I decided to get my two kids tested for Delayed Onset Allergies. (Igg) allergies. There is a lot of controversy about this, and many MD's do not believe that it can have a real effect on a person, nor is there any reliable test. I did some reading and chose a lab that has been reviewed favorably.

I decided to do it because;
1. Food elimination diet do not cause any "harm" to my child.
2. I should see results fairly quickly after removing the allergic foods from their diet.
3. While not cheap ($300 per test), I am already spending tremendous amounts of money on therapy etc.
4. My oldest daughter is so skinny. I had suspected that she is probably allergic so something.
5. They youngest does seem to have problems after eating certain foods, but I could never figure it out.

So, I decided it was worth a try.

I got the results this morning and they are very interesting. As expected the older, skinny daughter is allergic to many foods, and the sensitivity is very very high. She is allergic to wheat, milk, and eggs. Plus some other misc stuff. The youngest is allergic to milk, and brewers yeast. The brewers yeast is the interesting one, because it is in vinegar, ketchup and salad dressings. That matches the foods that had been suspect, but we were trying to pin it on Tomatos, but sometimes she would have mood problems after eating a salad that only had lettuce and cellery in it.

We will start eliminating a few foods next week, and I will let you know how it goes.

Interesting! I too am in the process of elimination diet with my daughter, we tried the milk thing for three weeks with a little bit of success, I found a bio med doc and since they are not covered under insurance I am looking at some heafty bills, but if it works, it will be WELL WORTH IT. I just finished the book "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics, the 4-A Disorders" (Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies). It was very interesting and dealt with all the food allergies that cause the "symptoms" of the mentioned disorders. I hope it all works out, and if nothing else, keep ME posted, cuz I am very intersted in this information.

It definately seems like food allergies could be a potential cause for some of my daughters symptoms. Both of my kids had problems with formula when they were babies, and the older one was very slow to accept new foods. Lots of diarea problems, spitting up, etc.

I dont believe in any of those homeopathic pills or herbal treatments. They all seem like a scam.

I just purchased that book! I was looking for books with recipes that would fit with my new kids diets, I saw that one and It looks interesting. Mineral difficiencies, food dyes, etc. They all are potential problems in my mind.

I have also read through some of the research studies and test that have been performed regarding food allergies, etc. There is very little research done, and the ones that were done, were flawed in my opinion.

On a natural selection note. The foods that people are rarely allergic to; meat, vegetables and fruits, were probably what our ancient ancestors ate. So, the allergies make sense in a Darwinian sense.

Most common allergens; Milk(no mammals except humans drink it as adults), seafood, eggs, wheat, nuts. Don't think the Peking man ate much of those things.

I thought about doing an elimination diet, but decided I wanted a road map to help me. (IGG allergy test). Plus, I never would have picked Brewers yeast if I had not done the test.

It will be a busy weekend, filling the pantry.

I'd be interested to know what you find as well, and how it's going along the way.

Best of luck with it all, I know that Neon and I are both in you and your family's corner. DS had dairy and wheat allergies as infant/toddler. It was very hard. We did a blood test. Hmmm, now he has ADHD and IBS with GERD, which are precursers to other gastrointestinal issues. Though, he's 14 and never got full support from family so here here he is with it all. Point to stress here, must have full support of the family, change the way you all eat to support and encourage the ones that medically need it. I applaud your efforts to dig and find answers ouside of the box (or bottle if that is applicable.) :-) Best of luck with the endeavers.

Google NAET for a fantastic allergy elimation treatment!

So true, mine never took to formulas, the regular milk, nor the cereal mix stuff and was as colicy (sic?) as could be for the longest time, I also noticed after obtaining her medical records that on 3 seperate visits (within the first two years of her life) she was given multiple vaccinations and after those visits, were visits to the emergency room for GREEN diarreha as well as excessive vomiting and high fever. I dont believe in homeopathic either, just another way to sell expensive stuff that doesnt work!!! And I would MUCH rather find a way to make her healthy than to feed her the 5 pills a day that her doctor wanted her on.

