My kids are 9yo and 16.75yo. The younger one has been diagnosed with Mood Disorder-NOS (he has all the typical signs of early-onset BPD with the exception of hypersexuality) and the older one has been diagnosed with narcolepsy (all symptoms except cataplexy). I have spent the last year trying to find a root cause for these issues. I can't help but think it's a nutritional problem. Even though I keep a basically TF kitchen, they get nothing but junk EOW with their dad, plus crap that people give them at school.
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Last week I convinced their doctor to run some basic blood tests. Both have low ferritin. (This seems to explain the one being severely fatigued and the other being severely irritable!) I got the results over the phone and the MA only said their ferritin is low and the doctor was calling in Rx iron pills. We go in next week and I will ask probably about a million questions, but for now, can anyone comment on my musings below?
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Ok...low ferritin means low iron stores, but not necessarily low serum iron, right? So the first thing to ask her is what their serum iron is. If that's good, then low ferritin isn't a major concern. Or is it? If available iron is low, I will pass on the Rx iron and pick up some Floradix.Â
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But I still would want to know what's causing the poor absorption. My cousin's daughter has Celiac Disease. Several years ago I had the kids tested, but it came back negative. I don't remember exactly which test was done, but I remember discussing it's accuracy with the doctor after reading something that said only the biopsy was fool-proof.
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Now I'm reading that CD in kids doesn't always cause the major intestinal issues like fatty stools and cramping. The each have a few of some other symptoms, but probably not enough to convince the doctor to do further testing. I'm not too keen on the biopsy idea (I've already passed on getting an LP for ds1 to see if he had the enzyme deficiency seen in narcolepsy) but I know there's another blood tests to screen for possible CD.
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Last thought...if their serum iron checks out ok and it was just low stores, will taking iron really help them? I mean, if they already lack the protein needed to store excess iron, won't taking supplements just jack up the serum level dangerously high? Or is it like the supply and demand of BFing...as the iron intake goes down, the body stops making ferritin, but as the blood levels go up, the body is stimulated to make more ferritin?
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Thanks for any and all thoughts and BTDTs!!!
