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I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease at the beginning of this year. I never imagined that my son might be gluten intolerant as well. We have been dealing with extreme behavioral issues for years. They seem to come and go and we could never figure out triggers. One teacher said he was autistic, one said ADHD, and the list goes on. He is a great student, but he has issues with mood swings and really severe meltdowns. It has been happening since he was born, but it is very random and we have just dealt with it over the years. Typical child otherwise - really healthy.

So... we started noticing that he was getting a tummy ache when he ate. Then he started getting a skin rash. One night it was like a light bulb went on at the dinner table. I was eating my typical gluten free dinner (beans) and the boys were having cornbread with theirs. My son actually got a stomach ache at the dinner table and all he had eaten was the cornbread. I started connecting all the dots and we decided to take him off gluten. It has been 5 days and it is hard to express what a different child he is. NO behavior issues at all. All symptoms are gone. It is like night and day in our house!!!! We have decided not to put him through all of the medical test. We have seen enough in the past few days to KNOW without a doubt that he is gluten intolerant. He is happy, feels good.... and some things had become so "normal" that we really didn't know how sick he was. He had these darkish circles under his eyes. The list goes on. But... after only 5 days... it is astounding to me. We have not had one issue with mood swings and we were dealing with them on a daily basis. What an amazing discovery!!! Most importantly - he feels SO much better.

He started sharing with me about how school lunches would make him sick to his stomach (yet by the time he got home, he would have forgotten about it). There were so many things we should have noticed and didn't... but at least we know now and he is on the road to a full recovery!! He is eating vegan with me as well.

Wow, thats amazing. I got chills while I was reading your post.

We saw the same results with one or our granddaughters. She is the happiest child,,,except when she wasn't and then it was a living nightmare. She has been off gluten about 3 years now and what a difference. The wild meltdowns stopped, just like that and she started sleeping all night. Those "my stomach hurts" hours are gone. I had forgotten about the dark circles under her eyes until I read your post, Pacificfords.

And her mom doesn't have the dark circles under her eyes either now that she is getting sleep!

Because of her feeling so much better there has been very little compliance issues (she's 10 now). Of course my daughter stepped up to the plate and really learned to cook gluten free and sends things along that take temptations away from our granddaughter.

What a change her being gluten free has made in many lives...all for the good.
Linda

Well, as I am finding out ~ having a child switch to gluten free at age 8 does come with challenges. He came home from school incredibly upset yesterday, almost in tears. They had a "healthy eating" challenge at school and Jared - from Subway - actually visited their school. If they sign the healthy eating board, they get a $5.00 coupon for Subway today. My son KNEW there is really nothing there that he can eat. He was so upset. I had to think quickly, as I don't want this style of eating to make him feel like he is deprived. I offered to trade him $5.00 for his coupon and then he could use it to buy a healthy gluten free vegan snack for himself. He was thrilled.

Good for you Detective Pacificfords! Your son is lucky you connected the dots, and I agree that compliance is so much easier when the child recognizes how much better he feels! Good for your son too! And kudos to you for your quick thinking on the Subway trade. Eating this way can get expensive in more ways than one! LOL!