does this sound like food allergies/intolerance?

[livingfree]

i have twin boys that are 12 months. they were born at 38 weeks, didn't have to spend time in the NICU or anything. when they were little, they had trouble with silent reflux. i had them muscle tested at the chiro and found out that K was sensitive to some dairy (everything but butter and cheese) and J was sensitive to all fruit. we had recently started green smoothie girl's 12 step plan, so i had to stop that and i cut out all obvious dairy (except the butter and cheese; i didn't eliminate hidden dairy) and all fruit. that was around 3 months old. it definitely seemed to help their fussiness and the reflux.

at some point, after they were well over 9 months old, i had them muscle tested again and they both showed no food sensitivities in. i added dairy and fruit back in with no immediate, obvious reaction. but i didn't watch for reactions as closely as i should have.

now, at 12 months, i'm seeing signs that they are sensitive to something. they both pull at their ears all the time (and i've had them checked for ear infections multiple times; they don't have one); they wake a LOT at night, scream excessively when they wake and arch their backs; while they both have happy personalities, they are extremely fussy most of the time. they want to nurse all the time, it seems like the only think that makes them happy. their happiest time of day is the hour or two after they wake up (maybe because they've gone the longest period of time without eating?). i've given them motrin at night in case it was all from the teething and the motrin doesn't always help.

i'm currently out of town, but when i get back i plan to have our chiro muscle test them both again for allergies. i also plan to get some emotional clearing done on J (i've known for a while that he has some emotional issues from his c-section but just needed to get the money together to take him; that might help some of his fussiness).

i'm curious as to what experiences the mamas here have had regarding muscle testing and allergies/sensitivities. also, does what i described sound like a food sensitivity? what would you recommend that i try eliminating first?

thanks!

[doulawoman]

not sure how helpful I can be as I am investigating the same thing for 7 mo dd...she also pulls at her ear constantly but no ear infection either. she is having reflux again too and is unhappy most of the time despie her beautiful disposition normally. I;ve never tried muscle testing...sounds worthwhile! We do have a homeopath though. hugs, we're in this together...

[mamafish9]

Yes it sounds like a food sensitivity, likely to dairy. And I don't understand how you can be sensitive to dairy and tolerate cheese (or even butter, but butter has less proteins, so sometimes people do OK with it). I'd take out all dairy, including trace dairy, and see where your kids are at.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by mamafish9

And I don't understand how you can be sensitive to dairy and tolerate cheese (or even butter, but butter has less proteins, so sometimes people do OK with it). I'd take out all dairy, including trace dairy, and see where your kids are at.

A lactose intolerant person can eat butter and aged cheese with no issue b/c those do not have any lactose.

But I agree with mamafish, I would take out all dairy first, then challenge.

Motrin can strip the gut lining, I would stop.

[JaneS]

Also if you were noticing sensitivities to fruit before it could be food chemical intolerance (salicylate sensitivity) you are dealing with.

[mamafish9]

Originally Posted by JaneS

A lactose intolerant person can eat butter and aged cheese with no issue b/c those do not have any lactose.

But I agree with mamafish, I would take out all dairy first, then challenge.

Motrin can strip the gut lining, I would stop.

I thought the regular north american butter has lactose, it's only cultured european style butter that has not lactose (fermentation eats it up)? http://www.telusplanet.net/public/ekende/lactose.htm

But I always forget about lactose intolerance since it's so rare in little ones and think dairy proteins instead

[JaneS]

Yes, that is right, European butter has all traces of lactose removed. Also Organic Valley has a cultured organic butter. But I think regular butter has less than 1 mg. per serving? I was going by SCD rules of allowed lactose free dairy which was helpful to us when we were li:
http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.i...llegal_a-c.htm

I think the "lactose intolerance is rare" argument is left over advice from the time where a lot of kids did not have gut damage as they do today. In my experience, most allergy kids are lactose intolerant now because their gut linings are inflamed and the villi in the small intestine cannot produce lactase.

This is now gone mainstream as a lot of mothers of celiac kids are being told by their doctors that their child is short term lactose intolerant until they remove the wheat and get their child's gut to heal and lining to rebuild, then they can digest dairy again.

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by JaneS

A lactose intolerant person can eat butter and aged cheese with no issue b/c those do not have any lactose.

But I agree with mamafish, I would take out all dairy first, then challenge.

Motrin can strip the gut lining, I would stop.

Except if they were lactose intolerant they wouldn't be able to handle mama's milk either, since that has lactose in it. That's why it's so rare in nursing infants.

I agree likely dairy, pull from all three of you if you're still nursing. All forms. Keep a food journal if you're able to, to see if you notice any other trends. But it's the most likely culprit.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

Except if they were lactose intolerant they wouldn't be able to handle mama's milk either, since that has lactose in it. That's why it's so rare in nursing infants.

Not necessarily b/c mama's milk is raw so it has the lactase enzyme in it that gets killed by heat pastuerization.

I know of scads of people in my raw milk group that are lactose intolerant and can tolerate raw just fine. Our experience too!

[livingfree]

thanks ladies! so i will double check this when i visit my chiro next, but right now i will plan on eliminating dairy after i get home. i guess i'll need to brush up on all the hidden names of dairy.

also, where can i go to find out about a salicylate sensitivity? J was definitely sensitive to fruit before. i had totally cut it out for several months. i will have the chiro specifically test for that chemical.

[JaneS]

www.salicylatesensitivity.com
http://failsafediet.wordpress.com/
www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info