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That post was filled mostly with despair –
Today comes the healing.
At the time of our appointment with Dr. Paller of Chicago Children’s Hospital, our son was basically covered with eczema from head to foot.
Desperate and bleary-eyed, I trudged to downtown Chicago with my sweet son in tow, hoping beyond hope for some relief.
For him and for me.
During the appointment, Dr. Paller graciously told me about what eczema is and how doctor’s don’t really know what causes it, but that it appears to be an allergic reaction of the skin. She told me that her preferred course of treatment was:
1. Topical hydrocortizone using the strongest over the counter strength, twice per day, or as needed, using the lowest prescription strength only when needed. (I don’t even want to think now of the strength of the cream that we first put on my vulnerable son’s body.) I found the ointment preferable to the cream as it was easier to cover a small area with the ointment. But it does help the medicine to penetrate the skin more readily so consult with your doctor as to which is better for you.
2. Warm baths daily for only 3-5 minutes (any longer and she said that the skin would become susceptible to even more eczema), followed by a layer of the steroid cream and a moisturizing lotion. She recommended Cetaphil. These days, I would use a more natural cream, but this worked great for us.
3. For times when intense relief is needed, a warm damp cloth wrap, followed by more hydrocortisone cream.
I was concerned about the hydrocortisone use, but Dr. Paller said something to the effect of “We’ve been using these creams for over 40 years. Yes, there is a slim chance of a negative effect on your son, but not getting sleep is for sure going to damage him and this is much less risky.”
Balanced and sage advice.
As a side note, allergies were definitely a problem genetically for my son. A little history:
I had been almost debilitated by seasonal allergies in my high school and college years.
In high school I stayed home for 6 weeks out of the year, having school assignments brought to my home so that I could complete the work and stay on course. (I did go in for biology since that class was so demanding.)
As Dr. Paller and I were talking, I asked her about food allergies and whether his eczema could be related to food.
Her answer was that about 30% of eczema seemed to be food related.
That begged the next question – how does one figure out if foods are the cause? I had a suspicion that maybe we were dealing with a food issue from flares I’d seen my son have after certain foods I’d eaten.
Dr. Paller said that basically there were IgE blood tests, but my son was too young to have those.
We’d have to do an elimination test where I would remove probable allergens out of my diet to see how he responded.
She then told me that there were 6 top food allergies that should be considered NOTE: Food allergies have progressed over the years and now there are 8 top food allergens. They are: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat.).
She said I could remove each potential allergen for 3 weeks to see how my son’s eczema responded and then add it back in and try the next one.
The next question that I had is what changed our life and brought us real hope.
“What if he’s allergic to more than one food?” I asked.
She said that was possible, of course.
I needed relief and I needed it fast. What I couldn’t afford was 18 more weeks of itching, and 30 minute stretches of sleep. What if he was allergic to 2 or 3 things and just removing them individually out of his diet didn’t heal him and we ended up after 18 weeks just where we started?
So I asked her if it would be alright to remove all 6 potential allergens out of my diet for the recommended 3 weeks to see what happened.
She said that nutritionally that would be fine.
So that’s what I did.
Tough work.
But my son’s skin cleared up gradually as my elimination diet progressed.
We continued with the treatments of hydrocortisone and baths. They were tiring, but at least I was getting a little more sleep as my son felt some relief.
Basically I eliminated all the obvious sources of the Top 6 allergens out of my diet, but noticed slight to fairly bad flares even from me just eating milk chocolate. So out everything went from my diet. I was scouring labels and making sure I ingested nothing that my son was allergic to.
And then his skin was almost perfect.
The next test was to add the foods back, one at a time.
Well, it became pretty obvious that we were dealing with allergies to dairy and peanut. And egg.
And at 5 months of age (the earliest age at which IgE blood tests are typically performed), my son ended up in the hospital with rotavirus (that’s another story as well) and since they were drawing blood anyway, we decided to try an IgE blood test.
The verdict?
Allergic to dairy, egg white and peanut.
After all of these elimination tests and IgE test results, the question became:
Should I restrict my own diet and continue to breastfeed my son?
Or should I just go the “easy route” and put my son on a soy-based formula.
My son’s wise pediatrician warned against the formula route. Given my son’s sensitive constitution, he cautioned that it was quite possible that he would develop an allergy to soy and then we would be forced to either make our own homemade formula or go on a “pre-digested protein formula” that, if I remember correctly was running $80 per week.
Again, wise advice.
I decided to go the “hard route”:
- eliminating everything containing anything on the allergen list
- reading tons of labels
- learning all the derivatives of dairy, egg, and peanuts. There are a LOT.
But I really wanted to breastfeed my child and my mother’s sense told me that while the nutritional aspect of nursing was important, the bonding aspect of nursing was crucial as well.
Later, true to our pediatrician’s advice, my son was also diagnosed with tree nut and sesame allergies and even soy.
He has outgrown the soy allergy, but not the others, though he now tolerates almonds and macadamias.
And later, as my son grew, we found out more about him that made us glad I nursed him as long as I did.
It would turn out that he had much more going on than just the food allergies and itchy skin.
Beneath the surface lay a hidden condition, called autism.
Asperger’s Syndrome.
A condition that I (along with many experts) am convinced originates in the mind and gut.
I truly think that my choosing to breastfeed my son may have kept him from either worsened Asperger’s or even full blown autism.
I will never know, this side of heaven, but I am glad that I made the sacrifice to give up my food in order to nourish my son’s body and soul.
Now, let me make this clear. This is not meant to be a criticism of mother’s who have chosen to opt for formulas instead of a restricted diet.
But it is meant to encourage those who are dealing with eczema to look at diet as a possible cause. And to consider how important breastfeeding is to your child.
For more of our family’s health struggles and victories, you may want to read:
- Natural Autism Healing and the Best Treatment of All
- Natural Autism Healing (Monster Included!)
