What I've done, what to do now?

[Acugirl]

Hi All,
I am still struggling with finding out what is causing my ds mucousy stools and eczema.

He is 8 months old. I have given up gluten, soy, dairy, nuts, shellfish, citrus, tomatoes and potaotes.

I had him allergy tested via a blood test to check for immediate reactions, IeG and it showed severe peanut allergy and minor potato allergy. I was not eating peanuts anyway and taking out potatoes has not made a noticible difference.

Now I am thinking, maybe I have taken out the wrong things. Or maybe I am EATING the wrong things.
Here is what I eat every day:
Rice milk (westsoy brand) with rice cereal-gluten free
Banana, or pear
turkey sausage
probiotic
Vitamins D, Folic Acid and calcium/mag-all free of avioded allergens
Rice bread with olive oil

snack is sometimes a gronola bar that is free of all allergens

lunch turkey, rice tortilla, veggies-carrots, cooked zucchini or yellow squash, fruit of some kind, sometimes leftover lamb

snack, rice crackers, dried prunes

dinner, rice, amaranth or quinoa, turkey or lamb, veggies-greens, broccoli green beans.

So, clearly my diet is lacking. Mostly in FAT and substance I notice. The only oil I am eating is olive oil.

I know that is not healthy for ME so how could it be for my babe.

If I give up rice-what do I eat instead? Should I try to add some whole milk yogurt or is that just asking for trouble?

I need help!

[caedmyn]

Come on over to the "Healing the Gut Tribe" thread in the main Health & Healing forum Is your DS on any probiotics? Has your DS actually shown a reaction to all of the foods you have eliminated? Have you tried coconut oil or palm oil? They're both very healthy and go good with many meals.

[SAmama]

Hey, don't know if you went over to the HTG thread yet, I am a bit behind with email, internet things.
We are in the same position. Eliminated pretty much all you did, and rice and corn. And we live in Asia and were travelling for a few weeks, so it was hard, hard, hard - the no soy and rice thing. Dd's poop is better and she has less ear wax (how weird is that!). But the eczema is maybe 2 % better. I do think that it took about 6 weeks for her to get the dairy and gluten out of her system.
We are planning to do a Total Elimination Diet and then trial things back in slowly. Hopefully I will then be able to find what it is that bothers her and maybe even add things, because I just guessed that it was the top 8 and some other things. It would be great to at least have eggs back in.

For food ideas I am very dependent on coconut milk. I make yummy yogurt from it and even made "cottage cheese" by accident one time. I also have millet for breakfast with coconut milk over it. And coconut milk makes a great iced latte So, I really pray that coconut milk is not the thing that still bothers her. Also, I eat tons, and tons of veggies and fruit and pour oil on everything. Try grapeseed oil if the olive oil is too strong on some things.

Rice might be worth looking into. After several times of her eczema flaring even worse than it is (it is pretty much all over her body), we realised that it was rice. That helped quite a bit. Also of course, it would be good to start working towards healing her (and maybe your) gut.

Hmm, so sorry you are going through this as well.

[Acugirl]

Thanks. After reading everything...and talking again to our allergist who is also a sort of natural dr...I have decided for now to focus on probiotics for both of us and fish oil for me for now. i am also going to cut back on the rice for me and try to do more veggies instead and see how that goes.
One can go crazy with this and I certainly am!

I havent tried coconut milk..perhaps I will

[JaneS]

Your diet is lacking in vitamin A. I'd make sure to take high vitamin cod liver oil such as Blue Ice or Radiant Life or more of a lower vitamin like Twinlab, not "fish oil". What about eggs? For cholesterol as well as EFA's.

[JaneS]

Most everyone reacts to quinoa according to our allergy clinician.

[Acugirl]

can't do eggs, my dh and dd are allergic...
will get cod liver oil...is capsule form ok ?

janes, what is your background if you don't mind my asking

[wendy1221]

Yellow squash is high in vitamin A. Jane might have missed that in your list of foods you eat. I'd still take the cod liver oil. Good fats are very important in the diets of nursing moms and young kids. Actually everyone, but especially those groups. Sweet potatoes, spinach, and caorrots are also very high in vitamin A. I think brocolli also has a decent amount.

[Acugirl]

I do eat a ton of carrots-every day...also leafy greens. Sorry, may have omitted some of the things I eat.

