Yesterday I shared with you the trials that we went through regarding eczema and our son not sleeping in Eczema and Food Allergies--Our Story of Despair and Healing - Part One.
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--baby eczema at its worst. Literally, it was so bad that his cheeks were oozing and stuck to my arm when he nursed.
Oh the pain in this mother's heart.
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.
What Our Doctor Recommended
During the appointment, Dr. Paller graciously told me about what eczema is and how doctors 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 using a really gentle cleanser 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 clean cream (with no parabens) like a pure organic cream or this really soothing Beautycounter Body Lotion or Baby Balm, which many have said works great for skin issues. Another great idea is to put some body oil under the cream for a moisturizing boost.
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, especially for baby eczema, 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. (The only thing that I did go in for was biology since that class was so demanding.)
Could Severe Baby Eczema Be Caused by Breastfeeding?
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 lives 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 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 choice to breastfeed my son may have kept him from either worsening 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 mothers 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?
I have been so touched hearing from readers about their eczema and food allergy experiences. Please share so we can all learn from each other.
Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seaniz/2114708830/
I just found your blog while searching for information on essential oils. I haven't read very far, but just reading this post, I so understand it all! My son screamed from birth until he was about 6 months old when he got RSV. He slept in 45 minute increments and not restfully. I was told that my milk was the problem among other things. It was dismissed that he cried so much and spit up so much as "that's what babies do." We went through a couple different types of reflux medication, but there was absolutely no improvement. I felt the doctor was dismissing my concerns as a tired, over-reacting mom. And I had no strength left.
I had planned to have a natural childbirth with my doula and midwife...and nothing about our life together went or felt natural. We struggled through excema and bleeding cheeks - much like the way you described your son's oozing cheeks. The dr always insisted that he didn't have allergies b/c he was growing okay. HE was only growing b/c we had been forcibly/coerced into supplementing breastfeeding with formula. It didn't help...but he did gain weight. I continued to nurse until he was almost 11 months old...it was a struggle all the time! At 1 year old we found out that he did indeed have food allergies. And the reason it never worked when I would eliminate an allergen from my diet was because he was highly allergic to peanuts (we carry an epipen even to this day), tree nuts, eggs, milk, and wheat.
Eventually, after he was recovered from RSV we found a sleep routine that worked for him and he became an excellent sleeper. Between asthma flare-ups, steroids, and ear infections out the wazoo, we survived. He got ear tubes the same month he turned 2 years old and a lot of things improved.
I stopped going to the doctor for help in anything. Even when he was 3 and the dentist yelled at me for his teeth having so many cavities. I was shut down. I had no idea what to do. I had never laid my child down with a bottle. He almost never had juice. But his molars were rotting away.
Okay...long story short (or medium), he is now 8 years old and AMAZING! I love him so stinking much! We are going through the process for diagnosing EoE - he has it...but I really want to get the long-term food allergies tested. That has been the issue for so many things.
He does not have autism or asbergers. Or at least not much of those behaviors. I sort of credit some of that to God's intervention in my life before I was even married. I worked in ABA therapy with an autistic child as his team lead. I saw my son's tendancy toward noise and texture sensitivities and eye contact avoidance among other things. I think it helped. In no way do I think he would have been severely on the spectrum...but I think he would have been on there much more so than he is now.
Anyhow...just thought I'd say hello. I understand your story. Sounds like mine. I wish I wouldn't have shut down for so long. We're getting there now.
Hi, I am in the same boat, breastfeeding my 14 months old son whose allergic to dairy, gluten,
eggs . Now I want to wean him, any alternative to milk, not sure he is allergic to nuts.Pls help.
Thanks
HI there. My doc said to nurse as long as I could so I did. If you decide you really need to wean, check out my Homemade Coconut Milk and you could make the Almond Milk subbing in any seeds - like hemp, sunflower or pumpkin. Hope that helps. Oh, I have a Rice Milk post as well. You can use other grains. I think oat milk tastes good. Just search in my search bar.
Wow! I went through a very similar situation with my son who turned out to have milk, egg, and peanut allergies. It started with eczema which has to be one of the hardest things for a mother to go through. Looking down at my sweet baby's bleeding/oozing face literally tore my heart out, and I felt so powerless. I tried so many creams, spent so many sleepless nights scouring the internet for information, and saw two separate doctors who just didn't have a clue. Neither of them would acknowledge that he could be reacting to foods present in my breast milk. Once we finally found a doctor that understood the connection between eczema and food allergies, we had to get our families to take us seriously. Many people don't understand the difference between milk allergy and lactose intolerance. Or silly questions like "if egg is cooked in cake, is that okay?" Yes it is still egg!! I could go on and on. My son is now 5 and hasn't shown signs of autism. The food allergies alone have been such a struggle, my heart goes out to you. Thank you for sharing your story...and all the info/recipes on your blog!
Thanks!!! and you are welcome.
When my daughter was 6 weeks old she had blood in her stool and she had eczema. I did not get much help from our doctors (my husband is in the military and well lets just say it's a huge issue if you have any health problems). After my own research I decided to avoid all of the top allergens except for gluten and her skin cleared up. I continued to nurse her until she was a year. After that I did my best to keep our home "allergy free". It is great to hear another mom's story about eliminating while nursing. Everyone thought I was crazy but I wanted her to have the best and in order for her to have the best I had to give up some things but it was totally worth it!
So glad to hear!! Good job, mom!
Thanks for sharing this story and I'm glad to hear how your doctor was willing to work through this with you via diet. I did not figure out the connection between my food allergies and other medical conditions (eczema, environmental allergies, asthma, depressions, etc.) until I was in my 20s. I wish we'd known when I was younger - it would have saved a lot of resources and heartache.
Two of my three children developed eczema, and through food elimination, bio-meridian feedback to identify their food sensitivities, and the NAET method, my children are now free from it!!!!!!!!! Also, CORN is a big allergen, too. FYI for others out there.
Derp, I didn't realize I had already responded here! So sorry. Trying to get the word out about what has worked for our family. Please feel free to delete!
So Samantha, we are considering NAET but the local practitioner told me she gets 98% success rate - which seems unbelievable to me. Another local who does modified NAET said that no one gets those results. This 2nd person is an MD PhD who does alternative work as well. I would love to know what your experience is.
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.
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.
Yes, those showed up on the bio feedback. We are taking treatment in steps as the detox is intense and (of course) not covered by insurance.
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.
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 - https://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
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.
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!
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.
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?
I would highly recommend going to (Link deleted by Whole New Mom due to it not working anymore) 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?
Thank you for sharing your experience so openly and honestly. It will be such a help to so many!
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
Thanks for sharing!!! I used to live near Lincoln Park! Small world for sure.
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. I wrote a very similar two-part story on my blog...
Joya
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.
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.
You're so right. He was great. He delivered my son at home but doesn't do that any longer.