- Just Tired or Is it Something More?
- Could you Have Heavy Metal Poisoning and Not Know It?
- Just a Red Face – or Something More?
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Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seaniz/2114708830/
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You are amazing! Wish I could have figured out our allergies/eczema sooner but the sleep depravation seemed to keep me from thinking clearly. You are an inspiration. Thank you!
We are in the exact same situation. At 3m of age, I had an allergy test done as I am breastfeeding. It came up positive to eggs, milk, salmon & almonds. I have eliminated those items from my diet along with glutinous grains just in case. We also did the strong cortisone creams. My DS has had some severe reactions to foods as well including eggs, milk & nuts (either through trace amounts or found snacks from our 3 year old). We now carry an epi pen, a bottle of children’s benedryl everywhere we go. 2 days after the reactions to the food, he breaks out in ezcema again. Its been very stressful but I have made a commitment to his health & breastfeeding for an extended time. It’s going to be difficult for awhile but I have learned so much following this new diet. I have especially learned a lot through the GAPS & Paleo diet. Thanks for your article. Its nice (& sad) to know that I’m not alone but I am hoping the allergies pass & there are no other conditions to watch for.
Thanks for sharing your story -it does so help to read about others, doesn’t it?
You are doing a great job. We are in the same situation, too. My girl is 21 months old, she has had eczema since 2 months old, face, limbs and trunk, it was getting so bad and we decided to get allergy tests done, MSP only covered 5 items, but we wanted to test more because I am breastfeeding, so we paid for the tests ourselves. Ended up she’s allergic to peanut, cow’s milk, and egg white. I’ve been learning how to substitute these items in prepping meals and reading labels to avoid them in store bought food and asking waiters about ingredients when dining out. I am still breastfeeding and have been avoid all the allergic food thus far. It’s tough, but breast milk helps LO’s fight eczema and allergy, it’s the wise route to go. We’ll get another allergy test when she turns 3, fingers crossed! I do miss the taste of cheese……… The truth is my family is eating a lot more healthy because of my daughter’s allergy as we have to make most of the food and avoided lots of junk food or pre-made food. There’s always the bright side of things
BTW, we stopped using steroid cream, I believe it doesn’t help or the help is temporary (she had red skin syndrome from using the steroid cream). I make our own cream with beeswax, shea butter, olive oil, vit E now and my daughter’s skin has never been better! Best of luck!
The breastfeeding, in my opinion, is very important. You are doing a great job!!! I missed the taste of cheese a lot as well but I was able to make a few substitutes. Did you see my Almond Feta? I hope to have more alternatives soon. It is possible your child will be able to have goat’s milk but the proteins are very similar so be very careful. I am glad to hear your daughter’s skin is doing so much better! Wonderful. Take care!
Hi Annie,
I’m interested in finding out how you make your own cream with the ingredients listed, beeswax, Shea butter, olive oil and vitamin E. What is your recipe?
It’s really good to feel that I’m not alone dealing with my boy Ezcema & life threatening food allergies.
My boy has Ezcema since 3mth old (now 4yo) his whole body was scouring red with fiery patches, PD suspected that he is milk allergy (I was not producing enough milk then), and we’ve been requested to put him on a special milk formula (hydrolised protein) called Alfare. Ever since, his Ezcema condition gets better.
We eliminate all the potential allergies food, and it was really hard. He seems to be allergy to every food I gave during the weaning stage.
PD suggested doing a Full IgE blood test (tested for 75 types of food) at 11 mth old, so that its easier for me to feed him only food that he is not allergic to, costing US$700 to have the test flown to Australia (I live in Singapore). Result came back, allergic to top 6 – wheat/gluten, milk, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts & Soy. As well as coconut & mungbean, and pesticide found in vegetables.
It was a disaster to me. We’ve never had Ezcema / allergies in the family, why God chosen him? I’ve always been thinking that he choose his own diet for a cause, whatever the reason, as long as he is healthy & happy, what are allergies? It seems a very small case to me now…
What beautiful words. It is hard, but these allergies, and other things, have made our family eat so much healthier. Still, I wish my son could have egg white and dairy and the other nuts, but it is OK. I think the world is getting so much more toxic. I think you would enjoy reading Gut and Psychology Syndrome. It sheds some light on the digestive issues behind some of these problems. There are other good books as well.
Thank you so much for writing this! We had a vaccine damaged boy who is now three. His eczema and allergies were destroying our lives. He only had three vaccines and no more ever again, so he is not autistic but has trouble with pronouncing words without dropping the starting sound. We have just discovered that on top of an egg, peanut, dust and grass allergy that he is allergic to additives and food chemicals like amines et al.
You have a great site! Thanks so much.
Sara
Sara recently posted..Titus 2 – Loving Your Children
I’m interested in what you mentioned about amines. That came up in a conversation I had recently. Can you explain more if you have time please? Thank you!
I clicked over from Raising Homemakers. This is an interesting read. My daughter is 7 and we have been fighting horrible eczema since she was a baby. She had her allergies tested twice and is only allergic to eggs, so it is not food related, since she’s been egg-free since the beginning and still has the eczema. I wish that we had such a wonderful outcome as you.
Sorry to hear about this. Did you check for other allergies as well? Things are still tough in my family, I assure you. But at least the eczema is gone. Blessings.
What similarities we have! Not long after our move to NW Indiana when my son was 4 weeks old, he developed eczema which spread to his whole body by 2.5 months. His face was basically one red, oozy, raw scab and the doctors we took him to didn’t help much. Itching, sleepless, sad for a couple months then I realized he was loosing weight and after thinking it was a foremilk-hindmilk imbalance we ended up in the emergency room at Chicago’s Children’s Hospital. He was admitted and spent a week. After many, many tests, they decided it was an “uncommon presentation of a common milk allergy” related to the gut, complicated by a virus we caught during our move. They put him on amino acid-based formula, Neocate, and topical steroids, and within 5 days his face was completely clear and his body almost healed.
