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Mamas w/food allergic children - Page 3

post #41 of 178
10/26/04 at 10:30am
From what I understand the dark circles is very typical of milk allergy (although it wasn't for us, so...). Both of my kids have horrific cradle cap too! I've always assumed it was related to the excema.
For dust mites: It is really pretty expensive so I wouldn't recommend doing it unless you have a relaly good reason to suspect dust mite allergy. We removed the carpet, curtains, stuffed animals. Then we encased everything in dustmite proof encasings (box spring, mattress, pillows, duvet). We are co-sleepers so we did all that to our room, and then at about 3 ds wanted to have his own bed so we did it to his room too. (but we kept our room safe too since he's in with us as much as in his own room) Also, you have to wash all sheets every seven days and vacuum the encasings (I'm really bad about the vacuuming- don't do it nearly as much as I should )
Kaly
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post #42 of 178
10/26/04 at 12:40pm
I've never heard of circles being related to dairy but then, my mom, sis and I are all lactose intolerant so it would make sense. And now that I think of it, I *have* heard cradle cap specifically linked to dairy, not just food, but I have no idea where I heard that (for all I know it was just someone thinking aloud, yk?). But you know, these are all enough coincidences that maybe I should try and eliminate dairy and see what happens. Sigh. I was so happy that dairy didn't seem to be a problem (behaviorally at least) because I can't imagine being soy AND dairy free at the same time. Those two often seem to be subbed for each other. Thank goodness we like rice milk on our cereal

Of course we were going to make spritz cookies for a Halloween party this thursday so we might have to wait a few days. I haven't found a single margarine that doesn't contain soy and of course butter would be dairy so that's out. I wonder if spritz cookies would work with cooking oil or would that be *too* soft?
post #43 of 178
10/26/04 at 12:47pm
ShannonCC--try Soy Garden 'butter'. It tastes great and bakes well. It is all we use now. Even DH likes it.
post #44 of 178
10/26/04 at 1:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by annab
ShannonCC--try Soy Garden 'butter'. It tastes great and bakes well. It is all we use now. Even DH likes it.
No, I need soy free too and that's the problem. Soy oil must be cheap as dirt because it's used *everywhere*. Even the corn margarine I found also has soy in it!
post #45 of 178
10/26/04 at 5:27pm
My kids have all had bad cradle cap the wouldn't go away and 2 of them have dairy issues and the baby is showing some signs of it also....hmmm

We no longer vax, my ds was fully vaxed, my 1stdd was vaxed until 15 months, the baby isn't vaxed. Ds- worst allergies, dd1- some allergies, dd2- very mild allergies, only 2 things. I really think my ds being fully vaxed made things the worst for him .

Shannon, have you tried baking with applesauce instead? I remember reading something about that, I think if you used half oil and half applesauce it would work ok.
post #46 of 178
10/26/04 at 7:49pm
Interesting about the cradle cap. My 2 year old sister has horrible cradle cap, we tried everything under the sun to *cure* it but nothing worked. Thankfully her hair grew so it's not noticable anymore She is allergic to wheat and peanuts.

My DS had bad cradle cap but it did go away (when he was about 6 months old he had like a thick layer on his head and I eventually got it all off and it never came back). He's dairy, corn, and egg allergic.
post #47 of 178
10/26/04 at 10:28pm
#1 is partly vaxed, number 2 is not.

And, wow 2honeysmama, that sounds rough!

Kaly
post #48 of 178
10/27/04 at 4:58pm
This might be OT, but who is vaccinating their kids here? Ds had a bad reaction to his two-month round and we haven't done any since -- it makes sense to me that given the fact that his immune system is problematic it doesn't make sense to put more poison into it, esp. not when he was that young. I'm not convinced my way is right, but am curious as to how how other parents of allergic children deal with this issue.[/QUOTE]

Dd had 'reflux' and bloody stool after two month and four month vax. The 'reflux' turned into projectile vomiting after four month vax. The doctors didn't know what they were talking about when they diagnosed reflux. They also diagnosed her bloody stool as a fissure...um, in a four month old? They started mentioning weaning, anti-vomiting meds, and anti-diahreal (sp?) meds. I said, "stopping the symptoms doesn't mean you've solved the problem." I left and never went back. I now have a great naturopathic pediatrician eliminated dairy and gluten and vaccinations. Seems to have helped.
post #49 of 178
10/29/04 at 11:06am
Max,
As you see you are sooo not alone with this. I foundout about food allergies while I was totally BFing my #4 son (Caper) at 3 mos.
I was vegetarian and still consuming dairy. LOTS OF IT! He started having total meltdowns at night that would last the whole night. No sleep just screams. I was a member of AOL and was fortunate enough to have been going to a Chat hosted by Dr. Jay Gordon (world famous pediatrician). www.drjaygordon.com
Long and short... when Caper turned 3 mos I asked "doc" about our situation. He said "dairy allergy and that I needed to cut it out of my diet. Being stubborn I said "cant be that". So he suggested calming lavender bath before bed and asked me to check back with him the following week. Next week..same thing..he said dairy allergy. Again I refused. He suggested a good walk/stroll. Next week...same thing..he said dairy allergy. I refused YET again. He suggested infant massage. Following week...LOL he made a deal with me that I couldnt refuse..lol said to give dairy up for 2 weeks and he was almost positive I would see a change.I JUST HAD TO PROVE HIM WRONG!!! (((2))) nights later we were all happily sleeping in our family bed all night long!!!

After that I started looking at my (at that time) 6 yo who was always aggressive, angry, loud, impulsive..all around like a rock rolling down hill. Doc suggested he too had a dairy allergy.

I cut out his dairy and within 1 week he was a different child.
My dh was so impressed with the changes he decided our whole family should go totally vegan. Big deal since dh was a non vegan/vegetarian but realize dfood really does play a HUGE part in our health or lack thereof.We(the whole family) have been totally vegan now for 3 years.

I can always tell if my now 11 you sneaks anything with dairy and we go through a month long detox and get him back in gear.

Sorry for the book. Best of luck!
Alice (in GA)
post #50 of 178
10/29/04 at 1:35pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Capersmom. It is so helpful & reinforcing to hear from those who are doing the allergy thing also. Ds's preschool teachers today were full of paise & amazement at the change they have seen in him. I keep thinking to myself, "Five years! It has taken me five years to figure this out!" But I try not to dwell on it. At least we are there now.

Hugs to you all,
max
post #51 of 178
10/29/04 at 10:53pm
Hi, another mama with an Epi-pen in her bag. We all have allergies as well & have been through a lot with all of this.

My oldest is only intolerant to dairy and citrus. My middle dd had allergies so bad she wasn't able to start solids until she was 2 1/2 years old. She just lived in Neocate, an amino acid based formula, since she was allergic to breastmilk as well as milk, soy, & hypoallergenic formulas (like Nutramigen or Allimentum). She's now 5 and just allergic to milk. She got her little hands on something dairy this week since she has awful dark circles. She actually eats an extremely limited diet so I actually have no idea if she is still allergic to so many things since she refuses to eat them.

My youngest was born with that same severe allergy issue, allergic to breastmilk, milk based, soy based and hypoallergenic formulas. She was on Neocate until she was a year old. Now she's just allergic to soy (I carry the epi-pen for her for that), pears, grapes, & milk. She drinks rice milk but can't have any Rice Dream products since they run their rice milk on the same lines as their soy milk. I have to buy the West Soy brand only. I tried the Rice Dream once since the store was out of the usual brand and it was a really bad idea. I called Rice Dream and they said that their rice milk has soy contamination. The other issue is that with her fruit allergies, many things are sweetened with fruit juice, often pear or grape.

I have bad allergies and have been on a limited diet since I was 7. I tried that really fun elimination diet when I was 7. Nothing but lamb, ginger ale and I forget what else. I also remember then eating eggs 3 times a day for a few days and then on to the next thing. I'm allergic to soy, mushrooms, peas, peppers, peaches, pineapple, cherries, apricots, really most fruit. I'm intolerant to milk, citrus & tomatos. I'm also allergic to acrylic, wool, and 8000 different soaps, shampoos, laundry detergents, dish soap, cleaners, etc. I have a very limited list of personal products that I can use with out a reaction. Oh & then the list of medications I'm allergic to... So you can see where my girls get this from

The only good thing about my allergies is that it's given me a good understanding of what the girls are going through as well.