That book is chock full of information MGDAD!!! I was quite impressed with it. Right now there are quite a few people who dont believe in this "food allergy" stuff, but screw em, I know for a fact something is going on with my daughters body and adderall xr is not correcting it, neither did the concerta, the strattera, the tenex, etc. Oddly enough since she's been off milk, her facial tics have disappered!!!!! (I'M JUST DARING SOMEONE TO TELL ME I'M CRAZY FOR TRYING THIS!!!!!) The way I see it is, all the over processed crap we ingest is destorying our insides as well as the rest of our make up as humans, like you said we were meant to eat NATURAL foods, not lecithin, not mono sodium glutimate, nor crap that we cant pronounce on the package we pick up. Like the commercial says "if you cant pronounce it, DONT EAT IT"

Is allergy testing for foods, preservatives, etc... done on blood, or is skin testing also part of the process? Can a pediatrician order these labs or must it be an allergist? I am interested, but the books I've read that recommend cutting all possible allergens out of my child's diet at the same time, and then adding back in one by one, are overwhelming to me. I would much prefer to target foods for elimination. My daughter eats a fairly healthy diet (not a lot of processed foods), but we do eat milk, eggs, wheat, etc....

M1229,

The mainstream food allergies cause a Histamine reaction. They are called IgE allergies. They can be detected with skin prick testing. The allergies that we tested for are called Food Intollerance Allergies or IgG allergies. I was like you, I wanted to know what my children were allergic to. Just doing an elimination diet, blindly, seemed too difficult.

This test is done by collecting a few drops of blood from a pin prick on the finger. Then the lab uses the blood to test against 96 foods to determine if there is an IgG allergic reaction to any of the foods. Many doctors do not believe in it, but I thought it was worth a try. We shall see.

Many of the labs are unreliable because the tests are not repeatable. The one that I chose, has been shown to have repeatable results.

Ever try to make pancakes without wheat, eggs or dairy. Sheesh.....

When you know what the problem foods are, check out Bob's Red Mill grains and mixes. They have a wonderuful assortment of goodies. Many of their products are found in the grocers now, or you can order online. There are also many other businesses that cater to wheat/egg/dairy issues as well, so don't despair. We did the wheat/dairy thing for a long time. If cow's milk turns up, can you try goat's milk and goat prodcuts? I just heard today from a lactose-intolerant about goat ice cream.

Hi MGDAD,

Interesting that you mention your older daughter being allergic to wheat, milk and egss. Have you had her tested for Celiac disease? These are common allergies (particularly the wheat) for someone with that disease - and they are often skinny and have diarrhea/bowel issues. A friend of mine has it. It took them years to figure out what the problem was, now she is on a celiac diet and looks great (not like an emaciated anorexic anymore). I just thought I would pass this on, because if you are simply looking at this as an allergy - you might want to find out more about it - in case it is celiac - because there is more to the disease than an allergy.

Just my two cents,

At Heart

Thanks, at heart. For now the whole food elimination diet has been stopped (by my wife). She wants more evidence that it is real. Coincidentally I have been looking into the whole "celiac desease" issue and have decided to ask my daughters pediatrician to test her for it. At least I know that MD's believe that Celiac disease exists. Most do not believe in Food intolerance allergies. I will let you know what happens.

Great MGDAD,

Let me know what you find out. Not all doctors are extremely familiar with the disease, and if she has it, you will want her to see a gastroenterologist.

Good luck,

At Heart

PS - Speaking of food allergies - I have often wished I was allergic to chocolate or sweets - but alas, I am not. I was allergic to almost everything but food as a child, and had allergy shots for 10 years where I was finally able to develop a tollerance for everything they could give me shots for. Unfortunately there are no shots for being allergic to cigarettes...

At heart, I do indeed wish I was allergic to cigarettes too!!
Mine is making out well on the dairy elimination diet, sleep has improved, overall health has improved, she is eating much, much better now, she is stimming alot though. Not quite sure on that one, was hoping we could get past the meds for good, but might not be a choice. She mainly dances, and I mean DANCES hard for like an hour to an hour and a half, then I offer her a caffienated soda!

Hi Neon,

I guess in some ways I am glad that I am allergic to Cigarette smoke. I absolutely hate cigarettes (I feel they were responsible for my mother's death). I did hate spending so much of my time as a child in the hospital because of my parents continued smoking.

Hey Neon - what prompted you to go on a dairy free diet? My friend with Celiac's disease is doing so much better on her gluten/wheat/milk free diet.

How old is your daughter?

