HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! First Chat of 2010!! - Page 3

[FireWithin]

mamafish - thank you so much for sharing. I have a better understanding and a far better understanding of where you are coming from.

lisa - amazing. you have worked so hard. I am seeing that your approach is the path we will be taking. There was a reason that all of our allergy tests came back negative (except patch), we don't have allergies, we just have bodies who had a hard time processing all fo the chemicals. I suspect that in the beginning we had messed up guts, but at this point I think it is more chemical. I just need to figure out how to get our bodies to absorb the nutrients we need.

I am having major itouch withdrawal. I am about to put my youngest to sleep and I do research while lying down next to him. How am I going to feel patient??

My 3.75 year old is only nursing once every 5 or 6 days. It has been such a gentle process. I have mostly stopped restricting many of his foods from myself. I have noticed that he is not reacting as strongly to my milk now. For one, I have very very little milk left, but also I am suspecting that he since he is not receiving all of my reactions (I suspect mostly histamine) he is able to process the bit of bad stuff I've been giving him. I am noticing that he has used me as a food compass. If I don't eat something, he knows he can't. Today I ate a piece of cheese in front of him. It totally threw him off. Since he is receiving the same nutritional support as me, we gave it to him. I am seeing no stuffy nose or anything else. Let see what tomorrow brings.

[mamafish9]

Originally Posted by mtn.mama

It seems like with appropriate nutritional supplementation and digestive support that we are able to tolerate anything reasonable at this point.

I mean, yeah, red dye and MSG and all the rest of that weird nasty crap is still to be avoided...

That feels similar to where we are here. All things in moderation seem to be OK (well, anything that is food, red food dye and HFCS don't count!!). When we get reactions, they are manageable and short lived. And I suspect if we weren't chelating, we'd see even less of that.

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

We cheated, CS. We bought an Elmo toddler bed. We havent had it up long so wish us luck

Cheating would be using velcro .

Originally Posted by Mammo2Sammo

Today I ate a piece of cheese in front of him. It totally threw him off. Since he is receiving the same nutritional support as me, we gave it to him. I am seeing no stuffy nose or anything else. Let see what tomorrow brings.

Whee!! It's a big shift to see reactions as chemical instead of specific food driven. More confusing sometimes (and darn frustrating), but also really liberating - it makes any food possible, if you can figure out the nutrient supports...

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

We cheated, CS. We bought an Elmo toddler bed. We havent had it up long so wish us luck

How is that cheating? If we had any room in the budget right now and I thought that would work, I would buy one in a second!

Originally Posted by Mammo2Sammo

Today I ate a piece of cheese in front of him. It totally threw him off. Since he is receiving the same nutritional support as me, we gave it to him. I am seeing no stuffy nose or anything else. Let see what tomorrow brings.

[lil_miss_understood]

Another friend just posted this scripture verse on FB. Felt it appropriate for us allergy moms (she's a mom of a child with EGID).

1 Thessalonians 5:11:

So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it.

[lil_miss_understood]

I feel terrible.
I just found out that our neighbours had their animals taken into custody bc they weren't being fed and one died. Several months back, when they first moved in, they had approached us about renting out our backyard and we said no. Apparently, they had had to sell their farm. I'm assuming (now) that the animals they had were the ones which they couldn't sell.
I feel like such a horrible neighbour.
What is WRONG with me? It really isn't that long ago that I would have KNOWN this stuff about my neighbours and been the first to offer assistance. I just can't seem to get myself together to look beyond my own nose.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by Mammo2Sammo

Guess what? I dropped my itouch in the toilet. It isn't fully working. right now it is sitting in dry rice, hoping it will draw out the moisture.
any suggestions all of you tech people?

If the rice isn't enough, apparently walmart sells dessicant. I had no idea (it came up in a similar conversation about electronics and toilets).

JR I guess I'm a really, REALLY bad person, because I've never gotten to know any of my neighbors enough to know personal stuff about them. I think it's bad in so many ways, and really a problem for our society, but I'm still there.

eta: M2S, saw the other link, it was another long drive, we arrived home at 5:30 this morning. So we're still recovering, will look up the recipe within a reasonable timeframe (scared to say "today" when it very well may not be).