But the day we came home, the eczema returned and no matter how many steroids we put on him, his skin isn’t back to what it was at the hospital. They tell me he (know 8 months) is too young to have environmental allergies, but during a 5 day camping trip at the beach in California, his skin was clearer without steroids than it has been since we left the hospital.
Wow. How hard. I will pray for you right now. I don’t think docs know all they can about the skin. Have you maybe looked into NAET? I am looking into that now for various reasons. Or perhaps heavy metals or candida My son’s eczema got horrible when he was eating sugar. Blessings.
Actually, yes, we both did NAET with a doctor in Colorado in July when we were visiting family…would you believe environmental sensitivies showed up?! But I don’t think the clearings fully “took”. Fungus showed up (no surprise considering a bad yeast diaper rash showed up just after we left the hospital too, he had been on IV antibiotics for 4 days) and we used AquaFlora homeopathic candida formula. After a month, the rash seemed to have gone away, but when he has a really dirty diaper, his little tush gets bad again (interesting, the horrible stink to his diapers left at the beach too, the GI doc at Children’s didn’t see any correlation).
Thank you for the prayers! Bless you.
Wow.. I am curious about NAET but it is a lot of money for well, they say 90% success rate. I am not sure what to think. Could there be a water difference? And you are just feeding him this formula?
I’m sorry to sound so discouraging. I wish my son’s solution was as “easy” as taking everything out of my diet.
I did GAPS for 5 months while nursing my daughter and that was very difficult–food-wise and socially, I skipped out on a lot of mom group stuff because I knew the other moms would feel bad we couldn’t eat anything of the things they had part. But I think it was part of my daughter’s healing, along with BioSET (related to NAET), homeopathics and lots and lots of prayer.
Now I am confused – so your daughter had issues too but you felt BioSET helped her the most? Wow. My biggest issues are life threatening food allergies and anxiety now for my son. Mostly the anxiety but clearing some allergies would be great if it really is possible. But they are saying about $2,000 to try.
We did BioSet with her because we had a practioner in own town. I think BioSET is basically one doctor’s form of NAET that she trademarked and taught to others. The biggest difference I saw is that BioSET clears everything at once and the other doc we went to did 4 at a time. My daughter went in 3 or 4 times over the course of 6 months, and each 1 hour session cost $130 I think. My son and I did NAET with another practioner (the BioSet natropath was out of town and the NAET chiropractor was highly recommended by a friend who did it with her son, and people visit from all around the world to see him). For each of us to be tested, and have 8 or 9 things cleared over the course of 3 days cost about $1500, but it would have been less expensive if we paid cash. They billed our insurance and so far we’ve received back $81 from the insurance.
Anyway, I think ideally, we would have spaced the clearing farther apart, but because this is something we happened to find on a trip back home, we didn’t have a lot of time. I haven’t looked into NAET in Chicago/NWI, but I think it would be worth it to call around for prices.
And back to my daughter…our timeline was 5 months of GAPS (ages 21 to 26 mon) then back on dairy (didn’t make her eczema worse as it had before GAPS), then a move from humid S Texas to the Rockies (age 27 months). The eczema seemed to be getting better (the RAST skin prick test showed she was allergic to dust mites, and it is too dry for them to survive in Colorado), and I gave her Rhus Tox homeopathic. In one week, the chronic eczema on her ankle was gone! It stuck around for 18 months no matter what we put on it, then gone in 1 week. Wow. I wondered if the homeopathic had healed the allergies, so I fed her some egg, and it popped back up for 1 day, then was gone. So the homeopathic healed the manifestation of the allergy, but not the allergy. She had other reactions, like redness around her mouth, which helped me figure out other things she was reaction to, like canola oil and several others. We’ve tried probably 10 homeopathics for our son and none have cleared the eczema, but maybe we need to see the eczema to figure out the solution.
Now at almost 4, she seems to be fine with egg and asks me to cook them all the time, though she says the egg yolk tastes yucky, which is interesting as she was more reactive to the yolk than the white. Seems fine with canola oil too and everything else, except for peanut. She ate some noodle salad–why oh why did I think the sauce tasted like tahini??–on an airplane a month or two ago and it’s the only time I’ve ever heard a flight attendant ask “are there any doctors on board?” Two docs came up and we gave her some anti-histamine and her symptoms calmed down, but boy, don’t want to do that again!
Sorry for the long post, I hope something was useful in there!
Thank you!! Well, maybe it was. I ended up looking up BioSet in our area and there is a dr who says she does it and I haven’t been to see her but have heard about her. So I am going to call. I don’t know what I think, but i will email her site to you. Maybe you can tell me what you think. I just don’t want to see another bunch of money go down the drain, but maybe it’s worth a shot. Thanks for any thoughts you may have. I have tried so much and we are doing nutritional balancing right now, but I am not seeing the kind of progress I would like to see. Maybe it will just take more time but I don’t know. Thank you again for sharing.
Hi! My 3 yr old daughter has been suffering from food allergy related eczema for the past 2 years! We have taken her to the dermatologist and an allergist which both resulted in lots of information that helped but we are still fighting this horribly. I heard about BioSet and researched it, even buying the book to learn more. I am interesting in learning what your results were with it. We have a dr close by but it is very expensive and insurance does not cover it so I would like to know if it will work before we spend the money.
I went through the same thing with my son – eczema, night wakings, reflux, and diaper rash. I never had him tested though. I tried breastfeeding and eliminating foods, but I don’t think I kept them out long enough to see an improvement. I ended up putting him on Neocate at 8 months and he was like a new baby. He stayed on it (and limited food) until he was 2.5 yrs old. As far as we can tell he healed of all of his sensitivities and eats anything now.
