Gluten reactions----how long of a delay?

[Luckymama]

My dd12 has had "tummy problems" for years. She was put on meds for reflux at age six due to symptoms and family history (dh and her older sister). At age 10 she added a second reflux med.

 

At 11yo-----last summer------we held a family dairy-free trial to see if family members were just lactose intolerant instead of suffering from random reflux. Dh and the girls were determined to be lactose intolerant, though only ddNow17 has been able to go without reflux meds (thank goodness, as she's on other meds for seasonal allergies and asthma). We've controlled the lactose intolerance problems by eliminating certain foods and using lactose tablets before consuming other foods.

 

In the past eight or nine months, dd12 has been complaining of new symptoms, stomach and intestinal pain mainly. She had the full celiac blood panel---all negative. With an eye to her sister's multiple food allergies, she was tested by dd17's allergist for the top 8 plus her sister's allergens. No food allergies (yay!) but some environments which have been handled with nasal spray, a room air purifier, and Zyrtec during pollen times.

 

But the tummy pains have continued. There is no reason this child should continue to suffer! I'm thisclose to believing she has some sort of a gluten intolerance. I've been keeping a food diary (hey, food allergy mom here!). The days she eats gluten with breakfast or lunch she almost always has the can't-fall-asleep pains. The days without anything obviously gluten-y she does not.

 

So I thought I was being clever. She went two days without any gluten---which really isn't that hard to do considering I already cook/bake 95% of what we eat due to dd17's soy allergy. Then yesterday she had gluten at bfast (hm cornmeal-ww waffles), gluten at lunch (a sweet potato and black bean empanada), and at dinner (a veggie, cheese-free "quesadilla" with hm ww tortillas). She was perfectly fine last night, no pain at all. I was all :D it's not gluten.

 

And then she got up this morning. Pain to the sides of her belly button, pale, no appetite, told me she felt feverish though wasn't. She said her stomach feels hot and boiling. She did eat some dinner but feels off still.

 

Can a gluten intolerance reaction be delayed until the next day? Dd17's soy allergy reactions are delayed but only by 4-6 hours at the most. I really think dd should see a pediatric gastro---what do you think?

 

Thanks,

A Tired Mother who wishes her days didn't revolve around food

[Plateau Mama]

Delayed allergies can occur up to 3+ days later. My daughter has delayed allergies to Wheat (not gluten), Dairy, Pecans, Sesame and Cranberry.

 

The normal pin prick allergy test will not show delayed allergies. There are two types of allergens ige and igg. I can never remember which is which. The delayed allergies can only be test by a blood test.

 

My daughter will react anywhere from 2 hours to days later.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I can tell within 30-45 mins. This is when minor physical discomfort and slight emotional symptoms begin but the bullk of my symptoms hit about 12 hours later.

 

For example, I had two bites of pizza the other day (stress eating :( ) and within the hour my stomach was feeling a little bloated and I was weepy. When I awoke the next morning I was in agony, hot flashes, left side abdominal pain, etc with a full blown case of crabbiness. It takes me about three days to detox from gluten. Today is day three and I am finally feeling better.

 

Other people may have different experiences, though.

 

I hope you can figure out what is bothering her. The guessing game is no fun. No fun at all.

[klmama]

Gluten reactions can be delayed, and they can last for many days. I hope your dd feels better tomorrow and that you can find some answers.:grouphug:

[edeemarie]

My reactions to gluten can be anything from a bad stomachache right afterwards to getting really sick (feels like food poisoning) a day or two later. I also tested negative for any food allergies at the doctor, but after about 5 episodes of "food poisoning" I am done with gluten. Also, the longer I stayed away from gluten the worse the symptoms were when I tried to eat it again. I am going to try an elimination diet here within a week or two to rule out any other allergies. My kids are starting to show signs of this too since I have been feeding them mostly gluten free lately- I have been hearing a lot about their stomachaches lately. I say go gluten free for at least 3 weeks and see how it goes. Hope she feels better soon!

[Shelsi]

My dd and dh have celiacs and I'm gluten intolerant. Dd and dh's reactions happen very quickly - within 30-45 minutes of consuming gluten and then last for well over a week with various other symptoms.

 

Mine however are delayed by about a week! It makes it very hard to determine what the heck I ate that caused the reaction, kwim? In fact never in a million years would I have figured out that gluten was ever an issue for until I went GF when dd was diagnosed since she was still nursing at the time.

