Neocate-- almost "there" in trying it?

[luckymamaoftwo]

I cannot figure out what's bothering my DS (5 months) and I'm at my wit's end. Seriously...I'm spent and this is affecting me, my 2 yr old and my husband very negatively (to mention my poor babe who is miserable).

For the past 4 months, DS has had mucousy, green, watery, gross diapers almost EVERY time. Once in a while he'll have a "normal" diaper. He has also been very gassy since birth and vomits ALL DAY LONG (on meds for reflux...not really helping though...). He sleeps horribly and briefly. Always writhing around, grunting and generally uncomfortable. He tries to be happy and smiley, but something always seems to be bothering him, as if he constantly has a tummy ache. It breaks my heart.

I've posted on here before regarding dairy and soy elimination and have appreciated the advice given. I made several attempts at ED, but my latest attempt has been 6+ weeks DF and SF (except for some products with soy lecithin in them). I've been off peanuts and eggs for 9 days now, too. The only improvement I have noticed is that DS does seem to be a bit less gassy, but couldn't that be a change due to his GI maturing? How long to be off nuts and eggs before they are "out" of his system?

I have a lot of "support" but most of them are encouraging me to try a formula, mainly neocate, as they're convinced it'll help DS. I'm almost convinced too...almost...yet my heart wants to continue nursing, desperately. I'm just not sure I'm cut out to continue this elimination diet since I'm not seeing huge changes. And although I'm keeping a food journal, I can't quite figure out how quickly he is reacting to specific foods. Basically, nearly every diaper (90/10) of his is the food-reaction gross diaper.

DH is my only true support for continuing to nurse. Everybody else thinks I'm crazy to keep this "diet" up. I'm concerned that if DS's output continues to be so mucousy that it could be damaging his colon, possibly intestines? And stomach, maybe esophagus from constant refluxing? I just have SO many questions and no doctor to help guide me.

Ahh...do I try Neocate and continue to pump during the trial? do I eliminate another food? Again, SO many questions, not enough answers and perhaps not enough strength to keep working through this.

[bean-e]

Hello luckymama, I can hear the heartbreak and torment in your voice. I wish I could do something to help.

In the past, some mamas have posted their food diary for others to view so that they can provide more specific suggestions. Someone helped me figure out that dd is allergic to rice...

Are you on gluten, by any chance, or is that something that you have eliminated already?

[kjbrown92]

the top 4 intolerances are dairy, gluten, soy, and corn, in that order. Have you tried going off all 4? It basically takes out all processed food, and then you have mostly whole foods to eat, so it's easier to track if there's another issue.

Also, with my dairy/soy intolerant babe (since that's all he was when he was an infant), even miniscule amounts of soy lecithin and soybean oil would set him off. So if you haven't taken it ALL out, I'd try that first. Then I'd take out gluten and corn, and do a food journal for a couple weeks. If you've already gone through the hard work of eliminating the others, you could give it another few weeks. You sound like you're working hard. My DH was my biggest (only) supporter too. And even now, 10 years later, he's still the biggest elimination diet fan.

[SARA777]

Potatoes

Have you tried eliminating potatoes too? The elimination diet is the way to go, but that's not going to solve everything if he has GI issues..... He may still reflux, etc.

Neocate or Elecare isn't so bad, but if you're going to trial it, do it early because the taste is terrible, and they may reject it completely if you try it later on when they are more discerning. Also, Neocate or Elecare might not help completely w/the refulx or sleep problems, but both an elimination diet and/or these formulas will probably make a HUGE difference as healing starts...

[kjbrown92]

Have they done an upper GI to rule out a structural issue with the reflux?

In my mind, if food is the cause, then Neocate (if the child isn't sensitive to an ingredient in it) would solve the reflux and the sleep issue too.