Happy to read part 2! Very interesting about the baths and the 3-5 minutes. My youngest son has allergies to peanut, tree nuts and dairy. He’s gluten intolerant and has a mild soy allergy. Very proud of you for going the hard route with BF and eliminating foods yourself! That is awesome! I have a special place in my heart for autism, I used to teach little ones with autism.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma) recently posted..Zucchini Fries – #glutenfree
Thanks, Cindy. It was hard but not so hard as seeing him itch – or spending tons of money on the digested protein formula.
I’ve always had a strong suspicion that eczema breakouts could be related to food allergies. My youngest daughter, who suffers from eczema, has been gluten free for awhile. But I suspect that dairy is the real culprit behind her skin condition. I am hoping that these articles inspire her to take action. Thank you for your heartfelt words.
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You are so welcome. There is a lot going on w/ eczema and my son has had issues w/ his skin w/ sugar and probably copper but it is gorgeous now.
Thanks for sharing some of your journey. It’s been encouraging.
My fourth child (now 11 months) had severe colic and cradle cap. I did the elimination diet and found that she improved if I didn’t eat nuts, soy, gluten and dairy. It was a rough couple of months to have to reinvent my eating on top of trying to homeschool the older ones…
She still wasn’t getting better though and would have screaming spells. We ended up taking her to a chiropractor. Turns out her skull bones were overlapping and pinching the nerve going down to her tummy heightening her sensitivity.
She was so much better, but now we’ve discovered that her body still can’t handle me eating egg whites, mustard and peanuts in addition to the dairy. :\
We’ve also discovered that some of her flared cradle cap in recent months is due to environmental exposure – foam toys, some plastic toys, the paint on some of our wooden blocks to name a few. With older boys who love their toys, I’m now trying to navigate this latest discoverly.
On the bright side, I’m lowering the toxic exposure for all of us as I’ve made changes in how we eat, our cleaning products, etc… Thankful for the resources you share!
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Wow. Thanks for sharing. I am still struggling here as my son’s anxiety has gone through the roof. I guess for us moms with issues like this is really never ends in a way. blessings on you as you make changes. I hope I can share more in the near future!!
You’ve done such a great job at sleuthing out some real culprits in your son’s health!
I would also suggest that your son get tested for the MTHFR Gene mutation. This will tell you if your son is methylating correctly. Many with autoimmune, autism, allegies,etc., do not methylate their B Vitamins correctly, which can be underlying causes or aggravations to many autoimmune/allergy issues.
Depending upon the combination of mutation(s), the symptoms will show differently. Many doctors do not know about MTHFR Gene mutations so I would suggest that you google it, become knowledgeable about it and seek out a doctor who will work with you on getting this test run.
mommaof10 recently posted..Thankful for the Unconventional
I’m sure my son has this. My practitioner thinks as we get the metals out it will help w this as well. Do you have experience w this you can share?
Wow. I hardly know where to start. My son is approaching 9 months. I exclusively breastfeed. His eczema started around 2 months (looked like cradle cap at first); I gave up milk, eggs, and nuts at around 4 months. At 7 months I went on an elimination diet and now if I eat my 20 foods and 10 spices/ teas I can tolerate, I’m happy to say he has no eczema! He also has broken out in hives recently because of seasonal allergies. I’m navigating the world of introducing solid foods to him very slowly. He can eat pears and bananas and apples (I think). I am interested in everything I’m reading here. I’ve never tried any alternative medicine but I am frustrated by our allergist who keeps saying “Eczema is a chronic condition that could be there whether you eat the foods or not.” I know this is not the case from experience. Most of the eczema that I see in him is from food intolerances since I definitely stay away from his allergies–milk, eggs, peanuts, and walnuts. If that’s all I had to give up, it would be a peace of cake. I’m interested in all that I’m reading about “letting the gut heal” and don’t want him to develop psychological problems. Early in life when he had the eczema he made limited eye contact but it has greatly improved with the lack of eczema. I’m scared, tired (from being on the diet), feel lonely (even though my husband and mom especially support me) and overwhelmed by the wealth of information on the internet not to mention the lack of information I feel that I’m getting from doctors. I feel that I’m getting sympathy and topical answers but no real answers. By the way, my ultimate goal is to use that steroid cream as little as possible and I can probably count on one hand the times I’ve had to. I’m wondering how long I may be nursing this little one on this diet. I’m wondering if I should find a different allergist. Are there some who address the intolerances as well? I’m wondering if I should turn to alternative medicine. Your blog is a blessing–thanks for sharing your story.
Wow. What a story. My pediatrician said to nurse my son as long as I could. I am glad I didn’t wean him early as I suspect it contributed towards our good relationship as well as protected him from other issues.
I have a bunch of thoughts for you, but of course I am no dr. I am thinking about gut health and heavy metals. You can search those topics on my blog and/or email me. I have this series on candida and this one post on metals. I cannot say what would help but my experience is that those two things are crucial. I am also trying a new supplement to reduce oxidative stress and I am hopeful about that as well.
I hope to write more about the metals soon. Bless you. My practitioner does talk about intolerances, by the way.
Reading these posts makes me cry, I have been there too. Infant covered with eczema at age 5 months, allergy testing, formula changes, steroids, diet changes, NAET (8 years worth), asthma, bad days and good days. I went back to school and received my degree in Integrative Nutrition and…drum roll…no asthma, no eczema and 2 food allergies remain! My son is 16, healthy, handsome, smart, productive, a great kid all around. Twice in his life, he should have died. There is an answer, the GAPS diet is a terrific tool but it is very hard. My recommendations are somewhat modeled after GAPS but the results are quicker. I am currently writing an Ebook so I may share my knowledge, but how do I help you ladies now?
