Talk to me... *Day 4 of Alimentum, pics on p5*

[teilvnav]

I have had a thread going about my concern's over Anna before; mucousy dark green explosive and frequent diarhea-like poops that smell like death, NW where she seems to be in discomfort, and a patch of rough scaley skin on her forehead (right on her stork bite) that seems to bother her. She whimpers and smacks/scratches at it all the time, and last week she got at it overnight and because her nails were too long she had deep bloody scratches all over her forehead. She had a 10 day perscription for a cream about a month ago which did help when we were using it, but once we stopped putting it on at 10 days it quickly came back.  

My dr has not been supportive of a possible intolerance, so I hadn't taken anything out of her diet. When she scratched herself so badly like that, though, I got fed up. I made a list of possible intolerances and decided to eliminate things one at a time starting with the easy stuff, to see if things got better. I started with rice. For the last three days she has had no Mum-mums (rice teething biscuits) and no rice cereal (I am giving her barley and oatmeal instead). Well lo and behold, for the last three days her poops have been NORMAL. Brown, and semi firm like peanut butter. She is also only going once or twice a day, rather than 5+ times, and I haven't had to throw out an outfit or use Oxi Clean because of a poop explosion. Her forehead also seems to be healing, but I can't tell for sure. It does look better today than it had been, for sure.

DH says that it is a co-incidence, but to me it is more likely that it is the rice that has been bothering her. Nothing else in her diet has changed. From what I know, rice allergy is pretty uncommon and that's why pediatricians push starting with rice cereal even before 6 months. I am going to keep avoiding rice for her and keep track of how she is doing, but I was just wondering if anyone else has experience with this type of allergy or intolerance. Does it sound like I am on the right track? Are there foods that would bother her like rice apparently does that we should avoid?

[koe2moe]

One mostly certainly can have allergic reaction to rice.  I had reaction to rice for a while.  I had NAEt treatment and it was gone.  So I dont have much experience with elimination diet.  I checked the handbook, there isnt really anything relating to rice, so cutting out rice would be all you need to do unless you suspect other allergens.  Watch for a week or two , if it all clears up, then you have found the culprit! 

[*Kara*]

I will check with my SIL, one of my nephews has a rice allergy!

[*Kara*]

Amy - just found this link about it... seems that rashes are a common side effect of rice allergy - maybe that explains Anna's forehead??

http://www.ehow.com/about_5316240_rice-allergy-symptoms.html

[deb]

Rice was the first cereal we started Josie on and we had to remove it and try other grains (we settled on oatmeal eventually). In her case it was digestive stuff, but for sure it can cause rashes and allergies - any food can, especially grains - and not all baby tummies are able to handle all grains at the same time, either, so grains as a first food choice isn't always the best idea, as I learned the hard way.

[*Kara*]

Totally agree Deb... grains are a tricky one at best with some LOs.  Wheat threw us for a loop at 8 months!  Took a few months to get sorted.  I would totally expect that rice could do the same...

[teilvnav]

Thanks for that link, it is interesting.

Honestly, the difference in her poop is amazing. I know that it is pretty early because it has only been three days, but just from that difference alone I am going to keep her off rice at least for now. If her forehead rash does improve, then all the better! It does look better to me but it is hard to tell because it is still scabby and scaley... just maybe a little less so.

[Khalam's Mama]

The way to tell for sure Anna might be to cut it for a while and when she is at a good baseline give her some again to see if she gets a repeat of symptoms.
Is there anything else (like milk etc) in the rice cereal?

[ENMS]

Very interesting Amy, I didn't think there could be rice allergies. DS did not react well to the introduction of rice cereal, the first one we tried had soy in it so now I know he's allergic to soy   and the second one he was doing great for a few days until he started throwing up and taking in almost no formula. When we start solids again I'm thinking of trying barley. Although my paed is against it because he says rice is the most non-allergenic cereal, but if he reacts to it what am I supposed to do, I'm not going to keep on trying a million times  .

Anyways I'm rambling here but I did want to tell you that rice cereal can contain milk and soy, which are also common allergens, so just be on the watch if the symptoms return even if you don't re-introduce the rice cereal, it could be related to that?  FWIW if ever you decide to try to reintroduce it, we're using Healthy Times cereals, they contain no milk and no soy and nothing other than rice and added vitamins.  I have investigated all the other common brands of cereals sold at the pharmacy (and my pharmacist made further research) and all of them contain at least traces of either soy or dairy 

[*Kara*]

The change in poop can be very quick when it's a grain issue Amy.  DD went from horrid explosive neon yellow poops that would stain anything they touched instantly to being fine almost overnight... within 24 hrs for sure.  If you are going to do the reintro/challenge that KM suggests (great idea!!!), i would do a full 6 weeks of elimination then give her loads to see if you get a reaction.  This is how my SIL's specialist does allergy testing in wee ones who are still too young for reliable testing otherwise.  All three of her kids have a range of food intolerances/allergies. 

[teilvnav]

I think that's what I will do... that gives her forehead a chance to heal up more, too. If she does react again with eczema and/or gross poopness, it should be obvious.

Yes, the rice cereal has milk in it. But she is FF, and has had yogurt a few times this week. I would think that things wouldn't be getting better if it was the milk in the rice cereal, no?

[ENMS]

Yes, the rice cereal has milk in it. But she is FF, and has had yogurt a few times this week. I would think that things wouldn't be getting better if it was the milk in the rice cereal, no?

Agreed, if that's the case then it's probably the rice.

[*Kara*]

I agree as well

[teilvnav]

Her forehead is definitely better this morning. The skin is smoother and although it is still red, it is less scaley and angry looking. And no more cracks. And I just changed another normal looking brown poop; she has had 1-2 per day since I stopped feeding her anything with rice.

I can't believe that I may have cracked this. I feel amazing right now! I am so glad that I tried eliminating something! Take *THAT*, dr who made me feel like a moron.

[ENMS]

Take *THAT*, dr who made me feel like a moron.

Good job Amy!!