Our poor little Daisy has had a rough few weeks. She has been pretty sick. We have all had a lot of nasty virus this winter, but the last few weeks have been really hard on Daisy. She's had a constant runny nose and cold, and digestive issues, then she got hit by a really awful stomach bug 2 weeks ago. She ended up in the ER needing IV fluids for dehydration and it just seemed that she was having a really hard time kicking it.
I have suspected that she too has Celiac Disease for some time, so I had her on a gluten free diet for 6 weeks, but put her back on wheat about 6 weeks ago because I didn't think I had seen much of a difference and we were also finally going to get into see the Pediatric Gastroenterologist at Devos Children's Hospital that we had been waiting to see for over 5 months. I knew that she would order blood tests that would require that Daisy be consuming wheat. I was surprised however when the Dr. recommended that she consume wheat for three months before having the blood test. We didn't make it that long however. Even after recovering from the stomach flu, she was still having constant diarrhea, sometimes 6 or more times a day.
She was so uncomfortable, so we went for the blood test on Wednesday. It had seemed so important to have the medical diagnosis... but it got so bad that it just felt like torture. Do I really need a Dr. to tell me my kid shouldn't eat wheat? As soon as we left the lab Daisy went completely gluten free again.
Less than 24 hours later she had her first solid poop in over 6 weeks.
So we are still waiting for the results of the blood work, but I already have my answer. It couldn't be any more obvious. It's only been two days now without wheat and I can't believe the difference. I really believed that going gluten free would solve her discomfort, but I had no idea it would happen so fast.
So no more gluten at our house, the number of people who can't it now out number the ones who can. I am very thankful though that this is a disease that can be overcome. My family can be healthy. We must simply (it's simple in theory anyway) eat a gluten free diet.
2 comments:
Wow! Poor Daisy! I am so glad you figured that out so quickly and that's she's feeling better already.
Tell me again, please - which grains have gluten? Wheat, oats, corn, barley??
Quinoa and rice don't, right? What else? Millet? I would like to understand better, even if I don't have the kind of sensitivity your family does. I suspect we'd all be healthier if we consumed less wheat/gluten, or something, simply because our diet is generally so extremely dependent on it. When we get too dependent on one type of thing, eventually our bodies seem to react to it one way or another, don't you think?
And our diets are largely based on red meats and wheat! I see this more and more when I try to eliminate those things. If we had more diversity in our diets, it would not be traumatic to eliminate something. Diversity in diet... sounds like a good idea, yes? Tell me your thoughts; this is an area where I can learn a lot.
Good grief, this isn't a comment, it's an essay! An essay with no point - only questions!
thanks for the essay of questions Kathy!
Yes, Quinoa and rice are GF. As well as Amaranth and millett and I just bought some of it. I plan to post soon about how we eat them.
I agree completly about the narrowness of the standard American diet. Now that we have to scrutinize our diets, I am amazed at how unhealthy we eat! I also plan to write my own essay about why we don't eat them and why we have NO food diversity. I have been asking myself the same question for a while now and have a few theories I will share with you when I find the time to write. Soon I hope! I did put together a couple new posts to answer your first questions though.
Hope this blog is helpful, Thanks for reading!
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