Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research Gifted and gut issues/intolerances

Just popping back with another thought. I do agree with Polarbear that parents are desperate to see results, no-one tries a diet like this because it's fun. But honestly it was completely clear in my family that DD#1, DD#3 and I had a salicylate problem and DD#2 & DH did not, and likewise all the other foods that some (or all) of us are now excluding. The diet was painful to do but the answers were really quite clear.

Similarly it is abundantly clear that DD#2 has the classic magic switch response to ADHD medication. There is absolutely no question that it profoundly impacts her functioning. DD#1 possibly there were some mild fuzzy effects, but despite our desperately wanting to help her, it was fairly straightforward to look at the overt change in one and the mild fuzzy possible changes in the other and say "Clearly not the right call for this particularly child to continue with medication, it's not doing anything/enough."

I find it interesting that my child who had the biggest gain from diet had no appreciable gain from medication.

my DS6 has leaky gut, it is tolerated to a point...he is not lactose intolerant. i think some people confuse the 2? for him, after having cassein- you can almost time it to the behavioral change- it can be a little freaky. i mean- if he has a LOT of gluten in his belly and then ingests the cassein- you can literally watch him disappear into his own opiate void.

for him, we mostly avoid MILK, i'm not sure if this is a true thing, but for him, we note the protein breaks down differently in cheese, it is only when he has had milk specifically within a certain time frame of ingesting gluten- that he has very specific behavioral changes...(ok icecream with the cassein AND sugar will do it too!)
ok, so we avoid the cassein. especially if he's ingested gluten.

i want him to experience cupcakes and icecream... i try to go as organic as i can, and as gluten/cassein free as i can, but yes, he does consume gluten.
he mostly drinks water, but also drinks almond or soy.

he always ate very healthy, but then one day became very picky. he lists fish as his favorite food. and would happily eat it most days. actually he does! (i know horrible for lead and mercury i've read?)
but
he is considerably healthy, tall & nice healthy weight, also very active. i mention this because he was having horribly horrible gut issues. severe pain and then he sorta just stopped eating. i mean, everything that he had in the past, he became the fish eater. he stopped drinking milk on his own, then juices. only eats 1fruit-banana. eats sweet potato/broccoli/spinach. and all his behaviors and gut issues went away.

so my thoughts are as long as he is strong & healthy? as long as behaviors are ok? then i am okay with whatever he wants to eat.

and more to topic--- yes, every @2E child i know has gut issues, and yes, every gifted child i know also seems to have some type of sensitivity or food allergy... these moms of gifted kids tend to word it differently, they don't say outright "leaky gut" or even say "gut" but say the child is sensitive to some foods.

I don't know exactly what is wrong with my sons gut. The doctors say it is (I forget but it is stretched bowel due to constipation and resulting lack of sensation and soiling). They say he will grow out of it and it is getting better. Also there is probably a hereditary component on his fathers side.

That said, it seems to be worse if he eat gluten, and if he eats too much not great food (at birthday parties), blue food colouring is odd too. I think he just has a sensitive gut which is easily overwhelmed by some foods and stress.

Hey Puffin, I think you're talking about encopresis.

Has Hirschprung's disease been ruled out? I know of kids with similar symptoms who had short-segment Hirschprung's and were diagnosed very late. It is rare but might be worth considering.

My son has Hirschsprung's disease. While it is possible to be diagnosed later in life, it is really rare. The children who are diagnosed later are very sick, with lots of failure to thrive issues, multiple hospitalizations for serious conditions, etc. The top specialists in the country on Hirschsprung's disease will say that it is nearly impossible to not be diagnosed in infancy or during the first year of life given all that we know about it.

While you can certainly read about the disease and see if it fits, I would not go too far down this road unless your son shows the following symptoms: distended belly, chronic foul liquid stools alternating with constipation, failure to gain weight, stools that smell worse than any frat house, anemia.

I don't want to sound harsh or be taken the wrong way. I am just a mom who has seen too many people throw out Hirschsprung's as an explanation for constipation when in reality, kids are extremely sick if they have undiagnosed Hirschsprung's disease. I have seen too many moms worry unnecessarily.

My son has Hirschprung's disease as well. I agree that it is very unusual that a child would not be diagnosed, however, I have met, IRL, more than one child whose symptoms were not severe enough to require hospitalization, but that did interfere significantly with quality of life, and that were diagnosed at >5 yrs. If the affected segment is very short, this can happen. A dr. would certainly not do a biopsy unless it was indicated, but given the difference having a diagnosis made for the kids I know I hate to see anyone go through what they did prior to that point.

Just FYI: my son has Down syndrome as well, and while still rare it is more common in kids with Down syndrome. Perhaps in kids with Ds who do not have severe symptoms early the diagnosis is delayed because the symptoms are attributed to low muscle tone in Down syndrome rather than other possibilities.

Both kids (1 year and 3 years) and I have very sensitive systems - to the point where eating at potlucks (different spice palates or foods we aren't used to) tend to make us sick. DD is also currently sensitive/intolerant to stone fruits (cherries, peaches, plums, etc.)It's not considered an allergy, but just a sensitivity.

Since I'm new, I should add that none of us have been officially deemed 'gifted'. In college, I did find my IQ is within the 1st tier range and both kids are show signs of at least 1st tier as well, although I suspect DD will be higher up than that. We'll wait for Kindergarten at least for any assessment.