Lack of Zinc

[CDJ]

Does anyone else have a child with crohns who lacks zinc?
Josh has been having problems with his face for a few months and we have been told different things and tried various treatments, but nothing has worked. Before his diagnoses he had orafacial granulomastosis, where his face was very red, sore and covered in blisters. He had this for around 18 months before being diagnoised, but once he was put onto steriods it all went away and until now he hasn't had anymore skin problems. I had thought that this was starting up again, as all symptoms so far are so similar to previous ones and his face is really very sore at the moment [ no blisters though, yet ].

I have emailed his consultant with photos and she has come back saying she thinks it is lack of zinc. Is this a common side affect of crohns and do you think that this is a likely cause or could it be the orafacial starting up again? I went many months last time before anyone would take his symptoms seriously and just don't want to have to fight again to get help.

If it is lack of zinc what is the treatment and will it affect him long term?

 

[greypup]

When I was reading non stop at the beginning of our diagnosis, I found a section on this forum that outlined the different parts of the intestine where specific minerals are absorbed. I will look for this link later this morning when I have better time.

Also, for what it's worth, I give my teenage boys Zinc supplements when they have non stop acne breakouts. They wash well every day and use Rx ointments but sometimes they still break out. So then I give them zinc for a few weeks and it seems to help calm things down. I had read about a connection to zinc and skin somewhere in the middle of surfing info on acne.

Again, I'll look for the info that I read here and post it. Gotta run the kids to school soon!

 

[DustyKat]

Hey CDJ,

My son has a zinc deficiency. Matt has had a resection of the terminal ileum and this does make him prone to this type of deficiency so if your son has inflammation and/or scarring in the small (jejunum/ileum) then the resulting malabsorption may well cause a zinc deficiency. It is easily checked with a blood test.

I do know that zinc deficiency is linked with hair, skin and nail issues but I don't know if it would cause the symptoms your lad is having, sorry. This is a link that David gave me some time ago:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/zinc/

I give Matt a zinc supplement, Zinc Citrate 30mg daily. It has put and maintained him smack in the middle of the serum normal reference range. He is in remission so I can't say if it has made a difference to his well being but he has certainly had no side effects from it.

Matt has bloods done every 2 months and I have levels done each time. I personally think that given in appropriate amounts it is perfectly safe and far better than running the risks that a long term deficiency is capable of producing.

I hope you soon have answers and a clear direction to take hun. :ghug:

Dusty. xxx

 

[CDJ]

Thanks Dustycat

Josh's crohns is now in his small bowel and he has had inflammation in his jejunum/ileum when he had his endoscopy earlier in the year, so it may well be a zinc deficiency. I have googled pictures of it and it does look very much like it.
He will be having a blood test at the hospital tomorrow and they will check for this. If it proves to be right they will then start him on supplements.

 

[DustyKat]

Please let us know how you get on. :ghug:

Dusty. xxx

 

[CDJ]

We saw consultant yesterday and she feels it is zinc he is lacking. He has had a blood test, so we now need to wait for the results. I will post again once we have these back.

 

[CarolinAlaska]

We ran into zinc deficiency this summer. Interestingly, it also causes decreased appetite. We're supplementing zinc, but it hasn't really helped her appetite in spite of normal zinc levels now...