What am I missing?

[quelindo]

I feel sort of silly even posting here, because my son seems healthy and happy and I'm only noticing smallish symptoms. But I still feel like something's not quite right.

He's three years old and was diagnosed as gluten-intolerant through EnteroLab almost two years ago. He's still nursing so we both went off gluten. EnteroLab also said he was dairy intolerant, so we went off dairy for about six months, but didn't notice any huge change, so we started to eat it again. (Just cheese and occasional yogurt and sour cream -- we don't drink milk.)

He also had allergy testing (IgA, I think?) that showed dairy and wheat but nothing else.

Here are his "symptoms" -- he's always been a really poor sleeper. Always. When he was a newborn he would scream and pump his little legs at night, and during the day he had to be on me and/or carried around. Now he yells in his sleep and occasionally claws at his stomach, though he doesn't seem bothered by anything during the day.

He has tiny little bumps all over his body -- his skin feels like sandpaper, though you can't tell from just looking at him. And I don't mean just on his arms or cheeks (though he has that too) -- it's all over his back and on his legs.

He LOVES his water bottle. I don't think he drinks an excessive amount (maybe 12 ounces a day) but he's very attached to it. It's the closest thing to a "lovey" he's ever had.

And now, in the past few weeks, he's developed a red ring around his anus. He's never had a diaper rash in his life, and the few times he's developed any redness one application of Burt's Bees diaper rash cream cleared it up immediately. Not so this time. It's red with some tiny little red bumps. He says it doesn't hurt but I'm thinking it means something.

So, please, can anyone help me? Like I said, he's mostly a healthy, happy little guy, but I can't help but feel like I'm missing something.

[nalo]

Yep - that terrible sleep with crying out plus the rough skin = allergen he is still consuming. Some kids (mine included) pretty much ONLY show their allergic reaction at night. I do not understand it but it's true. Since dairy has tested positive and he is still having allergy symptoms I would definately say to take both of you off of dairy 100%. I'm sure you know this since you did it before but remember that it's really important to educate yourself on all the ways dairy can sneak into foods, such as deli meats, the wax on non-organic fruit and many others. If, after a few months, the symptoms you mention have not gone away then you'll need to start looking for other possible culprits.

[quelindo]

But shouldn't he have been improved during the six months I took both of us off dairy before? I'm not trying to be difficult, honest -- I am more than willing to do what it takes -- I'm just trying to figure out what's going on.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by New Mama

But shouldn't he have been improved during the six months I took both of us off dairy before? I'm not trying to be difficult, honest -- I am more than willing to do what it takes -- I'm just trying to figure out what's going on.

Maybe, unless you were consuming another allergen still. A large number of people who are allergic to dairy are also sensitive to soy, so it's possible he was never fully allergen free. And now, by continued consumption, the allergic reaction is worsening.

The sandpapery skin sounds JUST like my dd. We've been off her allergens (soy, corn, dairy, seeds) for 2 yrs, but her skin started getting really dry in the past few months. I noticed that it worsened one week when she ate a lot of bananas. We took those out and her skin is the smoothest I've ever felt it.

Thing is, allergies fluctuate and change. In someone already allergy prone, you just have to watch out for newly developed allergies or worsening ones, and eventually ones that go away. As an example, my dd tested positive for corn and dairy so we eliminated them and she was doing great. Then, suddenly *ten months later* (and I do mean, suddenly; over a weekend), she started reacting to soy. We'd replaced regular milk with soy, not knowing that many people are sensitive to both. Now she can't do soy. And obviously, she can't do bananas.

I'd try another dairy elimination (all forms, trace amounts, etc.) and see where that gets you.

[tanyalynn]

To me, it seems like gluten and dairy are two of the last to heal. They are low-level problematic for many, many people, and healing them seems to me to be some of the most difficult, in terms of figuring out what the body needs in order to finish that final bit of healing.

Can't tell if I'm wording this right, but what I mean is--for a lot of people, if something, fundamentally nutrition-related probably, gets just a bit off, dairy and gluten seem to be the two foods that people become intolerant to first, and then maybe some will develop more sensitivities and some won't, but it takes getting a lot of things right in order to heal the gluten and dairy sensitivities.

These are mostly my ponderings, we're gfcf, have been for a year and a half, and I think we're probably several years away from trying to re-introduce either. My son only has chocolate and cashew allergies in addition, so our list of allergens is short, but I think I'm going to have to do a lot of work on nutrition and what _we_ need (focusing on general good nutrition and then specifically on how we may be different) in order to have a chance of adding these back in someday.

[kjbrown92]

I second going off dairy again, and yes, I'd consider soy too because of the probability. The other big intolerances are corn and eggs, in case you want to take those out next. My DD2's only symptoms at the beginning were sleep. But as you ignore that part, it gets worse until you pay attention, at least that's the way I think it is. Or if you suppress it with reflux meds, for example, then it will rear its head another way. A food journal would be helpful during this time too.