PSA-Food Allergies

[dulce de leche]

I know that the wise parents here are already aware of this, but just wanted to remind everyone how much food sensitivities or allergies affect behavior. Dd tested positive for a wheat allergy back in January. We eliminated it completely and she potty learned accident free within 24 hours, started sleeping through the night for the first time in her life, tantrums stopped altogether.

A couple of weeks ago, the allergist did a wheat challenge. No rash or visible physical reaction, but the nurse who has seen her several times immediately noticed how hyper dd seemed and mention it to the doc.

For the next few days she started waking at night to nurse, having meltdowns every day, etc. We cut wheat again, and she was back to being herself. After several days of normal behavior and sleep patterns, we introduced wheat again. Once again, meltdowns, bouncing off the walls, not sleeping well.

I keep thinking how difficult it would be if we had not known that it was the wheat and not my dd. I wonder how many kids have undiagnosed food issues that the parents believe are behavior problems.

[lovemyfamily6]

Interesting! So did she have any of the classic allergy signs or did you just decide to have her tested? How long did she have symptoms?

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by dulce de leche

I keep thinking how difficult it would be if we had not known that it was the wheat and not my dd. I wonder how many kids have undiagnosed food issues that the parents believe are behavior problems.

And how often parents focus on the *behaviors* and impose consequences.



Pat

[dulce de leche]

When dd was a baby, she was gassy, had mucousy stools, etc., but I didn't know that those were often indications of allergy. She had VERY MILD eczema, but not enough to even use special creams or anything. Then she had hives twice in January (reactions to olive oil and green beans, it turned out), and that was what caused us to seek testing. She tested positive for dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, wheat, corn, olives and green beans, so we both eliminated all the allergens and the difference was amazing. She has had successful challenges for corn, dairy and peanuts, but the eczema returned when we challenged egg.

Honestly, most people thought it was silly to test, and ridiculous to follow through with strict elimination, when her symptoms were so mild, but I am so glad that her ped gave us the referral and that the allergist took it seriously.

I never would have believed that a wheat allergy would show up this way, but I've since heard of several kids whose reactions are basically like dd's: loud/wild behavior and meltdowns (some, like dd, also have difficulty sleeping and stomach aches).

Pat, you are exactly right. I am so glad that we don't punish or CIO. I would have felt so guilty after finding out the cause. It reminds me that even when it isn't a case of food allergies, kids have reasons for acting the way we do.

[dulce de leche]

Boing.

[chfriend]

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. dd1 was wheat allergic until a couple of months ago. (successful challenge, no current problems) She's still sensory sensitive/seeking....but the real trouble is *gone.*

It really helped me to understand the aggression as an expression of pain and anxiety.

She just turned 7 and I'm really glad I understood because I might have sent her to boarding preschool if I hadn't.

[monkey's mom]

So true!

My kids' behavior after dairy or grapes is a NIGHTMARE!

My husband always says, "I wonder how many kids out there have these issues and no one knows!"

[BunnySlippers]

I wish there was some way to help parents make this connection.

My dd is a very different child on wheat :

[honeybee]

So, did you see an allergist or a naturopath or what? I talked to our doc last year about a possible dairy sensitivity in ds1 due to eczema. She said dairy wasn't a cause of eczema and gave me samples of a steroid cream which we never used (his eczema is mostly on his fingers and he chews/sucks on them constantly). We actually had ds2 tested for dairy and it was negative, but he has been sensitive to dairy in my bm since he was tiny and any time I have tried introducing it things have not gone well.

Soooo.... we will see the doc for both boys at the end of the month. Should I push to get an allergist referral? My primary concern with Ds1 was eczema, which flares up in winter. But, he will be 4 tomorrow and is totally resistant to potty training. He is capable physically, but just totally resistant. It never occurred to me this might be related to a food allergy, too? This has been a major struggle and frustration.

I really feel like I need some help and guidance from a professional of some sort. One reason I haven't just made ds1 dairy-free with ds2 and I is that of the few foods he actually seems to like to eat, dairy plays a big part. I just shudder to think of the battles around eliminating his favorite foods when I don't know for sure if it will help. He's not out of control or anything. We have occasional struggles, but mostly he's pretty happy and content.

WDYT?

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I really feel like I need some help and guidance from a professional of some sort. One reason I haven't just made ds1 dairy-free with ds2 and I is that of the few foods he actually seems to like to eat, dairy plays a big part. I just shudder to think of the battles around eliminating his favorite foods when I don't know for sure if it will help. He's not out of control or anything. We have occasional struggles, but mostly he's pretty happy and content.

WDYT?

It seems like a fairly common pattern with kids who have food sensitivities/allergies that they have few foods they will eat, and of the foods they WILL eat, the ones that they are allergic/sensitive to are the ones they prefer the most.

DD also loves dairy. We have had good luck using goat milk yogurt and ice cream instead of cow's milk, chocolate rice milk, tofu instead of cheese, etc. I didn't tell her we were changing things, I just started offering these instead and there is no dairy in our frig. Oddly, after being off dairy for three days, she is eating MORE than she ever has in her life (she ate a bowl of oatmeal then asked for, and ate, a whole other bowl! And she ate FOUR scrambled eggs the other day!)

[dulce de leche]

Originally Posted by honeybee

So, did you see an allergist or a naturopath or what? I talked to our doc last year about a possible dairy sensitivity in ds1 due to eczema. She said dairy wasn't a cause of eczema and gave me samples of a steroid cream which we never used (his eczema is mostly on his fingers and he chews/sucks on them constantly). We actually had ds2 tested for dairy and it was negative, but he has been sensitive to dairy in my bm since he was tiny and any time I have tried introducing it things have not gone well.

Soooo.... we will see the doc for both boys at the end of the month. Should I push to get an allergist referral? My primary concern with Ds1 was eczema, which flares up in winter. But, he will be 4 tomorrow and is totally resistant to potty training. He is capable physically, but just totally resistant. It never occurred to me this might be related to a food allergy, too? This has been a major struggle and frustration.

I really feel like I need some help and guidance from a professional of some sort. One reason I haven't just made ds1 dairy-free with ds2 and I is that of the few foods he actually seems to like to eat, dairy plays a big part. I just shudder to think of the battles around eliminating his favorite foods when I don't know for sure if it will help. He's not out of control or anything. We have occasional struggles, but mostly he's pretty happy and content.

WDYT?

I would insist on seeing an allergist. IIRC, after eggs and along with peanuts, dairy is a leading cause of eczema. What kind of testing did you have? RAST or SPT? Both can have possible false negatives. Ultimately, reactions trump tests. I agree w/ PP that often kids tend to fixate on the very foods to which they are allergic.