Elimination diet with preteen

[Shelydon]

Where do I start with an elimination diet with an 11 yo? 

My DS has had extensive medical testing and we cannot find a reason for his gut pain and frequent bathroom trips, so the next step is to try and figure out if there is a food bothering him.  I don't know where too start because we have NO idea what the possible culprit might be.  Any suggestions? 

[Laurie]

I would try a low-FODMAP diet to see if it helps.  You would have your ds stop eating certain kinds of carbs (high FODMAPs) for a few weeks before reintroducing them.  There's a lot of free info on the internet about what are low and high FODMAPs, etc. so that's where I would start.  Here's one example on how to get started :  https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fodmaps-101#definition

My daughter has IBS.  The gastro. doctor recommended the Low FODMAP diet for her and this has helped her so much.  We had already figured out some of the foods that she needed to avoid, but we didn't understand the groups of carbohydrates that are often the culprits for people who suffer GI symptoms.

I hope your son feels better soon!  

[Laurie]

If your son eats dairy products, one simple thing to do would be to switch to lactose-free milk, ice cream, etc. and see if he notices a difference.  

[bethben]

Eliminate grains (this includes wheat and corn), eggs, and dairy for sure.  ALL dairy.  If things don’t improve, try eliminating legumes and nuts.  The most prevalent intolerances are eggs, wheat, and dairy.  I feel better when I don’t eat grains.  If he still doesn’t get better, I would find a naturopath in your area (or not since most are zoom calls right now) and get a stool test.  I personally, had all kinds of tests that turned up normal and was declared healthy.  I had such gastointestinal pain and no one knew why.  I went to a naturopath who gave me a stool test.  She found huge issues there.

[matrips]

Have you already tried good probiotics for a few weeks to get the gut in order?

[Shelydon]

28 minutes ago, matrips said:

Have you already tried good probiotics for a few weeks to get the gut in order?

Yes.  He is currently on Floraster.

[Shelydon]

50 minutes ago, bethben said:

Eliminate grains (this includes wheat and corn), eggs, and dairy for sure.  ALL dairy.  If things don’t improve, try eliminating legumes and nuts.  The most prevalent intolerances are eggs, wheat, and dairy.  I feel better when I don’t eat grains.  If he still doesn’t get better, I would find a naturopath in your area (or not since most are zoom calls right now) and get a stool test.  I personally, had all kinds of tests that turned up normal and was declared healthy.  I had such gastointestinal pain and no one knew why.  I went to a naturopath who gave me a stool test.  She found huge issues there.

His pediatrician ran 5 different stool test and all were normal.  So far, the only thing we can pinpoint as problematic is lettuce/cabbage.

[Shelydon]

On 12/11/2020 at 10:51 PM, Laurie said:

I would try a low-FODMAP diet to see if it helps.  You would have your ds stop eating certain kinds of carbs (high FODMAPs) for a few weeks before reintroducing them.  There's a lot of free info on the internet about what are low and high FODMAPs, etc. so that's where I would start.  Here's one example on how to get started :  https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fodmaps-101#definition

My daughter has IBS.  The gastro. doctor recommended the Low FODMAP diet for her and this has helped her so much.  We had already figured out some of the foods that she needed to avoid, but we didn't understand the groups of carbohydrates that are often the culprits for people who suffer GI symptoms.

I hope your son feels better soon!  

Thanks.  This just seems so overwhelming.  Did it take you weeks to map out a diet plan?  Since I will be creating two complete meals 3 times a day (one for him, one for the rest of the family), I feel like I would need to come up with full recipes and plans for at least a month.   We eat a huge amount of whole wheat and fresh fruit and vegetables, so I am not sure how to replace that. 

Edited December 13, 2020 by Shelydon

[bethben]

52 minutes ago, Shelydon said:

His pediatrician ran 5 different stool test and all were normal.  So far, the only thing we can pinpoint as problematic is lettuce/cabbage.

Did they test abnormal bacteria levels?  All I know is that the test I had not only tested overgrowth but what would things would stop the overgrowth —what herbs would kill it and what antibiotics would kill it.    It also tested good bacteria of which I had none.  They couldn’t even grow it on my sample.

