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> My son has been gluten-free for 4 years now.  I find that an inadvertent
> ingestion of gluten does not lead to an immediate reaction in terms of
> diarrhea.  Rather we usually know he's had gluten because within 24 hours
> he has a personality change.  He goes from being a happy-go-lucky boy to an
> irritable, whiny brat.  I've seen him have a crying spell that lasts for an
> hour and when asked what is the problem he responds with 'I don't know but
>I can't stop crying'.  Anyone else with a Celiac child have this reaction?

My son also has a personality change when he ingests gluten, which occurs
before the change in stool (light green and white, sometimes water like,
sometimes semi-solid).  When he first went on the diet (3 to 4 years
ago) both reactions were quite swift.  Now he becomes unreasonable and cranky
first (within 24 hours - it difficult at times to tract down the substance)
- sometimes I just don't know if he got a hold of something or if he is tired
or if he is just out to annoy the world!  He will throw temper tantrums over
very minor things (ie: please go get your shoes; or be careful not to do x)
and sometimes cry uncontrollably.  His stool changes within three days (I can
usually relate this back to his behavior to figure out when he probably was
exposed to the gluten).

Luckily this doesn't happen often anymore!

Christine Childs
The University of Montana
Missoula MT