symptoms of food sensitivities - help pls

[omelette]

My son has been diagnosed with allergic colitis, he is 1.5yrs.  His diet is very limited, at this point all he eats is turkey, salmon, avocado, apple, peach, banana, zucchini and butternut squash.  The GI specialist and the allergist we've been working with want us to start introducing more food, 2 items per wk.  

Apparently at this age allergic collitis is something that is outgrown and most kids outgrow it by 1yr, but my son was not diagnosed until he was a yr old.  We've never gotten his poops or tummy to normal despite cutting out almost everything at one point and both the specialist and allergist say at this point we shouldn't be cutting anything more out b/c he will eventually outgrow the sensitivity/allergy and outgrow the colitis.  

My main question is (since I'm not finding the allergist all that useful these days) when I intro a new food and the next day or 2 he has chunks of that food in his poop along with some mucous would that qualify as this food not agreeing with him?  And if so do I remove it and how long should I wait to intro another new food?

I'm feeling so frustrated b/c everything we seem to give him changes his poop in some way that makes it even worse then it was before (food chunks, mucous, diarhea) or makes him cry in discomfort and I really don't know what to intro next or if I should be taking stuff out.  

Any suggestions or input?

TIA

[eatyourveggies]

Have you tried giving him any type of gut-building support? like acidophilus (can be dairy-free, that's what we use), l-glutamine or digestive enzymes?

I think that digestive enzymes would quite possibly be necessary for him right now.

My daughter doesn't have digestive collitis, but she has a lot of allergies and once could only eat a few foods. The things that helped the most were, of course, to find out her main allergens (and that she has celiac disease) but then doing something to help support her digestive system really helped in the long run and allowed us to introduce more foods that she wasn't allergic to, but highly reactive to because of her overall compromised digestive system and high antihistamine levels.

[kjbrown92]

You're supposed to get back to baseline before adding new foods. For some kids it's 3-4 days, for others it's a couple weeks. Or else how would you be able to tell if it's the new food or the previous one?

If colitis is their words for food intolerances/allergies, I'd like to see all those kids who outgrow them by a year. Really. I don't know a single one.

How's his sleep?

If he still hasn't gotten to baseline (tummy/poop issues continue, you say) then one of the foods he's eating now may be bothering him.

What kind of testing has been done?

I agree about active healing. Things like bone broth are very healing, gelatin in general, probiotics, enzymes, etc. Are you strictly with allopaths right now (allergist/gi)? You may want to try someone like an osteopath who can do some craniosacral work. That's made a huge difference for my son, along with getting things like the Genova stool test which told us a lot about how he was digesting things (not well) and which bugs were in his system.

[omelette]

Thanks for your input.

I feel so overwhelmed and at the end of my rope with this that I don't know what to do next or who to go to for help.  We've been going to doctors since he was 1.5 months old.  We've made some progress but my little guy is still very uncomfortable at times and has not had a normal poop since he was born.

We have seen a naturopath and had blood work done for IGE and IGG testing, everything came back completely negative, nothing even showed up on the test.  He's been tested for celiacs which also came back negative.  He's had scratch testing done at the allergist for the 6 main allergens and that came back completely negative too.  He was labeld non-IGE mediated by the allergist.  The naturopath disagreed with this and thought it had to do with being intolerant of carbohydrates.

I've asked both the GI specialist we saw and the allergist about one of the foods he's eating being an issue and they told me it's possible but he will outgrow it so not to worry about taking it out.  So, I haven't taken anything out but have tried introducing a few things.  The few things we've tried have cause either mucousy poops, diarrhea or chunks of that food in his poops along with screaming and major discomfort.

His sleep was terrible from birth to about 1yr4months - meaning he slept for about 20min-1hr woke up and cried for 1-2hours and then slept again for 20min-1hr.  Lately he has been sleeping way better, sometimes through the night.  When he does wake up though it is b/c he needs to pass gas and it causes him discomfort.  Anytime he is gassy he screams and has a hard time passing it.

So, I'm not sure how to get to baseline with him.  The kid loves to eat and I find I have a hard time keeping him satisfied during the day.  He did turkey and zucchini for a month or so at 1yr old and still never got to baseline but his poops were at their best.

I will look into getting some probiotics this weekend and cook a turkey and make bone broth this weekend too.  Ideas on where to go next?

[mytwomonkies]

Can you give us a list of EVERYTHING he's eating (and you if you're still nursing)? DD2 did not tolerate any meats other than lamb at first (not even buffalo which is supposed to be easy to digest), she definitely did not tolerate turkey or chicken. I think you've been given some great advice here already, the advice to not take any more foods out is not really good advice though. If one of these foods is causing him problems, wether he outgrows it or not, he obviously shouldn't be eating it right now.

When DD2 was 2 months old she started having major food problems and I basically had to eat lamb, rice, squash, and pears for 3 meals a day for several months before she would start to tolerate anything else. This was what it took for her to get to "baseline" and once she was there it was so much easier to tell when she was reacting to something new.