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

I feel terrible.
I just found out that our neighbours had their animals taken into custody bc they weren't being fed and one died. Several months back, when they first moved in, they had approached us about renting out our backyard and we said no. Apparently, they had had to sell their farm. I'm assuming (now) that the animals they had were the ones which they couldn't sell.
I feel like such a horrible neighbour.
What is WRONG with me? It really isn't that long ago that I would have KNOWN this stuff about my neighbours and been the first to offer assistance. I just can't seem to get myself together to look beyond my own nose.

JR- had you rented out your backyard, nothing would have changed- except maybe you'd have dead animals in YOUR yard instead of theirs. It's not your fault that they didn't feed their animals.

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

JR I guess I'm a really, REALLY bad person, because I've never gotten to know any of my neighbors enough to know personal stuff about them. I think it's bad in so many ways, and really a problem for our society, but I'm still there.

Me too... we have met one neighbor, so I feel good about that, but we've never even talked to the people on the other side of us (partly because I'm not sure that they speak English and I'm a chicken for avoiding awkward situations like that. )

[FireWithin]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

If the rice isn't enough, apparently walmart sells dessicant. I had no idea (it came up in a similar conversation about electronics and toilets).



eta: M2S, saw the other link, it was another long drive, we arrived home at 5:30 this morning. So we're still recovering, will look up the recipe within a reasonable timeframe (scared to say "today" when it very well may not be).

thanks for the dessicant suggestion. How about all of the little packages of dessicant from all of my supp bottles?????

no worries about the recipe.

[lil_miss_understood]

<me making excuses to feel guilty and probably making everyone else feel bad too>

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by rileyscoutmom

Just jumping in to say my meatloaf was AWESOME. Yeah - and very proteiny what with the turkey and eggs. 7 Year old was all: "I'm so glad God made taste buds. This is yummy."

And welcome to the chat thread. What makes you think zinc? What are the issues you are seeing?

And just now when I typed this - 1 year old stacked 3 blocks. This is the first time I have ever seen her do anything like this. Yeah.

Karen

Originally Posted by Mammo2Sammo

thanks for the dessicant suggestion. How about all of the little packages of dessicant from all of my supp bottles?????

That's what I was going to suggest..

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

<me making excuses to feel guilty and probably making everyone else feel bad too>

I wish there was more community in general. My mom taught me a bit of a fear of opening up and getting to know people. It's hard, cause I know I'm a lot happier when I have the social outlet. Of course her next door neighbors aren't exactly who you'd want to hang out with - she's seem one of them being arrested, another is usually 'in the Pen' and they burned the house down several years ago. Instead of moving out, they bought THREE giant mobile pet grooming vans that hang out in front of her house. I don't think I've really seen any of our neighbors here that we're friends with since getting pregnant. And it's a tiny townhouse complex...

Can you take the opportunity to go get to know them better? Rather than feeling guilty, see it as motivation to change your ways?

So I've had no noticeable reaction to the last three weeks of goat kefir, aside from what can easily be attributed to the probiotic content. I have no reason to suspect dairy for us, other than the fact that it's such a common trigger for everyone else. It makes me feel somewhat invincible WRT dairy. This morning I made egg nog from raw (cow's) cream, and it was okay, but tonight after sitting, it's sooooo good. I'm trying hard to limit myself to just a few ounces. If it passes, though... The problem is, dd won't touch dairy at all. She vehemently doesn't like butter, and just dipped her finger in the nog this morning, licked it off slowly, and didn't go back for more. She generally has a good hold on what's good for her and what's not. I don't know what to think.

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

<me making excuses to feel guilty and probably making everyone else feel bad too>

Oh stop it. You're not a mess- you're a wonderful, caring person who just expects too much of yourself! I totally agree that is how the world should be though- people knowing and caring about the people who live around them, rather than everyone being segregated in their own tiny worlds.... I'm just not very good at it.

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by whoMe

So I've had no noticeable reaction to the last three weeks of goat kefir, aside from what can easily be attributed to the probiotic content. I have no reason to suspect dairy for us, other than the fact that it's such a common trigger for everyone else. It makes me feel somewhat invincible WRT dairy. This morning I made egg nog from raw (cow's) cream, and it was okay, but tonight after sitting, it's sooooo good. I'm trying hard to limit myself to just a few ounces. If it passes, though... The problem is, dd won't touch dairy at all. She vehemently doesn't like butter, and just dipped her finger in the nog this morning, licked it off slowly, and didn't go back for more. She generally has a good hold on what's good for her and what's not. I don't know what to think.

