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Hi Rolando,

My son has attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADHD).
An article posted by Don Wiss on the attention deficit newsgroup
alerted me to the connection between celiac and ADHD. Tom has
been diagnosed with ADHD since he was about 2. He also had a "wheat
allergy" which he "outgrew" when he was about 4. (My brother
was a diagnosed "celiac baby." he "outgrew" his disease when
he was about 4. My father had diarreah so bad when he was
a child that he had rickets. Sounds like a connection to me.) Anyway...

In my *very* humble opinion, you could be seeing some ADHD behavior
in your daughter which may not be linked to her celiac.
I would think, from the information I have been reading here, that
ADHD in celiacs may be caused by malabsorption of nutrients due to damage
in the gut. On a gluten-free diet with healing in the small intestine,
her celiac-related hyperactivity would likely have subsided.

But ADHD is most often caused by a "minor" brain dysfunction.
My son's psychiatrist does not feel that my son's ADHD is caused
by celiac (although no one has suggested a diagnostic work-up).

You might want to consider having her evaluated for ADHD. When
diagnosed early, there are lots of successful treatments including
medication, counseling, special teaching techniques which can
REALLY help these kids. Left undiagnosed, these kids get discouraged
very quickly, have LOTS of discipline and behavior problems, and
suffer tremendously as a result of destroyed self-esteem. As a parent
of an ADHHHD child, I have suffered so much frustration and guilt
that it is almost impossible to describe.

I acknowledge that this is an emotional and controversial subject. I
hope that you, Rolando, do not take offense at anything here. I also
hope that others reading this message will supply additional info
about the relationship between ADHD and celiac, which I would greatly
appreciate. I offer this as my personal experience and opinion. I
am NOT an expert in any of this.

Tom is almost 13 now. As a result of his treatment program, he has
changed from a depressed, withdrawn, hostile child into a well-adjusted,
average student. He has much more intellectual potential, but is
doing so well, who cares? At one point, his special education teacher
advised hospitalization and predicted that he would never live
a "normal" life.

Please, no one "flame" me. I realize that many of you may disagree,
and I am eager to hear your opinions and so, I would guess, is Rolando.
But I have offered fairly sensitive information here. Please don't suggest
that I am a bad parent and that it just takes "firmness," "consistency,"
and "patience" to treat a hyperactive child. I've heard it all and have
worked hard to overcome the guilt caused by watching my child suffer.

I will not enter into debate about this, because I am not an expert.
This is my experience, and that is undebatable. I took a risk posting this
because people have requested to see the answers to questions.

Rolando, I would be very happy to exchange more information with you
and wish you the very best with your daughter. Please accept this
message in the spirit it is offered: information, compassion,
good will, and a fair amount of trepidation.

Regards to all,
Julie