Help/advice on Eczema/allergies/intolerences

I<3aaden · Nov 30, 2010

My son who is turning 1 next week. Hes been on a roller coaster with eczema and food allergies/intolerences. He first started gettin eczema when he was around 3 months. He started on baby formula around 1-2 weeks of age. We believed his eczema started because of allergies to milk. Then we switched to soy which he did horriblely on for the couple days he was on it. He had major constipation. 
 
Did ok on Alimentum RTF for a couple of days. His eczema improved for 3-4 days but then returned badly. Eczema did not improve with alimentum powder. Did not tolerate neocate at all, he would drink it, but his eczema did not improve at all. On nutramigen aa he got better for a week, where his face would clear all up, but then it would all come back within a matter of days. His pediactric finally believed and agreed with us that he probably has allergies. At first they thought he could not be allergic to alimentum because thats as hypoallergenic as you can get. Obviously they were wrong. We had an appointment with an allergist. We drew our DS blood for tests and did a skin prick.
 
Results, he was severely allergic to peanuts, which we had to get an epipen Jr for him. He is allergic to milk, eggs, and soy. Now he is probably allergic to more than just that which I believe. We have another apt with the allergist on dec 21. We are going to test corn and other foods. I'm not sure what he is allergic to in the elemental formulas. I know that neocate, nutramigen aa, and elecare all have corn syrup solids and a variety of oils.
 
DS is currently on elecare and is not doing well. On the first week of elecare he cleared right up. But then again, it all came back again. He drinks the formula with no problem, but his is skin is in a bad condition. its scaly and oozing fluids. We don't want to use hydrocortizone, because we know that is not the problem. My question is, why would he get better on a formula at first but then over a matter of a couple days to week go back to being worse. Can he become intolerent to a formula?
 
He eats baby foods fine. We don't feed him a whole variety because he can have a reaction to them but we wouldn't be able to tell with the condition his skin is in. He gets apple sauce, pears, sweet potatoes, all from earth's best organic brand. Rice seems to make him alot worse, even though the allergist said it was fine to give him rice.
 
I am thinking of trying neocate junior to see what kind of results he may get. It doesn't have soy oil in it.
 
His pediatrician is useless. Shes as dumb as they get, we are currently looking for a new one. His naturopathic has been able to help limitedly. Allergiest doesn't believe an IgG will help right now. We have another apt coming soon with his allergist. An apt in Jan with a GI doctor/nutritionist.
 
I need some help finding how to get him to his baseline, where his skin can get stable, and then we can do some trial and error with helping find foods that he won't react to.
 
I hate sitting here watching him suffer through the day into the night everyday. I want to help him now, and I will do whatever may or can help him.
 
Thanks for reading and hopefully you guys can help this youn dad and mom out!!
-Eddie

mommaklo · Dec 1, 2010

I give ds coconut kefir to get probiotics into his body which can help with skin conditions, also fish oils if your ds has no fish allergies.
 
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<div> I need some help finding how to get him to his baseline, where his skin can get stable, and then we can do some trial and error with helping find foods that he won't react to</div>
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I am in the process of taking ds to a kineseologist to help find out other things he is "sensitive" to, not just allergic. She is helping me DRASTICALLY. I would say look into something like this, alternative medicine. We are paying cash for his appts, but I figure it will be cheaper that sending him to a special private school someday if he allergies dont go away. We pay about $60 per hr if cost is an issue for you.
I think this has helped ds as much as my mental health, knowing we are doing SOMETHING for him, rather than following his peds advice which, alot like yours, were as dumb as they come about this stuff. I did not do the hydrocortisone cream like they recommended and after cutting out corn a few weeks ago, the dry dry skin I could almost pick off his legs is gone completely.

I<3aaden · Dec 1, 2010

thank mommakio
 
We've gong to see a naturopathic. She charges us 190/hr, and we've been seeing for almost 6 months with no results. She has prescribed some homeopathys, which will work for a few days but then his eczema will come right back. He doesn't seem to have any issues other than his severe eczema, which causes him some restlessness and sleepless night. I believe something in the formulas is causing it. Even though elecare, neocate, and nutramigen are all elemental amino acids, they still use different types of oil and corn syrup solids. He has gotten temporarily relief initially on some formulas.Like on elecare and nutramigen, he would get better the first couple of days, but then it seems as his body adjusts to the new formula, he would become allergic to the new formula.
 