At Heart

My daughter is 10, and believe it or not her counselor (private) led me to eliminating dairy from her diet. I read your post about the celiac and was wondering if I could atleast get her doctor to get that test done. (he's more interested in putting her on 5 meds a day than he is finding out whats causing the problems!!!) Unfortunatley, I smoke about a pack a day, and my Mom too died from cigarettes, she was 62 and passed away last July, and sadly none of us in the family has been able to quit smoking even after seeing what we saw! My daughter gives me the devil for it, and sometimes will even come to me and say "put it out Mom, you dont need it", God how I wish it was that easy to do!! (have tried quitting 5 times already!)

They can just do a test for IgG sensitivity? (e.g. Immunoglobulin G)

http://pim.medicine.dal.ca/igg.htm

That sounds like the easiest way.

---------
NB re: SMOKING

Smoking is linked to LDs and ADHD developing in kids growing brains.

Almost every kid I've known whose Mom smoked during pregnancy has had LDs or Hyperactivity or had to drop out of high school/college.

It's bad news. IQ scores are 10 points lower or so than average. :(

Carbon Monoxide steals Oxygen from the Baby's growing Brain. :(

It's really important that:
(A) pregnant mom's aren't smoking, AND
(B) that kids _never have to _live in smoke_ or _drive in cars in smoke_.

Opening windows doesn't do enough, even if there is a breeze or fan.

Living in Second Hand Smoke pollution is way more dangerous that smoking from the cigarette itself.

(Like: 300% more Carbon Monoxide, according to LA Coroner Cyril Wecht !!)

---------

Please Smoke Outside...

Wow, that is stunning information. I do smoke in the house (and have used the "well the windows are open" excuse) but not in the car with her. I didnt smoke when I was pregnant with her either. Should have just stayed smoke free at that point!
She has an appt coming up the 13th, maybe I can lean her doctor towards testing her for the IgG sensitivites. Might help accomplish alittle more than I've been able to, going through this blindly. And of course, I need to seriously realize what I am exposing her to as well. Guess I should make my own appt and see if I can get on the new thing for smoking, its called Chantix and some people at work have used it to quit.

Oops, her appt is actually the 26th not the 13th!

Wow, that is stunning information. I do smoke in the house (and have used the "well the windows are open" excuse) but not in the car with her. I didnt smoke when I was pregnant with her either. Should have just stayed smoke free at that point!
She has an appt coming up the 13th, maybe I can lean her doctor towards testing her for the IgG sensitivites. Might help accomplish alittle more than I've been able to, going through this blindly. And of course, I need to seriously realize what I am exposing her to as well. Guess I should make my own appt and see if I can get on the new thing for smoking, its called Chantix and some people at work have used it to quit.

Neon,

You might want to try hypnosis for quiting smoking. I know a few people who have been successfull that way. They had smoked for over 20 years.

Since your daughter is so skinny, try and get her tested for celiac disease. Although the test that the MD's us is very invasive. (sample from the stomach). Try and get them to do the blood test that tests for certain enzymes related to celiac disease.

Good luck.

I have considered that one, of course the medical/insurance guru's who do our insurance wont cover it (as usual, keep the pharmacutical companies in business!) So that was a no go, which is why I considered the chantix. As for the celiac, yes, would like to get some type of blood testing done, no matter how they have to go about it. I've done alot of reading (the book) and web searching on the subject and if I can just figure out what is triggering her symptoms then yes, I can change that. Hopefully without the meds!!! God willing I will find a way for both of us!

Neon,

The hypnosis takes only one visit. It costs about $150. I am sure you spend that much on cigarretes in a couple weeks. I dont think you can use money as an excuse for hypnosis treatment. I can push because I am just some dude on the internet.

Good luck.

Hi Neon600 and MGDAD,

As for being tested, if your daughter is underweight, and has frequent diarrhea - you should be taking her to see a gastroenterologist - once there, suggest that you have concerns that she could have Celiac disease. I doubt that they would do an invasive test first - rightly so. If the blood tests (which any insurance company should agree to as long as she has symptoms supporting the need for testing) show that there could be celiac - then that can justify the more invasive gastroscopy and biopsy. My son went through this last year at the age of 9 - he thought it was just fine - didn't bother him in the least.

