Starting an elimination diet with my DD...some questions

[micromama]

Hi. My DD is 23 months old and from the beginning, we have suspected allergies -- frequent undereye circles and excess fatigue, and more recently, mucus in her stool and stool tests coming back with very high EOS inflammation markers. IBD, Crohns and UC have all been ruled out, so we're down to allergies. We did an IGG test but the results seemed a bit off, so we decided to do an elimination diet instead. Her allergies are likely a result of "leaky gut" as I was on ABX at her birth and she had them three times before 10 months old for multiple ear infections.

So far, so good-- we're on day 8 just feeding her rice, millet, turkey, chicken, beef, cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, apples and pears. Her stool has been solid without being constipated (and this is a child who has always tended towards softer, looser stools, so solid poops are a big deal for us.) No mucus, no straining, no undigested food. Hurray! However, I have a couple questions:

1. My naturopath wants us to add 6(!) supplements to her diet "asap" --one anti-microbial, one digestive enzyme, two anti-inflammatory/ gut lining builders, one new probiotic (she's already on Therbiotic Complete) and one immune support supplement. I know we need to rebuild the gut and heal it, but this seems like overkill to me so soon into the elim diet and it would seem to me like it could skew the diet results. He said, "don't worry about it" when I asked, but I thought that was strange, and felt like he was really pushing the supplements on us without explaining. Now I am confused... anyone have any insights into whether you should add so many supplements in the middle of the elim process? To compound the issue, some of the supplements have known allergens -- one of them contains shellfish, and one of them has garlic in it, which she tested highly IGG sensitive to.

Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy to add in supplements once we've done the diet...

2. Since starting the diet, the past couple days, she has little red spots on her face-- they look like pimples. Unlike her 'food hives' (which she gets from eating dairy, and we avoid at all costs) these are more or less a permanent fixture on her face. Does this mean she is allergic to something in the elim diet? Or could it be some "clearing" since her gut is clearly healing, with no undigested food, solid stools, etc? Her energy is much better this week and the dark circles have faded considerably, even though she currently has a cold and cough.

I am confused and my naturopath isn't being much help :( Anyone have any ideas?

[SweetSilver]

Are the spots even across her face?  Or more clustered on her cheeks?  Is there a general redness to her skin, or is it just red on the bumps?  

I am always suspicious when naturopaths push supplements, and that is usually because they more often than not sell the supplements there in the office.  I would be inclined to give the diet a chance to work.  Same for the red spots.  I would give it a chance to see if it clears up on its own without any changes.  If you make the changes, you will never know.  I think that is the point of an ED--don't make any changes for a while, record what happens and when, and then make the changes one at a time and record what happens.  Too much all at once and if something springs up you are left wondering what the culprit is-- again!

[micromama]

The spots on her left cheek are in an even diagonal line moving down her face towards her lip. On her right cheek, they are fewer and more sporadic. No redness other than the spots, which almost look like pimples. I wonder if, given the formation, they are actually bug bites? I've been getting bitten myself lately.

I'm with you, Sweetsilver-- my gut says to let the diet have a chance to work. I also get very suspicious when supplements are pushed on me-- if they're suggested, great, but otherwise it feels sort of crooked when they're selling them. We'll probably do them anyway for optimal gut healing, but after we've gotten the diet rolling.