I want to wean him off of formula overall, but I don't know how this is possible. The majority of his diet is based on his formula. He has limited solids which he can eat. The allergist said he was ok to eat apples, pears, swt potatoes, grapes and rice. We tried to give him rice, but you can tell he got a lot worse over the days he ate it. Then when we took him off of rice, his eczema lessened abit. Its hard to believe what we can give him when it seems like everything he eats he is allergic to.
 
I guess, I am just lost to how am I suppose to get him full, and the nutrients he needs while weaning him off his formula.
 
eddie

mamasee · Dec 2, 2010

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by I<3aaden <a href="/community/forum/thread/1282547/help-advice-on-eczema-allergies-intolerences#post_16084368"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> thank mommakio
 
We've gong to see a naturopathic. She charges us 190/hr, and we've been seeing for almost 6 months with no results. She has prescribed some homeopathys, which will work for a few days but then his eczema will come right back. 
 
 
I want to wean him off of formula overall, but I don't know how this is possible. The majority of his diet is based on his formula. He has limited solids which he can eat. The allergist said he was ok to eat apples, pears, swt potatoes, grapes and rice. We tried to give him rice, but you can tell he got a lot worse over the days he ate it. Then when we took him off of rice, his eczema lessened abit. Its hard to believe what we can give him when it seems like everything he eats he is allergic to.
 
I guess, I am just lost to how am I suppose to get him full, and the nutrients he needs while weaning him off his formula.
 
eddie
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One thought is to, perhaps, visit other naturopaths and see if you find some better help. We found a naturopath who specializes in the gut and she helped clear up my dd's rash that had been going on for 2 years with no help from several pediatricians. Her approach was to do a blood test for allergies (BOTH IgG and IgE) and then we did eliminations of the foods she has allergies to in order to heal her gut. Then, we were able to reintroduce foods one at a time to monitor her reaction. It involved a lot of creativity and replacing her favorite foods with others, but we got through it. I found a number of cook books at our library which had allergen-free recipes.
 
On the topic of getting enough nutrition in the foods your ds can eat, I wonder if you have read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. She has a recipe for a meat-based formula (you could adapt it depending on your son's known allergies) and she also has many tips for very nutrient-dense foods.
 
Sending good wishes to you and your family.
 
-Cindy

changingseasons · Dec 2, 2010

Have you tried any of those formulas just by themselves- with no solid foods? Honestly, if he's that sensitive, I wouldn't do any fruits at all, or any grains- a lot of kids have trouble with the food chemicals in fruits, and digesting grains. Are you keeping a food journal? 
Do you guys eat meat? If so, I would try some low-allergen meats like lamb or turkey (but you need to make sure and find some that doesn't have added ingredients. DD will only tolerate 100% grassfed lamb, and turkey often has additives) and steamed veggies. You can also make broth from the bones, which has not only a lot of nutrients, but is really soothing to an irritated digestive track. 
You might also try a non-dairy probiotic (Kirkman Labs, Pharmax, and Klaire are a few brands that have dairy-free versions.) Cod liver oil is also a good source of vitamin D (have you had his D checked? that can make a big difference in the immune system) and can help with inflammation. 
Also- keep in mind that allergy tests are REALLY inaccurate at that age, so even if you get a bunch of negatives on the test, it doesn't necessarily mean he's not allergic. We didn't start getting positives on our allergy tests until DD was about 18 months.

I<3aaden · Dec 4, 2010

All of the formulas he has been on, we have been on the formulas solely to make sure what he was reacting to could only be the formula, hence why we have changed it so much in attempt to find one that fits his needs. None have lasted over 2-3 weeks. Doctors are jumping from one to another, giving us a supply of this and then that. I have thought about raw goat milk, but his allergist does not recommend that we try because he has a reaction/allergy to dairy. What I regret the most, being ignorant and stupid. I should have never listen to my mother nor my in-law to feed him formula in the first place. When he got off bm, there was like no turning back. His mom and I both regret not breastfeeding a lot longer. 
 
I will keep you guys updated on his progress. Lol this is like my blog, anyways take care guys and thank you once again!

