Re: question for the group...


Re : question for the group... --- kmap
Posted by: Patricia , Feb 05,2010,11:24 Post Reply Top of Thread Message Board


I'm not sure exactly whether you mean symptoms that were sufficient to provoke diagnosis. In that case it wasn't until he had frank rectal bleeding that we got referred to gi just before he turned 10 and even then it took his becoming really anemic for the gi to order the testing that revealed CD.

Anyway, looking back at my son's medical records and based on the issues he has now that I've been told are CD related, he had the following signs and symptoms prior to his diagnosis at age 10 1/2:

1. Skin infections that required treatment with systemic antibiotics beginning by age 4

2. Joint pain - mostly mild and mostly in his upper back beginning by age 7

3. Growth failure - he stopped growing pretty much about age 7 to 8. Hard to know exactly when it started because he wasn't being measured all that often or accurately. He went from the 50% to the 12% in a matter of roughly 2 years. You might consider this gi symptoms since it was most likely due to malabsorption and inflammation but he didn't have any obvious gi problems to with it.

I think he may have had CD from his infancy. His growth dropped from 50% at birth to 5% for several months as an infant at the same time he was having daily diarrhea and near constant belly pain. Both were chalked up to gas/colic and the growth failure was ignored. There was no frank blood and we were getting pretty poor medical care at that point so no investigation - they just offered to give him mild tranquilizers for the constant screaming. By the time he turned 1 he was back up to the 35% and his distress had improved so I was told he was growing fine when I finally realized his growth was off and expressed concern.

He was still having nighttime diarrhea at 22 months that finally diminished by about the time he turned 2 1/2. By then he had developed moderately severe asthma that was not in good control and that took center stage for the next 5 years.

Replies: