Author Topic: Suspect allergy but where to start  (Read 3192 times)

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Offline Meg's Mom

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« on: October 29, 2005, 04:50:53 am »
Hi girlies

On recommendation from Diego's mom i am posting here, I suspect dd has an allergy but i don't know where to start.

I suspect my dd has an allergy of some sort and doc hasn't been that helpful other than to put her on meds (zyrtec).  Meds has helped some (3weeks now).  Instead of a nose that runs like a broken tap, it only drips a bit each day.  Point is it hasn't taken it away completely.

Dd has had a constent running nose since July and the week we moved her to whole milk she had a few episodes of a rash break out on her face - eye swelling shut, running nose and reddness - it lasted 20min and went away as quickly as it came.  too werid and scary.

Doc said it isn't milk allergy due to the fact that I supplemented BF w/ milk based formula, so maybe i am wrong...but thought i would run it by you all?

I also asked Doc about testing and he didn't recommend at this age -  14mos.

I am not sure how much you need to know, so feel free to ask away.

Thanks in advance.

Offline jchang

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2005, 05:17:43 am »
So sorry about dd's health issues.  :(   Whole milk and milk based formula are processed differently so even though dd didn't react to formula, it's very possible that she has an allergy to whole milk.  Chronic runny nose, almost without exception in my clinical experience (I'm an acupuncturist), is a symptom of an allergy.  Sometimes children will outgrow their allergies.  However, if you want to take a more proactive approach & stop the use of meds, there's a technique called NAET (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique) that will help dd.  It's a painless technique that's VERY effective - I would venture to say even more effective than allergy shots.  You can look into it by checking out their website http://www.naet.com.  If you live by Buena Park, the practice of the technique's developer, Dr. Devi Nambudripad, is based there and her practice is devoted to allergy elimination.  She also has a book called "Say Goodbye to Children's Allergies". I practice the technique & can vouch for how it improves lives.  You can PM me if you want more information.

Offline jchang

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2005, 06:26:47 am »
Oh, one more thing...  For symptomatic relief, you can try the homeopathic remedy, Pulsatilla, in a potency of 30C for 3 days.  Since you're in Southern CA, you might have a Henry's or Whole Foods where you can get it.  If it's the right one, it'll work pretty quickly, if not, another remedy is called for.  You can PM me at that point & we can try to figure which one is more appropriate.

Offline webfoot

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2005, 06:38:16 am »
I posted recently about doing allergy testing w/ my 2 year old so you can refer to that for details. All I can say is it was SUCH not a big deal. When I called and talked w/ the allergist prior to our appointment and expressed our concerns she said they do small children all the time.

I did quite a bit of research about food allergies and I will share what I learned in a nut shell...

There are really two things here Food allergies and food senstivities

Food allergies- these foods triger a histimine reaction in the body and can result in hives, rash, diahreah and in the most extreme anaphylatic (throat swells and closes).

Food Senstivities- These foods will not put you in mortal danger but the irriate your body. In children they can make you crabby, over emotional, and cause a short attention span. They can also cause tummy trouble and diahreah, loose stools.

If you go in for a skin prick/sratch test they will only do a handful of the most highly commong allergic things. After doing an intial interview and exam they will determine which things they should do based on your situation (diet, home, evironment, etc.) So like for us b/c we are in a brand new home and Amy sleeps in a brand new bed w/ brand new bedding they did the initial dust mite test and b/c it came back neg didn't feel like the secondary was warranted. They also only did a handful of pollens b/c we didn't susupect pollen allergies w/ her. For food they did egg, wheat, peanut, almond, milk,soy, gluten . I know they did a couple more things but I can't remember what.

We tested positive for peanuts (which I susupected already.) Peanuts are interesting b/c they won't make you react right off. They are one of those things that has to build up in your system and the more you have it, and the more frequently, the more you react. And then you lose sensitivity to them with time. In fact the Dr. said keep her peanut free for 5-7  years and then she may be able to have it.

Anyways with food sensitivity you have to do the elimination diet as noted above. Keep a journal and write down absolutely everything she eats. Then note loose stools, rash, irradic behavior. Maybe she has canteloupe 3 separate times and climbs the wall after each episode. (according to the allergist a highly allergic food! Who knew?)

 You can also get a blood draw and have them look for auto immune resoponse to a large variety of foods. This looks more for food sensitivities than allergies. We have not done this yet but may in the future.