Gabrielsmommy · Jan 13, 2011

Same problems my has seen since 2 months he is 11 months now, milk allergies, soy worked for a while, then real bad eczema, happened right after 2 month immunization, I have since then researched the chemicals and other ingredients including formaldehyde and other preservatives used for mass production and longer shelf life and chose not to immunize unless absolutely necessary!!! I made homemade formula for a while but he still broke out due to the oatmilk base, he can't have any grains, rice, oats, corn, wheat etc, he is on elecare and that causes no problems, thank God I was eligible for WIC for now but he eats a lot of table foods, the one thing that helped the skin was the bleach bath (every other day for first week or so, no soap), I was horrified also at the sound of that, but it works it works!!! In the kitchen sink, 2 capfulls was all he needed and it cleared the eczema and the infection that usually goes hand in hand (he would scratch untill he bled), I was told not to bathe too frequently but as soon as I started to to bathe every day (use bleach only every other day) and heavily moisturize right out of the bath, his skin was brand new. I did reluctantly use the hydrocortizone the first few days to help clear the skin and burt bees or other natural skin moisturizer and have since not needed them unless he happens to eat something he shouldn't, I feed him, bananas, sweet potatoes, broccoli, squash, chicken breast, turkey breast, mmmm homemade beans he loves beans, split pea soup, carrots, cantelope, mango, tomatoes, for now thats where we are at. Touching on the natural medicine, I am a firm believer it herbal and homeopathic remedies and have not use any type of anitbiotic with my older (16, 14, 10, and 5) children in about 8 years, Sulfur is remedy that will also help clear up the skin, available at health food stores, good luck hope your child is seeing better days...

I<3aaden · Jan 14, 2011

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by Gabrielsmommy <a href="/community/forum/thread/1282547/help-advice-on-eczema-allergies-intolerences#post_16183135"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border-right:0px solid;border-top:0px solid;border-left:0px solid;border-bottom:0px solid;"></a> Same problems my has seen since 2 months he is 11 months now, milk allergies, soy worked for a while, then real bad eczema, happened right after 2 month immunization, I have since then researched the chemicals and other ingredients including formaldehyde and other preservatives used for mass production and longer shelf life and chose not to immunize unless absolutely necessary!!! I made homemade formula for a while but he still broke out due to the oatmilk base, he can't have any grains, rice, oats, corn, wheat etc, he is on elecare and that causes no problems, thank God I was eligible for WIC for now but he eats a lot of table foods, the one thing that helped the skin was the bleach bath (every other day for first week or so, no soap), I was horrified also at the sound of that, but it works it works!!! In the kitchen sink, 2 capfulls was all he needed and it cleared the eczema and the infection that usually goes hand in hand (he would scratch untill he bled), I was told not to bathe too frequently but as soon as I started to to bathe every day (use bleach only every other day) and heavily moisturize right out of the bath, his skin was brand new. I did reluctantly use the hydrocortizone the first few days to help clear the skin and burt bees or other natural skin moisturizer and have since not needed them unless he happens to eat something he shouldn't, I feed him, bananas, sweet potatoes, broccoli, squash, chicken breast, turkey breast, mmmm homemade beans he loves beans, split pea soup, carrots, cantelope, mango, tomatoes, for now thats where we are at. Touching on the natural medicine, I am a firm believer it herbal and homeopathic remedies and have not use any type of anitbiotic with my older (16, 14, 10, and 5) children in about 8 years, Sulfur is remedy that will also help clear up the skin, available at health food stores, good luck hope your child is seeing better days... 
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 I am glad elecare works for you. Even when my DS is solely on elecare he still has terrible full body eczema. The only relief he gets is with steroids/antihistamines. We are very hesistant to use those. We use them only like once a month when we feel it is absolutely necessary because he is screaming in total discomfort. Other than that we try to just comfort him and get him through the day. I don't feel like we can make any progress while he is still on formula, but I do not know what else I can give him for nutrition. I believe until we remove the toxins ingested, the problem will always be there. I want to wean him off formula but I don't know to what though. Elecare is as elemental as it can get, I'm thinking about trying Vivonex pediatric. But it says not for parental use.
 
I've also thought about raw goat milk but he has a clear allergy is diary, but I've read that raw goat milk have smaller proteins than cow's, plus it contains enzymes necessary for digestion. Only thing I'm worried about is if I warm it up, will it destroy all the beneficial properties. We've tried rice milk and rice soup. He clearly seems like he can't tolerate it.
 
We tried feeding solely rice for a couple of days to try to find a baseline for him, but that never worked, just made him worse. Why did we try rice milk? Because according to his allergist he was "ok" to eat rice. I believe they only do IgE's, maybe he has a delayed reaction? Shud we try rice milk for a longer period of time? I think I will try to get an ELISA or something else done for him to find out more indepth. Maybe he needs to be on rice milk for a longer period while the toxins exit?
 
