[tolovemercy]

I'm clueless. I've lurked on this forum off and on. I'm highly suspect of food sensitivities in my boys, but their symptoms are so subtle, I haven't been able to draw any conclusions simply from eliminating foods or gauging their reactions to suspect foods (my suspicions: gluten, dairy, maybe eggs?, quite possibly nuts and other grains...so, you know, like, anything.

)

I can't afford food sensitivity tests. I'd love to do ALCAT testing on both of them, as well as myself. As it is

Their symptoms are mostly yeast-related. Cradle cap, occasional fungal diaper rashes, red ring around the anus, itching ears. We've done alot of internal yeast kills which all seem to help some, temporarily (Oil of Oregano, nystatin, and we do lots and lots of coconut oil. and we've done the anti-candida diet to the extreme). Our diet is now free of sugars with the exception of fresh fruits, minimally. We're gluten free, and the boys are dairy free. I do raw milk kefir. (DS1 does water kefir and we both do kombucha). I just can't help but think: there is something in their diets that isn't allowing their guts to balance--*something* isn't processing correctly, but I haven't seen any consistent reactions to anything specific.

So, what to do, what to do? I don't know where to start.

 

[lil_miss_understood]

Are you keeping a food journal? How long have you tried eliminating foods for in the past?
There may be more to this than diet alone. Have you (or they) had any dental amalgam (so called "silver") fillings? Have you always lived where you do presently? Women on the coasts generally have a higher body burden of mercury than those in the interior of the continent and whatever your body burden of mercury is, you can multiply by 1.7 to find out what concentration of mercury was in your dc's cord blood (fetal exposure).
The reason I suspect mercury (or possibly other heavy metals, lead, arsenic) is because yeast is often used by the body to "sequester" these metals and you won't be able to deal with the yeast problem until the cause of it is addressed.

 

[FireWithin]

If you can survive the anti-candida diet. You can survive a top 8 plus corn diet.
I agree with the pp, but a food is still bother you guys, I believe.
I would just go ahead and do it. Honestly, I couldn't imagine going on a anti-candida diet when I first learned about it. Kuddos to you for doing it. You know how to approach menu planning, shopping, etc. You can do top 8 plus corn. Do a food journal also though. It will keep you problem solving every day and it will give you a tool to look back on.

good luck

 

[tolovemercy]

Thanks so much for your responses--very encouraging.

I did the anti-candida diet for about three months--11 or 12 weeks. Gluten and dairy free for about the same amount of time following that. I think you're both right about the food journal thing--I wish I had kept a log during that time. The symptoms are so...subtle! I mean, it's just impossible for me to say that things were significantly better at one point or another, they seem just random, occasional. So, yes--I think a food journal is probably a good place to start.

I'm familiar with the yeast/mercury connection from the CSS thread that was up awhile back. None of us have any fillings. We moved to our current home when I was 35 weeks pg with DS2. My mother, however, is full of fillings (at least one in every tooth, no joke) and I am her firstborn--so, toxicity is entirely possible. I have no idea how to address it. Is there anything I can do while breastfeeding?

Okay. Deep breath. I think we're going to start with the top eight. Yikes.

 

[lil_miss_understood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tolovemercy I'm familiar with the yeast/mercury connection from the CSS thread that was up awhile back. None of us have any fillings. We moved to our current home when I was 35 weeks pg with DS2. My mother, however, is full of fillings (at least one in every tooth, no joke) and I am her firstborn--so, toxicity is entirely possible. I have no idea how to address it. Is there anything I can do while breastfeeding? Okay. Deep breath. I think we're going to start with the top eight. Yikes.

I don't think I would try to mobilize anything while breastfeeding (if you can wait), but if you eat cilantro at all, you are probably mobilizing something. I would consider looking at supporting the glutathione detox pathway to allow as much heavy metals as may be mobilized occasionally to pass out that way (liver detox) rather than through breastmilk. One way to increase the availability of glutathione is vitamin C supplementation. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head though I'm sure someone else will be by shortly to chime in.
You could always start with food journal for a week or two and see if there are any patterns before jumping right into a top 8 ED.

 

[FireWithin]

I would seriously consider adding corn to the top 8. It is really insidious and a common allergen.
Good luck

 

[kjbrown92]

And I'm going to say top 4 (dairy, gluten, soy, milk) because the other ones of the "top 8" don't seem to be as big a deal in the intolerance world.