Many months ago, Caleb and I discovered we were at the very least allergic to wheat. We found that for him, taking gluten out of his diet reduced a lot of his hyperactivity.
After many years of discussing and evaluating with our pediatrician and a month of testing and discussion with a child psychologist (not to mention ENDLESS conversations with other parents and teachers and so so so much reading and research), we decided to try giving Caleb a very low dose of medicine to help him focus in school. It has helped him a tremendous amount in school. He and his teacher have both commented how much better he feels he is doing with school. My favorite part is that it doesn't seem to have changed who he is at all. His wonderful Caleb-ness is still there and just right.
I met with our pediatrician again this week and she and I decided that he should be tested for celiac disease. In order for the blood test to be done accurately, he needs to eat gluten for at least 3 days prior to the test. Last night he had "real" pizza and this morning a bran cereal, some pretzels, crackers, etc. He was very excited to be able to eat food again that he's missed for so long, BUT he has had so many meltdowns today that the whole family is feeling a little wary around him.
He at one point said, "Mom, why isn't the medicine working??" So we sat and talked about how it's not just one thing for his body. His body right now needs to take the medicine AND not eat wheat for it to work properly.
After today he may be the first kid in the history of our family who is excited for a blood test.
After many years of discussing and evaluating with our pediatrician and a month of testing and discussion with a child psychologist (not to mention ENDLESS conversations with other parents and teachers and so so so much reading and research), we decided to try giving Caleb a very low dose of medicine to help him focus in school. It has helped him a tremendous amount in school. He and his teacher have both commented how much better he feels he is doing with school. My favorite part is that it doesn't seem to have changed who he is at all. His wonderful Caleb-ness is still there and just right.
I met with our pediatrician again this week and she and I decided that he should be tested for celiac disease. In order for the blood test to be done accurately, he needs to eat gluten for at least 3 days prior to the test. Last night he had "real" pizza and this morning a bran cereal, some pretzels, crackers, etc. He was very excited to be able to eat food again that he's missed for so long, BUT he has had so many meltdowns today that the whole family is feeling a little wary around him.
He at one point said, "Mom, why isn't the medicine working??" So we sat and talked about how it's not just one thing for his body. His body right now needs to take the medicine AND not eat wheat for it to work properly.
4 comments:
My husband has Celiac Disease and I quit eating gluten for one month just to see if he would feel any better if I eliminated it from my diet. While it didn't make a HUGE difference in his life, I stayed off it because a few of my other food allergies simply disappeared while I wasn't eating gluten and a lot of my other health concerns vanished as well. I think most people really would benefit from eating LESS of it, if not from simply eliminating it.
I have definitely noticed that my own allergies (seasonal, dust, etc) are much better when I'm off of gluten, too. Glad you are enjoying better health through your diet!
How did the test go?
test is negative!! hooray! eating gluten free is a lot easier than having to assure that it comes from a gluten free kitchen, etc.
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