new here. need advice, please.

[nayma]

hi. tonight my dd's face got all red all around her mouth while eating dinner. this has happened several times, and each time it occurred after she ate something with tamari/soy sauce on it. could she just be having a contact reaction? if so, is that a real allergy?
i did a traditional blood allergy test at 9 months or so, as we have a family hx of *horrible* eczema. the test came back 0 on everything, but at that age, she hadn't been exposed to all the things they tested for.
she has some issues - awful sleep at 2.5, clumsiness, hyperactivity (even for a toddler), etc., so i'm always curious if she has food allergies, but the dr. said her allergy test ruled them all out.
any advice, info would be greatly appreciated. thanks!!

[lastrid]

A blood allergy test doesn't rule all those allergies out. It is so much more complicated than that blood test, which has frequent false negatives anyway. That definitely sounds like a soy reaction, so start by cutting out ALL soy, even trace amounts, and see if her other symptoms improve. If they don't, you might want to try eliminating just dairy for two-four weeks and then doing a top eight ED. I'm sure someone else will have other ideas.

[kortner]

Agree w/ PP take out all soy! (are you still nursing?) Look out for lechithin, vitamin E, 'vegetable' oil, 'natural flavors', etc.! Don't forget any supplements. It sounds like you noticed the correlation really easily! Maybe cutting trace amt.s will help sleep and such. It can't hurt to try!

Lots of mamas on here have kids who got negative results on tests. Reactions always count! Some can be behavioral only!

ETA: Does your daughter also do wheat? Just thinking - we can't have tamari mainly because of wheat/gluten.

[nayma]

thanks for you replies. i have to say, she has so many quirks, i've always been hesitant to do any kind of elimination - not because i don't think it would help. food allergy stuff is sooooo overwhelming. i feel like i could go crazy with all the seemingly endless possibilities for her behavior, kwim? i'm a single mom to a *incredibly* active kid, and sometimes it feels daunting to deal with one.more.thing. aaaaahhhh, sorry for the vent!!

so, if it is a soy thing, what are some other ways the allergy might manifest itself - i.e., other than the facial redness?

i thought for a little while about this last night, and i remembered something that happened when she was, like, 8 months. i gave her this "all natural" little cookie at the grocery store (the first sugar she ever had), and within minutes, she was all dazed, and she had kind of blue-ish circles under her eyes. i had a friend with me, and she clearly noticed it, too. the only thing i could find in the ingredients that she hadn't had before were sugar and soy lecithin. i mentioned the soy to a few friends, and all said, "no, that wouldn't affect her." makes me think twice now.

thanks again for all your help.

[JaneS]

consider food chemical intolerance based on sleep, eczema and behavioral symptoms:

http://www.cs.nsw.gov.au/RPA/Allergy...ol/ffintro.cfm
www.plantpoisonsandrottenstuff.com

[Alison's Mom]

My kids, between them, are allergic to peanut, tree nuts, egg, milk and kiwi. I've done quite a bit of reading on allergies, and what you mentioned definitely sounds like an allergy to me - either to soy, or possibly wheat as most soy sauce contains wheat. Some people start out being not allergic to a certain substance, then develop it as time goes on. So, the earlier blood test you mentioned may have had false negatives, or it may be that your DD developed an allergy to soy more recently.

I would also try eliminating soy to see what happens. Your doctor might be able to do a skin test for soy to see if she gets a reaction.

Originally Posted by nayma

i mentioned the soy to a few friends, and all said, "no, that wouldn't affect her." makes me think twice now.

What I've also found is that the average person might mean well, but doesn't know much about allergies. To get proper advice, I would go to an allergist, or even go onto an allergy forum where people are more educated about allergies.