Mystery reaction...bread???

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I've been trying to pin down the cause of some pretty nasty diarrhea    in Spencer since last Wed or so...and finally it dawned on me that on the Tue we stocked up on some bread that was on sale at Walmart.  It is the only thing I can think of that I have fed her that is different (the IL's did babysit, but were told not to feed her the burger they brought, but that is another post!).

So, I compared the ingredients to the bread we normally get - the only diff is it has whole wheat including the germ, sorbic acid (preservative google tells me), vinegar and the "may contains" say sesame seeds, soy & sulphites.

The bread we usually use has sulphites as an ingredient, and it's "may contains" are milk, eggs, soy, sesame seeds (Spence is allergic to eggs, but this bread has never caused any problems before)

WTH? Just can't figure it out...

[~ Vik ~]

(((hugs))) Heidi  You know I feel your pain when it comes to mystery reactions!

If the bread was the only new thing that she was fed, then it could be a cause.  The ingredient list just doesn't seem to have anything that would be alarming though  Could the ILs have fed the burger anyway?

Is diarrhea a normal food reaction for Spencer?  I know that to eggs her skin goes all red/itchy...  Does she have any other symptoms at all?  Mucous in the stool?  Is there any way that it could be *normal* ( ) diarrhea?  (viral, bacterial, food poisoning, etc?)

It might be worth taking the bread out of her diet completely until the diarrhea goes away.  Once she's back to normal, you could try feeding her a slice and see if it returns...  That's the only way I found out about Dylan's grape issue

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

 Could the ILs have fed the burger anyway?

Thankfully no, DH ended up eating it the next day...but I went and bought our normal bread for her to eat for the next while. It's so hard to pin down though, with daycare/home/IL's.  Your are right in remembering that her other reactions are skin, not GI...the only GI thing that usually happens is that milk constipates her.  That being said (TMI warning!) she normally has very loose poos that are not at all stinky, but these ones are just rank. No mucuos that I've noticed, and Masyn hasn't been sick either.

One thought though...with the heat and humidity we've been having I've been getting them to drink more fluids by giving them juice diluted in water (about 3 parts water to 1 part juice) way more often. Could that be doing it?  Normally they have diluted juice at daycare, but not at home.

Thanks Vikki  ...this whole allergies thing just sucks (oh, and to add to it Masyn is getting seasonal allergies now!!!) Will it ever end? 

[~ Vik ~]

I think that juice can contribute to diarrhea - I know that when Dylan had a nasty bout of diarrhea a few months ago the nurse at Telehealth told us to cut it out. But if you're diluting it so well I don't really know if it would cause all this, kwim? Plus I've found that Dylan has 'normal' diarrhea (loose stools that smell like normal poop) and 'sick/allergy' diarrhea that just smells awful. Just a pungent, I know what the diaper is going to look like before I even get it off, almost vinegar-y smell.

Ugh. Allergies are the pits And poor Masyn getting seasonal allerges too! I hope that it's just the bread (or better yet just a mystery that goes away and doesn't return! ) and Spencer feels better quickly

[MLK]

The perservative? I know babies/toddlers have had reaction to preservatives in bread before, but  I think it was calcium or sodium propionate rather than sorbic acid.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Yes, I was googling every ingredient that I had no clue what it was and read that...but the calcium propionate is in our normal brand too...just not sorbic acid, although I suppose anything is possible!

Maybe I'll just offer her water for a few days too to see if it helps! Wait...could it be what the juice is made of, it's a mixture of a few things...I'll have to check the label. Ah, the joys!

[MLK]

Could it have been a virus instead?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Well, it's been going on for a week now and no other signs besides the nasty diapers, and since no one else is sick? (my kids generally share their germs quite nicely...plus no one else at daycare has been affected) But then anything is possible!

[MLK]

Always so hard to tell with young kids! But a week seems a long time for an allergy reaction too - did she only have the bread just once?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

no, she ate for about 6 days, maybe a slice or 2 a day.  Waiting to see what today will bring...I wish she could tell me if she has a tummy ache or what is going on!

[~ Vik ~]

How's she doing Heidi?  Any better at all?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Well, yesterday she didn't poop at all, and today she was at the IL's but DH didn't get the poo lowdown from them!  We are off to the Dr. tomorrow because I realized she is drinking way too much... so I will ask if the 2 things are connected.

Thanks for checking in 

[scarlettsmom]

Hey there - just dropping off some (((Hugs))).  Good luck at the dr, hope it gets sorted out soon!

 "poo lowdown",  made me chuckle...

 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Thanks Tari...it was quite a gong-show...the Dr. was more concerned with the fluid input/urine output than the loose stools, checked her blood sugar (normal!) and we did a pee sample (so fun!!!) to see if her kidneys are concentrating the pee or not.  No poop today so far...but she is a "home" pooper, so maybe after her nap.  I'm hoping by next week it is back to normal and I can give her a slice of that bread as an experiment!

[~ Vik ~]

Yay for normal blood sugar!  When you mentioned the thirst/urine output that was the first thing I thought of (Diabetes runs in my family) but I didn't want to post and worry you

Sending Spencer some ~~~normal poop~~~ vibes for you

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Thanks for the vibes...how bad is that when you need poop vibes??    We ate at McDonald's yesterday and I think it's giving her some grief so I may have to wait a bit longer. No more Happy Meals for her!

Diabetes doesn't run in our family, so I wasn't too worried about it, but I knew it was possible.