Cut out gluten?

Jessica-Kay

My son is allergic/intolerant to milk. He drinks Lactaid milk. The last couple weeks, he has started to get this rash around his mouth. It would get better and then go away. Yesterday my husband said he didn't notice it in the morning (I work morning shift before the kids get up), but after nap time it was there and then got a little worse. He had chicken nuggets for lunch (Tyson brand, so dairy free)

This morning first thing it wasn't there, but then after breakfast it was. He had eggs, turkey bacon and whole wheat toast with apple jelly for breakfast along with his lactaid milk.

Tonight after his bath I noticed a rash on the back of his legs.

Up to this point we haven't been to an allergist, I am thinking it is time to push the doctor to put in a referal.

So I think we will do a trial run and see if taken gluten out of his diet helps.

What all has gluten in it?

I know: breads, noodles, anything breaded, crackers, cookies

EastCoastBride

If it's JUST a skin issue, I don't know that I'd assume gluten.  Problems w/ gluten (whether it's an allergy, intolerance or celiac) usually involves gastrointestinal issues too.  Showing up on the skin is rare in and of itself, then not being coupled w/ GI issues - again, dont' know that I'd assume gluten.

It can't hurt to cut the stuff out to see, but just remember that most tests for gluten issues require it to be in the system for an accurate result. 

g_belle

I agree with the other poster- if it's just a skin issue- I wouldn't pull gluten first. 

Gluten is like milk and soy and hides in lots of stuff (many prepared chicken stocks, bbq sauce, salad dressing etc.) 

georgi611

Gluten is in everything.  Makes sure you are reading labels! 

I have celiac disease myself.

If you are going to test your son for an allergy to wheat/gluten, make sure he is still eating it beforehand as that can affect the end result of the test.

 

Jessica-Kay

I'm giving it a couple days test run before we talk to our doctor about it. Today he had no gluten and also no rash. So we will continue that and see what happens.

We are always reading labels due to the milk allergy, so that isn't an issue.

Thanks for all the advice!

livinitup

Keep in mind that gluten includes barley, wheat and rye and tricky things like "starch thickeners" may or may not include gluten. He may be sensitive to wheat and not be sensitive to all things gluten.

amy21tom

A wheat allergy and Celiac are completely different things. What you're explaining sounds like a wheat allergy. Gluten intolerance (Celiac) would be BM issues, intenstinal pain, etc and cannot be diagnosed unless your son continues to eat gluten.

Jessica-Kay

livinitup:

Keep in mind that gluten includes barley, wheat and rye and tricky things like "starch thickeners" may or may not include gluten. He may be sensitive to wheat and not be sensitive to all things gluten.

I did not know this. Thank you for the information!

Jessica-Kay

amy21tom:

A wheat allergy and Celiac are completely different things. What you're explaining sounds like a wheat allergy. Gluten intolerance (Celiac) would be BM issues, intenstinal pain, etc and cannot be diagnosed unless your son continues to eat gluten.

That is good to know. As far as I know he doesn't have problems digesting it. If by chance he gets something with milk or honey in it, he ends up with the worest diapers. So by what you are saying it does not sounds like an intolerance, but an allergy.

We are on day 3 of no gluten now and still no rash. I do have to say those with children with more than one allergy I don't know how you do it! Milk was hard enough on its own, now throwing in gluten it limits his diet even more.

tbmadeamistake

As a person with a diagnosed wheat allergy and undiagnosed celiac (I refuse to eat something I know makes me sick just to get a biopsy that will tell me that it makes me sick), I have done lots of research into this.  Whether an allergy or celiac, everyone has different symptons.  While for most celiac patients there are some intestinal issues, not everyone gets those (my sister, who is diagnosed celiac, has no stomach issues but does have lupus like symptoms and skin issues).  I think a trial of your own is a decent idea, but make sure that you are getting him the grains he needs some other way (rice, teff, sorghum, etc) and that you are talking with your doctor in case he wants to run tests that need to be done while consuming the wheat/gluten.  Hope this helps! 

If it is gluten or wheat, www.glutenfreegirl.com is amazing!