Vomitting and dark circles under eyes

[kdbowers]

Hi

Hoping for a bit of advice although we are off to doctors today anyway.
I starting weaning my DD at about 5 months old with just a bit of  baby rice.  As she has reached 6 months we have been introducing other foods, all homemade purees such as sweet potatoe, carrot, pear and apple.  However, over the last 2 weeks (approx) I have noticed that she is vomitting lots more and has developed these dark circles.  She was a bit sicky as a baby but nothing like the amounts or this frequency.  Also the circles are worrying and I don't think can be as a result of a lack of sleep as she sleeps 11-12 hours solid at night and has 2 good naps (about 1.5 hours) and a catnap (45mins).  The darkness sometimes has little red spots too.  I read on some allergy sites that dark circles can be a sign of an allergy.  The majority of the sickness comes after her milk feeds but within it is also some of the solid that has remained in her tummy.  I am not sure if I am feeding her too much at solid meal times because she never says no to food!  She has about 2 cubes sweet pot & 2 cubes pear at lunch and then 2 cubes veg & 4 spoons rice for dinner.  I have reduced the 11am feed and the dream feed to about 4 oz.

Sometimes the sickness causes her to be very miserable too.  I don't think it is reflux because surely she wouldn't just develop this now?  Also I don't think it is intolerance to formula because she has been on this since about 4 months.

I keep a food (and sleep diary) but for the life of me I cannot see any pattern to the sickness (which does vary in amounts day to day although she is sick every day to some degree)

Any thoughts would be great.

thanks

Kirsty

[Mydreamcametrue]

Hello:

Poor thing.  Yes, you are right, the dark circles under the eyes can mean allergies.  Could be from enviromental allergies or food allergies.

Does she seem more irritable or just throwing up more?

Some little ones have Delayed Gastric Emptying, meaning there food sits in the stomach longer than it is supposed to, does not digest fast enought, therefore causing them to throw up hours after they eat.

My son, was just like that.  He would eat and eat and never said no to food.  I just had to limit his amount, because I was overfeeding him thinking it was the right thing and it caused all sorts of problems.

It really does not sound like you are feeding her to much though.  1 cube is eqaul to 1 oz. (I believe), so 2 cubes would equal 1 little baby jar of food. 

Maybe try just cutting back to 2 cubes of 1 food for lunch and then 2 cubes of 1 food and the rice cereal for dinner.

How much formula is she drinking?

Also, she could just be getting sick.  Dark circles, throwing up can be signs of a virus and not feeling well.

I hope your appoitment went well and please let us know what they say.

Hugs, Wendy

[Leesa]

In my experience, the dark circles usually indicate dairy allergy.

{hugs}

Lisa

[kdbowers]

Thank you for your posts.

I have not replied until now as I have been trying to monitor things after taking the doctors advice.  I have been advised that it maybe cows milk intolerance but without wanting to criticise those in charge, I find that difficult to believe.  Grace has been on the same formula since I stopped breast feeding at around 3 1/2 months.  She was sick a little but nothing to report on.  The sickness and the circles appeared after introducing solids (although this also coincided with her getting 2 teeth).  She was fine when it was just a bit of rice and pear but since the amounts and or types have changed the vomitting and darkness appeared.  I tried going back to rice and pear but it didn't help.  The doctors put her on this dreadful soya milk but this made her terribly constipated and still sickness/circles.  I took her off that & put her back on formula after a couple of days because the constipation was making her miserable. 

We are back at the doctors today because LO eyes & sickness seemed particulrly bad over last few days - I did introduce yoghurt so maybe we are back to the milk intolerance.  Is it possible for them to grow in to an allergy? 

I am currently trying a formula suggested by a friend called Aptimel Easy Digest.  She continues to be sick but it appears to be more watery.  It's like she is keeping the milk element in (it's a heavier formula to help keep it down) but then vomitting the liquid?

I am perserving with the food diary but to be honest it doesn't really seem to have a pattern.  I stopped the yoghurt days ago and still getting sickness!! It's so frustrating especially when people comment how tired she looks!

I will see what doctor comes up with this time.  We have private medical care so I might get him to refer us to a specialist not sure if that would be a dietician?

Any further help is much appreciated.

thanks

Kirsty

[Mydreamcametrue]

I agree, I would have a hard time thinking it was a milk intolerance if she had been on the same formula for such a long time.  Some little ones however can develop a milk allergy or intolerance later. It take weeks or even months for the body to show signs of an allergy or intolerance. 

But to me, it sounds like she has a virus of some sort.  Did they do any blood work?

Soy milk can be very constipating.  You could ask your doctor for a hypoallergenic formula, such as Nutramigen.  It is still milk based, but the protein is almost competely broken down to rarely cause a reaction.

Could you post a picture of her? 

People always thought my son looked so tired.  They used to say "Oh did he just wake up, or aww he is so sleepy. I am like he just slept 3 hours.  His was due to a number of things, but mainly it was his eviromental allergies.  He is very senstive to mold spores. 

