Then, there are physical symptoms as well. He has been complaining about pain in his jaw. He has pain in his legs from time to time as well. He has always been underweight and has trouble keeping his pants from falling down despite a healthy diet. He also has increasingly worse eczema on his face. He didn't have it as a baby. It probably showed up around age 2 and has never really gone away despite many creams and ointments that promised to take care of it. I've been wondering if he has lactose intolerance because he has occasional unexplained digestive symptoms.
Before my dad started to go mentally, he mentioned gluten allergy to me and wondered if Ford had it. At the time, I kind of brushed it off; but now I'm wondering if he saw something last year that I'm just now beginning to see? I am not one to rush off to the doctor for a diagnosis, especially with something that doesn't require real medication to cure. I decided to try and eliminate gluten for a while and see what happens. Well, I started yesterday. He seemed better throughout the day and was able to mostly control his emotions. In other words, it was the first day in a long time that he didn't go throw himself on his bed to sob for 30 minutes. He slept well last night. This morning, instead of being greeted with scorn and contempt, my son told me he wanted a hug for breakfast. A hug for breakfast. He smiled sweetly, and he even has a case of the giggles this morning. This kid was incapable of being happy a few days ago. INCAPABLE. Is one day's evidence enough to go on? What benefit is there to taking him in for a medical diagnosis and how hard is it to get one? If you know any information about gluten allergy or Celiac disease, please share or please feel free to share this with someone you know who has an allergy.
Update:
We are still seeing dramatic changes to Ford's behavior!! The only words I heard from him yesterday were, "sure, yes, and OK!" Since I haven't complained on here about his past behavior, you really have no idea how much better this is. Trust me, it's incredible. He is cooperative for the first time in a LONG TIME. Also, he had been so sad for a while now. I was concerned that he was depressed and may need to see someone for it. My mom even mentioned giving him something like St. John's Wart for depression, which I was really hesitant to do. Well, all of that sadness is gone. It's like a miracle, really. His skin is also clearing up!
The only down-side to stopping the gluten is that once the antibodies are out of the system in a few more days, I won't be able to get him diagnosed. I would have to reintroduce it and then have him tested. At this point, I don't see the use and wouldn't want to ever give it to him again.
Here are some things I learned about gluten allergy over the past few days:
- Gluten allergy runs in families with Type I diabetes (hmmmm?)
- 1 in 133 people in the US have it
- Once you stop consuming gluten, the results are almost instantaneous
- Symptoms include: beligerence, depression, gastrointestinal upset, feeling "foggy headed," skin rash, joint pain
- If you don't stop eating gluten, you can do permanent damage to your intestines and deprive the brain of proper nutrients...it may stunt the growth of children
If you're interested in Gluten Intolerance or Celiac Disease, here are some great internet resources:
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