Thanks, Jolie. So let’s talk – you can email me at wholenewmom at gmail.com. I’d be interested in what you learned and what your thoughts are. Please get in touch w/ me. I’ve been toying w/ getting some sort of a degree as well
. Like I have time ……
Twitter: whitsend6
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I know it’s been a few months since this was posted so not sure if anyone will see this reply but I am VERY interested in any information you would have that helped your son. My story sounds so similiar for my 9 yr old (and we have 3 other younger ones who have similar issues as well) and it’s so hard not to get discouraged over going so long without seeing total healing. I’ve been considering the GAPS diet as well but the kids are very resistant to the idea of even stricter eating habits than we already have. Which of course just produces more stress and causes the health issues to be worse! Anyway, I could talk all day about the challenges our family has but if you see this and would want to email me I would so appreciate it. (whittybrooke(at)gmail(dot)com) Thanks! ~Tyra
Twitter: whitsend6
says:
Not sure if it shows in the order of posts but I was trying to reply to Jolie McShane. Probably should have made that clearer.
If you click on the reply link after the person’s comments it will show up under their comment
. Neato, huh?
I’m in the same boat. Trying to figure out how to heal and whether to take the next step diet wise or not.
Twitter: whitsend6
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It’s hard decisions for sure! Not to mention the amount of money that goes into natural health stuff. And if it helps then it’s more than worth it but you want to make the best choice for the cost. Thanks so much for sharing your story and your heart. I totally understand hard days (and looooong nights of no sleep) along with the discouragement of years of not seeing improvement. We’ve done a lot of NAET and had some good results. One of the doctors we see treats several autistic children and has had amazing improvements. If you’d like to chat about anything feel free to email me! I’m sure we both have questions and info that the other would benefit from.
Thank you. I am in the middle of my tax extension so I am swamped. Please come back.
I’m so glad that you are aware of the MTHFR Gene Mutation! Most have not heard of it and dealing with it is so easy that the allopathic medical community/drug manufacturers really have no interest in it.
I don’t have any personal experience….yet…. But I have done a little research on the MTHFR Gene and am asking my dad and other members of my family to get tested because autoimmune diseases are cropping up and becoming worse in nature…..just too many in the last few years to not suspect the MTHFR Gene. My children are the least affected of all of the cousins which is why I am asking others in the family to get tested.
mommaof10 recently posted..Thankful for the Unconventional
Can you direct me to where I can find out what to do about it? I think I still have my son’s genetic info. I would love for you to share w/ me. Thanks!! I am looking at pyroluria now but not sure if my son has it or not.
I googled MTHFR and read various sites. I’ve learned from others on Thyroid and Adrenal groups who first alerted me about the MTHFR Gene mutation. My research and reading has been here and there sometimes as I look for it and other times as it comes to me. Sorry that I don’t have any specific sites on the tip of my tongue!
mommaof10 recently posted..Thankful for the Unconventional
Oh….I just remembered some links someone shared with me that might be of help for you:
http://findingtherootcause.blogspot.com/search/label/glutathione
http://einstein-syndrome.com/biochemistry_101/hole_bucket/ as MTHFR relates to downs syndrome but well worth reading because it’s a good, clear definition of the MTHFR issue
http://www.seekinghealth.com/media/Improving-Patient-Outcomes-short-ver.pdf
http://www.detoxpuzzle.com/mthfr.php
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/ga?disorder=5,%2010-Methylenetetrahydrofolate%20Reductase%20(MTHFR)
http://mthfr.net/methylation-and-mthfr-defects-presentation/2012/04/25/http://mthfr.net/mthfr-basics-from-dr-erlich/2012/03/01/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA8GUIRqIkE
http://www.mthfrsupport.com/1/post/2012/03/living-with-mthfr.html
http://www.mthfrsupport.com/1/post/2012/01/the-importance-of-bh4-in-the-mthfr-a1298c-gene-mutation.html
http://arthritis-research.com/content/12/2/R71
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA8GUIRqIkE&feature=player_embedded
http://mthfr.net/additional-resources/http://mthfr.net/l-methylfolate-methylfolate-5-mthf/2012/04/05/
http://www.methyl-life.com/1/post/2011/11/whats-the-best-form-of-methylfolate-to-take-there-are-so-many-different-versions.html
http://www.anaturalhealingcenter.com/documents/Thorne/monos/5mthf_mono_11.4.pdf
http://www.methyl-life.com/product-comparison.html
http://mthfr.net/mthfr-a1298c-mutation-some-information-on-a1298c-mthfr-mutations/2011/11/30/
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/MTHFR
http://findingtherootcause.blogspot.com/2011/05/mthfr-and-autism.html MTHFR info
http://www.cfwellness.com/health-topics/add-adhd
http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask425
http://www.rawlins.org/mthfr/mthfr.html
http://www.rawlins.org/mthfr/MTHFRdeficiency.ppt
http://symptomsofulcerativecolitis.org/causes-of-ulcerative-colitis-symptoms/genetics-and-ulcerative-colitis/lesson-on-methylation/
***** http://www.mindmeister.com/12721370/mthfr-treatment
****** http://www.mindmeister.com/12694596/mthfr-related-health-problems
http://www.methyl-life.com/
http://www.cfwellness.com/health-topics/add-adhd
That should give you some things to read ; )
mommaof10 recently posted..Thankful for the Unconventional
Wow – I’m going to have my work cut out for me now.
Wow, I can truly relate to your post! My daughter, who is now 11, has suffered with severe eczema, allergies, asthma, and food allergies (dairy, egg, nut, peanut, and wheat). I understand the emotional adjustment and exhausting routines involved in helping them function in our allergen-ridden world. Based on my experience, I started a blog about learning to cook and bake allergy-free. I’d love for you to check it out: http://www.ConsciousEatery.com.
Thanks!
Angie@ConsciousEatery.com
Angie M. recently posted..Allergy-free Coffee Cake
Nice blog. I love the simplicity of it!!! Te care.