[kjbrown92]

A Genova stool test might help - to tell you what's going on in his digestive tract. For my DS, it told us that he needed digestive enzymes and more of a certain kind of probiotic. And it really helped his poops. And considering that he may or may not outgrow these intolerances, I think it's ridiculous for a doctor say leave in a food that might be bothering him. My DS is almost 11yo and he hasn't "outgrown" his. Do you have allergies/intolerances? Does his father?

[mytwomonkies]

I agree with Kathy, I'm 28 years old and have not outgrown my food intolerances...my parent's have not outgrown theirs either. That's not to say he won't outgrow his but unfortunately some peds are wrong in thinking all babies outgrow their food intolerances.

[omelette]

I'm no longer nursing and he is drinking Nutramigen formula now although I wonder sometimes if that could be the issue.  The best he ever was was when I was still nursing and we were both eating turkey, zucchini, olive oil and pear and I was also eating rice.  For my own health reasons I couldn't keep it up and we switched to the formula.

Currently he is eating turkey, salmon, avocado, apple, peach, banana, zuchinni, butternut squash and potatoes (which is a new one and I'm not sure if it is ok or not).  Like you've all said it's hard to tell if something is agreeing with him when he's never really had a normal poop or a day without discomfort.

I have no allergies but feel better when I'm not eating dairy and wheat.  I also get itchy (eczema?)  when I'm eating these foods.  My older son is allergic to strawberries and doesn't tolerate dairy and wheat that well either.  We've both been tested for celiacs too but we're both negative.  My husband has an iron stomach and can eat anything.

The Genova stool test, is it something you do through a naturopath or a dr?

[omelette]

Another question.  Where do you find probiotics that do not contain dairy or soy?  I was at 2 health food stores today and neither of them carried anything appropriate for ds.

[mytwomonkies]

Formula could be an issue, you could try switching to another hypoallergenic formula like EleCare or something. Also, you mentioned some wheat/gluten sensitivites in your family. Is there a lot of wheat/gluten products eaten in your household? If so, he could be getting cross contamination from crumbs, etc. and that could be bothering him. Potatoes bother me and DD2. Banana's, apples, and butternut squash all give me gas. DD2 does not do well with avacadoes.

Maybe you could try switching formulas first? Give it atleast a week and if nothing changes try taking out a food one at a time and give it about a week and see if there's any changes. If not try another food. Just a suggestion :)

We are doing country life probiotics right now. They are in capsule form so I just open one up and mix it in juice or whatever and give it to them. I'm about to start making my own water kefir, maybe that's something you could look into?

[SweetSilver]

How does one delete one's own post?  Ignore this one, read the next.  I will figure this out eventually.

Edited by SweetSilver - 5/1/11 at 9:07pm

[SweetSilver]

Raw fruits and veggies can cause GI upsets.  Introduce the cooked ones first, you might be able to expand his repertoire.  Yes, I would consider mucous a sign of a sensitivity, but i might look at other things, too.  I have found that food that is causing trouble is eliminated much quicker than normal (even later in the day.)  If he's not fussy or other signs, I might allow some foods on a limited basis, though that can make identifying new allergies/ sensitivities difficult.  

     Identifying food issues can be a long haul, and unless symptoms are severe, you can relax a little.  Eventually kids can talk to you about how they feel: if they have a tummyache or headache (or if the forearm where I've rubbed a bit of raw salmon as the first part of a challenge itches and tingles).  We have a lot of allergies at our house, and it's an ongoing process.  Hopefully your ped is right, if not on the timetable, but that this kind of thing will go away.

[Kasey Harris]

Ive been reading your posts and i can give you my opinion and what i did for my son.  From birth (i breast fed) he had what I thought was problems pooping. I would call the Dr once a week and tell them it seems like it hurts him or like he has trouble getting it to come out and when it did it was a blast and loose all the time.  Over a few years he had skin reactions to garlic, green peas, and peanut butter ice cream.  At two he got a cold and I ended up taking him to the ER because he was not breathing well. They told me he had allergic asthma...so for two more years we lived with it..loose stools, horrible allergies and colds all the time.  At 4 took him to an Asthma/Allergy Dr.  He gave my son a blood allergy test and asked if he ever had eczema. Confused I asked why and he said that most people who have eczema get food allergies.  So we got the results back....milk, eggs, corn, rice, almonds, peanuts, soy and oats! I like wow!  After doing my research I found out that most people have a lactose intolerance so I switched to lactose free milk (worked wonderfully) and just stopped giving him the other foods, because they were causing the asthma and the loose stools.  Also doing my research I found that corn is even in salt and soy is in almost every thing too!  I would suggest a blood allergy test they can see more with those.  Hope you find out the problem....I know how stressful it can be when you kid wants to eat something but cant because it has a food he/she is allergic to in it. Good Luck!