My girlfriend has a son w/ autism (aspegers) and he has food allergies/ sensetivities) to everything under the sun.  Getting his diet under control has made a huge difference in his behavior.

I used to think a lot of this was whooey, but dealing with it first hand has helped me see that there really are things maybe we best not eat. The global market has opened up some foods to us for year round consumption and these are things that we normally wouldn't have eaten year round or even at all (think macrobiotic.)

Sorry this is so long, but hope I helped shed some light on something for you. Sounds like she's reacting to something, I'd definately keep persuing it.
Tanya

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Offline Meg's Mom

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2005, 20:52:59 pm »
Thanks for the very informative information.  I do want to be more proactive and would like to take her off the meds...i will be do so next week anyway to test how much they actually helped.

Jchang - I thought that too (whole milk vs milk based formula are different) - thanks for the confirmation.  Would just changing her to Soy milk be a test as well as elimating all other dairy eg: cheese, yogurt, etc.(although she loves these) to see if the runny nose goes away?  But my concern there is does she get all the nutrients she needs from soy milk vs whole milk (sorry don't know about this as i don't have allergies - dh does!).

I will review the info on NAET, thank you!  Sounds interesting.  As part of the program/treatment do they do testing to determine what the offender is?

Tayna - yes i saw your post and found it helpful.  My dd is younger then yours and wondered if you found in research that testing at this age is not conclusive or unrelable (as i was adviced by my doc).

Offline jchang

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2005, 21:52:30 pm »
Unfortunately, you'll have to take her off all dairy to get an accurate assessment of dairy sensitivity.  Since most people drink milk for the calcium, you can easily get it from other sources like fortified soy milk or dark green vegetables (a better source of calcium anyway).  In the holistic health community, there's an ongoing issue as to how beneficial dairy really is because of the pasteurization process which pretty much kills everything.  Also, the calcium absorption is thought to be an issue because the mineral content in dairy is so disproportionate that it actually prevents the absorption of much of the calcium.  Don't have any definitive answers... 

Yes, as part of the program, they will try to determine the underlying offender.  Although in such young children, it usually is dairy.

Offline Meg's Mom

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« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2005, 22:19:31 pm »
I can definitely see the benefit of removing the allergy vs. trying to eliminate all dairy out of her diet, as some form of diary is everywhere i am learning.

I would really like to know more about NAET.  If you could please email (address in signature) any additional info you have on the program - thanks again!  No rush when ever you can.

Offline jchang

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2005, 22:37:18 pm »
Unfortunately, I don't have any additional info other than the website http://www.naet.com & recommending that you read the book.  You can PM me with specific questions though.  Most common question is how many treatments will it take - if dairy is the only issue, then prob.  no more than 3-5 treatments.  The more sensitivies the more treatment needed.  Once the sensitivity is treated, dd will be able to eat dairy (& all its derivatives) without any problems.  :D

parker&peytonsmum

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2005, 01:22:46 am »
Michelle-my 4 year old has a milk allergy-her only symptoms from it are chronic sinus infections.  They started in October of 2003 when she was 2 years old.  For 18 months we battled with them-she was on 14 antibiotics in that time period and one of them was for 2 months straight.  We saw two allergists, neither one of whom tested for food allergies.  Through trial and error and a lot of fate, I came to suspect it was a milk allergy and found an allergist who took my thoughts seriously and tested her for the mik allergy.  That was in May of this year and she hasn't been on an antibiotic since.  It's truly a tough allergy for us to deal with as she LOVES macaroni and cheese and chocolate milk with a passion.  I was so amazed at all the foods that contain milk and must admit, I do allow some of them as she is a very strong-willed, stubborn, passionate child and sometimes it's easier than fighting with her about it. 

Anyway, just wanted to add that she showed no signs of this before age 2 and she was on Enfamil formula from the time she was 9 weeks old.  The most important lesson I learned from this is to follow my mommy instinct!  You know your child better than anyone-follow your heart!

Diego's Mama

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #9 on: October 30, 2005, 11:08:40 am »
Hi gang!

Kelly, WOW! I cannot believe that Peyton's sinus symptoms were a milk allergy all that time.  Isn't it incredible!!  I discovered the other day, that Emilio's milk allergy is WAY more sensitive that I thought.  He's very sensitive to many of the hidden byproducts of milk, like casein.  I was giving him a rice milk cheese that I thought was safe and figured out it was affecting his tum.

