Tharini of Winkies Ways has a post, I told Sue I would write one as well. Allergies, something I never experienced with the older kids. I never knew what it meant to have a child with food allergies. Sure, I would send the kids with nuts-free alternative as required to school, but one never knows the suffering until one has a child with food allergies.
Samar was 3 months, when he got the worst cradle cap, then he had the bad skin rashes and baby acne. At 6 months, when I started introducing new food or throwing a pizza crust at him to chew(hey he is my 4th, totally allowed) he would scratch and break out in a red raised bumps like rash. I was still bf at this point of time. My doc advised me to start keeping a diary and eliminate one food a week and see whether it made a difference. He suggested giving up dairy. I tried it for 2 days and broke down. I then weaned him off and first gave him soy formula. Still red hives and scratching and screaming every night. then we tried Alimenteum. Still the same thing. I recall putting baby socks on his hands and tying them with a scrungee because he would scratch himself till he bled.
I finally made an appt with my doc and demanded that he be tested for allergies. My doc was adamant that babies this young are NOT given either the RAST or skin test. I would have to wait till he is a year old. I said no I want it now and I want to know what to avoid. He argued that insurance wouldnt pay for it… I told him I dont care at this point of time.
When he called me to inform me the results, I was shocked. Samar is allergic to wheat, diary,soy,eggs,nuts,fish. Basically everything. I remember being just shocked and thinking what do I feed the child. Do you know most baby cereals contain soy?
I had to switch his formula as well. He is now on a high calorie prescription formula called Neocate. It costs USD$40 a can, one can lasts us about 4-5 days. Do the Math. I made appts with a ped food allergist. He then did a skin prick test, which gave more detailed results. He prescribed twice a day Zyrtec and lotions.
As frequent baths as possible, no soaps or harsh lotions.
All that in Boulder CO which at 5400 feet elev, is very very dry. One’s skin gets dry and caked there. Samar’s look horrible.
His diet would consists of applesauce,bananas, and rice and aloo sabzi. I kept on repeating his food ad nauseum. Then I would introduce something else. Do you know most beans and legumes are related to the soy family, as are green peas. He couldnt have any dhals. Most masalas have some kind of dhalas well. I learnt to read labels. The older kids were warned never to share food with him. We eliminated most garbage snacks from the house but what do I feed the others. I cannot not have bread or not make rotis in the house. When he would cry for something, I would tell him that he would itch and shake my head no. He understood most of the time and would settle for something else.
It worked when Samar was younger, we would go out to eat and I would dish something out from my bag. But not now, he wants to eat what we are eating.Because of that reason, we stopped eating out. There is too much cross contamination. No matter how classy the restaurant,no matter no much they are supposedly “allergy free” A drop of butter and Samar starts scratching.
I know my fil was heartbroken when he couldnt share his gulab jamun with Samar. My parents were amazed that he knew he couldnt have certain things and wouldnt ask for it. (BTW, papaya has some kind of protein that he is allergic to as well. We tried it for the first time when we were in Singapore.) My parents were horrified when they saw when Samar went through just for having a small bite.
When we were in Singapore, because of the high humidity,his appearance improved there. He was on the same diet as he was in Boulder but his skin looked much better. We are hoping that the it would be the same here in SFO.
I was also hoping that he would have outgrown at least one of allergen by the time he turned 2. Thats why I had my doc do the blood test(remember all the swearing post.that very one started it all) and the results are almost the same. We could do a challenge for fish was the best my pedcould come up with when he saw how disappointed I was. I declined.
I might try alternative therapies here. NAET or BIOSET(learnt about that from GND)Most are very costly and god knows whether they work.
I keep thinking what did I do wrong in this pregnancy. No one in either mine or NK’s family has any allergies, My older 3 do not have any allergies. Why him? Do you know how hard it it is not to give him any cake for his birthday or to watch his face when I refuse to allow him the candy at the Halloween. Nk is positive by the time he is 5, he will out grow most of his allergies. I am just thankful that he only breaks out in hives and not have any respiratory issues. Although, asthma, eczema and allergies all go hand in hand. He has had a few episodes where we needed to use the nebulizer but he isnt classified as asthmatic YET.
All I do is keep on reading labels and making sure I have my Zyrtec close by.
Oh god sounds just terrible..the poor dear. I do hope he grows out of these allergies soon..
Me:Me too GDS. I hope at least the wheat and dairy.
Oh poor Samar. Maybe there was someone in either Nk’s or your family…its not necessary to be just the previous generation for gene expression. It can be a suppressed gene too which showed by chance in Samar’s case.
Me:Hmm..Its must be on NK’s side then LOL
wow! Poor guy, that’s a lot to be allergic to! Can he have spinach? Onions? I’m thinking of stuff you can add to his diet to vary it a bit…how about rice-based rotis? There are several versions, and he might feel like he’s getting to eat what the rest of the family does in that case.
