I need help- at the beginning of what seems like a long road

[littlemomma]

Hi!

Thank you for reading my thread. I love having my Mothering Mamas as a resource. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, it helps to remember I can make a post and get some guidance.

Something is wrong with my 6 yo DS, and always has been. As a baby, he had "colic." Then he didn't gain weight and refused solids. He was "failure to thrive." Then he had a positive blood test for celiac, followed by a negative endoscopy. The endoscopy did however reveal a very inflamed esophagus. Reflux medicine was prescribed and he quickly began eating and gaining weight.

Now he's six and daily says that he has "cramps." He has diarehha weekly. His poop is sometimes green, sometimes yellow, sometimes snotty, sometimes looks like a sea creature. Rarely normal.

He is a very picky eater.

We did a blood test and stool sample a month ago. Everything came back within normal limits and celiac was negative.

What now?

I am planning on doing a dairy free/ wheat free diet, but I have to tell you that I feel VERY overwhelmed. I am not a cook by nature, and he is a very very very picky eater. I guess I'm scared and I feel alone- the doctors can't help me- nobody has answers.

Thank you for listening and I would appreciate any suggestions.
Melia

[USAmma]

I'm so sorry. It's very overwhelming, esp. when you are not quite sure what's going on.

Has he had any allergy testing? If you do it, do both patch test and prick test. They both have different sets of things that can be causing the problems (different antibodies).

How long ago was his endoscopy? If they haven't already, have the doctor send the slides to a lab and recount them, look for eosinophilic cells. This is a new disease and some doctors don't know what to look for. Especially if the test was done a few years ago. My dd has eosinophilic esophagitis. It took 3 years to dx. The symptoms sound similar to what your son is going through. If the eos cells are lower down in the gut you get the diarrhea and cramping.

It sounds like he really needs to just heal his gut and have a very simple, low-risk allergy diet for a few weeks.

[littlemomma]

Thank you for your response and sympathy, USAmma. Could you please direct me to where I can learn more about what you mean when you say "heal the gut." Not sure about that yet. Like I said, I'm at the beginning of the road...

[USAmma]

Originally Posted by littlemomma

Thank you for your response and sympathy, USAmma. Could you please direct me to where I can learn more about what you mean when you say "heal the gut." Not sure about that yet. Like I said, I'm at the beginning of the road...

This is the second time I've posted this link today.
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=610749

The people in this thread really know what they are talking about. They can help you to give him things that will help heal him while you are figuring out what else might be going on. I'm thinking probiotics for starters.