Allergic Colitis?

[FnkyGreenMama]

Hello! My DS is 6 months old. He is strictly BF, although we were giving him a bit of organic brown rice cereal (I know, I know) but have stopped. We struggled with yeast for the first few months (nipple thrush and diaper rash) and I *think* it is gone. The rash is still hanging around, never quite disappearing completely, and does seem to flare up after he has a BM. We have tried, no exaggeration, multiple combinations of over 30 different strategies/products to deal with this stupid rash (we call it the $300 diaper rash). For the past few months he has had green, mucousy BM's with the occasional tiny speck of blood. I have eliminated dairy, egg and chocolate, and more recently, soy, rice and wheat. Dairy elimination early on minimized his other symptoms (congestion, mild exzema). We were giving him a probiotic (HMF Natogen) but I have discontinued with it in the last week due to the lactose content, in case it is a part of the problem. I continue to take my HMF Forte probiotic, also contains lactose, but I'm hoping it's not a factor. My family doctor, bless her, is brand new and didn't even know that antibiotics could lead to a yeast overgrowth. An allergist did skin testing (all negative), called it "proctocolitis" and said it should get better with time. Last week I called him because there was a flare up the day after his first vaccination (DTaP + polio) - more streaks of blood than we'd ever seen before - he basically suggested that we switch to formula. I am convinced that yeast is the root of our current problem. I also feel the vax may have made things worse. That being said, there has been improvement the past few days - a few yellow poops and less mucous and blood. He still spits up, though, but not projectile and not more than a few tablespoons at a time (not that I take out measuring spoons to do an assessment). DS is otherwise bright, happy, developing and growing well.

My questions (sorry, there's a bunch of them):

- Is this allergic colitis? Proctocolitis? Are they the same thing? It can't be an environmental allergen, right?
- What are the long term effects of continuing to breastfeed with the occasional blood in stool? (continue status quo doing some kind of rotation diet)
- If we don't figure this out soon, does this mean that he is more likely to have long-term allergies/sensitivities?
- Does a tiny amount of lactose matter? Should I stop my probiotic? Switch to something else for both me and DS? I'm not sure where to find some of the brands I'm hearing about on this board in Canada.
- How is the diaper rash connected to all of this?
- What role, if any, could teething, oversupply, foremilk/hindmilk imbalance play in this?
- Will I really have to get rid of my 60+ oz stash of frozen breastmilk because it may contain the allergens, or will we get to use it again someday?

Any advice/suggestions/shared experiences via this thread or through PM would be much appreciated. If you tell me it's still yeast, I might just eat my shirt.

[pedi08]

i replied to another one of your posts, we are dealing with similar situations. kirkman has dairy/soy free probiotics. my son also had a stronger reaction after dtap

my dr's all shoo-shoo anything related to vaccines until today when i came to the office with the ingredients. Some shots have soy and casein/dairy stuff in it so google those. i was referred to a site called novaccine which is helping me figure out which shots i want to avoid until he grows out of his allergic collitis, non ige allergy.

dr's also shoo-shooed the red marks on his face entirely and so today I asked if it could be that he is teething and because of this is drooling more and that is causing the red marks, the pediatrician just said "this could be why." I feel like they do not know why he has the red bumps and I also wonder if its some kind of contact reaction. No dr. has helped me in this area and I am so stumped.

FYI, we had the mucusy greenish blood specks and spit ups/congestion and as soon as we elimintaed soy we got rid of that and his poo is baseline. Thank goodness. Initialy I was only avoiding dairy/casein but they say soy is close to that so I eliminate ALL soy including lechitin and oil.

I am sure you have tried but just in case, we have CA baby and aquaphor for his face, perhaps these may help with baths, they make bath wash. BUT, I am betting eliminating the triggers is going to be your best bet. You have to be detailed and start reading labels like crazy, the soy/dairy are in everything, even wine if you drink that. They are sneaky. You also mentioned egg, that is in a lot too.

Also, hold strong if you want to BF my allergist, GI and 2 pedi's were trying to push formula but I held strong. My son is 5 m. In my mind its safer to stick with BF because how do you know the formula will be right? So many of them still have casein in them just broken down, even many of the prescriptions. Why risk going through formula after formula? I asked the GI dr to promise me the first formula we try would work and he could not, after that they all left me alone.

I hope some of this can help you, you'll get a lot of good posts from some super ladies. It is very very difficult to navigate through and confusing!

