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Hi everyone,
I’ve been reading this blog/forum for a few years and always loved its rebellious, counterculture ideas. Now I’m asking for some of that to help me deal with my 8 year old who was recently diagnosed (after blood tests run by her Pediatrician) with food allergies.
SO FAR she tests allergic to beef, dairy, wheat, eggs (with chicken and corn borderline high).
This child is active, happy and healthy but she has had some *issues* that concerned me, namely lots of tooth decay at a young age, occasional stomach pain, super stinky and HUGE poops (no constipation, she goes twice a day), stinky gas that clears the room, etc.
Clearly she has a malabsorption issue. She also coughs a lot after having pasteurized dairy (I notice no ill effects after raw milk though – I have a similar constitution, yay for raw milk!).
How can I help this child so she can eat what she wants again?
After a lot of research I’m concerned that gut-healing protocols (GAPS), and elimination diets can make her MORE sensitive, not less.
Yet something is clearly going on that’s making her miserable. Sometimes after she eats she has a clear reaction (instant red/runny nose, temper outbursts, allergic shiners, itching).
I’m a homeschooling mom of 7 so I cook 3 meals a day. This child hasn’t been exposed to a ton of junk, mostly stuff cooked from scratch. I’m not anal about her avoiding sugar. We usually have a little something sweet at tea time every day, but for the most part she eats really good.
I have her on a probiotic (ThreeLac) in hopes it will help, and have restricted her diet to non-allergenic items. We had duck last night for dinner and I’m trying to make everything really tasty and make sure she has “treats” so she doesn’t feel emotionally left out. I’m well aware of emotional issues that can crop up around restricted diets.
Help! Any advice, links, etc welcome!
Thanks in advance,
Carrie
CarrieLee, you may want to look into some alternative methods like chinese medicine or homeopathy. There are some Chinese herbs that can make a body less sensitive to allergens, and homeopathy is very individualized and also addresses these sorts of things.
I am personally very skeptical that the methods on this site can fix actual food allergies. Food intolerances, yes. But I can’t think of an example of someone who has come here and eliminated their peanut allergy, for example. Allergies are more autoimmune in nature, and true allergies usually get more severe over time every time you have an exposure.
I’m sure a good probiotic could help with stomach issues, but usually you have to totally avoid the offending foods to get healing. I know a decent amount about food allergies have a couple of very severe ones myself (life threatening). I don’t think GAPs or anything else would address them because I have issues from breathing in particles in the air or touching the offending foods.
If she avoids the foods and heals a bit, maybe she can introduce the mild allergens later. Kids also are more likely to outgrow things than adults, but usually that also involves avoiding the problematic foods for awhile.
I was allergic to eggs as a kid. I would get angry red bumps on my butt that really itched. My Mom figured out we (big bro and myself) were sensitive to eggs and took them out of our diet for the most part. As an adult, I’m pretty much able to eat eggs with impunity. I also voluntarily became a vegetarian throughout my teens from age 11 until I was 21 (then I wanted to eat a side of cow.) Now I’m 35 years old, I am dealing with my eczema/food sensitivities by doing an elimination diet (because the rash sucks.) So far, some things don’t bother me but normal hot dogs do. Basically what I’m saying is there is nothing really wrong with doing an elimination diet for a while to find out what does or does not bother her little body, and sometimes it might seem totally random. For me that was cherries, pomegranates, and beets. Go figure. But, for your little girl it might be something else.
As for healing: you might look into triphala. Its three herbs that are used in ayurvedic medicine to treat bowel problems. I used it to help grow my villi back after I threw an adverse reaction to antibiotics. Now, I’m ok in the villi dept (or so I thought, eczema be damned!).
GAPs might not help her. Not everyone feels good on that one.
One more idea: if she isn’t allergic to dogs, you might look into the advantage of having a dog lick her right in the face, there has been some research into that. Apparently kids who don’t have dogs are much more likely to get asthma.
Thanks Amy. I’ve had good experiences with a homeopath in the past, so I will keep that in mind.
To clarify, her allergies aren’t life-threatening. They did show up on blood work however, and I’m seeing positive changes in her personality since she’s been on the elimination diet. She’s calmed down, and is kinder to her younger sister. She has fewer tummyaches (I’ve been letting her have butter, may have to quit that!).I bought some triphala… she can’t swallow pills, so I’ll have to figure out a way to get it in her. Perhaps it’s pleasant tasting since it’s “three fruits”?
The dog idea… I’m pretty sure my parent’s dogs have licked her, but just in case I’ll mention the idea! :-)
Hi Carrielee,
Sorry to hear about your daughter’s struggles. I am in a very similar position with my 2.5 yo and I also have autoimmune/gut issues. I am curious to know which blood test you had for your daughter to determine her allergies/sensitivities, especially since you mentioned she is feeling better since you have eliminated the offending foods. I have had several types of tests done over the years (ALCAT, Cyrex IgA and IgG and the more traditional RAST and IgE skin prick) – all with different and contradictory results. I have also read so much conflicting info about the validity of all these tests, leaving me so confused and frustrated.
I also wanted to let you know that we did GAPS (starting with the strict intro) for about 4 months last year, and it was a terrible and somewhat traumatic experience for my family. Although I actually felt pretty good on it, my daughters symptoms got significantly worse while on it (well past the die-off time). And although I did feel better initially, the stress of it took its toll on me and I am still recovering from it a year later. Although I am sure the stress of it is nothing compared to homeschooling 7 kids – if you can do that, I am sure you could handle the stress of a diet like GAPS (not that I’d recommend it though)!
My son has food allergies too (3 IGE food allergies, and quite a few IGG sensitivities). We tried NAET for awhile and did not see too much in the way of results. I’ve heard that some people have really seen great things, though. We briefly tried semi GAPS (did mostly grain free and lots of broth) and it really did not seem to fit with him-in fact I believe it made things worse. Does she have cold hands often? We’re going to test my son’s thyroid soon-I know this site is aimed at refeeding to help the thyroid but I believe somethimes a supplement can be very helpful. Vitamin D is really important for immune function, so that’d be another test to consider (and one nutrient that can easily be overlooked, at least in my opinion). Good luck with your daughter-this food allergy stuff is not easy!
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