I thank you for the ideas and suggestions that you have given. My daughter Bailey is 2 and a half and has had flare ups of weird spots on her bottom and cheeks for the past 8 months. Originally I had taken her to the doctor back in December of 2011 3 times before someone gave me an answer that I am still not 100% convinced with. Her doctor was out of the office so we saw a different doctor and he told me that is was Gianotti Crosti Syndrome and pretty much just said that it would go away on its own and to put her on a pro biotic and some stuff to have her sit in, in the bath and an anti itch medicine. A week later it made some progress but was still prominent and itchy. We went back to the dr and saw a girl this time and she told me the same thing and told me the same thing the first dr did. The third time we actually got to see her dr and he agreed with the other drs about the gianotti crosti syndrome but said she also had a yeast infection. I was so irritated and still after all of that her bottom has yet to clear up. I did get her cheeks to clear up by putting aquaphor on them several times a day. That was in Jan but in the past two weeks her cheeks have gotten red again and her bottom is worse than it was. I took her back to the dr today and he thinks that it is eczema. After reading your post it all makes sense. I think she has some food allergies as well. She is a very picky eater and usually only will eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Since she wont eat I usually just let her eat that. At least she is eating something right? I figured she would grow out of the pickiness. Since the dr said to stay away from juice in dec I rarely give it to her and she fights drinking water so I have been giving her milk (which makes her bowl movements even harder than they already are. She has had trouble with those too ever since I stopped breast feeding.) So she consumes a lot of milk, peanut butter and wheat (I only give her wheat bread). Thanks to you I am going to try to remove those things from her diet and see what happens. Thank you! Hopefully this works!
Oh I am so glad. Aquafor can actually be irritating to eczema in my opinion b/c it seals in what is trying to come out. I used it quite a bit but found it seemed to not sit well w/ my son’s skin. Also, it is synthetic so that is something else to consider. Please let me know how things go. Take care!!
Huh I did not think about that
would you just use the cetaphil lotion then? I used to work in a nursing home as a nurses aid and I remember using this a lot with the residents. Thanks again!
I preferred that. These days I use only all natural things. I would probably lean toward coconut oil or a homemade lotion. I am planning to try one or two soon to see how they do as my skin is quite dry.
And I would have to agree about the aquaphor irritating it. It seems to help her cheeks where it isn’t very bad but has not helped her bottom
I am always happy to read when people share stories about their own families that could help others. My son has been dealing with ezcema for most of his life. He is 3 1/2 years old & over the past year it has gotten much worse. It covers the entire back of his legs & we have treated with different strength steroid creams as well following the short warm baths. We would see slight improvements but it ALWAYS returned. For the last 6 months he has woken up multiple times a night to ask for lotion to be applied but in the last month it started affecting his penis. That was the last straw for us. After hearing doctors & allergiest tell us to eliminate foods he loves as well as keeping him out of the grass I knew we needed another alternative. I am a very rational, conservative person but was willing to try anything. We began NAET treatments 3 weeks ago & his ezcema has not only vanished, but he is finally sleeping through the night & can breathe through his nose again. I can’t explain the treatments but there is a lot of information on the web. It sounds like magic & voodoo but it worked for him as well as many of my other friends. And the best part is there is only elimination of foods from his diet for 25 hours after treatments. He can now enjoy food again as well as playing outside. Hope this helps someone.
I’m looking into NAET – I am concerned about how much it costs, but wondering if it might be just what we need. I’d love to hear more thoughts. Thanks!!!
My son also had bad eczema all over his face, but it got better and went away. I went to the Dr and was prescribed a antibiotic cream and told to use the over the counter steroid cream. However, I wanted to try natural methods first so i used coconut oil and aquaphor ointment 3 times a day. It was spreading to his body too. So i also tried using an antioxidant supplement for myself since I am nursing I figure he will get a little bit of it. So far there is a drastic improvement and I didn’t even need to use the antibiotic. I really feel for your boy and I hope there is something natural that you can add to what the Dr. has given you. Thanks for sharing your experience. I know there is many others who suffer from eczema and Autism.
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What a story – thanks for sharing and I truly feel for you and your family. My story is not about my child (don’t have one yet) but about me, a 30 year old woman. I was in middle school when I found out I had eczema (I don’t know if I had issues as a baby)…I had a large patch on my arm, they tested it, gave me a strong cream, and that was it. Since it never came back, I guess my parents were not concerned. Years later, in my 20′s, I started getting patches on my hands. It was on and off, so I used the prescription creams when it flared up, the dermatologist-recommended lotions, etc. Sure, they worked for a time. But it always came back. Less than a year ago, my hands were so bad I seriously contemplated cutting them off…it was painful and became hard to even use my swollen hands. I had already began my transition to natural food and products, so I was determined to find a natural way. As soon as I read a book that tied eczema to allergies, particularly dairy, I gave it up. Of course this was a process, but I can happily say that even though I miss my cheese, I can type this without any pain and my hands look “normal” again. So, thank you for your blog that I continue to learn from and I will be well informed when I do have a child.
Welcome and thanks for sharing!!!! I am so glad to hear it helped. I am convinced dairy is one of the biggest food allergy offenders.
We have also dealt with milk, egg, and peanut allergies. Bless you for doing the hard work to get to the bottom of your son’s issues. Thanks for sharing your story!
You really had a wise pediatrician. If I ever do get pregnant I hope to be able to find one like that. They seem so far and few between these days. Thanks for the series. Very interesting.
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You’re so right. He was great. He delivered my son at home but doesn’t do that any longer.
We learned when our middle son was two and had eczema since the day he was born that eczema is related to asthma. All three of our sons have asthma and eczema to some degree or another and as well as my husband and myself. Our youngest is highly functional autistic but he has absolutely no food allergies. He has numerous testings to check and our doctor went one step further and checked him for heavy metal and environmental toxins. Nothing showed up there either. We just count him as a blessing and he had several years of occupational therapy and is doing really well now. He does still have some neuron muscular issues and we will soon be working with a neurologist to deal with these issue. He will be twelve in March of 2013.
i wrote a very similar two part story about my experience with food allergies just this past August. Two of my boys have multiple severe food allergies. I also posted photos of their skin throughout. I can empathize.
