I seem to recall reading somewhere that food allergies can manifest as behavior issues? Anyone have any information about this? I also seem to recall reading that bags under the eyes in children can also be related to allergies? My dd has bags under her eyes that I dont remember being there before, recently many people have commented on how tired my dd looks.

Absolutely they can.
I used to watch a little boy who was "diagnosed" with ADHD. Luckily, his mom didn't trust the diagnosis and took him elsewhere, including to have allergies tested. Turns out, he's very allergic to Red Dye 40. Every time he ingests it, it makes him act out just like a kid who genuinely has ADHD. So guess what happened every day at school after the teacher fed him red licorice??

Is This your Child? by Dr. Doris Rapp

This book will answer all your questions.

www.enzymestuff.com the book by Karen DeFelice is excellent. Much more updated than Rapp's book.

In esssence, yes, there is. There is a strong correlation between wheat allergy/ casien (dairy allergy) and the autisum spectrum disorders -add, adhd, sid, ect...Also, red food dye and nitrites, from processed meats are notorious for causing behavioral issues.

If you google any of the above you should be able to find some info. You might also want to check out the Feingold diet. http://www.feingold.org/

In our experience it's not really allergies but gut flora imbalance and the neurotoxins that yeast/bacteria emit.

Yes foods can indeed make a difference in behavior. With Bean, Gluten is a major triggor of quite bizarre behaviors. Even after her gut has healed, she still reacts with behavior changes when fed accidental amounts of gluten.

Of course for every person it can be different, as can the foods. If you're noticing it, it's worth looking into!

My dd overcame a diagnosis of autism through diet changes. That's a lot of changing of behavior based on how she eats. Reflecting on my own dairy issues as a teenager, I would lag behind, never want to participate in the group outings, never do anything active because my joints hurt and I had chronic acid reflux. I didn't understand how to articulate it at that time because I had always had some of those symptoms and did not understand that they were abnormal or that they could be changed, but once I stopped eating the "bad" foods, my behavior and activity levels both changed.

(as well as other health symptoms disapearing such as the acid reflux for me, chronic diarrhea for Bean, etc.)

So, yes...there is a correlation.

Feingold diet, Elimination Diet, SCDiet, Enzymes...there are a wealth of routes to take to figure it out. You're in good company here for finding answers!
There are so many who have tried different paths who can recommend good steps to take. Good luck!

Definite correlation. My ds had dark circles under his eyes, red around his anus and behavior issues before we eliminated dairy. In fact, even now I can tell when he's had foods he shouldn't b/c he gets real dark under the eyes.

Hello - At our toddler's last well-baby visit our doc noticed that he has bags under his eyes or "shiners". Doctor said this was a classic sign of a food allergy and now we are doing a rotation diet to see if we can find out which food ds is allergic to. She also mentioned that "bratty" behavior may also be linked to a food allergy since young children don't have all the words to tell you that they don't feel well; often they express it in their behavior.

Subbing...

my children are both gluten intolerant, and i have to say i notice huge behavoiral and emotional differences in them when they get a bit of gluten. with my son, whenever he had a bad day at school, we could trace it directly back to something that snuck in his diet. and yes, dark bags under the eyes can be a sign of anemia which can be caused by celiac disease or gluten intolerance.

DD never showed behavior problems with her allergies until after she weaned at 3.5. Then she started having terrible tantrums from trace amounts of dairy and soy. We thought she had become less sensitive to her allergies because we weren't seeing a physical reaction to what she was eating. It took us awhile to realize what was causing these horrible tantrums. Now that she has no dairy or soy she's fine.

We took our younger son for allergy treatment when he was 2 because of visible signs of allergy. We were surprised at how much his behavior also improved after about 2 months of treatment. We are now taking our older son for allergy treatment and have seen great improvement in attitude and behavior. We also just finished an anti-candida diet which has helped him increase attention and follow directions.

Wow, it's so great to see someone asking this question, because I found myself asking the same thing several months ago (to my doctor). Doctors want to poo poo everything as if we are overreacting. They wanted to label my son adhd. And they want to make us feel like they know it all and we know nothing. After doing multiple hours of research and joining several groups, I was able to correlate my sons undesirable behaviour to diets and medications (asthmatic). We have adjusted both and have seen an absolute amazing improvement. Of course if I would have listened to the doctors, my son would be on the same meds and diet, but would also be on ritalin. Jerks. One thing I've learned, always follow your own instincts, you know your child better than anyone else!!!

Absolutely they can.
I used to watch a little boy who was "diagnosed" with ADHD. Luckily, his mom didn't trust the diagnosis and took him elsewhere, including to have allergies tested. Turns out, he's very allergic to Red Dye 40. Every time he ingests it, it makes him act out just like a kid who genuinely has ADHD. So guess what happened every day at school after the teacher fed him red licorice??

they did that with me. same diagnosis and everything. for some reason though I only was off red dye for a few weeks (I dont really remember but it wasnt long). then they put me on ritalin. I was 'on' it for 6 years. I hated every minute of it. but my teachers loved it, and my mom could only tolerate me that way.

:irked: :p

(oh, and my favorite candy back then was twizzlers)

Yes. :D

There was a thread not long ago about this... dairy & behavior issues? - please share your experience! (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=460679)

There are several other threads regarding the same topic. Lots of mamas talking about their children's behavior issues. :D HTH!!