4 year old - symtopoms of GI/CD?

[Guest]

Hi there,

My 4 year old dd has been suffering from constipation on and off most of her life. It all started around 5 months of age when she commenced solid foods. I had to give her prunes everyday and even then she would still get blocked up. Recently she has been so bad that she was strainig to poop everytime she went with blood in her stool. The poor thing was in so much pain. The doctor said it was typical constipation and gave her a parrafin oil based laxative, not to relax the bowel to soften the stool. ANyhoo.. she has been taking this for over a month now and this hasn't been working.

She is now complainig of stomach pain everyday. Her appetite has slowed tremendously and she says she doesn't want to eat because when she does her tummy hurts. Her poops are sometimes regular in colour, but other times a palish green/grey colour. She is tired and her temperament has changed from happy and outgoing to fairly subdued and unmotivated. I know these are all symptoms of CD, so I am concerned for her.

She has a doctor appointment on tuesday. Should I just ask for a CD test? Do they do a serious of blood tests first?

[LisaB]

Your daughter's symptoms sound extreme enough that her doctor had better not blow them off.

There is a blood test called a celiac panel or a sprue panel. Ask for that. But if I were you, I'd also ask for allergy testing in general. But I don't really mean ask. Demand it. But do also ask the doctor what his/her ideas about the symptoms are. If s/he wants to check for other things, then have everything tested.