[WuWei]

Rash + green stools= yeast. I'd bet $100.

I would do a lot of gut healing for 2 weeks, and then a Total Elimination Diet for 2 weeks minimum. There is debate about the order of gut healing and TED, and duration. But, I'd add healing foods and then do the TED, since you are already doing NO dairy, egg, chocolate, soy, rice and wheat.

I found soy to be the hardest to eliminate, since it is in everything processed and easy to eat. Wheat is everywhere, but at least you kinda expect it in grains, for instance. Dairy is hidden by a lot of different names. Here is a list of hidden dairy: http://www.kellymom.com/store/handou...dden-dairy.pdf

Breastmilk contains lactose. It is called galactose, and allergy to it (rather than a possible sensitivity to all things casein riding on the sugar) is exceptionally rare. It even has its own name, galactosemia. Babies with this problem are few and far between.

Casein, the milk protein, causes diarrhea, gassiness, rashes (mouth and rear) fussiness, and vomiting. (any skin rash would be a clear sign of an allergic reaction, which couldn't happen with lactose, only casein. Histamines don't attack stray sugars, only proteins.)

To help heal the gut, there is a whole thread of hints: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=434071

The gut healing info regarding adding coconut oil, cod liver oil, magnesium, probiotics, vit C, zinc, etc. needs to be done to improve immune function.

This thread has info about "Fighting off the Yeast": http://www.mothering.com/discussions...kombucha+kefir

I'd also recommend classical homeopathy.

Btw, did you or baby have antibiotics in the past year?

The vaccine assaults the already compromised immune system, through an unnatural route with diseases and toxins. I would strongly suggest holding off until all the gut healing, no food intolerances and no green stools.

Yes, environmental allergens could contribute to the immune overload. But, wouldn't cause the green stool, imo.

Sorry, btdt, it is hard.


Pat

[WuWei]

Parents can file a report to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) directly at 1-800-822-7967. Or submit a report online here: https://secure.vaers.org/VaersDataEntryintro.htm

This is the link to the main government VAERS site: http://vaers.hhs.gov/


Here is a link for the drug insert for each vaccine. http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm Click on each vaccine (blue
link by brand name) to view the ingredients, side effects, contraindications, etc.


Pat

[kjbrown92]

Also, corn is a top offender for food intolerances (along with the other ones already mentioned here). It could still be yeast, causing the food intolerances/leaky gut. Allergic colitis just means that some food is causing the colitis, usually presenting with mucous and blood; top offenders are milk and soy, but not necessarily, from my understanding. But they could have the allergic colitis because of the yeast....

And I did end up chucking my supply of breastmilk (it was from the first 2 weeks before I realized he was intolerant to milk in my diet) but I had a good amount since he would only nurse on my right (due to his broken collarbone) and I was pumping the left every time. I tried to find a breastmilk bank, but there wasn't one in my state and they said I had to follow different rules for collection or something. Even in our commercial grade freezer, they say it only lasts 6 months, and he couldn't have milk until he was 13 months old when we did the milk challenge (he got the milk intolerance back though, another story). But don't chuck the breast milk (or donate it if you can find a place) until you know for sure.

[FnkyGreenMama]

Thanks for your replies. I tried to reply last night but couldn't get onto the site for some reason!?

pedi08 - Thanks for the tips, and for the encouragement re: BF. It sounds like you have had some success getting to baseline. I hope we are almost there, too!

Pat - I ate my shirt So if there is still yeast, how crazy do I have to get at this point? Are we talking, sterilizing everything and starting to see the invisible yeasties everywhere? Or, since it's in his diaper, do I just focus on internal elimination? Yes, I was on abx just before he was born for a brutal sinus infection and did not do probiotics until he was 6 weeks old Looks like I need to figure out what aspects of gut healing make sense for me. What do I do specifically for DS? And no, I will not be giving him any more vaxes, at least we get this under control. I do not think I can use the VAERS reporting because I am in Canada?

kjbrown92 - Looks like corn might be my next elimination. Although I have had spelt/kamut in the hopes that he could tolerate that, but maybe not. There were a few streaks of blood in his poop again this morning

[mtn.mama]

Hi Lisa- just popping in here to say YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK! Don't switch to formula, do suspect food, must fight yeast. Most western docs just are not up on this stuff... even the allergists. Its likely that your child has non-IgE allergies on top of bacterial imbalances and that you both need gut healing. You can do this. YOU'RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE! Nice work getting here, and good luck moving through. It takes awhile for dairy and gluten to clear your systems... I think I would insidiously eliminate both of those for awhile before jumping into further food eliminations... or just jump directly into a complete TED and see where it leads you. Otherwise you're kind of chasing rabbit trails, just eliminating one maybe food at a time.
Lisa

[FnkyGreenMama]

Thanks, Lisa. I swing from hopeful that we can do this and continue BFing to defeated and contemplating formula.

