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From: Rachel on 26 Feb 2006 11:27
Hi, new poster here.

Some background... my 4 year old son has had eczema since he was a few weeks
old, mainly on his knees and legs. He also now has asthma. He was breastfed
but had some formula in hospital on day 2, due to my (mistaken) belief that
he wasn't getting anything from the breast.

My 1yo is also breastfed but did not have any other food until she was
nearly six months old. I started to wean her onto solid food carefully
monitoring her for adverse reactions. Until a few weeks ago, her skin was
clear and soft. Then she had some rough red patches on her arms, back of
neck and trunk Looked very much like my sons eczema in appearance, although
they didn't seem to bother her any. The skin patches started a few days?
after I gave her a bottle (about 5oz) of cows milk but I also changed my
washing detergent around the same time.

My husband complained of itchy skin after a week of my changing detergent. I
have switched back to my previous detergent now.

Two days ago, my 1yo skin was ok before dinner but soon after her skin was
red and sore looking on these patches. I suspected something that she had
eaten. She did have some home-made guacamole to which I had added lime
juice. (The lime juice contained sodium metabisulphite as a preservative).
If I had known this before I wouldn't have let her have any.

Since then I have only given her really simple foods to see if her skin
cleared up. So far she has had apples, pears, rice, banana, carrot, sweet
potato, chicken, apricots. All foods that she was ok with when I first
started weaning her at six months. Her skin looks a lot better, not red but
still a little dry looking.

My real question is how do I find out what is causing the reaction? Is it
fair to assume that it was something she ate? Where do I go from here? Do I
slowly introduce her usual foods back in? Is it worthwhile avoiding diary or
wheat for any length of time? Do I challenge her with some of the lime
juice/milk/wheat/whatever to see if that is the cause?

Also is it possible that my 4yo is sensitive to dairy and that is what
caused his eczema and asthma? How do I find out?

Can anyone suggest a way forward please?

Thanks Rachel

--




From: Joan Marie Verba on 26 Feb 2006 18:13
One place you might try is Kids With Food Allergies:

http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org

Joan
From: Beth Kevles on 26 Feb 2006 19:32

HI --

The best way to test for a food allergy is to:

- eliminate foods from your child's diet until your child is healthy
- re-introduce foods one at a time, with several days of delay between
new foods, until your child has a reaction

A milk protein allergy is possible for either or both of your children
(based on what you've reported here). Or a different allergy, or
multiple allergies.

You may wish to pick up a copy of Doris Rapp's book "Is This Your
CHild?" at your local public library. It has lots of anecdotes about
children with food allergies, and then a good section on
multiple-eliminatin diets.

Please do consult with an allergist! Given the nature of the reaction
(eczema, possibly colds/congestion) you want to be careful. Either of
these reactions can suddenly change to something more dangerous/ You
also want to be sure that your approach is sufficiently scientific that
you don't eliminate a perfectly safe food accidentally, nor miss a
danger food by accident.

I hope this helps,
--Beth Kevles
bethkevles(a)aol.com
http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.
From: Jack Campin - bogus address on 26 Feb 2006 20:40
> The best way to test for a food allergy is to:
>
> - eliminate foods from your child's diet until your child is healthy
> - re-introduce foods one at a time, with several days of delay between
> new foods, until your child has a reaction
>
> A milk protein allergy is possible for either or both of your children
> (based on what you've reported here).

Which fits in with the detergent since, bizarrely, some detergents
contain dairy products.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
<http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557
From: Brad_Chad on 27 Feb 2006 01:52

Rachel wrote:
> Hi, new poster here.
>
> Some background... my 4 year old son has had eczema since he was a few weeks
> old, mainly on his knees and legs. He also now has asthma. He was breastfed
> but had some formula in hospital on day 2, due to my (mistaken) belief that
> he wasn't getting anything from the breast.
>
> My 1yo is also breastfed but did not have any other food until she was
> nearly six months old. I started to wean her onto solid food carefully
> monitoring her for adverse reactions. Until a few weeks ago, her skin was
> clear and soft. Then she had some rough red patches on her arms, back of
> neck and trunk Looked very much like my sons eczema in appearance, although
> they didn't seem to bother her any. The skin patches started a few days?
> after I gave her a bottle (about 5oz) of cows milk but I also changed my
> washing detergent around the same time.
>
> My husband complained of itchy skin after a week of my changing detergent. I
> have switched back to my previous detergent now.
>
> Two days ago, my 1yo skin was ok before dinner but soon after her skin was
> red and sore looking on these patches. I suspected something that she had
> eaten. She did have some home-made guacamole to which I had added lime
> juice. (The lime juice contained sodium metabisulphite as a preservative).
> If I had known this before I wouldn't have let her have any.
>
> Since then I have only given her really simple foods to see if her skin
> cleared up. So far she has had apples, pears, rice, banana, carrot, sweet
> potato, chicken, apricots. All foods that she was ok with when I first
> started weaning her at six months. Her skin looks a lot better, not red but
> still a little dry looking.
>
> My real question is how do I find out what is causing the reaction? Is it
> fair to assume that it was something she ate? Where do I go from here? Do I
> slowly introduce her usual foods back in? Is it worthwhile avoiding diary or
> wheat for any length of time? Do I challenge her with some of the lime
> juice/milk/wheat/whatever to see if that is the cause?
>
> Also is it possible that my 4yo is sensitive to dairy and that is what
> caused his eczema and asthma? How do I find out?
>
> Can anyone suggest a way forward please?
>
> Thanks Rachel

Eczema and asthma, together, sounds very, very much like a food
sensitivity. You could go to a conventional allergist, but I think it
is best that you try either a licensed naturopathic doctor
(www.naturopathic.org) or a licensed alternative doctor (www.acam.org).
The reason that I suggest these doctors is the fact that they are more
careful about finding ALL of the food sensitivities, before giving
people precription drugs. Alternative doctors will give you a choice of
herbal medicine or prescription drugs. Herbal medicines are easier on
the body. If you go with a food sensitivity blood test, I would go with
Immuno Laboratories. They have the best test that I have heard about.
Do you keep a food diary? A food diary would help the doctor.

Brad_Chad
>
> --

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