More GI Investigation.....

Well, it's no surprise, really. After having Ethan be referred to a GI specialist and being told that we may want to try a gluten free diet with Ethan, I was very overwhelmed & not quite sure what to do next. But because I feel such urgency to help Ethan get his (now 6 weeks) diarrhea under control, I have been to my favorite grocery stores & bought almost every single item that was gluten free.

The pluses have been that there really are a LOT of things out there that are gluten free. My favorite so far was found at Walmart....gluten free cereal bars. Ethan LOVES cereal bars so this was an immediate YES for us!

We have been making subtle changes, but we haven't made it to completely off gluten just yet. But I keep hearing that this takes time & trial/error.....so I'm giving us a break & just doing what we know we can do at the moment. Ethan seems to really like the waffle/pancake mix as well as some gluten free frozen french toast sticks. We learned that Rice Krispie cereal and Trix are gluten free, and Ethan is really liking rice krispie treats! Tonight we are going to try spaghetti with gluten free spaghetti noodles. So....we are trying, but we are still learning. Our biggest hurdles will be.....chicken nuggets, PopTarts, Chef Boyardee products, and pizza. But I've gotten a few hints & tips on these as well....just all in good time. We are so lucky that bacon,  popcorn and fruit snacks are gluten free!!!! Those are DAILY foods for our Ethan!

Although we have a long road ahead of us in the gluten free genre, I still want to continue in case our GI doctor tells us to do so at our appointment in a couple of weeks. This way, we will be ahead of the game, so to speak. However, we tried something......

Recently, I discovered that I have seasonal allergies.....to the point of taking a daily medicine for it. But this is not my long story...this is about Ethan. Through my own discovery of this, we realized that Ethan has similar issues with allergies. So, recently we put him on a generic version of Zyrtec. We tried once before to take Ethan off of this medicine to see if it helped his bathroom issues, but it did not work. So, we scratched that off as the cause. However, we do remember the pediatrician mentioning that a bug was going around during the same time that we took Ethan off of his allergy medicine. So.....we decided to try it again. However, instead of taking Ethan off allergy medicine completely, we would just switch to a different brand. We decided to try Clariten. Well.....Ethan's bowels got better! Not completely but enough of an improvement for us to further investigate this avenue. He wasn't on the Clariten very long because it wasn't helping his allergy issues AT ALL, so we went back to his former medicine.....just at a lower dosage.

So, what we have now is a slight stuffy nose & slightly running number two.....ugh. But, Ethan not suffering with allergies issues during the night, and he is making it to the bathroom, so we are hoping this helps until we can get some further information. Well, last week, I mentioned this to some of the moms at Easter Seals, and one of them told me that they experienced similar issues with their kiddo. Their child is now on a prescription form of allergy medicine, and he no longer has issues in the other area! YEAH!

Well....this momma just got off the phone with the pediatrician's office with this new news......so we will see what happens next. We have been dealing with this pretty much since the beginning of the school year, and I would really like to have this settled & be done with it. We have still kept our appointment at the end of the month with the GI, but I'm really hoping that it is a side effect of his medicine, and not something else. I would really like for SOMETHING to be a simple fix!!!! Fingers crossed & prayers lifted!!!!!!!

G.I. Referral & Gluten Free Diet

WARNING!!! THIS POSTING WILL BE TALKING ABOUT POTTY ISSUES! CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!!!!

Today marks 5 weeks of Ethan having severely loose stools. It started at the same time as cold-like symptoms occurred, so I assumed it was all related. When we saw the doctor the first time, I mentioned this to her but it was more in the form of a list of other things going on with Ethan. However, everything else has cleared up....but this explosiveness remains. We have followed doctor's instructions, and eliminated milk products (we already do that anyway), removed juice from his diet (only a splash to his water to add flavoring), and started him on a pro-biotic. Yet, the diarrhea remains.

This poor kid is unable to make it to the bathroom many times, having accidents at school, and says his belly hurts. 5 weeks of this.....arg. We have been to the doctor 2 times during this time as well as calling weekly for updates & "what now?" We have collected stool samples & had them tested. Everything has come back fine.

Today, we just came home from the pediatrician's office, and they are now referring Ethan to a Gastro Intestinal Doctor. It won't be for a few weeks, but I'm already sick to my stomach over this news. On one hand I am glad that things are moving forward which, hopefully, means that relief is coming soon. But on the other hand.....I am soooo dreading these next steps. I'm already envisioning horrible invasive testing, a new doctor's office, new faces, and a whole lot of trying to keep Ethan from being anxious.....which also means trying to keep me calm so he doesn't feed off of my nerves. UGH!

In the meantime, the doctor suggested trying to switch over to a gluten free diet as well as watching his sugar intake. So....I guess I have a lot of homework to do. I just went to Kroger & bought pretty much anything that said gluten free on it. :0) If anyone has some helpful advice or tips regarding any of this, I would REALLY appreciate it! I just want my little guy to feel better!!! THANKS!!!

Here is what I got at my quick Kroger shopping trip. With a 4 year old in tow, it was hard for me to read labels or focus, but I guess this is a start.