Thursday, August 17, 2006

Should I test my child for celiac before starting the diet?

This is my opinion and only my opinion.

I believe every autistic child should be tested for celiac disease. On many websites you read that it is OK to just go ahead and try the diet - what do you have to lose? I believe that is bad advice. There just appears to be too many kids that have both autism and celiac to not be tested for it.

You must be actively consuming gluten when you are tested for celiac. Knowing that my child has celiac affects how I approach the diet. This is a life long diet. This isn't something I can try for awhile and then drop if I see no results. The consequences of continuing to eat gluten for my child are huge in the long run.

But my child shows no symptoms of celiac. Mine didn't either.

I had a urine test done to test for GFCF and it came back fine. The urine test is not for celiac. You can have a negative urine test and still have celiac. The celiac test is a blood panel - if all 3 panels are positive, then you need to have the intestines scoped for a diagnosis.

Again - this is just my opinion, but I feel quite strongly that celiac is not something you want to go untreated. Ask your doctor to test for it before you start the diet.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I completely agree! It definately makes a difference for our family. We also had the family tested. A grandma and I have it also. All gluten-free and no dairy for us either, but boy do we feel better!

Kimberly gave me the "heads up" on your site.