Elimination Diet

[olliepop]

My 3 year old has been complaining of belly pain, has loose stools, and three new eczema patches, and started peeing the bed when he never had before. He has been scratch tested for dairy, gluten, shellfish, etc. and they all came back negative. So I thought it might be an intolerance. We cut out gluten for 14 days, but he still had all the symptoms. When we cut out dairy, all of the symptoms disappeared, but on Day 10, after his grandmother gave him mashed potatoes with milk and butter, his eyelid was swollen and his eczema patches all flared up. His belly hurt later that night, so I thought the mystery was solved.

After our 2 week dairy free diet, I gave him a glass of milk to see if there would be a reaction and there was nothing. No eyelid swelling, no eczema flare up. Does this mean it wasn't dairy? And if it wasn't, why the reaction at Grandma's house? Any ideas?

[changingseasons]

hmm. Well, if the removal of dairy cleared the symptoms, then I would still suspect dairy. But that is strange that the milk did nothing.

Maybe some other food that you usually eat with dairy, that would have been (subconsciously) cut out during the dairy removal? Maybe the potatoes?

Maybe a different kind of milk (organic vs regular, raw vs pasteurized, etc.)?

Are you keeping a food journal?

[olliepop]

Maybe some other food that you usually eat with dairy, that would have been (subconsciously) cut out during the dairy removal? Maybe the potatoes?

Maybe a different kind of milk (organic vs regular, raw vs pasteurized, etc.)?

Are you keeping a food journal?

I tried the same kind of milk we always have. I've even given him a slice of his favorite cheese and still nothing. Yes, I'm keeping a food journal and I keep going over it w/a fine tooth comb and nothing's jumping out at me. I may need a food detective...

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

[changingseasons]

Oh- I meant the milk at gradma's, that he DID react to.

[olliepop]

OH! Duh -- I spaced.

She gave him Bob Evans' microwavable Mashed Potatoes. I checked the ingredients:

Potatoes, Whole Milk, Butter (Cream Salt), Margarine (Liquid and Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Water, Salt, Whey, Soy Lecithin, Mono And Diglycerides, Sodium Benzoate [Preservative], Artificial Flavor, Vitamin A Palmitate), Contains 2% or Less of the Following: Salt, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Spice, Artificial Color, Mono and Diglycerides.

Warnings:
Contains: milk, soy.

[olliepop]

We have a reaction!!!! It's been hours, but he has a tiny bump rash all over his face!! It's not severe, thank goodness, but at least now we know!!!

[changingseasons]

Great! Not great, but good to know what it is. You know what I mean...

Do you normally eat soy? I wonder if both milk and soy are triggers (they often are), and the combination of both of them in the potatoes brought on a faster reaction?

[olliepop]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

Great! Not great, but good to know what it is. You know what I mean...

Do you normally eat soy? I wonder if both milk and soy are triggers (they often are), and the combination of both of them in the potatoes brought on a faster reaction?

Believe me, I know what you mean by great. I called dh at work, almost excited about the reaction. He was like, "Um, isn't that a bad thing?" But I'm just glad that it is what we thought it was.

When he had his first reaction ever, we thought soy was the number one culprit, but he tested negative for it and has had it since (by itself) since being dairy free. The combination of soy and milk is something I'll definitely keep an eye on.