That's really exciting! Hope it turns out ok for her. Might just be the new taste to get used to- dairy does have a pretty distinct flavor.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

<me making excuses to feel guilty and probably making everyone else feel bad too>

You're not making me feel bad, that sense of community is lovely and makes us more resilient. At some point, I do want and intend to reach out more, but for me, I've been happy with my baby steps, getting a bit more involved with local friends (but not actual neighbors). You _do_ have extraordinarily high expectations of yourself, though. I have a difficult time when I feel like I'm really not meeting my own expectations of myself, it is very disheartening. That's why, for me, Ruthless Prioritization has been a sanity-saver. If I can do the very basics, I feel okay, and I'm okay letting the other stuff go. It's a pretty focused, self-centered (and family-centered) way to go, and I know it's not right for everyone, it could just be too much of a sacrifice (to let go of ideals) but I am grateful that that lesson came to me when it did.

Shannon--maybe you two genuinely have different needs/requirements. It sounds like it could definitely be good for you, and may I say yay!!! Yum, goat cheese, and butter, yum. Oh wait, that's at least part my craving for someone to take care of me, well, yeah, I've been feeling that a bit today. But I'd go with it unless something changes--hey, how far along is your little one? Almost 7 months? When can you feel hiccups? That's one sign it's not good for the new little one, so that's something tangible to look for. DD sure as heck hiccupped a lot.

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

That's really exciting! Hope it turns out ok for her. Might just be the new taste to get used to- dairy does have a pretty distinct flavor.

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping. But she *used* to like ghee, then we trialed butter (a year ago) and she hasn't liked either since. The other day, dh asked, 'Dd, do you want some butter on top?' and her response was 'NNOOOOO! I'm not a mommy! I'm just a Dd...' And when we did just ghee for several weeks, the KP-type bumps all over her hips/torso went away. I have a good feeling about the zinc I'm giving her. Maybe that'll make everything magically clear up... Along with probiotics and prebiotics and butyrate. Right back to that whole healing the gut thing...

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

Shannon--maybe you two genuinely have different needs/requirements. It sounds like it could definitely be good for you, and may I say yay!!! Yum, goat cheese, and butter, yum. Oh wait, that's at least part my craving for someone to take care of me, well, yeah, I've been feeling that a bit today. But I'd go with it unless something changes--hey, how far along is your little one? Almost 7 months? When can you feel hiccups? That's one sign it's not good for the new little one, so that's something tangible to look for. DD sure as heck hiccupped a lot.

Different needs? Don't say that! That destroys my whole premise. Well, not really. She clearly does better with carbs than I do, and loves anything seafood vs my aversions, even when not pg.

I just hit 3rd trimester a couple weeks ago. Dd had CONSTANT hiccups, for like 30-45 minutes at a time. Drove me nuts. And I got a ton of BH cxns and yucky heartburn. So far, I haven't noticed any definite hiccups, I have days of constant contractions and days of calmness - which seem to be pretty correlated with whether I'm reacting or not. My midwife says they're related to adrenaline/pH, which would match. And heartburn is virtually invisible so far except when I tried carb loading to get rid of ketones instead of listening to my body not liking carbs. That was baaad.

Speaking of which, lately the ketones seem to have disappeared, and I don't *think* I can credit diet/carbs/calories for that. I want to credit the probiotic kefir and the butyrate explanation... My face is also clearing up, which either means I'm low on biotin (needing even more than 35-40mg/day, which would just be ridiculous) or something is doing good stuff (kefir?)

[rileyscoutmom]

whome - I didn't know you were pregnant. How exciting.

I must admit that after a horrible hg pregnancy and then infant reflux and then all these food issues - I ran out and got my tubes tied. The thought of going through this all again, of seeing another of my babies go through this all again - it was so overwhelming. There are other complications also so in the end it was the best decision, but still not an easy one. But yeah, one I mourn and grieve and regret.

I made gluten free brownies using a mix and pumpkin last night - someone recommended it for my baby. She did seem to like it (although the box does say there is some soy so no more for her). But I thought it tasted like chocolate flavored pupkin - yuck. I have another can of pumpkin in my cupboard though, does anyone know what I can do with it so that babe gets the vitamin A? No dairy or gluten, of course.

I also bought pumpkin seeds which someone said was high in zinc. I guess I got the ones still in the shell and I'm not going to lie - they are kind of hard to shell. But babe did seem to like thouse also.

Still can not get the belly rash to go away. And yesterday her face was a mess - I fear apples. That is the only thing we did different yesterday.

