Just before Charlotte turned one, we discovered she had a pretty serious allergy to milk. I gave her regular cow's milk and her face swelled up and she broke out in hives. So then through a series of blood and skin tests, we discovered she also is seriously allergic to eggs, with additional possible allergies to wheat, soy, oats, shellfish and environmental stuff. So we obviously eliminated milk and eggs entirely from her diet, but the other items were in sort of a grey area. During a visit to our pediatric allergist a few months ago, I described some of Charlotte's symptoms: She eats like an adult, but is only in the 5th percentile for height and weight; She wasn't walking or saying any words at the time of out visit; she seemed to have chronic congestion; her poopy diapers were more like diarrhea. The doctor suggested that she could have something called Celiac Disease, which is a disease where the body has a total intolerance to gluten (a protein in wheat, rye, barley, etc.), causing the small intestine to basically attack itself, resulting in diarrhea and a lack of nutrient absorption, among other things.
After that appointment with the allergist, we decided to try a gluten-free diet for Charlotte. It is not an easy thing to do to cut out ALL wheat and related products, but within 2 weeks we noticed a HUGE difference. She immediately gained 2 pounds, started walking, the congestion cleared up and her diapers were totally normal. I was convinced she had Celiac disease with the results we observed from changing her diet.
After meeting with a pediatric GI specialist, we decided to do in internal scope and biopsy to determine if Charlotte really has Celiac. We had to return to feeding her wheat products before the procedure so that if there was a problem, it would be detectable. Once we went off the gluten-free diet, many of her symptoms returned. Two and a half weeks ago, we went to the hospital for an endoscopy and colonoscopy. The procedure went very smoothly, although I will say it was VERY bizarre to be holding your wide-awake child, and then watch her lose consciousness in seconds once the anesthesia is administered. A few days after that procedure, the doctor called to tell us Charlotte does NOT have Celiac disease, but did show some inflammation in the esophagus. That could be either a reaction to an allergen or a problem with acid reflux.
We have been back on the gluten-free diet since the procedure and have noticed some improvement, although it hasn't been the drastic changes we noticed the first time we tried it. So at this point we have very few answers and will just keep working with the GI and allergy doctors. But fortunately Charlotte is happy and cute and has plenty of energy! We will keep you all posted...
(I was a giant M&M)
