Help figure out what caused this mucus. Please.

[northerngirl]

Dd had mucus in her poop for quite a while when she was younger, but we haven't seen it in many months (now she's 17 months).

We've been going slow introducing foods, because of that and I am eating a pretty limited diet so I can narrow it down if she does have a reaction.

Up until Monday her diaper area looked fine. Tuesday upon waking her butt hole was red. I thought it could have been from the two Ricola cough drops I ate on Sunday and Monday night (we're avoiding all corn). OR from Greens (japanese?) that I got from a friend that I have never eaten before, Monday night. OR from strawberries that we initially tried Friday and then she had them Sunday and Monday too. Her butt was ok Saturday, Sunday and Monday (hubby doesn't think it was the strawberries)

This morning butt hole redness was much better and I thought everything was going to be ok.

THEN>>>

Tonight she had visible mucus in her poopy diaper at 6pm. Her butt hole is red and her cheeks and uppper vulva area where the poop touched are also irritated.

There are a few things that could have been the suspect:

#1 Egg Yolk She ate <1tsp of hardboiled egg yolk at about 10am. This would be only the second time that she has eaten it. The other time was a very long time ago and I was not keeping a food journal at that time and she really didn't eat hardly any of it. I have been eating eggs almost every day which does not cause her to have a red butt.

#2 Slippery Elm Bark Yesterday and today I have been eating lozenges for my sore throat/cold that I made with slippery elm bark, honey and vanilla extract. This would be the first time I have really eating more than 1tsp of this.

#3 Greens (japanese I think) I ate them on Friday night and Monday night.

#4 HCL with Pepsin that I took on Saturday and Sunday. This would be the first time I took this brand and it has been a few months since I have taken anything like that.

I guess I am not sure as to the amount of time it takes to cause the mucus? Any thoughts? Just when I thought we were doing so good...  :(

[kjbrown92]

well you just learned about too many variables!! I'm not sure how long it takes for mucous to form. I know that for my DD2, when she was little, her next pee would be acidic after the food she ate, and she'd get a reddish rash on her whole diaper area, and it would last 2-3 days. I'd back off of all of the things you've just introduced until the redness goes away, and add them back in one at a time after she's better.

Remember that they can react to things differently in your milk vs. directly (but I wouldn't suspect the egg, only because she had the red butt a few days earlier as well). I'd go with the cough drops. But I don't know if you'd have that much of a lag between the food and the mucous. That sounds like a really long time. I remember getting some "natural" Halls cough drop (a few years ago) and DS reacted horribly to it. The company wouldn't tell me what was in the flavors because it was proprietary so I never even figured out what he was reacting to in it. But things with multiple ingredients are more suspect in this family.

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

well you just learned about too many variables!! I'm not sure how long it takes for mucous to form. I know that for my DD2, when she was little, her next pee would be acidic after the food she ate, and she'd get a reddish rash on her whole diaper area, and it would last 2-3 days. I'd back off of all of the things you've just introduced until the redness goes away, and add them back in one at a time after she's better.

Remember that they can react to things differently in your milk vs. directly (but I wouldn't suspect the egg, only because she had the red butt a few days earlier as well). I'd go with the cough drops. But I don't know if you'd have that much of a lag between the food and the mucous. That sounds like a really long time. I remember getting some "natural" Halls cough drop (a few years ago) and DS reacted horribly to it. The company wouldn't tell me what was in the flavors because it was proprietary so I never even figured out what he was reacting to in it. But things with multiple ingredients are more suspect in this family.

Thanks for your reply! Yeah, the ricola cough drops were a quick last ditch resort to sooth my sore coughing throat...

The more I think about it though, I don't think it was the cough drops (corn), because a few weeks earlier I trialed me eating the Lundberg rice chips that have corn in them and nothing happened. She was fine. However, I felt like crap. So I will not be eating those anytime soon.

I had eaten those Ricola cough drops this past winter a few different times and I definitely don't remember mucus. I would have remembered that if it happened.

I am curious why you don't think it is the egg yolk. I really don't want it to be egg yolk. I need to find another protein source for her.

I am not sure if everything I had mentioned is ONE reaction or if it was two different reactions, since on the Wed morning I thought her bum looked better than it had, but not entirely clear.

Slippery elm is mucus forming...but does that go through breastmilk? I have no idea.

Although she did have strawberries Sunday through Wed. This was a new food for her Friday. She was ok 72 hours after she had 1 small strawberry.

I really appreciate you reading and commenting!

[SweetSilver]

When her bum looks normal, don't eat anything new and have a hard boiled egg, just salt.  Or just the yolk, but make it 2 or 3.  Allergies can kick in at any age.  My dd added a wheat allergy at 3yo.  That one had been good, both on tests and as a challenge, until this time.

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by SweetSilver 

When her bum looks normal, don't eat anything new and have a hard boiled egg, just salt.  Or just the yolk, but make it 2 or 3.  Allergies can kick in at any age.  My dd added a wheat allergy at 3yo.  That one had been good, both on tests and as a challenge, until this time.

I think I have eaten 4 eggs (yikes) in a day and her bum has been ok. And that was not that long ago, less than a month. Luckily her poos have been mucus free that I can see since the one time.

Update: this morning her bum was pretty much ok, things were good. She pooped at 4pm and her cheeks and upper area were RED. She pooped again at 630 and RED still or maybe even more so.

It's weird bc sometimes just around the hole is red, and other times, like now the whole area cheeks and all is red. Not sure why the difference occurs.

I may be suspecting butter now though for this go around.

It is so. frustrating.

[kjbrown92]

are you keeping a food journal, down to ingredient level? If it's now been off and on for a week, I'd try to figure out the connection by trying to remember everything that was eaten (by you and her) and seeing if you can find a pattern. It's possible that she has one reaction through you and another one directly.