I've tried looking for a donor of breastmilk but I haven't been able to find anyone with a limited diet which fits DS problems. Not sure what to do anymore.......

aldensmom09 · Jan 19, 2011

Have you heard of Eats on Feets? It is a global online network of mothers who donate and accept breastmilk. There are chapters in 30-some countries worldwide, and there are SO MANY DONORS. The main website is <a href="http://www.eatsonfeets.org" target="_blank">www.eatsonfeets.org</a>, although the regional chapter pages are on Facebook. There is a fabulous FAQ that goes over every question you can think of. An incredible resource. I hope you are able to find a mother with a surplus who can donate to you. I've read of several cases where a baby needed milk from a mom who was herself dairy or gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, etc....
 
You are in Boston, right? Here is the MA page. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/EatsOnFeetsMassachusetts" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/EatsOnFeetsMassachusetts</a>
 
Best of luck mama! my own little guy is also struggling with allergies and eczema, and it is just so hard. We can't figure out the trigger here either...

kjbrown92 · Jan 19, 2011

many people seem to think that rice is hypoallergenic. Any food can be a trigger. Also, eczema can be caused by both food allergies and food intolerances (and environmental allergies) so even if it's not an IgE allergy, it could still be an intolerance, but it won't show up on a blood test. So if you see a clear worsening, document it. Are you keeping a food journal? Is there anything that changed at the 3 month mark when he started getting the eczema - pets? new home? etc. Just curious if there is more than one thing at play here.

riomidwife · Jan 26, 2011

changingseasons has good advice! and kathy is right on too, any food is suspect and lots of people react to rice......I agree that IgG testing may not be helpful, but I know the ALCAT tests has been hugely helpful for a lot of people and I would do that over the IgG, and your ND should be able to offer it to you. hugs mama. we all know how hard this is.

I<3aaden · Jan 26, 2011

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by kjbrown92 <a href="/community/forum/thread/1282547/help-advice-on-eczema-allergies-intolerences#post_16196852"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border-right:0px solid;border-top:0px solid;border-left:0px solid;border-bottom:0px solid;"></a> many people seem to think that rice is hypoallergenic. Any food can be a trigger. Also, eczema can be caused by both food allergies and food intolerances (and environmental allergies) so even if it's not an IgE allergy, it could still be an intolerance, but it won't show up on a blood test. So if you see a clear worsening, document it. Are you keeping a food journal? Is there anything that changed at the 3 month mark when he started getting the eczema - pets? new home? etc. Just curious if there is more than one thing at play here.
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 We keep an excel spreadsheet to help us document what he ate, on what day, and what we do. We took him off rice, tried feeding him buckwheat. Not much improvement. Currently trying millet. The problem is he can eat all day long and have no formula, but he doesn't eat everything, he likes grains so far from rice to buckwheat and now millet. He is very picky about taste and texture. He will eat organic sweet potatoes from the Earths Best Brand, but when we make our own he just spits it out of his mouth. We've tried giving him organic ground beef mixed with buckwheat but he does not like meat. He didn't mind broccoli mixed with the grains tho. It seems as if maybe he just can't tolerate any grains period. His eczema has not improved at all, better on somedays because its not oozing. His sleeps seems better without meat in his diet, but everything is speculation, and I can't be sure of what is causing what.
 
His Nurtrionist has been helpful with ideas and stuff. She thought maybe the corn in the formulas maybe causing it. Hes been off formula with corn for the past week or so, with one night where he did have it again because we ran out of Neocate Splash EO28. He only drinks it when hes about to go to bed, or if he wakes up during the night and hes hungry. The whole day he goes without drinking any formula. He drinks only water out of his sippy cups.
 
If he doesn't get any better, then I'm going to assume that it is because of maybe the oils in the formulas? Or grains period? Its tough, its like a jigsaw puzzle trying to figure this out.
 
His naturapathic reccommended giving chrolox bleach baths to help the skin disinfect and heal, but I feel like it does not work with DS. I remember when we tried homeopathy with him. Some of the treatments seemed to help initially but then the eczema returned. Maybe because of the toxins still being inputted in him?
 
 
 
I just want to thank everyone for their input and comments so far. I like to bounce my thoughts off you guys, it really helps me stay sane I think, lol.
 
