[mamafish9]

Hi all,

My son just turned two, is likely autistic, and is still mostly breastfed, although he is starting to eat more now.

About 6 weeks ago we got a nasty cold - it left me with a stuffy nose for 3 weeks. My son still has a stuffy nose, and in the last week or so, whenever he can get access, he scratches his butt non-stop. He's also got more "stimming" type behaviors happening (he didn't really have any before on a regular basis). So what I thought was the longest lived cold snotty nose in history is beginning to feel more like a food allergy/sensitivity?

The one thing I know he has been sensitive to in the past is when I eat chocolate - and with packing and moving in the last month, I ate a lot, sigh... So I've stopped that. Any idea how long it would take to "clear out" of his system?

I'm also wondering if dairy is a problem - it's never seemed like one when I ate it, but he's taken to yogurt and ice cream lately, and just started drinking a little milk out of a cup. I sooooo don't want to take away foods, it's so nice he's finally eating some. But, I suspect if chocolate isn't the culprit, dairy might be.

Blug. I was hoping I'd missed the food allergies boat, since we caught so many other ones, LOL.

 

[queencarr]

You have to call around, but some allergists will work with younger children. We had to drive about 2 1/2 hours away to get our then 17mo ds3 tested. We knew, based on reactions that he had some specific, pretty severe allergies, but he also had lots of "random" reactions that we coudn't seem to pinpoint and foods that seemed safe then wouldn't be. Anyway, not sure if you were looking to go that route but it can be done even if some say otherwise.

As far as to clear your systems, when ds1 had a severe reaction to cow's milk protein while nursing, the hospital had me pump and dump for 24 hours. As his symptoms were mostly digestion related, we also put him on gut rest with pedialyte only for that time. He was hospitalized during this because he was only 3m and had only been home a few weeks (30w preemie).

As far as reactions after an exposure, ds 3 will have flares of hives in the same spots and a runny nose for up to 2 weeks.

 

[2boyzmama]

If it is dairy protein, it will take at least TWO WEEKS to get out of his system. www.kellymom.com has some very good information on dairy allergies in breastfed babies, including a wallet card you can print out that has a list of every ingredient that has "hidden dairy" in it (you'll be surprised how extensive the list is!) Chocolate clears faster, I think, but I don't know how long exactly.

A RAST test, which I think is the blood test that the previous poster was describing, will NOT detect digestive sensitivities, it will only detect Ig mediated responses. My son shows definite gastric reactions to dairy and soy protein, yet tested negative for both on the RAST and the skin test. Yet it's obvious that he can't eat them!!

One thing I noted from you post...you said there's some increased stress in your house from the recent move, plus I"m guessing a change of schedule and environment...could his butt scratching be a form of stimming? And the runny nose could be left over cold plus adjusting to his new environment (some slight environmental allergies maybe?)

Certainly a trial of dairy free won't hurt, but recognize that his behaviors might be true behaviors and not a reaction. (and here's hoping that it's not a food allergy!!)

 

[sbgrace]

You can see an allergist at his age. And the testing after two is pretty accurate in my understanding.
But given the timing and symptoms of nasal stuff I'd wonder about environmental allergies. They started at two here. He's been through at least one pollen season to be sensitized. We had food allergies too so the itching may be related to food and nasal something else. I just mention because the timing of six weeks ago was the outset of many pollens here anyway and we saw a huge increase in nasal stuff then. Oh, other things can cause itching outside of allergies too. I guess I'm saying don't rely on the nasal as an indicator of food allergies. If he's food allergic usually he'll develop environmental too in time.

 

[FuzzyOne]

did he have to take antibiotics for the illness? i'd wonder about a yeast flare-up if he did.

the butt scratching - could be yeast or maybe even a parasite...pin worms or something like that - pretty common childhood parasite that would cause a lot of butt scratching. i've always heard that parasite activity can become more common around a full moon, too.

 

[mamafish9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by queencarr As far as reactions after an exposure, ds 3 will have flares of hives in the same spots and a runny nose for up to 2 weeks.

Thanks, that's really helpful. His itching seems to be slightly better, but who knows for sure...

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2boyzmama One thing I noted from you post...you said there's some increased stress in your house from the recent move, plus I"m guessing a change of schedule and environment...could his butt scratching be a form of stimming? And the runny nose could be left over cold plus adjusting to his new environment (some slight environmental allergies maybe?) Certainly a trial of dairy free won't hurt, but recognize that his behaviors might be true behaviors and not a reaction. (and here's hoping that it's not a food allergy!!)

Yup, I was actually just figuring it was "stress stimming" for a while, but the scratching was getting pretty intense, that's when I started wondering about other possibilities. I'm hoping it's something other than food allergies too

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbgrace But given the timing and symptoms of nasal stuff I'd wonder about environmental allergies.

Maybe - it's hard to tell with his cold too. But his nose is crusty stuffy, not running, which is what I tend to associate with seasonal allergies. We live in Eugene, OR, which is a TERRIBLE place to live with those kinds of allergies (the Willamette valley grows 80% of the world's grass seed and blows it all down here).

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzyOne did he have to take antibiotics for the illness? i'd wonder about a yeast flare-up if he did. the butt scratching - could be yeast or maybe even a parasite...pin worms or something like that - pretty common childhood parasite that would cause a lot of butt scratching. i've always heard that parasite activity can become more common around a full moon, too.

No antibiotics. I've been checking him for pinworms - he puts everything in his mouth and eats a ton of dirt, so it wouldn't surprise me. But I haven't seen any evidence. I ordered some food grade diatomaceous earth to feed him - if it's pinworms, that should help.

Sounds like I need to give it a couple of weeks to totally clear the chocolate and then see where we're at. Thanks for all the different thoughts mamas