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Thanks to all 25 people who shared their experiences with this issue of
behavior/mood problems in kids with unrecognized Celiac. Everyone said
"YES" to my question about whether my grandson's mood shifts and temper
tantrums could be related to gluten ingestion. In fact, according to the
25 responses to my question "irritability is the hallmark sign of Celiac
disease in children."

The responses covered children of all ages.

    * One  mother cited the colic that her infant sufferred because of
      the gluten in her breast milk.
    * Presechool and school age kids with untreated Celiac showed
      "colic, irritability, grumpiness,  extreme clinginess, fear of
      strangers, nasty, intense temper tantrums,  physical lashing out,
      upset, mean, making the families life hell with their mood swings."
    * <>In slightly older kids people reported the above tendencies plus
      a tendency to cry easily, clinginess, daily meltdowns, social
      anxiety, depression, anxiety, inability to reason, and inability
      to be reached even with punishment.
      <>

<>As an explanation for these negative moods quite a few people said "
If a kid feels horrible, run down and like crap, how can you expect
anything other than difficult behavior." They also suggested that in
older kids, "Cloudy thinking and memory loss lead to higher frustration
levels."

Along with the bad moods many people cited the physical complaints of
kids with untreated celiac - in addition to the expected stomach and
intestional issues they mentionned their kids' hyperness, inability to
concentrate, tiredness, sleep problems, and complaints of "burning skin."

One particularly interesting response helped me understand why my
grandson, who is still eating gluten,  has been the most difficult to
feed kid I've ever encountered - and I have encountered many who were
picky eaters. This response talked about the "aversion to proteins which
follows a reaction."  The parent explained that his son's eating
patterns would be abnormal for at least two days after he had eaten
gluten. He would go through a cycle of, first, exposure to gluten, then,
24 hours later, gut wrenching pain and phantom pain followed by 2 days
of crying and crankiness and then tantrums. During this time period the
boy would be on edge due to the fact that he is starving and only
willing to eat starches and sugars which give him no protein. I include
this in the summary about behavior problems in children with
unrecognized celiac since one of my grandson's most difficult to
understand behaviors is his total refusal to eat anything except suger
and starches. It goes well beyond the normal kid craving for sweets -
and now I have a good explanation for what is going on.

I can't wait until my daughter starts the gluten-free diet.

Jeannie

* Cel-Kids Web Page:  http://www.enabling.org/ia/cel-kids *