I am at my wit's end and am really depressed right now so I will try to get this out. My son who is now about 9 1/2 months has been having very noticeable digestive issues for a little over a month. I say noticeable becasue I'm sure this has been going on longer I just haven't put two and two together until now. Plus it has become much worse since starting solids. Anyway, he is mainly breastfed, no formula and we've been pretty unsuccessful with solids. I started him on organic brown rice cereal at 5 months and he never really took to it well. After about a month or so of trying cereal I started him on veggies and fruit; we tried peas first which he gagged and cried. I then tried carrots with a similar reaction but not quite as bad. Both of these early trys were homemade. I then decided to buy some organic jarred baby food and he still didn't care for it much but managed to eat a couple very tiny bites. I kept trying to give him solids for months with no success. About 5 weeks ago I thought maybe he'd like to try some oatmeal; that maybe he'd like that better than the rice. Well he didn't and the next day he had very rumbly intestines, lots of gas and blood in his stool. His BM's have always been watery and mucousy so it's hard to determine what's normal and what's diarrhea but they are now loud and explosive. In between feeding him jarred food I was giving him bites of my food here and there like apple and toast (wheat, sourdough) and I did give him some plain yogurt. He had the yogurt the week prior to when this started. So far he's had blood in his stool about 6 times or so and the last couple times it's been really hard to see. I have to look VERY close and there will be itty bitty specks throughout the diaper. Somedays he is fine and other's he is in discomfort. I did take him to the pediatrician who did a stool culture on him for parasites and pathogens which came back normal. She mentioned gluten intolerance and possible celiac but she did not diagnose him with it. She said to not give him any gluten containing foods. Well in my search on celiac I decided that I would go gluten free myself because he is obviously being affected by what I eat which I am now in tune to, however, I am having the hardest time figuring out what is setting him off. Like is it gluten or something else. I haven't eaten any gluten to my knowledge the last 4 days and I know that's not long enough yet to see a positive response, but he's been pretty bad off today with his tummy. I did start him on a probiotic (which I have always taken myself) a little over a week ago. It does contain maltodextrin but the company said that it is either rice or corn starch derived. I also pretty much switched all my wheat products to rice products so now it makes me wonder if it's really rice that is affecting him and maybe it was a coincidence with the oatmeal. The thing I'm also wondering about which occured at the same time as the oatmeal is that my hubby accidentally put florasone cream on his bottom instead of his normal cream. It's a homeopathic cream that contains cardiospermum. I don't know if this could cause intestinal issues or not. As a young baby he used to spit up a lot but it was never excessive or projectile but he used to fuss immediately after nursing and would arch his back. For the longest time I didn't understand why he would do that until I started reading about reflux. I did start giving him Tummy Soother by Gentle Naturals which seemed to help a lot. I still give that to him off and on. He has never slept through the night and still wakes a few times. For the longest time I just associated this with teething since he got his first 2 teeth at 5 months. He now has 8 and I'm pretty sure he's working on his molars. I was giving him teething tablets for the longest time (I'd break for a few days here and there) but I stopped everything when these symptoms started. I just started up the Tummy Soother and plain Chamomile pellets last week when he needs them, as well as the probiotic. He was also getting Tylenol and Motrin occassionally, which I hate giving to him, but it seemed to help him sleep a little better. I just don't know what to do; I feel hopeless and distressed that he has digestive issues. Even from before I got pregnant I have always tried to do everything "right" when it comes to health and nutrition. I eat fairly well and choose organic when I can. I eat lots of veggies and fruit, avoid bad oils, drink lots of water, etc. Does anyone know what I can do or what this can be? If it is celiac can this be cured and what causes it? I know it's a heriditary thing (which I know of no one in our family who has it) but I also just briefly read about it being associated with heavy metals. How could my son have been exposed to excessive heavy metals? Oh and my son is 100% un-vaccinated. Well I think I got it all, sorry my post is sort of all over the place. Please help! Thank you so much!

Sincerely,
Nicole