hungry.

[tatt]

you may also want to try giving him lactase enzyme. One suitable for children on the site below. I have no connection with the site but have been looking for some for a relative - there may be cheaper sites. Milk could be causing his symptoms, not wheat. You don't want to try taking him off both at once but lactase enzyme would help a lot if his problem was lactose - and the colic as a baby was probably lactose intolerance. As long as he's on milk live yoghurt is vey good for most intestinal problems.

66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:SeqqB9TeBhEJ:www.positivehealthshop.com/itemdetl.php/itemprcd/BIO-12415+%22+liquid+lactase%22+baby&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=8

You can buy rice noodles in most supermarkets and corn pasta in some. xanthum gum is great stuff and cooking yourself would mean far nicer food than the gluten free stuff sold in shops. Their cakes are dry and horrible but home made ones with the gum (available in Tescos) are OK. Didn't try making bread.

If I'm not about you're welcome to pm me, I'm waiting for my blood test results for gluten intolerance. The tests aren't 100% reliable and getting blood from a 2 year isn't fun but its something you could consider. He would have to be eating gluten before the tests.

[rebelmum1]

My daughter had a similar problem and I'm gluten intolerant so tested her with wheat first and checked for a reaction when weaning. I use corn pasta and she has gluten free bread, other food we have is meat and vegetables, shepherds pie,fish pie, dips, soup, you can even make chicken coated in polenta instead of bread crumbs. Wheat is very difficult to digest, especially for babies. Doves gluten free flour provide good alternatives, you can make decent bread in a breadmaker. But I would be inclined to get to the root of the problem. Both me and my daughter go to a chinese doctor and I used a combined approach of homeopathy and chinese medicine acupressure for her wheat intolerance and excema. we can both tolerate wheat in moderation now.

[minx69]

Im intollerant to gluten (waiting for confirmation but as others have said, docs are useless) and it appears my DD is the same (just turned 2)
We noticed the same things, bloated, windy, varying degrees of runs/constipation and generally not a happy bunny.
She has been an angel tho and now has gluten free pasta, crisp breads and loads more.
Also there are loads more things out there without gluten than I thought, Wotsits dont have any, snack-a-jacks, humzinger fruit bars etc
At meal times we have alot of rice based meals or made from scratch (alot of pre-prepared meals contain wheat flour, even shepherds pie and the frozen roast potatoes!!!)

The improvement has been amazing!

[rebelmum1]

I've been wheat intolerant for 15 years and I can't recommend cooking from scratch enough, it saves time reading all the labels in the supermarket, is healthier and tastes better.

[nightcat]

We went g/f overnight and wouldn't look back - the change was nothing short of miraculous. I also discovered that instead of replacing gluten stodge with g/f stodge, it's best to increase vegetables and proteins (rather than other grains) - that way you get more varied nutrients, becuase some people also have issues with corn or soya.
Another terrific resource is www.celiac.com/index.html website (it does have amazing messageboard, divided into recipes, coping with, doctors, loads of others - but most of all gives tons of information).

There is also the gluten file jccglutenfree.googlepages.com/
where one kind soul grouped together research papers about various conitions related to gluten..

[ilovecaboose]

Thanks - was looking for this thread to update it and didn't realise there had been further replies.

ds has definately improved since he has been off wheat/gluten. However we still felt there was something wrong (he was ridiculously constipated for a child that was living off mostly liquids). SOmeone suggested using goats milk instead of cows. We have now replaced all milk products with goats and sheeps alternatives. He has really improved - the constipation is gone and his stomach is a million times better.

His eating is now improving. He is eating (usually) 2 slices of wheat/gluten free toast with marmite and dairy free spread for breakfast. And for lunch has oven chips, cucumber, red onion, carrot and sheeps cheese. He sometimes has a snack (usually rice cakes or goats yoghurt with fruit puree) as well. AND the other day had tea (strawberries) as well.

I am so pleased that we seem to have gotten to the bottom of his problems - hopefully the only way from here is up!