My other son (now 1) had the same dark circles under his eyes, once we started an allergy med, that are getting better.

i really hope the doctor can give you some answers and I really hope they checked her blood.

[Leesa]

There is a difference between an intolerance and an allergy.

An intolerance builds over time, and with proper watch, can be reintroduced after some time of allowing the body to heal.

An allergy you cannot ever have.

Lisa

edited to add: it takes time for the dairy to leave the body.  mucous is a really hard thing to gain control of without really reigning in the entire diet.  also, those with dairy intolerance also usually have problems with soy.

Have you tried almond milk?

[kdbowers]

So we went back to the dr's.  I dragged hubby along for moral support (hate the fact that you are sometimes seen as a neurotic mother!).  Problem is it is yet a different dr with yet a different opinion.  I honestly get better advise off this website than I have ever received from the NHS. 

The Dr initially said she would prescribe an antihestimine (spelling is not my strong point and is probably completely wrong!).  I was unhappy with this because ultimately this is treating the symtom rather than the cause.  Also, rather worryingly, she didn't make the connection between the rash under her eyes and the sickness.  I had to point out that I felt they were strongly connected (they started at around the same time) and that I strongly felt she had an allergy to something in her diet.

I have been reading some of the posts on MSPI and didn't realise until today that the intolerance can also cause a nappy type rash.  Grace has been suffering from this but only at the front and up her tummy not on her bottom.  The last dr told me it was thrush and gave me some cream.  It is of course still there and this Dr says it's definitely not thrush!  I also told her that since I tried the soya she was hugely constipated with strong smelling poops.  She prescribed lactolose (ignore spelling again!) but after some research I have found that if Grace is milk/soya she is likely to suffer from constipation and also is likely to be allergic to lactose.  I am slowly but surely losing all confidence in the medical profession.  I don't know if I am coming or going with solids because I loathe to introduce anything new until I figure out what is causing this problem.  I am worried she is not getting enough of anything, hence her recent weight loss.

Anyway after lots of feet stomping I manage to get her to refer me to a ped.  I just hope he/she has a better experience of this.  I'm not sure how long the referral will take, we have private medical care so hopefully quite quickly.  In the meantime, I don't know whether to continue with normal formula, soya formula another milk substitute.  Also should I keep her off all cereal and just keep her on the homemade fruit/veg - will this be enough?

I feel soooo confused and helpless.

Could someone tell me how to post a picture and you will see what i mean by her 'black/red eyes'.  She is pale but she never had these from birth to around 4 1/2 months.

thanks for all your help so far

Kirsty

[Spectra]

If you go into "reply" under the current post your reply box will open, and under that to the left it says, "Additional Options".  Hit that and you can browse your computer with the name of the pic and attach it.

If you keep her on milk, and fruit and veg this will be enough.  They get most of their nutrition from the milk anyway.  When you go to see your ped I would demand to try a special formula such as Alimentum or Neocate.  With my son the symptoms were slow to start, and it took about a month until he fully had eczema and congestion from the formula.  My son is now 12 months and he currently is only eating squash, sweet potato and Neocate.  I am slowly adding in foods again, but he is still growing as he is getting lots of food.

In regards to putting her on something else right now, I don't know the answer, hopefully someone else can answer as I'm not too sure if 6 months old is too young to try something like rice milk or almond milk.  I put my son on rice milk at 10 months as no doctor would listen to me.  When I did this I noticed a change in the first week, and 3 weeks later he was like a normal baby.  With this new evidence I finally got somewhere with my doctors.  I hope yours are not as stubborn as mine were.

[Mydreamcametrue]

Well if it is environmental allergies, then the antihistamine will help wonders with that.

Personally if she reacted that way with soy milk, I would not try that again. 

Did the doctor give you lactose free milk?  I don't think I would try that either. 

I would really push hard for Alimentum or Nutramigen.  It is ashame, because you can buy those in the stores here.

I think you are fine with just fruits and vegetables and formula. 

But.  I think you may have could results if you just start over.  Since she is only 6 months old, I would stop ALL solids.  Start a hypoallergenic formula for 2 weeks and then slowly introduce solids again.

I am not sure how the medical system works there, but is there anyway you can call the doctor and demand a prescription for Alimentum or Nutramigen?

Curcious to see what the picture of her looks like.

[imaayafa]

my son is much older, but from age 2-3 (when i weaned him from formula; he breastfed until age one and a half) he also became pale, had dark circles, was frequently sick, and vomited a lot (sometimes once a week). most of the doctors brushed me off as "kids are always sick". eventually a doctor ran some blood tests and we found he had low iron and low hemoglobin. when we started the iron drops, the vomiting and sickness stopped. apparantly low iron/low red blood etc weakens the immune system. i don't know if your LO is too young for low iron but i would ask your doctor about it. we also had him checked for celiac (gluten allergy)but it was neg. its important to be assertive with doctors and request the tests you want. lots of luck and may your LO be healthy.