 

Gluten gives me severe psoriasis but as long as I'm GF I have absolutely no psoriasis at all. As a kid I had stomach aches and pains all the time. In fact it was so normal for me I thought everyone felt that way until a college boyfriend told me that wasn't normal at all.

 

As for dd, before she went GF, her main symptom besides failure to thrive, were a slew of food allergies. She was intolerant to pretty much everything, she could only safely eat approximately 17 foods, and when she did accidentally get a "bad" food she would severe reflux for days. When we went GF, she started to grow finally (more than doubled her body weight the first year she was GF), her food intolerances/allergies completely disappeared after about 3 months, and her acid reflux completely went away as well.

 

FYI: celiac testing is one of those things where a positive is a positive but a negative could very well be a false negative and the testing is even less accurate for children. Also many celiacs are sensitive/intolerant to dairy when they're still consuming gluten but usually about 6-12 mos after being GF they can safely eat dairy again without reaction. Given that celiacs is genetic and this seems to be an issue with your entire family you might consider a GF trial for 3 months, testing for the younger one, or perhaps even genetic testing.

[dbmamaz]

My teen was having the runs every morning, and allergy and celiac tests came back negative. I sent away for a sensitivity test from ALCAT, and that showed him not reaction to wheat or gluten, but to gliadin, which is what your body turns gluten in to. This is why he had his reactions in the morning - it took that long, i guess, for his body to convert it and then him to react.

 

Eliminating gluten eliminated the problem.

 

I have some immediate reactions, some delayed reactions, and some that last for 5 days. I would definitely try a month and see . . . or even 2 weeks and a challenge.

 

I also found myself more sensitive after quitting, but i think thats gone away after a few years. I am both allergic to wheat and sensitive to gluten, but no celiac.

[Ellie]

My friend who is a worst-case-scenario celiac says that it's not uncommon to have a false negative, and that a biopsy is the best way to diagnose celiac. She also says that you're supposed to load up on gluten for two weeks before the test.

 

So the short story is that even if your dd tested negative, it doesn't mean that she isn't celiac, especially since she clearly reacts to gluten, poor thing. :grouphug:

[Uff Da!]

It takes three weeks for me to return to normal post gluten. My reaction isn't typical.

[LaxMom]

It takes until the next day for me to feel it - non-celiac, joint and muscle pain for me - and about 10 days for it to clear.

[Tammi K]

There are two types of allergens ige and igg. I can never remember which is which. The delayed allergies can only be test by a blood test.

 

Off topic but....... Just remember IgE is E for emergency. This is the one that can cause anaphylaxis.

[Plateau Mama]

Off topic but....... Just remember IgE is E for emergency. This is the one that can cause anaphylaxis.

 

Ooh. Thanks! I thought it was IgE but I didn't want to say te wrong thing.

[Hope in God]

In my experience a soy allergy tends to manifest quite quickly compared with a gluten allergy (or intolerance, or celiac). I find that gluten reactions can truly be all over the board.

 

My son had 3 seperate gluten blood tests and they each came back negative. All his allergy tests have come back negative. Some people just don't produce the anitbodies that the test looks for so they will always get a false negative. The pediatrician claims that the celiac blood test is 90% accurate but the naturopath told me that there is closer to a 75% chance of a false negative. Even at 90% that means that 1 in 10 people will get a false negative.

 

The only way to be sure (other than a bowel biopsy) is an elimination diet for at least a month (typically they say 4 weeks for gluten and 21 days for dairy minimum) and then reintroduce the gluten and see what happens. The change in my son is night and day! He would have strange abdominal pain that had no real rhyme or reason and for a long time I didn't want to admit a gluten problem until it just got so bad that I HAD to do something.

 

I really wish you a quick resolution to your daughter's problem. Go for the elimination diet.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Hope in God

[SilverMoon]

In the early days of being GF my ds could have taken up to two days for a reaction, but most of the time it was the following day. After he'd been GF for half a year or more that time started dwindling.

 

If you're okay with the elimination diet and don't need a test to say she can't have gluten beforehand, try to keep her religiously GF for 1.5-2 months. Then hand her a sub sandwich or tall stack of pancakes.

 

That celiac blood test is notoriously unreliable, for what it's worth. :001_smile: