Mamas w/food allergic children - Page 5

[Meli65]

I agree with Melissa's post and wanted to add:

You can use Aquaphor or calendula lotion on eczema -- it works well (you can get the former at any drug store, and calendula lotion at health food stores) with no side effects.

Also, you can try homeopathic remedies for teething -- you can buy Hyland's teething tables at most drug stores and health food stores --- again, it won't hurt an allergic kid (nothing in there to react to!).

Good luck -- ds was very itchy as a baby and it broke my heart.

[Mummoth]

baby tylenol does have corn syrup in it!!

I do give her homeopathic camilia for teething, but sometimes it doesn't quite do the trick (like if there are other things at play, like being overstimulated/ tired /etc) I guess it'll have to now! This is so frustrating! I'm doing all the food preparation from scratch, because it's just easier than reading labels, but I hadn't even considered this.

[pilesoflaundry]

All infant and child fever and pain reducers have corn in them . Motrin has corn starch, tylenol corn syrup and advil has hidden corn- it's in the artifical flavors and something else I can't remember what but I'm in a yahoo group for kids with food allergies and it was mentioned there. Corn is literally in so many hidden forms and in so many things, some forms of vitamin c even have corn in them. BTW is she also skin reactive to corn? If so plain white vinegar is often made from grain, check your bottle. I know Heinz is made from corn.

It is very hard mama, I really hope I don't come off as know it all or anything, I tend to just think stream of conscience when I'm writing and trying to toss out ideas to help your little one. Her eczema sounds so awful, poor thing!! Aquaphor although a petroleum product really does work awesome, btw elidel has corn in it so don't let them prescribe that!! (I know you didn't mention it, I just wanted to give you the heads up ahead of time.)

My dd is allergic to chamomile but if your girlie isn't sometimes the hyland's tablets work or chamomile tea rubbed on the gums does too. She started sneezing and her eyes got all red and watery after a few sips of tea so I had to shelf that idea .

[Mummoth]

To find out if shes skin reactive to corn, would I just rub some on her? Heinz vinegar is what I've been using in the wash. So far corn is only one of the things we've eliminated, and I'm not sure if it's the culprit... but it's seeming more & more likely. She had a dose of Tylenol in the evening on Sunday & her face is really erupting today.

Don't worry about coming off as a know it all... information is what I need!

Heres a picture of her:
http://www3.telus.net/u2slow/kids/oc...4/00200020.JPG The cheek you can see most of is usually the better looking of the two.

[pilesoflaundry]

Yes rub a bit of the vinegar on the inside of her wrist and keep checking for signs of reaction in the 24 hours after you rub some on her arm. If you see a hive or a bit of eczema than she is skin reactive. If you see no change then it's probably fine to keep using the vinegar in the wash since it gets extra rinsed out.

If her eczema is that bad it is definitly something, I hope you figure out what soon. She is beautiful!

[zipperump-a-zoomum]

Argh. Just wrote up a post and lost it

HomebirthHarriett-
My first had excema that looked exactly like your daughter's, but on his arms and legs and bum. We did the supplement route and food elimination- did the same supplements as you and the zinc. Also tried different cream routes, Evening primrose oil directly on rash, aquaphor, a non-petroleum based ointment, calendula, florazone, eventually resorting to hydrocortisone and then Elidel. Nothing worked for us, although we had tons of testimony from other people that it worked for them. Eventually we had a skin test done, and found out ds is allergic to dust mites. When we treated the house and eliminated the allergen, he was rash free in about two weeks. It was almost unbelieveable. He will break out now only when we go away and the house is less dust mite proof. I would highly, highly recommend getting your daughter tested for inhalent allergies as well because it is just as likely that one of them is the culprit as a food allergy.
Best of luck!
Kaly

[Sandrine]

HomebirthHarriett- I have sentitive skin and I use Allenbury soap.It's a soft soap, good for senstitivity. The Dove soap doesn't work for my skin. I recommended it to a friend and her eczema was better and going away. It is sometime hard to find it but i have seen it at drugs stores and even at Walmart. i hope it get better.

[Mummoth]

Kaly-- Actually, we just had our furnace & ducts cleaned & bought an electronic filter for the furnace. We have hardwood floors, not carpets, so the only places that dustmites could be in our house are in our bedding.... right? (which of course gets washed regularly)

We *do* have a down duvet & pillows... maybe feathers are a part of the problem. I could borrow some of my moms spare bedding for a few weeks & see if that makes a difference. Oh! I also use a feather pillow when nursing, too!

Allenbury soap is sold at London Drugs... DH used to use it. I'll pick some up & give it a try.

You guys are giving me alot of good ideas! Thanks!

[zipperump-a-zoomum]

Originally Posted by HomebirthHarriett

Kaly-- Actually, we just had our furnace & ducts cleaned & bought an electronic filter for the furnace. We have hardwood floors, not carpets, so the only places that dustmites could be in our house are in our bedding.... right? (which of course gets washed regularly)

The allergen is the dust mite poop- which does not get washed out. (Gross, I know.)
Also, it collects in pillows, mattresses and duvets. Unless those things are covered in a barrier against dust mites and their poo, then one would still get a ton of allergen even with really frequent washing.

But, my point is a bit more general- just don't rule out inhalent allergies as a cause- mold, mildew, pollen, animal dander any chemical agent, etc. I don't mean to sound pushy- I just so wished someone had told me that inhalents could be a cause of ezcema- I was so convinced it was a food thing, and if I'd just known then I could have saved ds from a fair amount of suffering
Kaly

[Missy]

HomeBirth Harriet--Your dd's face looks so much like my ds2's at three months. From there, it spread everywhere. It was oozy and blistery and he scratched all the time. It cleared up only after I had completely eliminated all his allergens, including even the smallest traces. None of his turned out to be environmental--it was all food. Corn is sooo hard--it's hidden in everything: baking powder, meds (as you've discovered. We usually get ours compounded), table salt, bleached white sugar, bleached white flour. We just stopped using most processed foods; it's healthier anyway. Hmmm...seems to me I remember something about infant tylenol containing soy, too. Apples were bad; even now (he's two), I can't eat even a few bites of applesauce. Avocados, bananas...foods I wouldn't have thought to eliminate. We're dealing with: dairy, soy, egg, corn, peanut, treenut, wheat, bananas and avocados and latex, mustard, sesame, coconut, barley, buckwheat, most fruit (except blueberries), and many veggies.

Soap--when he's broken out, we don't use any. It's too irritating and it's not really necessary. I usually use a Trader Joe's brand for myself and haven't had any problems. I also switched to a crystal deoderant, to be safe. Couldn't identify the chemicals in my old one.

Just trying to brainstorm for you because I remember how hard it was to see my little one hurting like that. It was exactly two years ago, too. That first holiday season was so hard because I was trying to get used to this weird diet and didn't yet know how to make anything edible, I was surrounded by all this yummy food and couldn't eat any of it and my baby was so sick and so itchy because 1. we hadn't figured everything out yet (the turkey's injected with WHAT?! ), 2. it takes weeks for all the proteins to pass through first my system, then his, and 3. he just needed time to heal. So now, approaching our third holiday with this new lifestyle, it's easier. I still have cravings, but I've found some decent alternatives and my baby is so healthy now. His skin is beautiful and clear. He will still break out with even the smallest exposure, though, so I know my efforts are worth it.

Missy

[FreeRangeMama]

Just joining in very late. I will try to catch up on the previous 5 pages, but in the mean time I will introduce myself. I have a 3 yo with a severe allergy to corn. He reacts both behaviourally and he gets rashes, hives, and breathing difficulties. He reacts differently to different corn products (corn starch, corn grits, and other "high corn content foods" lead to breathing troubles, etc whereas the processed stuff like fructose, dextrose, malts, citric acid, etc lead more to behavioural issues). He is also allergic to oats, but he only gets rashy.

My 1 yo may be allergic or sensitive to soy, and I have suspected dairy as well. He gets eczema and digestive problems among other things. I am doing a trial on milk with him today to see what it leads to. He is also sensitive to rice.

Nice to be here and I am looking forward to getting caught up

[RiceMomma]

My 2yo has had horrible eczema for the past year. She's allergic to eggs, peanuts, and certain chemicals/products-- she never completely clears up.

I just finished reading the probiotics thread (the whole darn thing!!) Has anyone tried that for eczemd? Feel free to pm me.

[evilgenius]

[quote] He reacts differently to different corn products (corn starch, corn grits, and other "high corn content foods" lead to breathing troubles, etc whereas the processed stuff like fructose, dextrose, malts, citric acid, etc lead more to behavioural issues). [quote]


What are the behavioral characteristics that you are referring to?

[atomicmama]

How much of a dufus am I?! I already posted here!
My kids took all my brain power!

[FreeRangeMama]

What are the behavioral characteristics that you are referring to?

There are reallly too many to list. He reacts differently to differently processed corn byproducts. For example, vitamin A palimate (and other corn-based vitamin fortifications) cause him to wake up at 1:30am for the day. He just doesn't sleep at all when those things are in his diet. Corn based sweetners (things that end in "ose" like fructose) cause him to go into violent rages/tantrums, ascorbic acid makes him hyperactive, malt and similar products lead to hours of screaming etc. These things happen without fail whenever he has one of these products. When his diet was full of hidden corn ingredients he acted much like one would expect a high functioning autistic child to act. He zoned out frequently and was unresponsive, he "stimmed" (obsessive behaviour, for him it would be lining up his toy cars one by one across the room in some order or another, he would move his "parade" by rolling each one forward little by little making sure they were just perfectly lined up each time, he did it for hours on end obsessively), he would hardly talk (he COULD talk, but not clearly and not well), he was extremely sensitive to sensory stimulation, and on and on. Within a week of removing corn products he was no longer pale, he started putting on weight and grew noticably taller, he was having full conversations like an adult (no childish talk at all and his speech was much, much clearer), he was no longer obsessed with lining up cars and other "stimming" (he still does this when stressed out, but not to the same obsessive level), the dark circles under his eyes were gone, he could tolerate a wider range of sensory stimulation (he is still sensitive to these things, but not nearly to the same degree), he stopped his frequent, long screaming bouts, he no longer has tantrums of any kind, his frequent bouts of "croup" have not reoccurred, he is sharp and always pays attention, in short he is a whole different child. People who saw him before and after really can't believe he is the same child. He interacts with other people (even children) whereas before he would never even get close to anyone he was not very familliar with.

I have heard that corn is the allergen that affects behaviours moreso than others. I can believe it based on our experiences. I don't know if it is common to have the behavioural issues and the hives/breathing troubles, etc but that is what we have. My doc thinks we may need the epi pen, but since he has never had exposure to corn itself, just the many different corn products it is hard to tell for sure until we get further testing in a couple weeks. I am glad he reacts to it in my breastmilk so we knew to keep him away from it right from the start. I just wish I knew the many, many things that are made from corn so we could have avoided those things too.

HTH

[~*max*~]

Hi mamas. How is everyone doing? I just wanted to share an update & get some feedback, if anyone has time. I finally broke down & went to an allergist. (I had been putting it off because of ds's fear of doctors & because I heard so often that the results were inconclusive.) The breaking point was over the holidays - ds seemed allergic to our xmas tree. When we put it up he was truly hyperactive, like I have never seen, for several days.- He literally could not stop talking. And when he wasn't talking, he was making annoying sounds. When we asked him to stop, he wouldn't/couldn't. (I knew it was a real concern when dh firmly told him to stop, which always works, but not this time.) Then when I took the tree down, he broke out in hives. So I figured he was probably allergic to dust or mold, as well as the food sensitivities (dairy & citrus).