Joya
Part 1:
http://www.rajovilla.com/2012/08/our-food-allergy-story-part-one/
Part 2:
http://www.rajovilla.com/2012/08/our-food-allergy-story-part-two/
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I should add I also did the elimination diet while breastfeeding for both of my sons (5 yrs apart) I ate very few things. My allergist in Chicago was Dr Newhall in Lincoln Park- she is amazing. I miss her now that we’ve moved. Sharing our stories online will certainly help other families. 7 years ago when I was first trying to figure out what was going on, I felt alone.
-Joya
Joya recently posted..INDIA ON MY MIND
Thanks for sharing!!! I used to live near Lincoln Park! Small world for sure.
Thank you for sharing your experience so openly and honestly. It will be such a help to so many!
I would highly recommend going to http://www.diannecraft.org I was searching the web for a dishwasher rinse aid recipe and found your story about your child’s eczema. I was floored by the similarities between our children, and wanted to share an amazing breakthrough I had this weekend. My homeschool group organized a seminar for Struggling Learners (Processing Disorders, Dyslexia, Autism, Aspergers) and Dianne Craft blew me away! She is a certified Natural Health Professional and holds a Masters in Special Education. She teaches Brain Integration Therapy to reconnect synapses across the midline that have become disconnected, but she also teaches about ‘gut ecology’. She is a firm believer (and evidence provider) that– when antibiotics and/or steroids are introduced into your body, or you eat mainly carbohydrates, or if antibiotics/steroids were introduced in utero– that they promote the overgrowth of fungus (candida, yeast)within your ‘gut’. It can infiltrate most parts of our body and wreck havoc. Here are some of the behavioral and physical symptoms that are a result of fungus overgrowth which upsets your gut ecology, (which can also cause malabsorption of vitamins and minerals):
mood swings, ‘spaciness’, Sensory Integration symptoms (tags bothering, textures, etc), anger/irritibility/agression, depression, many Asperger’s and Autistic-like behaviors, memory problems, inattention, talking loudly, canker sores, stomach aches, leg pains, sugar cravings (sugar feeds the yeast and they’re HUNGRY!), food allergies (especially dairy), bed wetting, anxiety/nervousness, difficulty falling/staying asleep, constipation, repeated ear infections, thrush/athlete’s foot, rashes/eczema, nightmares.
Why food allergies? Because the fungus infiltrate and permeate the lining of the intestines that allows what you eat to leak (aka Leaky Gut). Our body then attacks it and your system is on high alert when it next comes in contact with it–hence the food allergy.
She outlines everthing much better in her “The Biology of Behavior” cd set that you can get from her website. She also provides a natural supplement protocol to follow to balance the ‘gut ecology’, which happened to be next on my list of things to do after I got the rinse aid recipe lol.
My oldest has run the gamut of: cradle cap, reflux, eczema, thrush, skin-fold yeast infections (so bad they would ooze stinky yellow gunk and when you wiped it clean the skin would come off and bleed), diaper rashes, dairy allergies, speech delays, food and clothing texture obsession, suspected Aspergers, Auditory Processing Disorder diagnosis, ADHD diagnosis, psychiatrists, and umpteen medications and creams. We are definitely going through the supplement protocol because this just makes so much more sense than treating all the symptoms and no one doctor can tell me what is CAUSING all of these things. I just thought I would share and see what you think?
Well I clicked around on your website and discovered your blog about your son’s Aspergers, and comments about your experience with candida. I guess I should have read your other posts first:) I hope I didn’t insult you by suggesting something you already knew about. I have been on several candida diets and supplement protocols before as well, but what I found different about Mrs. Craft’s protocol is her insistance that the probiotics be a certain kind and refridgerated, and she triples the dose. She also uses grapefruit seed extract as the anti-fungal instead of the olive leaf extract or garlic. Some candida diets that I have tried only require you to stay on them for a couple of weeks, she recommends to stay on the protocol for 3 months. What have been your experiences with diets or supplements?
Thanks, Emily. I didn’t feel insulted. I’ve talked w/ Dianne and am using her dyslexia protocol. I have used probiotics but I didn’t know about her tripling the doses. Do you have more info I could see? I would be interested. My son has been off sugar for a long time and does much better. Gluten as well and we did try grain free and though there was some detox apparently I didn’t see a reason to continue.
I am a tad concerned about GSE processing – do you know anything about that?
It was suggested to me to take the capsule variety of Primadolphilus by Nature’s Way, 3x’s a day, for three months. All I can think in my head is Cha-ching! But I know things can only get better from where we are.
No! I didn’t know about the GSE processing…how alarming. I immediately did a search, but I will have to research this further, and pray about whether the risks would outweigh the benefit. The brand on her website is the tablet form of NutriBiotics GSE. But it doesn’t say on the NutriBiotics website how it was processed. Sheesh, there’s always something about everything, right??
Interesting. The Primadophilus is a fairly reasonable brand. If you use my links to Vitacost or Iherb you can get money back on your first order too. Maybe it would be $60 for a month – then minus the discount from my site. I know about the GSE. I don’t know what to think.
