Weird Reactions

You've already gotten the suggestions I'd have given you (food diary, possible new allergies, etc.) but I'm in a wonderful allergy group on Yahoo that you may want to join. It's a very knowledgeable group of (mostly) women who have been through pretty much anything you can think of, allergywise. It's free, and the amount of information & support you can find there is amazing.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/TerrificKidsWFA/

It's a public group... anyone with allergy issues can join. :)

I would take her to National Jewish so she can be tested for certain food allergies and get some real answers. Good luck.

Hi A.,

Recently, I went to see a naturopath doctor who did bio-meridian testing and was able to tell me what I was allergic to and through further testing we'll see if I have a casin/wheat allergies. But what was so fasinating is the determine the SOURCE of symptoms. It was an amazing experience and Jean Brickell is a kind, amazing person!

Designs for Health, Parker
Jean Brickell, ND

Good Luck!
L.
www.DenverJuicePlus.com

I'm wondering if the splotchy redness is mainly around the mouth area, or is it everywhere? If it is mainly around the mouth area, it could actually be contact dermatitus. When my son was little, he could eat both tomatoes and strawberries without any allergic reaction, but when the juice touched his skin he got hives just where it touched him. He just had very sensitive skin and it was very easily irritated. It would also clear up in a relatively short amount of time after I washed his skin. Is this possibly what's going on? I hope you're able to figure this out soon!

The crazy thing about allergies is that they can be acquired and they can also come and go. It's really irritating. I have had similar experiences with doctors not really caring or thinking I'm crazy. I would steer clear of the ones you suspect she's allergic to for a few weeks to give her body time to get rid of it, and try them again (one at a time so you can make sure you know what's causing it), giving her at least a week in between tries (my allergies could show up about a week later in some cases). I did also find out that a lot of my allergies to foods were not actually from the foods themselves, but from pollens that were on them (I am HIGHLY allergic to nearly everything that grows). Maybe your daughter has some of the same issues. It sounds like the veggies you are feeding her are cooked, which should take care of the pollen issue, and it also changes the proteins of the food, usually taking care of the allergy issue....I hope it clears up soon! Good luck!

A.,

You are right, most doctors do not respect parental knowledge/intuition, but don't let that dissuade you. Doctors don't know everything, so just because they don't think it's a "big deal" doesn't mean there is nothing going on. It just means that you are going to have to do some legwork and deal with the problem on your own. You could also talk to a dermatoligist or an allergist. The naturopathic doctors have some wonderful insights on food reactions that you may not get at a traditional allergist.

Your girl may not actually have an "allergy," but food intolerances and reactions are very common. Technically, an allergy means that your immune system kicks in with a response. This might show up as hives, runny nose/watery eyes, or the most dangerous, an anaphylactic reaction. Even if a child is not technically allergic to a food (in that their immune system is not responding) they can still get a bad reaction to it. Some kids get gastrointestinal problems - gas, bloating, diarrhea - and sometimes its a dermatalogical problem - rash, redness, sensitivity. Sometimes it is a behavioral reaction - my friends sons go completely ballistic when they eat food with red dye in it. No matter what the root cause is, the treatments is the same - you need to avoid the food that is causing a reaction. Additionally, you can definitely develop both allergies and reaction to certain foods over time. Just because your daughter has been eating a certain food for a while does NOT mean that she is not reacting to it now.

It sounds like you have an idea what foods are causing these rashes. I would start by eliminating these foods entirely and seeing how it affects your daughter. If the rashes go away, then you know how to deal with the problem; just don't feed your daughter those foods. In a few months to a year, you can try them again and see if she still reacts. As children grow older and their body systems get more developed, they sometimes grow out of allergies/intolerances.

It can be difficult to try to track down these kinds of things in your kids. Your daughter is very lucky that you are concerned and diligent enough to pursue it. Keep trying, and you'll figure it out!

Best of luck,
S.

A.,

IT is so tough feeding a child with a sensitive tummy. I would start a food and reaction diary and do it for a week or so before heading to a dr. I would also request a referal to a pediatric allergist. It is going to be fine she is still really young.