So we go to a highly recommended allergist. He gets our history & does the skin test on ds's back (for food & inhalents) and nothing shows up. Basically the doctor tells me ds is allergic to nothing, his reaction could have been the excitment of xmas (ummm, hives from excitement??), and that his food responses that I have seen could be sensitivities or other behavioral causes (again, hives? Such inability to pay attention that he cannot function in preschool, etc.?). And he leaves. OK, so I put ds through this stress for what I feared - nothing. I guess we will keep doing what we are doing, sleuthing on our own. We have made a lot of progress, but I was just hoping for some medical guidance & support.

Anybody have any experience w/this kind of situation?

[annab]

Max--I understand your situation so well. We took DS to THE pediatric allergist in our area a year ago. I had done a food dairy and had proof that dairy was causing his hyperactivity and insomnia. Nothing showed up on the scratch test. Nothing. I was furious. The next month I read Doris Rapp's Is this Your Child? It changed our lives. Her office recommended an allergist who does the provocation/neutralization testing. He explained that with the scratch tests, they often use synthetic allergens that are maintained in phenol. Both factors can give false negatives, especially the phenol with children.

I would encourage you to check out Dr. Rapp's book and see if you think the p/n testing is something that would work for you guys. I can tell you that the results and the treatment have changed our son's life. Our doctor uses natural extracts for treatment. I cannot explain to you the relief I felt in getting confimration of what I had suspected all along.

I feel for you--I really do!

[pilesoflaundry]

Max I feel for you! We had a ped tell us no way ds was behavorially reactive to foods when I know better. Just keep an allergy journal and document everything and it's easy to figure out stuff. The tests help but are not always right.

I think dd might be allergic to bananas . Every time I give her one she is fussy, cranky, doesn't sleep well and sometimes is gassy. She reacted again to tomato sauce, even homemade. She was screaming all night and gassy and she kept dry heaving and swallowing so I suspect silent reflux or at least heartburn so no more sauce for her. Gas drops and some water is what put her back to sleep.

We are doing ok, the ped is a total jerk and refuses to do allergy testing on the girls. He said they are too young and just don't feed them anything that makes them sick. Urgh!

[moneca]

So glad to find all of you. My dd just turned 12 mo. and what started out as reflux at 7 mo. has turned into a long list of allergies/sensitivities. Dairy, soy, gluten, and some veggies. She is negative 20th percentile in weight. She vomits at least once per day. She hates to eat and drink. Only takes max of 20 oz. breastmilk per day. There are days I feel like I'm losing my mind. She has yeast rash in her pits, belly button, and ear. Finally doing probiotics correctly and I think it's helping because her poop went back to smelling almost like it did when she was only on breastmilk. It's so good just to know there are other moms out there in the same boat. Dh and I are really starting to believe all this was from vaccines she received through 6 months. She has never been on antibiotics. No allergies/sensitivities in either family. Did any of your babes have yeast overgrowth along with the allergies/sensitivities?

[boo'smama]

Hi mamas of allergic little ones. Mountainmon it's great that you are treating for yeast now at 12 mos. I didn't find out until dd was almost 21/2 (several months ago) that yeast and dysbiosis (leaky gut) were causing all her food sensitivities.
Max - I can relate -- my dd also was clearly reacting to many foods but showed allergies to nothing but blueberries when tested. We are having very good success treating for yeast and dysbiosis through diet, enzymes, probiotics and a few other things. She can even eat PIZZA once in awhile without a reaction now! We could never even attempt wheat or dairy 6 months ago.

Below is a link to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's website. Go to the "Products" page, scroll almost to the bottom - it's just a little link under the wording "Gut and Psychology Syndrome Explained" with a link to a pdf file (link to an article of hers published in the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Journal) - it explains about dysbiosis and gives an overview of her theory. It is quite convincing. I was shocked and amazed. It has made me quite determined to clear up both my daughter's dysbiosis as well as my own,
no matter what it takes.

http://www.behealthy.org.uk/index.htm