[flightgoddess]

Um, not necessarily a food reaction, undigested chunks are normal at this age to some degree. They are still not very efficient chewers. I found whole rasins, corn and peas ALL THE TIME in my lil guy's poos. The consistancy of the rest of the poo was just poo. If the consistancy is a runny nasty mess or super weird color, then maybe be concerned. But food chunks are normal.

If he doesn't have a true allergy to egg, why are you still avoiding it? Has it caused issues in the past or you just haven't tried it yet? Might be good to try.  What about coconut?  If coconut milk is tolerated, he is old enough to perhaps stop the formula to see if there is a difference. Hemp or almond milk might be another 'milk' to consider.

Ditto the precooked veggie suggestions :)  Have you considered trying buckwheat? It is not related to wheat and it is not a true grain, it is a 'fruit' related to rhubarab accually.

Just becuase your celiac test was negative, doesn't mean you don't have an issues. There is non-celiac gluten intolerance, though many mainstream drs think it is hogwash. You'll find more info on that on a lot of the celiac websites (like www.celiac.com and www.celiac.org) My older sister is diagnosed celiac, my tests came back negative, but my chronic fatigue and ecezema issues have totally resolved now that I am GF. And my kitchen is probably 90% GF, only my hubby and son have their own cupboard with prepackaged gluteny foods like cereal, crackers, or frozen pizza. We each have separate toasters and there is a no double dipping rule. I only make GF meals, so that is what everyone eats. Unless it is cold cereal day or something. A few times I have been glutened, I have had episodes of bowel uncomfort, reddenss, ichyness, etc. So perhaps you need to consider being more strict about being GF.....

[SweetSilver]

The type of celiac test was not mentioned.  A negative blood test for gluten tolerance is not definitive, positive results are.  If celiac disorder is still suspected, a biopsy is done.

     Allergies are a bit tricky.  Usually they test only for the most common allergens in little kids, unless one is suspected, so oats and rice aren't usually tested for unless you ask.  This was one of my troubles as a kid, not being tested for oats which was a huge allergen.  Both my daughter and I are allergic to rice.  Buckwheat and lentils aren't tested for, and they cause headaches in my daughter, and a really odd allergy "bomb" in me (that's my best description, sorry).  To top it off, I've taken my daughter to the allergist every year since 2yo, prick-tested at 2 and 4.  Her almond allergy (from infanthood, made clear when we used lotion with almond oil) didn't test positive until 4.  Wheat was clear at 2 and huge at 4.  I'm pretty sure she was allergic the whole time, but at 3yo, she started having huge rages, kept returning to the couch in tears, her safe haven, after even minor setbacks.  She started screaming and hitting.  Wheat gone, and it all disappeared, and the mucous in her stool disappeared, too.

     To repeat my earlier post, this can be a long road.  Some kids, however hard you try, are going to be sensitive.  As a mom, you are vigilant, always aware of food in/ food out and sensitivity issues that are not so obvious and will become clearer as they grow older.  Just after I posted my first reply, my daughter, now 6, informed me that her tongue felt odd and tingly after eating a small carrot, and the night before, after having some raw carrot at dinner, she complained of a stomach ache at bedtime.  

     We will be on this road for a long time.

Edited by SweetSilver - 5/5/11 at 7:22pm

[cristeen]

You may want to consider muscle response testing, since you're getting nowhere w the allopaths. When the allopath allergist told us that DS' bleeding rash and hives couldnt possibly be allergy related, thats what I did. It also tends to be far more comprehensive. Just in our first session today she ID'd allergies to his formula, wheat, strawberries, magnesium and potassium. But she cleared eggs, milk, corn and other grains, and pineapple.

And I do know a little boy who was allergic to even the elemental formula... I have a case of it sitting here because he couldnt eat it. Last time i spoke to his mom, his only protein was lamb, and kiwi was one of his few fruits.

One tip for muscle response testing w an 18 mo - take a mai tei or other carrier. I didnt realize i'd have to hold him the whole time and he didnt like that.

[omelette]

We've done a 5 day trial of no formula, we didn't replace it with anything, he's just been drinking water.  There's been no change in his discomfort, amount of tears and his sleep has actually been worse.  But, his poops have not been runny, they're more of a paste.  Now I don't know if this is b/c he's not drinking as much liquid although he has been drinking a lot of water.  Not sure if I should try the formula again or what else I can introduce instead.

As for eggs.  We've tried them 3 times and each time he was throwing up repeatedly within 45 minutes of ingesting them even though they didn't come up on his prick test.  So we haven't tried them again.

And the chunks of food in his poop only happens when we try a new food and it's always accompagnied by a lot of mucous.  

We've had blood allergy test for both IGG and IGE mediated allergies.  It came back completely negative.  Mind you he had not been eating many of those foods at the time.  From what I understand his allergies are non-IGE mediated and will not show up on a prick test or a blood test.  I wish they would b/c I'd be in heaven if somebody could just tell me what to stop feeding him.

For now I think I'm going to start rotating foods out of his repetoire and see what happens.

I'm interested in a stool test also - is this through the dr or a naturopath?