R.

Wow, it sounds a bit like what happens to my daughter. When she began eating solids her face around her eyes would get splotchy red. The best way I can describe it is it looks like a sunburn or when someone with really fair skin cries and their face turns red. It wasn't a rash it just got red and would go away as soon as she was done eating. It makes almost a triangle shape under each eye. It would happen randomly and with random food. One day she would eat yogurt or ketchup and it wouldn't happen on another day it would.

We took her to an allergist who skin tested her for everything and it all came back negative. He doesn't know what is causing it. Her regular doctor suggests it might be a vascular response to eating, he had one other patient that got red when eating.

Now that she is 3 it happens much less often, though she still at time gets red around the eyes. It is still random and I can't figure out anything that specifically triggers it, though it seems like ketchup does it more often, but she has ketchup nearly every day and it doesn't happen every day.

If you would like to send me a private message with your email I can show you pictures of her when it happened to see if it looks like the same thing. I have stopped worrying about it because it doesn't bother her at all and neither the allergist or the pediatrician are worried about it.

Good luck!

Instead of her Pediatrician, take her to a Dermotologist. They will be much better equipped to tell you what is the cause probably. Good luck. Take her favorite foods with her and feed her so they can see the actual reaction?? Just a suggestion.

I'd start a food diary, mentioning times and everything eaten, and times of reaction. Other main activities would also be helpful. Take that with you when you go to the allergist.

you should go to an allergist. i know that you don't always need a referal. it is important that you do find out what it is.
good luck and god bless

My son is actualy intolerant to foods..not alergic. But what I learned about is the natural chemicals like sylislites in tomatoes and catelope gives him a reaction (Ham has quite a bit of natural chemicals as do many legums and peppers). Look up Allergy Friendly Foods. they had a good right up (and book by Barnes and Nobles that is out of print so you have to dig to find) on intolerance and natural chemical foods. So like pears are the only fruit without chemicals. aslo, look for Sulfates as that is related to eggs. these things are not usually on the labels. I have lists of things that work for us if you need help thinking about this...let me know.

We went thru the same thing. At first we thought that it was eczema, but we used several natural creams to help calm the rash and it kept coming back. She is 27 months now and we recently took her to have her tested for allergies using biofeed back. We found that bananas, milk and cheese we sensitive foods for her and we took them out of her diet. It seems to really help. I think that it would be likely that it is a food sensitivity, so you should get her checked using biofeed back. I hope this helps and good luck.

I agree with taking her back to the allergist. My daughter was diagnosed with milk, egg, and nut allergies at 12 months. After eliminating those foods from her diet she did much better for a few months. Then, all of the same symptoms returned. It turned out she also developed allergies to beef and chicken. She had been eating these foods without any problem at all. Good luck!

A.,

Document what she reacts too! Then do not give her that.

I had one, that every time I turned around he had a reaction to something new.

It was so frustrating.

Just be patient and sooner or later you will get everything documented.

The doctors do not understand how frustratinf it is when you have a child like that, so don't let them get you down.

Good luck.

Hi A.,

Another possibility is that she is reacting to a common component of each of these foods that is very elemental, such as vitamin C, or she may be sensitive to the enzymes in her mouth that her body produces when she eats or maybe even her own saliva.

If you are open to alternative medicine, you might consider taking her to a BioSET practitioner. We had fabulous results with BioSET for my son's allergy problems. BioSET is an allergy elimination therapy that combines concepts from acupuncture (no needles though!), enzyme therapy, and gentle detoxification. It's all very gentle, but very effective. My son can now eat wheat, dairy, etc. with no problem. Of course, I still see to it that he has a very healthy diet. Our practitioner is in Fort Collins. Her website is healinginsideout.info. I don't get anything for referring her except the hope that I've been able to help another mom struggling with the same problems I had. You might find a BioSET practitioner closer to your home.

HTH,
B.

www.healingtreewellness.com

It's perfectly normal for a food allergy to develop after a while of normal exposure to a food, so she could easily be developing additional allergies, I'm sorry to say. (It happens to adults, too.)