December 19, 2004
Celiac
Question from Bakersfield, California, USA:
My son has type 1 diabetes. He had abdominal pain and a bloating, gassy feeling. His diabetic doctor ran numerous tests. Everything came back okay except for the antibodies for celiac, which were at 9. He is scheduled for a biopsy. How dangerous is it to have diabetes and celiac at the same time? It would seem to me that without his body’s ability to take in nutrients, we will never get his insulin on a stable level. He is all over the place right now. Is constant glucose monitoring the only answer? We used to test four to five times a day, now we are at seven to 10 times a day.
Answer:
It is common for kids with type 1 to have celiac disease. Some say that even up to 5% of kids with type 1 have celiac. Having celiac disease will require some changes in the foods your child eats, but, in no way, will it limit his overall nutrition. For related information, see our web page on Celiac as well as previous Celiac questions. Your testing frequency on his new dietary recommendations will be similar to the frequency to which you are now accustomed.
MSB
