I have just joined this board and can’t say how awesome it has been reading all of your posts. I was up well past midnight last night. I’m hoping that someone out there might have a child or know of a child who has anything similar to my daughter’s situation.

I’ll try to be brief. Daughter is 10 was always 98% height and weight until she turned 6. She started getting severely constipated and we noticed her passing lots of mucus and blood. We got a referral to a pediatric GI and went through numerous tests, a colonoscopy and then an uncertain diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis. Tried various suppositories etc. and still no improvement. Found another Pediatric GI, another colonoscopy and tests (none for celiac) and she diagnosed her with Solitary Rectal Ulcer Syndrome. Prescribed laxatives and high fiber diet. She is now 5 feet tall and weighs only 72 pounds.

She has continued to pass mucus daily and still suffers from constipation. 4 months ago she was diagnosed with Juvenile Epilepsy after having several absent seizures.

I am feeling like a horrible mother because I had never even thought of Foods causing her problems, other than increasing her fibers. My husband suggested I check into celiac disease after talking with someone he works with.

We did convince her Pediatrician to test her but not before reading this board. She ordered only 2 tests.

Immunoglobulin A
IGA 75 Reference Range: 45 to 285

Transglutam AB
7.0 Reference range: <20

The test results don’t really look like they are indicative of celiac disease but I’m wondering if anyone knows if Epilepsy Meds (Levetiracetam-Keppra) affects the tests?

I would appreciate any insight any of you might have.

Sorry so long….
Amanda

Hi MM,

Welcome to the board!

Personally, I don't know of anything that would affect the Celiac blood testing other than going on a gluten free diet.

There was an episode of Mystery Diagnosis (or something like that) on Discovery a few years ago that involved a little boy who had seizures. Turned out later that it was Celiac.

Certainly can't say that it applies to your daughter, as it seems to be a side effect that isn't often discussed, but still, may be something to consider.

See this link, from a Celiac support group, page 15. http://www.twincitiesrock.org/documents/Ce...resentation.pdf

Also: http://www.montanaceliacsociety.com/physiciansmanual.htm "Seizures: Described to be frequently associated with Celiac Disease, due to intercranial calcification, particularly in the posterior of the brain, causing seizures. We had a four year old girl with recurrent seizures who did not respond to anti-epileptic drugs and was brought to our office because of weight loss. She had had seizures for 2 years. She tested positive for the anti-gliadin and anti-endomysial antibodies. The biopsy showed her to be Celiac, and for the first time her seizures were controlled. Folic Acid deficiency secondarily causes the calcification. Rarely does the calcium deposit almost disappear, but it did in this case. "

Even though the tests are negative, it may be worth it to you, as a mom, to do a trial gluten free diet to see if her symptoms improve. Just something to think about.

Best of luck to you and your daughter!!! Regardless of whether gluten is/isn't a problem for your daughter, I sincerely hope you find some answers.

I sent you a PM