A reader asked me to share this:
would like to add a PS here (in regards to the eczema): the body is very wise and tells us when something is wrong. unfortunately , many doctors just want to treat the symptom not the cause.. naturopaths (although sometimes well meaning) will tell you it’s this or that (when in reality it could be several interrelated issues).. essentially- we are our best doctors (we just need to research and do the work). protocol for (my)eczema is : heal the gut, eliminate hard to digest foods- acidic foods- sugar,gluten, dairy, address candida, add probiotics, add vitamin D, drink a lot of water, green juices, good fats, anti inflammatory foods/vitamins and sleep- do colonics, take these fancy absorbable b vitamins/methylfolate and practice gratitude.. for more details i found this site and book by Christina Nevada very helpful among many others i read.. most importantly i would encourage your readers to address their blood as well as their gut. genetic testing for mutations such as MTHFR is not that big of a deal (it’s more common than you think and has no obvious symptoms).. and yet it resolved WHY i was so tired as i’m not absorbing b vitamins and esp folic acid (which inevitably can effect your adrenals, thyroid and clotting issues among many other things). the only reason i found out i had it was due to a miscarriage at 7 weeks (as it also effects that baby making process as well- not to mention would certainly effect the HEALTH OF THE BABY!!- you would think ALL doctors would check upon finding out if you were pregnant but they don’t).- .speaking of babies.. there are also probiotics to give newborns or diluted raw fermented vegetable juice (ask your pediatrician).. basically- there are so many challenges for our bodies between what we inherited from our parents, the environment, toxicity from meds and foods and we can only do our best so don’t beat yourself up. my heart goes out to every woman out there who has a health problem or worse: a child with a health problem…i’m sending healing prayers to everyone!
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Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. I have three children, my eldest has ADHD and we have changed his diet drastically (Feingold Diet using only real food), my middle daughter suffered horribly from eczema and I was never told about the possible link to food allergies. She is 4 years old now and hasn’t suffered from eczema since she was 2, however, I am positive it is only because she, by the grace of God, outgrew her allergies. My youngest was the one that taught me the most about food. From the first night of her life, I could tell that she was reacting to something. She had such horrible gas and pain from that, and could only sleep at most 5 minutes at a time, as a newborn! I knew there was something wrong, but could not find anyone with knowledge to help me. Thankfully, my gut told me it was food related so I began by eliminating dairy. Unfortunately, it took me a while to learn about all of the other ingredients that are dairy based. When she was 6 months old, she got severe eczema, at the same age as my middle child. However, her eczema was so bad it oozed and I couldn’t control it with Hydrocortisone, baths, and Cetaphyl like my middle daughter. After watching her suffer so horribly, and being at my wits end, I finally decided to have her tested for allergies. She did not test positive for anything but almonds. And, of course, which milk was I using in place of cow’s milk??? Almond milk!!! That then made me decide that since the allergy testing was obviously not perfect, I would perform my own test. I eliminated all 8 common allergens from my diet (as I was nursing) and after 3 months, slowly re-introduced each. I found she was allergic to dairy, eggs, and tree nuts. Since that time, she onlly reacts when we have eaten somewhere else and there ends up being cross-contamination. Her sleep has improved. Many people ask why I won’t wean her so I can start eating those foods again, but I just respond that nursing her is the best thing I can do to help her heal and hopefully grow out of her allergies. She can now sleep more than one hour at a time, most days, LOL. I think she has sleep habits that we will need to try to break. If you have any suggestions for this, please let me know. Thank you again for sharing! I know that there are so many babies out there whose food allergies are going un-detected and they are quietly suffering. It just breaks my heart that my two eldest were very possibly dealing with food allergies and I had no idea at that time.
Thanks for sharing as well.
Oh boy, how I can relate! The sleepless itchy nights and the desperation to find what was causing my son so much pain. Like you we had amazing results with an elimination diet. I recently wrote a guest post about what it’s really like to do an elimination diet here – http://blog.scratchmenot.com/whats-an-elimination-diet-really-like/
Thank you for sharing your story! And good for you for not taking the easy road and following your mother’s intuition.
Jennifer
Jennifer recently posted..Asthma, Eczema, and Attitude (Guest Post)
I can absolutely relate to your son. I had eczema come up really badly around my eyes where I could barely wear make up in my 20′s. I had been getting so many “ear” and throat infections along with bad bouts of eczema when I was much younger as a child and then on. I had been on so many antibiotics through out my life it was absolutely crazy. For me to be on them once every two weeks was not uncommon. I found out 3 years ago that I have been allergic to pork and it is quite common for people who have eczema to be eating some or alot of pork. Apparently the eczema comes from the food and chemicals they pump into the pigs before processing them for human consumption. More and more doctors are telling people to eat less pork. Since I have stopped eating pork I have not had any episodes and within 2 – 4 weeks my eczema has completely gone away and never returned. I hope this information helps someone else too.
How interesting. I am assuming this is factory pork? My son never ate that much. we eat quality bacon occasionally and have a family-farmed pig in the freezer but that’s all.
Hello, my daughter has had eczema since she was 18 months old. She’s almost 11 years old now, and it’s been getting worse and she was having more allergic reactions to other things, causing hives on her arms, lets, and even affecting her eyes.
I finally took her for bio-meridian feedback to find out what was causing it. She’s allergic or intolerant to gluten, dairy, corn, soy, most beans, cinnamon, vanilla, garlic, onions, pumpkin, and other spices. It’s been almost 3 weeks and she’s so excited that the skin is growing back on the sides of her feet. They look better every day! She also told me she doesn’t get tired or have stomach pain after she eats like she used to. It’s been an adjustment, but it’s totally worth it. I wish we hadn’t wasted so much time treating the symptom instead of the cause. Better late than never, I guess.
Wow – that’s great. Have you looked at heavy metal issues? I have a post on it and hope to write more. I have heard that working on metals can clear up food intolerances.
This really hits home for me! We have been ” fighting” with our pediatrician for ever about my sons eczema, wheezing, ear infections, chronic diarreha and weight/growth issues. At my sons two year old ” well check” I finally put my foot down and said this needed to be taken care of. We finally got a referal to Milwaukee children’s hospital and in 3 months had a dairy/ gluten allergy diagnosis. I can not tell you how much better he is!! SO. Happy! I have my little boy back!
It was exhausting fighting for what I knew was right. We had already eliminated dairy well before the children’s visit but were told that removing dairy was not the reason that he stopped having ear infections and that his eczema got better. I know better now!!!!
Wonderful to hear. More and more food and toxins are an issue.