As for smoking neon - my dad quit - but only after having witnessed my mother die in front of him - coughing up blood - essentially drowning in her own blood, because her pulmonary artery burst (lung cancer) while he was driving her to the hospital. I can't imagine the nightmares he suffered from. While I wish my mom could have quit - and so did my siblings - only one of my three smoking siblings actually quit (he switched to chew for a while, but ended up with gum disease - so quit that also).

While I will never disagree with someone saying that smoking, and second hand smoke are horrible for everyone concerned, I am not sure I know where QueensU Girl got her info:


Smoking is linked to LDs and ADHD developing in kids growing brains.

Almost every kid I've known whose Mom smoked during pregnancy has had LDs or Hyperactivity or had to drop out of high school/college.

It's bad news. IQ scores are 10 points lower or so than average. :(

Carbon Monoxide steals Oxygen from the Baby's growing brain

I was born to a smoking mother - two months prematurely - 3 lbs 11 oz, and had a very horriffic start in life. I was in the hospital, more than I was out of it for the first 7 years of my life. My parents continued to smoke - outside of the house when I was home, but inside the home when I was in the hospital - and ironically the furniture and carpet, and drapes would hold enough of the smoke to cause me to have an allergic reaction and asthma attack when I got home. My mom never quit for more than a couple of months a few times. Whenever things became stressful she turned back to cigarettes.

I know many, many people who were born to smoking mothers who successfully completed college and have great careers and successful lives. While I hate cigarettes and everything about them, I personally don't know where those observations have come from (that people born to smokers have a lower IQ - I can tell you that I certainly don't - as my IQ is much above normal, as are two of my siblings. My brother who has/had ADHD did indeed drop out of school - but he is the only one of 5 who did. I would be interested to know if there are any studies - I do know that smoking causes low birth weight babies - and babies who develop more frequent URI's and ear infections - but had never heard anything about hyperactivity or LD's being linked to it. I would assume that those would come more from mothers who drink alcohol (such as is suggested by fetal alcohol syndrome).

Anyhow - having worked to obtain a hypnotherapy certification - but never having finished it - I can say that hypnotherapy is worth a shot - but I would try the Chantix first. I know of 3 people that have successfully quit in my neighborhood with this drug.

I wish you the best,

At Heart

LOL, I think you got me there! And yes, I do spend more than that on cigarettes!!!!!!



Neon,

The hypnosis takes only one visit. It costs about $150. I am sure you spend that much on cigarretes in a couple weeks. I dont think you can use money as an excuse for hypnosis treatment. I can push because I am just some dude on the internet.

Good luck.

Have you checked to see if your insurance will pay for the Chantix? I think the insurance companies should jump on anything that works for people to help them stop smoking - but I know how many of them are - resist spending a dime until they absolutely have to.

My little one weighed 5 lbs 14 oz at birth, however my Mom had three kids and all three of us barley weighed over 6 lbs, "smallness" just seems to run in our family!
My daughter too has a huge IQ, so I dont see where ADHD had affected that part of her, Ive posted before that I'm amazed at how "book" smart she is, but how little common sense she has. (not being mean mind you, but that seems to be the path she walks) She just doesnt seem to understand that if she turns the sugar bowl upside down, the lid will come off, and sugar will go everywhere!!!! She literally said, "I didnt see that coming" ?????
Would have to get a referral to the gastroenterologist, so would still have to hope the doc supports this option, I certainly hope she doesnt have to go the more evasive testing, she will freak out on me! She will freak bad enough just having to give up the blood for the blood test!
Interestingly, I too havent heard that info, but thought I just hadnt bothered to learn cuz I do smoke and of course am in denial about all its effects even though I've seen them.
Oddly enough my Dad quit smoking for 15 years and then started again (during a stressful time as well) and has not been able to quit since, even after living with Mom daily while she was dying from it. Its an addiction beyond addictions as far as I'm concerned, I've been able to break other addictions (which I wont go into here) but have struggled the hardest and most with quitting smoking. Last year I went three days and thought I was gonna die from it, I was an emotional and physical wreck from it. I could not believe the hold it had on me and still has on me.



Hi Neon600 and MGDAD,

As for being tested, if your daughter is underweight, and has frequent diarrhea - you should be taking her to see a gastroenterologist - once there, suggest that you have concerns that she could have Celiac disease. I doubt that they would do an invasive test first - rightly so. If the blood tests (which any insurance company should agree to as long as she has symptoms supporting the need for testing) show that there could be celiac - then that can justify the more invasive gastroscopy and biopsy. My son went through this last year at the age of 9 - he thought it was just fine - didn't bother him in the least.