So, I have:
Organic extra virgin coconut oil
cod liver oil in capsule form
plant multi-enzyme (says not to use when BF)
probiotics for me
probiotics for DS
Also on hand: grapefruit seed extract (liquid and caps), can albex (homeopathic)

(Let's pretend they are all the "right" brands, etc. - I had enough trouble finding it all in the short time I had to get out tonight and I just want to get started.)

Could not find glutamine or l-glutamine? I guess I need to go to a specialty health food/vitamin store?

What order/how much? Which do I give to DS and how much?

[WuWei]

I don't know about enzymes. But, everything else, I'd do for both of you, four times a day, with the probiotics two hours after the Coconut oil and GSE.

As far as the homeopathic, I'd give it to both of you, first thing in the morning, 30 minutes away from nursing/eating, if possible. I don't know duration on that..."as needed". What is the dose? 30c, I assume. (Classical homeopathy is more effective than acute, imo.)

I'd give one drop of GSE on your finger, and put your finger in ds's mouth. He will NOT like it. It is nasty stuff. Then I'd give him a finger's worth of coconut oil. Maybe 1/4 tsp? Start slowly, the virgin coconut oil is kinda strong, imo. The GSE is very irritating to the skin, if there is a way to dilute it for ds and get him to consume it, that would help to get more to the gut. But, directly, it'll help any thrush. But, it is very strong. Personally, I'm inclined to skip the GSE for ds.

Two hours later, I'd give the probiotics on your finger. Just dip your finger in the powder and put your finger in his mouth. The only thing is the moisture and air will denature the probiotics more quickly. If you have capsules, open and pour 1/2 out and put your finger in it, as above.

Once a day, give a little squirt of the CLO to ds. Puncture the capsule and squirt a little bit in his mouth. It isn't scientific, lol. You can swallow the rest of the capsule. Maybe an extra whole capsule for you occasionally.

For you, I'd do 1-15 drops of GSE in tomato juice (often allergenic) or something to cover the taste. Use a very small amount of liquid, or dilute it a lot, lol. It is nasty. Faster is easier, imo. Four times a day. Follow with the coconut oil (timing not essential, it'll just take some of the nasty taste away). If you can do a whole tablespoon (of CO) four times a day, good luck, lol. Otherwise, shoot for 1 tsp, four times a day. [There are other natural antifungal alternatives. Mostly, you are wanting to change the gut ph to encourage healthy bacteria in the gut. Alkaline foods and S. boulardii probiotics would help.]

I hope you get additional opinions. These are just mine. Disclaimer: do what you believe to be best. Remember, we are all just lay folks, who read the internet. "Consult your health care professional for advice, if in doubt."


Yes, sterilize everything. :
:

Oh, and you can sprinkle probiotics on his diaper area. Epsom salt baths (for both of you) will help. Lavender essential oil and baking soda (separately) are other bath alternatives.


HTH, Pat

[FnkyGreenMama]

Thanks, Pat. I took some of your suggestions and modified them to suit us. I'm nervous to give the coconut oil to DS internally for fear allergic reaction. Personally, I don't enjoy the taste, but then I never did like coconut!

Does anyone know if GSE lose it's effectiveness over time? What about the other antifungals? If I tried something before and there was some improvement, but then I stopped it, what are the chances of it working again?

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by FnkyGreenMama

Does anyone know if GSE lose it's effectiveness over time? What about the other antifungals? If I tried something before and there was some improvement, but then I stopped it, what are the chances of it working again?

The theory is to kill off the bad guys and recolonize with the good guys. So, if you just killed off the bad guys previously, but didn't take quality probiotics, you don't make progress toward a balanced microflora in the gut.

I doubt that GSE loses effectiveness, (like expiration date?). I would use multiple natural antifungals and natural antibacterials AND multiple whole food sources of probiotics. They all have different properties and benefits.

Pat