Also, he never had diahrea and the docs said his allergy was an anomaly because of that.  Another thing I discovered was that he doesn't have diahrea, rather increased frequency of stool (going four times in a short time) and the stinkiness increases.  It took me FOREVER to catch on to that. *sigh*  ...  Also, he starts spitting up in his mouth and lo and behold I always associated it to reflux.

As I learn more and more of MPI over time, I realize that it aggrevates reflux and can easily be mistaken for it.  I am starting him on Probiotics today from the health store (good bacteria such as various strains of Acidophilus) and have spent the afternoon yesterday reading labels at the health food store. 

I am so incredibly thankful that he's over soy, but to be honest, I'm now going to watch that like a hawk in case I goofed that up too. Cripes!

Anyways, wanted to say that I'm bringing him for allergy testing too, spawned by webfoot's post.  I've heard that tests can give false positives in kids under two from a friend, but the doctor willingly scheduled his appt.  Since I'm going to wean off Prevacid soon (or attempt to!) I want to make sure there are no other allergies I'm missing that could be affecting his tum, etc.  He also has had a chronic rash on his neck for months now.

Just wanted to toss out our journey with MPI and SPI and that symptoms aren't always the classic ones, as poor Peyton demonstrated.  Hugs to your little girl, Kelly!

Diego's Mama

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« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2005, 11:11:28 am »
Michelle,

Do you have a Whole Foods near you?  That's where I try to do most of my shopping for E.  They have some info on their website about diets free of dairy, etc.  They even put up stickers over their products that are safe for various diets.  I think they have many customers who shop there on special diets.

:)

Offline Meg's Mom

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #11 on: October 31, 2005, 18:58:21 pm »
Hi everyone, thanks for your input and advice.

I have scheduled an appt w/ the ped allergist for next week - against peds advice...but mom always wins!

I'll let you know what we find out.

Offline Livvismum

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Suspect allergy but where to start
« Reply #12 on: October 31, 2005, 19:57:39 pm »
Good for you. Trust your instinct. At least if it's not an allergy you've taken all the right paths - better than taking none and then finding out eventually that an allergy exists.

Good luck

Sara

Offline luv2savelives

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« Reply #13 on: November 03, 2005, 01:42:31 am »
JChang:

Thank you thank you! I am so thrilled that someone besides me is trying to get the word out about NAET. A friend told me about it for dd#1 when I learned she was allergic to dairy while I was bfing. I thought she was kooky and ignored her advice for a while. Finally I saw an NAET specialist and with 2 treatments, she was free from the allergy. I could eat any dairy I wanted and she didn't react anymore. When #2 came along and had the same syptoms, I wasted no time and got her back to the NAET doctor. She took 3 visits, but only because I messed up and she had dairy after the 2nd visit. Oops! Anyway, thanks again. I'm curious, #1 has had a skin rash diagnosed by a dermatologist as keratosis pilaris. I too have it but for her it is pretty severe. What might you think she would be allergic to for that? I can't pinpoint any specific food she eats to make it worse as it is just always there. Are there specific allergins that cause specific rashes or would my specialist just have to go down the whole line of foods until he finds what's causing it? Thanks for any info you can give me. Also, what is pulsatilla for? Would it help my dd's skin?


Offline jchang

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« Reply #14 on: November 03, 2005, 03:43:05 am »
I'm glad someone else can back me up on the NAET - 99% of people brush it off as a hokey technique & just live with the allergies.  So unnecessary!

Is #1's KP the inflamed kind with the red bumps?  When did it start?  Try to think back to when it started & what kind of foods was introduced at that time.  It also could be environmental - did you move?  Or something topical (lotion, detergent, soap)?  You should go back to the NAET practitioner b/c the easiest way to pinpoint it is to muscle test for the cause.  Unfortunately, there's no direct correlation of a symptom to an allergen - it depends on how the individual manifests the symptom.  However, in chinese medicine, the skin is related to the Lung organ system.  Does dd#1 have any type of chronic respiratory problems?  Also, the Lungs are the organ system that processes grief.  Any unresolved grieving issues that occured at the time of appearance?

Pulsatilla won't be of any help for KP - it's more for symptoms that produce phlegm/mucus.  I only use homeopathics for acute symptoms so couldn't really suggest anything along that line.  Anything more chronic, I go to acupuncture, herbs, NAET (your best bet for #1's KP).  Skin conditions are pretty stubborn.

Julie