I am so ignorant about different oils. What is the difference bet fish oil (omega 3) and cod liver oil?

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by wendy1221

Yellow squash is high in vitamin A. Jane might have missed that in your list of foods you eat. I'd still take the cod liver oil. Good fats are very important in the diets of nursing moms and young kids. Actually everyone, but especially those groups. Sweet potatoes, spinach, and caorrots are also very high in vitamin A. I think brocolli also has a decent amount.

These veggies are high in beta carotene, which is not the same as vitamin A. True vitamin A is only found in animal sources. Beta carotene can be converted to vitamin A in the body, but the conversion process is very inefficient and some people, especially babies and small children, have difficulty making the conversion at all.

[Acugirl]

Gotcha! Will get cod liver oil!
JaneS, I just found your story and wow, it is so similar to mine, although a bit more severe perhaps.

I have some questions? How do you make your own kefir? I want to do this. I am not sure if dairy is a problem or not for my ds/or myself for that matter! I bought some dairy kefir from the store and have had one cup for 3 days in a row and no change in ds...
also bought some good organic butter and have been eating that-no change in ds, so that is good.

I do think I have had a yeast imbalance-I have keratosis pilaris- or how ever you spell that on my upper arms and butt-it has gotten a bit better since going off gluten...
I don't ever get vag yeast infections and dont think I have had thrush, but I was on the pill for 10 yrs, have had 2 pregnancies, been on antibiotics many times for Uti's, which after reading your story I now suspect are from yeast perhaps??

Do you soak all of your grains or just aviod them?

I suspect that if I heal my gut and ds than what I think are his allergies will go away...

Thanks so much for being here! it is so hopefull to me!

[WC_hapamama]

I've seen people on TEDs with even less than you. TEDs are really hard on a nursing mother's body.

One thing that you might want to do is to make sure that your rice milk isn't cross contaminated with the other foods you're avoiding.

For a little variety, you could try adding yams/sweet potatos. I know that you're avoiding potatos, but yams are NOT related to regular potatos.

I have no experience with IgG mediated allergies. My kids issues are all IgE.

[wendy1221]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

These veggies are high in beta carotene, which is not the same as vitamin A. True vitamin A is only found in animal sources. Beta carotene can be converted to vitamin A in the body, but the conversion process is very inefficient and some people, especially babies and small children, have difficulty making the conversion at all.

I didn't know that some people had trouble converting the beta carotene. Interesting. I just refreshed my memory w/ my o-chem textbook and I see it is converted by enzymes in the liver, so that makes perfect sense if someone doesn't make enough enzymes. I like liver, so I don't worry about my retinal intake. Even when I was on the turkey TED, I ate the turkey liver.

[wendy1221]

I was told by an allergist that ketosis pilaris was a form of eczema. Either way, probiotics will help.

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by Acugirl

Gotcha! Will get cod liver oil!
JaneS, I just found your story and wow, it is so similar to mine, although a bit more severe perhaps.

I have some questions? How do you make your own kefir? I want to do this. I am not sure if dairy is a problem or not for my ds/or myself for that matter! I bought some dairy kefir from the store and have had one cup for 3 days in a row and no change in ds...
also bought some good organic butter and have been eating that-no change in ds, so that is good.

I do think I have had a yeast imbalance-I have keratosis pilaris- or how ever you spell that on my upper arms and butt-it has gotten a bit better since going off gluten...
I don't ever get vag yeast infections and dont think I have had thrush, but I was on the pill for 10 yrs, have had 2 pregnancies, been on antibiotics many times for Uti's, which after reading your story I now suspect are from yeast perhaps??

Do you soak all of your grains or just aviod them?

I suspect that if I heal my gut and ds than what I think are his allergies will go away...

Thanks so much for being here! it is so hopefull to me!

Kefir is easy--just add the grains to milk (preferably raw milk) and let it sit for a day or two before straining. You can make non-dairy kefir with coconut milk or make water kefir sodas.

You can try adding anti-fungals to your diet to see if that helps (if you suspect yeast) or if you get die-off. Coconut oil, raw garlic, and enzymes in between meals like Candex or Candidase are all safe when nursing.

I soak, sprout, or use sourdough with my grains. I was off grains for about 6 months on a candida diet and then added back gluten-free grains like brown rice, buckwheat, aramantha, and millet.