gluten -- off for 90 days to heal or for good and a couple other questions

[sarasprings]

How would I differentiate between my son needing his gut to heal versus having to stay off gluten? He's been off for a month, but with a few goofs (like ketchup at an amusement park). The only real difference we've seen is his poops are much more solid (it could be from something else, but this is the first time ever he's had solid poops for this long). While he's off of it, should we be doing something probiotic at the same time?

We recently took him off dairy, too, after reading the other thread and seeing how similar his behaviors are. I have just one questions about that -- can he eat tofu that has calcium added? (because it's the casein and whey that I don't want him to eat, right?)

Also, I'm confused about the different types of tests to ask for at the allergist and if the scratch or blood would indicate a sensitivity as well as an allergy.

I get on here and check out posts at night and by morning, after all the night wakings of both boys, I can't articulate what I read to DH.

Thanks for you help, mamas.

[Panserbjorne]

Calcium can be added from sources other than dairy, so I guess you'd have to read labels on that one. I would steer clear of soy too as it's one of the top allergens. No fun, I know.

A gluten problem is always a sign of a gut problem, so you need to heal regardless. If you know he has CD I'd be less inclined to go testing that with a food trial. If it's an intolerance and you do a good amount of healing and feel that you want to test it, feel free. Just watch for any setbacks. Solid poop is a GOOD thing. If that's the only sign, it's not a minor one.

ALWAYS do a probiotic! On or off, it's a good idea. IF he won't take the powder or pills you could make yogurt. We make coconut yogurt with a non-dairy starter. Gets all the good bugs in there and it's pretty darn tasty!

Depends on what test you do. We did a blood test that shows IgE and IgG reactions. So you get both the allergen and the sensitivity. It's a fairly accurate test (we went through immunolabs) there are some false negatives depending on the age of the child, but virtually no false positives. After looking at all the testing options this was what we went with. I've never regretted it.

[sarasprings]

So for gluten and the food trial, how long should he be off it before we reintroduce? And then is it 90 days after that (minimum) for healing? How would I know if he should stay off or just heal? If you have any specific recs on probiotics, I love them, plus your yogurt recipe.

[Panserbjorne]

I would say at least 6 weeks off, but I would also say that if it were me I'd be doing three months to be really clear. Healing takes some time, at least a couple of months and entails far more than just removing the offending food. It can't ever just be easy, right? :

Probiotics...everyone has different results with different brands. I love Pharmax for probiotics, they just do a really good job. I tend to try and get what I need from food though. It gets expensive to supplement all the time. Yogurt and saurkraut are my favorites.

Coconut yogurt:
Heat two cans of coconut milk with 2 tbs. of honey and 2 tbs of gelatin. At 110 remove from heat. Pull out about a half a cup of milk and add your starter. Return to quart jar and stir in. I add about a tsp of vanilla to the jar as well. Then incubate at 105-110 degrees for about 10 hours. You need the honey or maple syrup to feed the bacteria, so don't skip that step! If you skip the gelatin it will not firm up, which is fine-then you can just add it to smoothies instead of eating it. But the gelatin is great for healing. HTH.