[gigismom]

i just wanted to be another to support you to keep nursing your baby.... sounds like you have a lot of people encouraging you irl to try the formula. i have no idea if the neocate would help or not. however, i have been down the loooong road of elimination diets and will never regret it one second even though it has been very hard at times. my ds will be 3 in october. he is very allergic to soy and definitely reacts to soy lechitin in my diet even now. i would highly recommend eliminating that completely. also, gluten and corn are big bad ones for him. currently, we are dairy, egg, soy, gluten, corn, fish free. In addition, we are avoiding rice, potatoes and other starchy veggies. mostly we are eating the gaps diet with a couple of exceptions (gf oatmeal in the morning). he has made so much progress. i feel better than i have in years on this diet. it might seem hard to elimintate the top intolerances but it is much easier to look at all the foods you can eat than those you can't. make a list of all the foods you love that you can eat and you will see that it is much longer than those you can't. i would definitely start with eliminating dairy, soy, egg, gluten and corn. there are many, many moms on this board who have gone through the elimination diet and most of us are still on it but don't think twice about it most of the time because 1. we have adjusted our thinking about food and 2. we see the improvement in ourselves and our kids. also, don't forget all of the other fantastic benefits of nursing.. the cuddles, the emotional support it gives a toddler learning to explore the world, the connection with mom, the immune support etc... you can do it! there is great support here for finding the culprits in the elimination diet if you are still seeing symptoms after being on it for awhile. countless times i have come back to ask a question and have found the answer through "conversation" with some really smart mamas here at mdc.

also, just re read you post... is your baby on probiotics? i think that may be the first step to take along with eliminating the top intolerances... hth

jen

[gigismom]

Originally Posted by luckymamaoftwo

DH is my only true support for continuing to nurse. Everybody else thinks I'm crazy to keep this "diet" up. I'm concerned that if DS's output continues to be so mucousy that it could be damaging his colon, possibly intestines? And stomach, maybe esophagus from constant refluxing? I just have SO many questions and no doctor to help guide me.

and this.... nobody else really needs to know what exactly you do and don't eat. just don't be too specific to anyone who might not understand or support you.... that's what mdc allergy forum is for!

maybe think about it this way... your baby's digestion is not working properly and that is why he is reacting to the foods. the foods themselves are not the cause of the problem but are aggravating the situation so must be removed to fix the problem. once digestion is working right then the symptoms will go away and the foods might be added in eventually. the key is to get the digestion working right. i too felt so much that i needed a doctor to help guide me through this. i did find 2 practitions that helped me a lot. one is a chiropractor that does muscle testing and found many food intolerances that way. the other is a family practitioner md specializing in gaps disorder/digestion issues/lyme/autism/detox etc... while both of them have helped me along the way i still get a lot of great info from mdc moms. if you can find the right practitioner it might be good to have some back up to say to those who don't support you "his doctor recommends this diet" etc... plus it would give you confidence

[Lanhan]

I am following dr sear's elim diet, which cuts out all the big allergens and leaves in rice, potatoes, pears, squash, sweet potatoes. So I have been eating lots of potatoes and rice products. After reading here about others' potato and rice allergies, I am uncertain about this. I was hoping to get a definitive answer on allergies, but now I'm afraid I could still be missing a trigger food. Is this a bad diet?

[kjbrown92]

I don't understand why he puts white potatoes on there since it's a nightshade, which is problematic for many. The Dr. Sears diet is not meant to be on exclusively for ages. So if you go on it, it should only be a couple weeks if it's the right combination of foods. If there's still a reaction, then swap foods out one at a time. Also keep a food journal during that time and you might see a pattern. And if at any time it gets worse, then you're probably eating more of a trigger food. Look at the labels on EVERYTHING. Iodized salt has corn in it (as does baking powder). Even supplements, meds etc.

[balancedmama]

As others have mentioned - I would probably go down to a bare minimum diet for awhile. It's miserable but it gets the whole elimination process over and done with. Then slowly reintroduce foods. Otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy with a more and more restricted diet and you still might not find anything out. It takes awhile to get things fully out of the system but I see a lot that when the offensive food is really taken out, you will know in short time.

Also, what meds for reflux? If it's really reflux, make sure you've tried something other than zantac!