Hope he does outgrow some of these allergies.
M
Me:Thanks M, He can have spinach and onions. He loves palak paneer without the paneer. NK makes a rice based thosai for him as well. In India, we bought bajra and another grain. We try and make rotis for him using those grains but they taste awful
Sunita, you might find some treats that he can eat at this site: http://www.divvies.com/
I think it’s hard enough dealing with Brianna’s dairy allergy, and we’re lucky she does seem to be growing out of it. I’ve always felt for those with children with so many multiple allergies. I hope NK is right and he does grow out of at least a few of them!
Me:Will check out that site, Angie. Thanks
It breaks my heart to see other parents going through what we’ve been doing for close to 5 years now. Its a HUGE change of lifestyle to adjust to the youngest of three kids (here) being allergic to wheat, dairy, eggs… the list goes on. My youngest also suffers from extremely dry skin. We took him to a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic and he recommended using the Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar (
A soap-free bar for head-to-toe cleaning.
Cetaphil® Gentle Cleansing bar is a gentle, non-alkaline, non-soap bar designed for dry, sensitive skin that moisturizes as it cleans. It is free of harsh detergents that might dry or irritate your skin. This bar is ideal for all-over body cleansing in the bath or shower and is available in a 4.5-ounce bar.)
You can use it on his hair and everything to help clean him. He then told me to use the lotion that company makes as well. It burns slightly so I stopped using it. I dry my youngest before his feet hit the floor after he’s done in the tub. This helps cut down on the excessive dryness later.
Me:We use Cetaphil cleanser and lotion as well. Also Vanicream works well.
The pediatric allergist we use for my son’s food problems told me once that 21 days is the rule of thumb. You do the minimum diet of the few things you know he can have for 21 days, assuring nothing else is in his system. After that, introduce one item (not one which may have ranked a 5 on that lil scale thing they did… those you just have to keep away for good) but one that was lower. See how he handles it. If the rash appears, do not give again and repeat the steps. If he tolerates it and the rash stays away, wait just a bit and then move onto bringing in something new. Rinse and repeat.
Me:We did the same thing when he was an infant. I have diaries of what I tried and what didnt work. I would bring it to our appts. I stopped doing it now though.
It took us almost a year to get the kinks worked out here at the house. I wanted to throw in the towel many times before that but now, things run pretty smoothly. We have the occasional hiccup and we no longer keep everything he’s allergic to out of the house. He’s come to the understanding that milk will kill him (he stops breathing) and that other types of food will make him very sick.
You’re lucky you caught these early. We didn’t figure out what his problem was until he was 3. By that point, the doctors were telling us Autism. I will never forget… on the 21 day (no joke) of the stripping him of everything that had ranked on his sheet of food allergies, he looked up at me (made eye contact) and said Hi, Mommy. Keep in mind, he’s not said ANYTHING prior to that. It was like the fog cleared. He’s had a lot of catching up to do and still dances on the spectrum of autism but compared to what we had been dealing with, I’ll take it.
Good luck!!!! (((( hugs )))))
Me:Thanks Mandy for sharing that. Most people wouldnt understand what it is like to be under the constant fear of “is it safe to eat” unless they have a child themselves. Have you tried any alternative therapies like NAET for your ds’s allergies? We have the occasional hiccups here as well, when he gets into his siblings food. Just one lick is enough to set it off.
I’m so sorry Sunita. I just can’t imagine. I too hope that he out grows some of them. But it may get easier as he gets older as well. When he can totally understand things.
Wow… poor Samar. I can’t imagine! I really hope he grows out of it too! But wow… how stressful for all of you. So has his skin been looking better since you’ve been in Bay Area?
Oh. My. Gosh.
Poor cute little Samar…I hope he outgrows all this business!
The stuff we do for our darling children!
Oh wow. I came here through your comment on MM’s post, and did not realise you had posted. Thank you so much for sharing your’s and Samar’s story. It really hurt when you talked about the expression on his face when he couldn’t have Halloween candy. I can understand your asking…WHY? I ask that too. i dont understand. But I guess you are doing the best that you can under these circumstances….and you are not alone, and as more of us grow in our understanding of allergies, the support community grows.
Have you considered homeopathy to help build up his immune system?
I don’t know what to say! It’s terrible, really…I would like to think there is hope…T1 outgrew wheat and a bunch of other minor ones after she turned 2…
Hope to see a post from you about that soon!!
The Bioset treatment…We’ve just started Foods…We have a few momre weeks to go…I think her environmental allergies have gotten better! Either the treatment is working, or this Fall season has been kind on her
Wish you the best, and hugs!
Oh poor baby. Can’t even begin to imagine how hard it must be for him and for you. I hope he grows out of the allergies as he grows up – that does happen, na?
hope he outgrows it.
That must be tough on you as a family. I hope he outgrows at least some of the allergies that he has. Until then, wish you all the best.
hey! are you feeling better now?