P.S. We all have eczema & asthma.

Edited to add: We have been tested, skin & blood. The girls have been to see Dr Hugh Sampson in NYC as well. We have non IgE mediated allergic responses which means that the testing doesn't work on any of us. Lily's skin testing for soy shows nothing but her reactions are to the point that I carry the epi-pen.
post #52 of 178
10/29/04 at 11:23pm
We went to a party yesterday. We had a great time but I didn't police dd's food at all. I have no idea what she ate but at the very end someone handed her a bag of pretzels (soy oil) and then said oh, I should have asked you first if it was ok. I just didn't have the heart to tell her she couldn't eat them in front of everyone so I let it go. I don't know why I didn't say anything. I did tell her, when we were alone (after she had eaten about 1/4 of the bag) that she shouldn't eat anymore because they had soy and she handed them to me without a fuss! I think I'm just not used to her growing up because lately it seems she is getting ready to police herself on these things.

So because of the food issues, I was smart enough (ok, and having enough fun myself!) to avoid a meltdown and not leave until every one else had left (we were literally the last to leave). I could see her "gearing up" but the way her soy thing works is that it makes her hyper and "ready" for a fight. If everything goes her way, she will just be hyper and the fight won't materialize. So, since I was happy to stay, we stayed (leaving before the other kids left would have sparked a fight for sure and I wasn't up for dragging her screaming down the street, toddler in arms, the two blocks to where I had parked).

In the car on the way home she bounced in the seat for about 1/2 an hour. She said "no no no no no" at one point through an entire song on the radio. Not angry, just over and over while bouncing up and down in her booster seat. I finally asked her to settle down (knowing it was useless) and she then started up with "Oh! That gives me an idea. No! Oh! That gives me an idea. No! Oh! That gives me an idea. No!". Again, she carried this on for a song or two (I was trying to ignore her by listening to the radio so I'm going by songs, not by time :LOL). Then she started licking her brother Well, at least he thought it was funny and didn't scream himself. Stuff like this continued on for most of the hour ride home.

I was thinking what a contrast this was to the way down where we had conversations and sang songs together. If someone saw her after she'd eaten soy I don't know what they'd think.

Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I read how food doesn't affect behavior and parents are imagining it.
post #53 of 178
10/29/04 at 11:43pm
Was this moved? I thought this was in Finding Your Tribe and now it's in Health and Healing? (or am I going nuts? )
post #54 of 178
10/30/04 at 1:24am
Does anyone have any links to info about behaviour issues and allergies? DS is corn, egg, and dairy free. But I breastfeed him and I am not completely free of those things (I tried, I really did. But I'm having a really hard time! I do avoid *major* things like straight corn, milk, eggs, ice cream, yogurt, ect but it's the hidden ones that get me). Anyway, I'm wondering if DS's bahavior could be linked to me eating things he can't have. Some days he just seems so.... hyper and almost out of control. I can't tell if this is just a normal behaviour or not. My 2 year old sister NEVER acted like he does. I don't mind if this is just how he is, I love his spunk and his energy (not at 2am though ), but I just want to do a little more reading on it
post #55 of 178
10/30/04 at 1:25am
Shannon- yes, it was in FYT before
post #56 of 178
10/31/04 at 2:55pm
Hi! I'm mama to two dds. Dd2 is allergic to milk and could be intolerance to eggs and maybe something else but I can't seem to know what. We have been dairy free for the past 6 mths. It's hard but worth seeing her smile with no cramps or rash.

Dd1 seems to be intolerance to milk. She vomit formula with dairy in it as a newborn. I didn't want to change kinds of formula to figure which one work, so I put her on soy. She did great on that until about 12mths where she started to vomit, projetile after her last bottle. So, I thought that she didn't tolerate her formula and change her to milk. Well, that help but she vomited at least every mth about once or twice. When I figure out that dd2 was allergic to milk, I stop given any to dd1. She hasn't vomit since march/april. I'm so glad. I hate seeing her being sick and I can't stand vomit. Right now I'm slowly reintroducing milk to dd1 as yogurt, cheese and I don't see her reacting as of yet. I'm not sure if I want to try milk again. I guess we will see.