As for smoking neon - my dad quit - but only after having witnessed my mother die in front of him - coughing up blood - essentially drowning in her own blood, because her pulmonary artery burst (lung cancer) while he was driving her to the hospital. I can't imagine the nightmares he suffered from. While I wish my mom could have quit - and so did my siblings - only one of my three smoking siblings actually quit (he switched to chew for a while, but ended up with gum disease - so quit that also).

While I will never disagree with someone saying that smoking, and second hand smoke are horrible for everyone concerned, I am not sure I know where QueensU Girl got her info:


I was born to a smoking mother - two months prematurely - 3 lbs 11 oz, and had a very horriffic start in life. I was in the hospital, more than I was out of it for the first 7 years of my life. My parents continued to smoke - outside of the house when I was home, but inside the home when I was in the hospital - and ironically the furniture and carpet, and drapes would hold enough of the smoke to cause me to have an allergic reaction and asthma attack when I got home. My mom never quit for more than a couple of months a few times. Whenever things became stressful she turned back to cigarettes.

I know many, many people who were born to smoking mothers who successfully completed college and have great careers and successful lives. While I hate cigarettes and everything about them, I personally don't know where those observations have come from (that people born to smokers have a lower IQ - I can tell you that I certainly don't - as my IQ is much above normal, as are two of my siblings. My brother who has/had ADHD did indeed drop out of school - but he is the only one of 5 who did. I would be interested to know if there are any studies - I do know that smoking causes low birth weight babies - and babies who develop more frequent URI's and ear infections - but had never heard anything about hyperactivity or LD's being linked to it. I would assume that those would come more from mothers who drink alcohol (such as is suggested by fetal alcohol syndrome).

Anyhow - having worked to obtain a hypnotherapy certification - but never having finished it - I can say that hypnotherapy is worth a shot - but I would try the Chantix first. I know of 3 people that have successfully quit in my neighborhood with this drug.

I wish you the best,

At Heart

Our insurance WILL pay for the chantix, quite a few people at work have quit smoking that way, I do know two who unfortunatley went back to smoking (during a stressful time) and wish they hadnt. So they say they are going to try again.

Have you checked to see if your insurance will pay for the Chantix? I think the insurance companies should jump on anything that works for people to help them stop smoking - but I know how many of them are - resist spending a dime until they absolutely have to.

That is great - I hope you really want to quit - because that is when it will be most effective.

I really do At Heart, my Mom smoked 20 yrs longer than I will if I can quit now. I want to live to see my daughter graduate high school, college, get married, have kids etc. I will be older than my Mom was when my daughter does graduate high school and if I keep smoking like I do, I may not live long enough to see that. I think one of the reasons my daughter gets so upset with me is because she knows that it was cigarettes that killed my Mom, and she is scared to get close to my Father because she is afraid he is going to die from smoking too. That in itself is enough reason to want to quit. However, the tobacco, nicotine, whatever it is thats in them, is more powerful than anything I've ever been addicted to, when I went to smoking classes last year, they asked why do you want to quit, and the first thing I said was, "I want to live long enough to see my daughter graduate" because I wont if I keep smoking. And yes, I HAVE TO WANT TO otherwise I'm not gonna make it.

That is great - I hope you really want to quit - because that is when it will be most effective.

While I will never disagree with someone saying that smoking, and second hand smoke are horrible for everyone concerned, I am not sure I know where QueensU Girl got her info:This is just one link:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/tobac-tabac/body-corps/preg-gros/natal-nataux_e.html

People with some brain differences such as ADHD or Schizophrenia, for example, are more prone to cigarette smoking / addiction. I wasn't able to quit smoking until I starting taking Wellbutrin and I have been smoke free for two years.

Hi IMNAPL. I looked at your link - it didn't hold any surprises for me - except the one line about children of mothers who smoke may have more difficulty with reading and mathmatics and related skills. I am not sure how they measured that - and where the 10 point less IQ comes in. Granted I think that smoking while you are pregnant, and around your children is reprehensible - but I have never really considered that smoking could affect your intellect - I certainly know it can affect your physical health - perhaps that is part of the whole picture - kids of smokers are sick more often - ending up missing school and thus missing opportunities to learn...

