Play Name That Rash?

[LaurieG]

Sorry for the dual threads this am, but this one doesn't really go along with the other title.

So, earlier this am I took some photos of Ellie to give an idea of what her face looks like. Here is one of those. In the picture it looks very light and difficult to see. It is more pronounced IRL. But basically she has red, very dry spots on her chin, cheeks, and nose but also along the bridge of her nose and her cheeks and forehead the skin looks like it is peeling.

Here is another photo, taken about 10 min after she nursed. She got much redder while nursing (I thought maybe she was hot) but it didn't fade like you might expect from just heat.

She has a bad cold and so I've been thinking the rash is just from snot getting rubbed around her face and irritating the skin. And maybe the reddness is from her face rubbing agains my shirt (which is a bit rough - long underwear type material). Or maybe not. She gets these episodes of a really red face kind of frequently.

Thoughts?

Edited to add the link to mther thread with more info about our diet changes this week: http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1049185

[jenniepaige]

The redder pic is often how my sons face looks and has for some time. I notice that it gets better when given a coolish bath and some cream on it after a while. I think it has something to do with an allergy. I am trying to figure it out myself. Does she have any other symptoms? Cause if not then that can usually just be associated with having a cold.

[LaurieG]

Oh yeah, I should give a little background for those who don't know our story. We used to be off all Top 8 allergens, + corn at times. As a little experiement I threw everything back except milk and soy (lots of reasons why I chose that drastic path) but it went better than I thought and she seemed to tolerate things well for about a month. That was in Sept. In Oct she came down with a cold and has basically been congested, with fluid in her ears or battling outright ear infections ever since. For a long time I reasoned that it was the cold. Then she got another cold, and another. And then I connected that the colds always seem to come on the day following a dairy exposure (this was around the holidays). But since January we've been extra dilligent on the milk and soy and still she has cold symptoms. Her original intolerance symptoms (GI, mostly) have been pretty well controlled for months. But this week, since I eliminated wheat/ gluten from both of our diets and sugar from mine she's been more refluxy and with mucousy poops. The rash, though, is present most of the time in varying degrees over the past month or so.

[LaurieG]

Okay, new info. She's running a low-grade fever (99.5 under the arm). Maybe that nasty ear infection that we keep battling, or maybe more reaction? I put some BM in her ears and am trying to go back and food journal the past few days from memory. I plan to get some Vit C in her as soon as I finally get dressed for the day (did I mention she's very clingy and fussy too?)

[kjbrown92]

If she's had a "cold" since October, I don't think it's a cold. The cheeks look to me sort of eczema-y, in the second picture. And her bottom "v" teeth look just like my DD2's! I'd say there's an allergen somewhere (with my DS, when he'd been off a food for a while and he went back on, he'd usually change symptoms...just a thought).

[LaurieG]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

If she's had a "cold" since October, I don't think it's a cold. The cheeks look to me sort of eczema-y, in the second picture. And her bottom "v" teeth look just like my DD2's! I'd say there's an allergen somewhere (with my DS, when he'd been off a food for a while and he went back on, he'd usually change symptoms...just a thought).

I agree, Kathy - especially the rash is a new symptom over the past month or 2 (she's never had eczema-type issues before aside from little tiny yellow crusties behind the ears). But on the other hand it hasn't been just constant congestion. She will get a runnier nose and more congestions within a few days of one of the boys having similar symptoms (thus leading me to conclude it's a new cold) but then everyone else in the family gets better and she just continues to have a low level of congestion until the next round. And why would she get WORSE when I eliminated the thing I believed to be most likely the problem (wheat/ gluten)? I haven't made it to the HFS yet so we don't have any gluten-free foods. We've just been getting by on fruits, veggies, nuts, meats, and rice - nothing different or out of the ordinary for us.

[kjbrown92]

What has she been having more of since going off gluten? Rice?.... (my DS can't have rice so even though it's considered benign, it's a possibility).

Have you been keeping a food journal or no? I just started again a few weeks ago for DS. I wish I'd been doing it the whole time but I got lazy because I thought he was getting better.

[LaurieG]

On my other thread we're thinking she could be reacting to an ingredient in the Nystatin I started taking last week, though I would really think that issue would have come up with my allergist before and he wouldn't prescribe these tablets to people with known food sensitivities.

I need to start food journaling again. Its just so tedious, but I always kick myself for not having it when I need it.

[WuWei]

Haven't gotten past the first photo http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...t/DSC01084.jpg, but mama did you read the thread about the v-shaped bottom center teeth and midline issues? http://heal-thyself.ning.com/forum/t...eth-and-tongue

Did you follow the tongue-tie thread? http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ghlight=shaped


Pat

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by LaurieG

But this week, since I eliminated wheat/ gluten from both of our diets and sugar from mine she's been more refluxy and with mucousy poops. The rash, though, is present most of the time in varying degrees over the past month or so.

I believe it is not what you eliminated, but what you added that is affecting the reactions. It is so freakin' frustrating!!

Yes, go ahead and scream!!!


Pat

[LaurieG]

Pat, yes - Ellie has a high and narrow palate, a posterior tongue tie, sacral pit,etc. I figured it out on the tongue tie thread and took her to a speech therapist and an ENT. (We had already been seeing a chiro and CST before). I've been taking her for weekly ST sessions to work on trying to stretch her tongue and lower her palate. The ENT wasn't really keen on clipping because of the location of the tie, but might be willing to reconsider since it looks like we'll be doing tubes this spring anyway (as long as she's got her under anesthesia she might as well, if she feels she can do it safely).

But the complicating factor is her genetic condition. The typical structure of the face of girls with TS is, guess what? High arched palate, poorly draining ears resulting in frequent ear infections, and I believe there is a higher than average likelihood of tongue tie as well. I'm not sure how this all ties together.

[LaurieG]

Tanya's post about toxin-load affecting reactions (on my other thread) has me thinking...

It doesn't really make sense to me that she would flare up with eczema that quickly, and after several hours it would fade if the issue was in the Nystatin. I've been taking the Nystatin since Wednesday. She a period of frequent stools on Friday morning, then some die off looking stuff in her stool friday afternoon, then a few mucousy stools Sat morning. So all of that could very easily be Nystatin reaction or related to my dietary changes. But the eczema came on SO suddenly this morning. And now its gone. I took the last dose of Nystatin at 10 am but you would think it would still be in my BM now.

Maybe the eczema is from a new reaction to what she had for breakfast? She had a jar of Earth's Best plum, banana, and brown rice. Her least frequent food of that mix is plums, so maybe that is the culpruit?

[LaurieG]

Could a rash like this occur as part of an inflammatory response along with a fever - maybe just because of the ear infection and having nothing to do whatsoever with what we ingested?

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by LaurieG

Could a rash like this occur as part of an inflammatory response along with a fever - maybe just because of the ear infection and having nothing to do whatsoever with what we ingested?

Yes, with a fever. Generally on the trunk, I believe. And not frequently, in the face on a periodic basis.

Pat