blood in infant stool, elimination diet

[AppletonMama]

I have a 3 mo. breast fed baby who has had blood in his stool since 2 wks. old. I eliminated dairy, eggs, gluten, soy with no change. The gastroenterologist says he has a milk protien intolerance and suggested formula. I said No!

So she got me intouch with an other mother who'd been through this breastfeeding. She suggested eating rice and leafy greens untill he heals then introducing foods one at a time.

So now I've been eating rice and greens for 3 weeks and changes are happening but the blood is still there.

Has anyone else been through this? what did you do? I desperately want to keep breastfeeding. Thank you!

[changingseasons]

Welcome to MDC and the allergy forum!!

Your friend is referring to a TED (total elimination diet). Usually on a TED, you would choose a few foods spanning the food groups - like rice, turkey, pears, squash, and olive oil. It's important to make sure that you're still getting enough calories in your diet to sustain your health, and you don't want to stay on a TED for any extended period of time (usually no more than 1-2 weeks). If, in that time, you reach a "baseline" (meaning no symptoms in your babe), you can start adding foods back in one at a time, no more than one per week. If you don't reach a baseline, it might be that you're still eating an allergen and need to switch your foods around. For example, my DD reacts to rice, so I can only eat buckwheat.

The other vital part of the elimination diet is keeping a food journal- write down everything you eat and every symptom your babe has- from digestive and skin issues to sleep and behavior changes.

The good thing is that you're seeing some improvement, so it's a good start.

I don't have time to type more (dinner's cooking), but you're in the right place- there are lots of smart mamas here that can help you through the allergy maze.

Also, check out my blog (link in my signature below) for more info about babies with food allergies.

[FnkyGreenMama]

Hello! I'm going through this right now with our 7 month old son. I eliminated a number of foods (dairy, eggs, etc.) but we didn't get to baseline until I recently did a TED a few weeks ago. We've slowly been able to add foods in, but my diet is still severely restricted. It's hard and depressing, but it's worth it. I would say to remember that anything you ingest is suspect, including any supplements, and beware of hidden ingredients, trace amounts, and cross-contamination. You will find LOTS of info on all of these things on this forum. Expect some 2 steps forward, 1 step back - we had a bunch of great diapers to celebrate and then we discovered a potential allergen, which was a setback. Now his diapers are good again! HTH I am just a newbie here, there are lots of very experienced members who will have so much more to share!

[kjbrown92]

And I would suggest that if you were having rice and greens and the blood was still there, that one of those things is a culprit (there may be more than one). How long did you do that for? It takes 4-7 days to get most things out of your system.

[AppletonMama]

Thanks!

I have been eating rice, kale, spinach and salt, collard greens (yuck) and chard a few times. But for the last 11 days just spinach, rice, kale ,salt.

Today was a good day but ds is still spitting up alot. And yesterday there was red/brown smelly poop.

I have also been taking a multi (Ethex Corp. NutraNate) at the advise of the other mother that has been through this.

ANy ideas on a multi?

[changingseasons]

I wouldn't take a multi while on a TED, because there really aren't any that don't have ANY allergens. For example, the Vitamin E is usually made from soy, and the Vitamin C is usually made from corn. So it's best to just skip it for the couple weeks that you're on the TED, and then you can trial one once you get to baseline to see if your babe tolerates it.

I might switch out the greens for another veggie- the 'usual' for a TED is squash or zucchini. Greens are a little more allergenic; they're also really high in the food chemical salicylate, which some people can react to. If you look in the Starting Solids sticky at the top of the forum, there are links (at the bottom of the thread) for the Joneja charts- they show which foods are most/least allergenic. That might be a good place to start for adding foods. But keep in mind that anything can be allergenic... even rice and squash (my DD is allergic to both).

You also need a little more in your diet, otherwise you are going to starve yourself, lose weight, get depressed, etc. I would really recommend adding a meat (unless your veg)- the norm for TED is turkey, and an oil- like olive or safflower. You NEED to get fats into your diet, especially since you're breastfeeding, and you currently have next to none.

Oh- if you're using iodized salt, it most likely has corn in it, which is highly allergenic. I would use only sea salt- and make sure it doesn't have any other ingredients (a few of them do).

[pedi08]

Also, I know this may not matter but we had a reaction to GUM early on which has some sort of soy in it. I wasn't swallowing gum just chewing it. So make sure you think about all that stuff.
What kind of rice are you eating?

[AppletonMama]

Organic Brown rice, Hymilian red rice and a Organic wild rice blend by Lundberg.

All this is very helpful

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by pedi08

Also, I know this may not matter but we had a reaction to GUMM early on which has some sort of soy in it. I wasn't swallowing gum just chewing it. So make sure you think about all that stuff.
What kind of rice are you eating?

Gum is dusted with something to keep it from being sticky on the outside.... aaaaahhh, I can't remember.... probably a corn derivative.