As for people with Schizophrenia - it has long been known in mental health circles that looking at a cross section of people with mental health issues will yeild a huge percentage higher of smokers, compared to people without mental health issues. So in essence, if you work at a Psychiatric inpatient facility, many more than half of your patients smoke (and or have family that smokes). I used to tell my mom and dad that it was apparent to me that smoking must make you crazy. Too bad that smoking killed my mom instead.

Congratulations on quitting. Never having smoked, I can't say that I really understand how hard it is - but I truly believe (as many other scholars and researchers do) that cigarettes are the most addictive things on the planet. I am glad that Wellbutrin worked for you.

My daughter does not have diarrhea, but of course is very underweight. I think I will go an see our Dr. again about this.

I did find a Dr through the Autistic Research Institute website. She is nearby in Pleasanton.

www.autism.com (http://www.autism.com/)

She has her own website.

http://developmentalspectrums.com/

While she does not list ADHD as something that she treats, she considers it to be part of the "autism spectrum".

Unfortunately, appointments are 3 months out. First appointment is 2 hours and it is not cheap. While on the phone with them they wanted a brief rundown of symptoms and treatments. I mentioned the food allergy test and they said that I should immediately implement it. While eliminating everything that she is intollerant of would be extremely difficult, I got my wife to agree to removing one thing at a time. We will start with dairy. We are going to eliminate it for the whole family. Starting Thursday July 5. My youngest turns 7 on July 4, so we figured it would be easier to start after her party.

While some of the treatments seem kind of out there (hyperbaric chambers?) I am definately on board with the, food allergy, nutritional deficiencies, heavy metals poisoning, and yeast overgrowth. Anything beyond that will take some convincing.

There are some videos of autistic kids that have been "cured" with these treatments. I have not looked at them (bandwidth issues), but they might be interesting.

I hope everything works out MGDAD, it is rather intimidating but her health will improve! You already know the changes I've seen in mine just by eliminating dairy. hang in there!!!!

Hi! I am a newbie in the adhd world with my son, but quite experienced in food allergies, chemical intolerance and simmilar. I am NOT a doctor, just someone who has experienced that firsthand.
I am celiac and allergic to 18 things myself and my son is allergic to 4. I was overweight and never had diarreha when I was diagnosed, so don't rely on weight or diarreha for a diagnosis!!! Don't stop wheat until you get the testing or it will come false negative and you will never know.
Regarding the food elimination diet, this is my experience:
To find out what is really giving you problem and the degree, you need to do a rotation diet. (really, no shortcuts) Sounds like a pain, it is a pain, but after the first week it gets easy
You can find a lot about rotation diets on the internet, in my experience, rotating every four days is more than enough, althoug some people suugest up to 7.
Get yourself a magnet board and all the magnet stickers you can find. (frugal way: white stickers on top of magnet advertising) Cut them in pieces where you can write a food group: dairy, flour, eggs, apples, grapes, soy.... Divide the magnet board in 4 and stick all the foods that you think you dont have any problem within four different days. (planning a 4day menu) That is going to be your basic menu. Try it for four days. If it goes fine, introduce 1 new food every four days and eat it only in that day (don't eat that food the other 3 days). If four days go by without problems add a second food.
In about a month you would have tried about 8 foods, its pretty fast and gives your body enough time to react.
If you have problems with one food, remove it. You may have allergy or intolerance
If for example, on day 2 you had apples, but you did not eat them, then you can relocate it on day 3, and you keep it on day 3. Or you can put a bunch of food aside to add on any day that you feel like it, just wait 4 days to eat it again (that's why magnets are necessary on this one)
The hard part is figure out 4 days of food, after that it gets easier because you do not have to "think about what to cook for the next day"
When you figure it out, go to an allergist and ask them for the skin prick test for those foods only. You can go and ask them to tes for 100's but gets to expensive... You will need the medical certificate (for allergies) to get food inside theme parks, airplanes and to get cooperation at school.

Once you know the allergies, I may be able to give you some pointers on the cooking.
It's not the end of the world, just takes practice

Hope this helps

I am celiac and allergic to 18 things myself and my son is allergic to 4. I was overweight and never had diarreha when I was diagnosed, so don't rely on weight or diarreha for a diagnosis!!!Good point. My friend who struggles with being overweight was just recently diagnosed with celiac disease.