Thanks guys,
Eddie &---> Maribel

deminc · Jan 26, 2011

Did you try just rice or rice milk for the two days when you did only rice? Rice milk is not just rice, and if you have a clear reactions in the two days on rice milk, I would really take the packaging and read the fine print. Many of them have added oils, carrangean (a kind of seaweed) and some have added cocoa powder and flavours (even for the non-chocolate versions). We were told to avoid all seafood, including seaweed, and a mum whose child subsequently turned out to have fish allergy, had to take out even sea salt from the diet. My son is very sensitive to shrimps and squids and will get a rash just by touching them. We cannot eat at any place that serves seafood, even if we don't order it for him. Cocoa makes him itch all night. If you want to try rice, I suggest a rice and meat gruel, cooked soft with a pinch of salt and any safe vegetables. It was really important for us to find a safe oil to use as soon as possible to help with the calories.
 
Re chlorox bleach bath - shudder. I know there have been positive trials on this, but I would be pretty scared to do it at home, esp with all the raw patches. On some days I can't even bath ds2 without him crying and screaming, I can't imagine a bleach bath. Instead, our allergist told us to use antiseptic solution from the pharmacies. We load up on single-use satchets/ vials of antiseptic solution. Soak cotton pads with the solution and use it to clean the raw patches (very gently!!) and the fingernails (scratching). After that leave another soaked pad over the patch for about 3-5min. Discard and pat dry. Do not rub. This is very good for keeping the wounds clean and minimising infection-related itching. We do it at night before he sleeps. It does seem to help him sleep better during a flare-up. (And sleep is SO SO precious after three years of sleep deprivation.)
 
ds2 is also allergic to dustmites. I vacuum his bed with a HEPA vacuum cleaner.
 
Finally, if your son is have oozing or inflamed patches, it will be very hard to tell which food works if you don' treat the infection. We were absolutely cornered for the longest time because of that. We had to treat secondary fungal and bacterial infections and it cleared up rapidly - only once in 3+ years did I see perfect skin from head to toe and it lasted one precious month, but things have been much more manageable since. The allergist told us that it's a combination of dustmite allergy and bacterial infection from his scratching. Another private doctor told us seafood and fungal infection. From our observations, they are both right. Now whenever he flares up big time, we target everything - diet (absolutely no eating out), vacuuming, cleaning with antiseptic solution and keeping the area absolutely dry (to prevent fungal infection).

riomidwife · Jan 27, 2011

Holy crap -- bleach baths?!?! Never heard of that. If it's an external pathogen more natural antimicrobials are available. whoa!

I<3aaden · Jan 27, 2011

Can anyone tell me whether Genestra Brand, Neuro probiotics have egg contents in them?

kjbrown92 · Jan 27, 2011

So what foods is he on? Corn is extremely hard to avoid (baking powder, iodized salt, dextrose, maltodexterin in everything, xanthan gum, citric acid, etc.). Have you tried things like bone broth for extra protein (plus calcium)? Corn was our only offender for eczema (dd2).

I<3aaden · Jan 28, 2011

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by kjbrown92 <a href="/community/forum/thread/1282547/help-advice-on-eczema-allergies-intolerences#post_16218647"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> So what foods is he on? Corn is extremely hard to avoid (baking powder, iodized salt, dextrose, maltodexterin in everything, xanthan gum, citric acid, etc.). Have you tried things like bone broth for extra protein (plus calcium)? Corn was our only offender for eczema (dd2).
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 Hes currently on Millet, and Neocate Splash EO28 for nutrition. The millet fills him up pretty good so he eats that a couple of times per day which gets him through the day. At night he likes the bottle to help him sleep. Sometimes during the middle of the night he wakes up for a bottle as well. And sometimes he gets apple, pears, sweet potatoes. But he hasn't had any lately. We're trying to get him to clear up but nothing is working. I think he might be reacting to the oils in the formula. Since EO28 has no corn it in says the nutritionist, well at least the grape and tropical fruit flavors. But I see it does have maltodexerin. Hmm we might have to remove the EO28 and maybe that might help. It does seem like the less formula he has, the less aggravated his eczema seems. But we know for sure corn can't be his only offender. He has known allergies to eggs, diary, soy, peanuts and some other ones which we observed.

kjbrown92 · Jan 29, 2011

maltodexterin is corn (I've never heard it sourced elsewhere, but anything is possible). If he's not nursing, you could get him tested for food intolerances. Allergy tests aren't that accurate until age 2 (and even then there are some issues with false positives). It might tell you more.

Help/advice on Eczema/allergies/intolerences

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