Nick's Celiac Disease Symptoms and His Common Complaints of Discomfort

As Nick approached pre-school age, his celiac disease symptoms started to become more pronounced. His symptoms started rather infrequently (maybe once or twice a week) and then by age 7 they were almost daily.

We first started hearing about Nick's discomfort from his intolerance to gluten usually right after he ate or mostly at night just prior to bedtime. Nick would communicate his pain and discomfort using two distinct phrases:

"Mommy my sides hurt" or
"Mommy my throat feels yucky".

Now as parents, when we first heard these words from Nick we immediately thought he might have some normal indigestion or just a normal belly ache that most kids will get from time to time. Usually when Nick complained about his discomfort, it would usually last for about an hour then he would be ok. From time to time at first, we would just give him antacids and then everything seemed fine. We would also ask him if he had to go to the bathroom, thinking he might be constipated.

This infrequent complaining would go on for about a year. Of course we mentioned this to his pediatrician from the onset of his complaints but his doctor just said that some kids just get belly aches from time to time and just keep an eye on what he is eating.

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So I would put Nick's specific symptoms in the following categories:

Abdominal Pain (Sides hurting)
Bloating
Acid Reflux (Throat feeling yucky)
Weight loss
Irritability
Upset Stomach
Constipation

As stated early, Nick wasn't officially diagnosed with CD until he reached the age of 8. He had to live with pain and discomfort for about 4 years (from age 4 - 8).

Why? Because his pediatrician "misdiagnosed" Nick's condition. You see, CD was not the first thing doctor's looked for 8 years ago. Often times they thought it could be IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) or just common intolerances to certain foods, but not a specific allergy or disease. We tried various remedies for about three years per his doctor but none worked. We finally got him to a specialist at age 8 and that's when the final "correct" diagnosis was determined.

Click this link to read about how Nick was "mis" diagnosed with CD. Nick's "Mis" Diagnosis of Celiac Disease

Were your celiac disease symptoms similar to Nick's or were they different? Tell us about it!

Share with us your specific celiac disease symptoms. Or if you know someone that has celiac disease, share their symptoms with us.

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When did you have these? How often? Were some symptoms worse than others? When did they start? How did you deal with them?

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