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

are you keeping a food journal, down to ingredient level? If it's now been off and on for a week, I'd try to figure out the connection by trying to remember everything that was eaten (by you and her) and seeing if you can find a pattern. It's possible that she has one reaction through you and another one directly.

We do have a food journal. I am eating mostly the same things everyday and she has small menu. It is just that I *thought* oh that will be fine (japanese greens, 2 cough drops) and then she was having butter and like you said too many variables.

On top of that I pump milk when I am at work 24hr/week, so then that milk is drank on a different day and it makes it that much more complicated. But now I have been trying to keep track of what milk she drinks on what day.

Patterns in the food journal have not really been that clear. Sometimes when I think I figured something out I find a time where she/I had that item and things were fine. That's what I don't get.

[kjbrown92]

In that case, it can be an amount, like a food chemical. Some kids have that kind of bucket reaction to amines or to salicylates. I don't know much about those ones though, except to know that they're bucket reactions.

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

In that case, it can be an amount, like a food chemical. Some kids have that kind of bucket reaction to amines or to salicylates. I don't know much about those ones though, except to know that they're bucket reactions.
 

Thanks for your reply.
Yes, the bucket reaction could be the case. If it is that, that just makes things WAY worse in figuring things out. Geez.

I have continued to give dd and myself one pat of butter in our morning hot cereal because I wasn't really thinking that was the culprit. Dd's bum is looking great today. And yesterday she had 3 poops when dh was caring for her and her bum was fine.

I am going to wait a few more days and then try and give her egg yolk again and see what happens.

I am really really needing to get her some more foods since she is going to start going to daycare 20 hrs/week. The daycare woman was concerned about what she was going to feed her and was hoping not to cause her a reaction. I am going to still be nursing her on demand when we are together the 4 days we are together, but I am only pumping about 5 oz when I am away from her and would really like it if she could have yogurt or goat milk or something with protein besides chicken that I eat. every. day and she eats a lot too. Fruit and veg are not going to cut it.

I am going to end up sending food for her since that is what seems like the easiest for everyone. Today for lunch she had quinoa and olive oil and zucchini.

Veg she eats:            Cannot have for sure:       Not sure yet:

Broccoli                      Peas                                 raspberries

zucchini                      Yam                                  strawberries

spinach                                                                goat yogurt

squash

Fruit she eats:

banana

avacado

blueberry

nectarine

apple

pear

Grains she eats:

quinoa

millet

rice

Meat she eats:

chicken

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by northerngirl 

 I am going to still be nursing her on demand when we are together the 4 days we are together, but I am only pumping about 5 oz when I am away from her and would really like it if she could have yogurt or goat milk or something with protein besides chicken that I eat. every. day and she eats a lot too. Fruit and veg are not going to cut it.

Red lentils make a nice, simple soup.  I have trouble with lentils, so you'd have to test them, but they have been a favorite with my daughter.  Millet and quinoa have very high protein.

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by SweetSilver 

Red lentils make a nice, simple soup.  I have trouble with lentils, so you'd have to test them, but they have been a favorite with my daughter.  Millet and quinoa have very high protein.

I was eating red lentils quite a while ago and realized that she was reacting to them. I could try them again. She doesn't do well with peas though.

I do eat black beans occasionally and she appears to be fine with those, through my milk. When I tried to give them to her before she was not interested in them, but I could try again.

Any more ideas?
 

[kjbrown92]

if she's okay with broccoli, have you tried cauliflower?

Have you tried beets? They seem to be low allergen.

Have you tried buckwheat? No relation to wheat (it's an herb, and a protein)

We make quinoa taboule that's delicious, and a quinoa porridgey thing. And I use quinoa flakes for cookies and for breading on chicken (fried chicken fingers)

avocado is a great fat.

Have you tried coconut? that's another good fat.

Have you tried any other meats?

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

if she's okay with broccoli, have you tried cauliflower?

Have you tried beets? They seem to be low allergen.

Have you tried buckwheat? No relation to wheat (it's an herb, and a protein)

We make quinoa taboule that's delicious, and a quinoa porridgey thing. And I use quinoa flakes for cookies and for breading on chicken (fried chicken fingers)

avocado is a great fat.

Have you tried coconut? that's another good fat.

Have you tried any other meats?

We have not had cauliflower as I muscle tested not good for that.

We have not tried beets. Not sure how to eat/cook them? Are they really earthy tasting?

We also did not test well for buckwheat, but maybe it's ok now. Buckwheat pancakes is the only thing I can think of that uses it though.

She eats a quinoa porridge many times a week. That or millet porridge. And we too make chicken fingers with quinoa flakes.

She eats lots of avacado. Almost every day.

One time I put coconut oil in her porridge and she would not eat it. She made a weird face when I put the spoon up to her nose, so I'm pretty sure she was turned off by the smell.

Also, I did not test well for coconut, unfortunately.

We have not tried any other meats. I use to be vegetarian but started eating chicken once a bunch of foods were taken out of my diet. Tried ground beef in a taco like wrap and was a big grossed out. And for some reason I feel icky after eating turkey, although I like it. Dh doesn't like it and older dd1 has never had it.

I would like to make something where beef was hidden in it, I could probably do that.

I have continued to give her butter in her morning porridge as well as me, and she seems to be fine with it. No red bum for sure. Sleeping the same pretty much.

I also for the past 3? days given her some goat yogurt mixed with banana. She seems ok so far.

[Sarmom]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

In that case, it can be an amount, like a food chemical. Some kids have that kind of bucket reaction to amines or to salicylates. I don't know much about those ones though, except to know that they're bucket reactions.

What does a bucket reaction look like?