[Shelydon]

4 hours ago, bethben said:

Did they test abnormal bacteria levels?  All I know is that the test I had not only tested overgrowth but what would things would stop the overgrowth —what herbs would kill it and what antibiotics would kill it.    It also tested good bacteria of which I had none.  They couldn’t even grow it on my sample.

Yes.

[Laurie]

5 hours ago, Shelydon said:

Thanks.  This just seems so overwhelming.  Did it take you weeks to map out a diet plan?  Since I will be creating two complete meals 3 times a day (one for him, one for the rest of the family), I feel like I would need to come up with full recipes and plans for at least a month.   We eat a huge amount of whole wheat and fresh fruit and vegetables, so I am not sure how to replace that. 

My daughter had already been gluten free for many years, so those substitutions were already in place when we learned about low FODMAP.   

It sounds like you may be a fancier cook than me.  I don't need a lot of recipes for the way I cook for my family...we're more like "meat and potatoes" without fancy sauces, mixtures, etc.  What helped me was just keeping an index card with high and low FODMAP lists of fruits and vegetables so I could take it to the store.  If you start slow it shouldn't be too difficult, and it seems like you would want to make changes slowly in order to know what your son reacts to in either a good or bad way.   I rely on leftovers to make sure there's always something they can eat.  (I also have a picky eater and a type 2 diabetic to consider, so I know the frustrations of special diets.)  Having a variety of condiments available that everyone can/will eat is also helpful and allows me to just prepare meat and then let them eat it with ketchup, steak sauce, etc.  

I don't have to go to Whole Foods as frequently now because there are more and more lactose free and gluten free products available where I usually shop.  You could buy some of these items for your son and tell the rest of the family to leave them for him.   I bought Lock and Lock containers with green lids to store gluten free things at our house since not everyone is gluten free here.  You might have to do something like that.  

If you want recipes and suggested meal plans, I can recommend the book by Shepherd and Gibson:  The Complete Low FODMAP diet.   

 

[Tanaqui]

On 12/11/2020 at 11:33 PM, Shelydon said:

Where do I start with an elimination diet with an 11 yo? 

My DS has had extensive medical testing and we cannot find a reason for his gut pain and frequent bathroom trips, so the next step is to try and figure out if there is a food bothering him.  I don't know where too start because we have NO idea what the possible culprit might be.  Any suggestions? 

 

I'm assuming one of those tests was for celiac, but if not - get that done now, before you eliminate anything from the diet. If the kid isn't eating gluten, you can get a false negative.

[Shelydon]

On 12/13/2020 at 6:24 PM, Tanaqui said:

 

I'm assuming one of those tests was for celiac, but if not - get that done now, before you eliminate anything from the diet. If the kid isn't eating gluten, you can get a false negative.

Yes, we had him tested for celiac

[BlsdMama]

On 12/11/2020 at 10:33 PM, Shelydon said:

Where do I start with an elimination diet with an 11 yo? 

My DS has had extensive medical testing and we cannot find a reason for his gut pain and frequent bathroom trips, so the next step is to try and figure out if there is a food bothering him.  I don't know where too start because we have NO idea what the possible culprit might be.  Any suggestions? 

We took out dairy and gluten. Worked for our two, but know the pain didn’t stop for at least six months. It was a long haul for one of them to heal. If she slips with gluten though, she knows the same day and feels it for about two days. 
 

if you started a full AIP diet, expect no reintroductions for a few months and until all pain is gone. 

[Shelydon]

Just now, BlsdMama said:

We took out dairy and gluten. Worked for our two, but know the pain didn’t stop for at least six months. It was a long haul for one of them to heal. If she slips with gluten though, she knows the same day and feels it for about two days. 
 

if you started a full AIP diet, expect no reintroductions for a few months and until all pain is gone. 

Thank you for that information

[sgo95]

Low fodmap helped my dd too.  We did it for 8 weeks and slowly reintroduced categories of high fodmap foods.  It seemed to help her gi system reset and her symptoms lessened dramatically.