My brother is lactose intolerance, So maybe dd1 has that too. Also there is food allergies on my dh side, so I'm not surprise that dd has some too. F-i-l is allergic to any fish with a shell, like shrimp. He has to keep a epi-pen with him at all time but he doens't always bring it to restaurants.

I'm glad to know there is others like me who is taking care of children with intelorance/allergies.

I miss eating dairy products, especially ice cream and cheese. One day I'll get to eat them again.
post #57 of 178
10/31/04 at 5:34pm
Hi everyone!!

Our youngest (2 years old) is allergic to dairy, soy, egg, corn, peanut, treenut, wheat, bananas and avocados and latex, mustard, sesame, coconut, barley, most fruit, many veggies, etc...etc... His dairy allergy seems to be the worst--ana on contact--but we don't mess around with his peanut/tree nut allergies either. The epis go with us everywhere.

All of the allergies I listed are IgE-mediated, but we've been told to expect a mixed bag. He's had several very severe GI reactions and so, as his IgE numbers go down, we'll have to trial very cautiously. Most recently I tried apples (I ate them, not him) because the last test was nearly negative. Within 12 hours he had a diaper rash and the next morning, 20 minutes after he nursed, he had severe gastro pain and vomiting. Lasted several hours. Corn is the same way--his RAST numbers were very low, but he reacts to even trace amounts in meds. or baking powder, etc...

His allergies showed up within 10 days of his 2-month vaxes. His eczema became so severe that he scratched out all of his hair. It covered his body, scalp to heels--oozing nasty stuff. He also stopped growing--**no** gain from 2 months until nearly 8 months old. We've since learned that, based on his history and blood work, he very probably had undxed malabsorption issues, but since we were largely dealing with incompetent docs who didn't understand food allergies, it went undiscovered.

We have a good team of docs. now. They allow us to question and research and they respect our decisions because they know we've worked our butts off to get our son healthy. We are very anal about diet. My mother knows how to cook for us, but my mother-in-law won't even attempt anything beyond oatmeal--not because she doesn't care, but because she's scared to. And I want her to be scared. It's his life. We don't vax. And I hs. I could not trust a public school to keep him safe. Peanut-free, I can see. But how do you ask a school to go dairy-free? I've seen him have an ana-reaction to one drop of yogurt **on his forehead**. Scares the h*** out of me sometimes.

That's our abridged story--glad to find this thread!

Missy
post #58 of 178
11/1/04 at 7:47am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShannonCC
Was this moved? I thought this was in Finding Your Tribe and now it's in Health and Healing? (or am I going nuts? )
Sorry, my fault! I just read the rules on FYT & I didn't know you aren't supposed to discuss the issue, just post membership, so to speak. I was just so excited to hear from other mamas I couldn't contain myself!

max
post #59 of 178
11/4/04 at 8:43am
Thread Starter 

Intolerant of calcium fortified foods?

Has anyone ever heard of this? It is the latest question in our food allergy/intoleance puzzle. Ds is allergic to dairy - beaks out in an itchy rash & has behavior problems. He had been drinking orange juice w/out an apparent problem. When we stopped dairy I added calcium fortified OJ to his diet. Then citrus was the next thing for us to test w/the single food elimination diet. When I added it back he demonstrated all the behavioral cues that he had w/dairy (inattention, impulsive, aggressive, hyper). He was also pale & his dark eye circles were more pronounced. Also, a slight face rash. Clearly he is reacting to something. I am not sure if it is the citrus or the calcium fortified component. I haven't been able to find any info on calcium allergies/intolerances online. The soy milk he now drinks is also calcium fortified. I haven't noticed a reaction to that, although he doesn't drink a lot - maybe 1/2 cup w/meals.

Any insights?

TIA,
max
post #60 of 178
11/4/04 at 11:38am
Calcium fortification can come from different sources. I have no idea what's in OJ, but it is something to look into.

It would be easiest to test the citrus though. Take the citrus out again and then, when the symptoms lessen, try squeezing some fresh OJ yourself so you know there's nothing in it. Or just feed him an orange.
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