But - drumroll please - last night dh and I kept telling her we love her and she was clearly trying to say she loves us. In the way thatonly a 13 month old could. But it was still unmistakable. That made last night kind of awesome.

Did I mention she went from being in the 95% to the 50% - I guess they have some mild concerns about that. I do feel like though that she is doing better.

Jr- I don't see why buying a toddler bed is cheating. Sounds reasonable to me.

Karen

[springmum]

Happy New Year everyone! Hope this is a year of healing for all

I feel like we are in a better place right now. DS has been doing better overall. His 2 year molars are on the move, making his poops & sleep wonky, but food reactions seem to be less. He has a huge appetite that picked up when we nightweaned, and is eating quite a variety of foods. His iron is on the low side of normal, so I'm doing a lot of focus on food combining for now (iron rich + vit c rich foods, avoiding calcium with those meals etc.)

JR - you are not a horrible person - You need to be kinder to yourself, you have a lot going on in your own life that is taking priority.


as others have reminded me - we cannot change others behaviours or emotions. Doing something "different" at the time, may not have ended up making a difference. I will never know the real situation, and we all do the best we are capable of in that moment.

I'm sure some people will read this and think that I should have done more, and looking back I would agree - at the time I thought it was enough. So I will carry some guilt for that

[deditus]

Originally Posted by rileyscoutmom

But I thought it tasted like chocolate flavored pupkin - yuck. I have another can of pumpkin in my cupboard though, does anyone know what I can do with it so that babe gets the vitamin A? No dairy or gluten, of course.

Pumpkin Latte (minus the coffee part) with coconut milk, nut butter brownies (I make these w/o egg, no sub). Custard if eggs are okay.

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/...ugar-free.html

http://thisprimallife.com/2009/10/pr...5-ingredients/

[ASusan]

Hi all,

I'm posting primarily to have a record of what happened, and to warn others.

DS has an indentation the size of a golf ball in his buttock, and it is growing. From what I can determine, it is a reaction to a steroid injection (Kenalog/tramcinalone) he had recently for wheezing.

I called the doctor this morning to make an appointment/have it on his record. When I told the receptionist receptionist what the appointment was for (she asked), she immediately replied, "Oh, did he have Kenalog?" I said I wasn't sure what the injection was (but that it was a steroid for wheezing), and that was why I was making the appointment and that I wanted it on his record that he reacted to the injection. She immediately replied, "It (the indentation) is not a side effect (of the injection)." Later, she could NOT find it in his record that he was even injected, AND she said that the indentation was the "body's reaction to the steroid."

Urrr. But, she could not find any record of several of the times he was in the office, and I think they keep "regular" appointments separate from "drop-ins." And I''m pretty sure the injection was during a drop-in, given that he was wheezing. I remember getting the shot, then getting a prescription for an oral steroid filled, and then having DS up until very late that evening, first because he couldn't breathe, and then because he was hyped up on steroids.

I looked back through 3 months of my postings in the Allergy forum, and I couldn't find record of me posting about the injection. (And it's sad that this is how I keep track of DS's allergy life.) But, I do remember him getting it.

Googling this makes me sick to my stomach. Apparently, the indentation/tissue atrophy is NOT listed as a side effect, but there are plenty of people in cyberspace who have had what appear to be permanent indentations after Kenalog injections. (and, to be fair, plenty of people who sing its praises as a treatment for allergic reactions)

Anyway, I know I (and others) have been warned about side effects of steroids, and I was primarily concerned about long-term use of oral steroids. We have used inhaled steroids in his nebulizer and oral steroids short term (3- or 5-day courses) to treat his wheezing; we also have a steroid cream that we put on his eczema. But, as DH pointed out the other night, we used to put steroid cream over his whole body some nights, and now we're down to 1-2 times a week on his right hand.

[FireWithin]

Does anyone have an idea why hearing might be effected by food allergies?

My 6 year old has had problems with his hearing in the past. I attributed it to a build up of ear wax. Problems hearing seems to be related to currently trialing dairy. The thing is it seems to start and stop faster than what I would expect ear wax to do. iykwim. Do you think it could be neurological? Maybe there is a subluxation (sp?) that can be fixed with a chiro. I have a call into our family pract. I'm going to have her look in his ears and hopefully will get our insurance to agree to extended chiro care.

can very loose stools be a consequence of sals? I've had more coconut oil today (max 1 tbl) and am experiencing some running to the bathroom. Last night I was very gassy. I was wondering if it might be displacement of bad bacteria.