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Food Allergies
We have taken our daughter to a Naturopath and she was tested for food allergies. Sure enough she tested positive for quite a few (wheat, soy, dairy, white beans, eggs, cabbage, shellfish...to name a few) The doctor told us that reworking her diet could stop her immune system from being in "overdrive." We are very excited to be able to DO something but it is so hard to manage the special diet with an active 6 yo. Has anyone else tried testing for allergies and had any results? Her regular pediatrician was less than supportive but was willing to go along with the other doctor. We are going to try it for the initial 3 weeks but would appreciate any advice!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lillian (Tracy-mom) on
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We also went to a naturopath and tested for food sensitivities. My daughter has the almost the same ones. She is 8 and was a major junk food snacker. I tried alot of different recipes and mixes for the snacky treats. Try out Pamela's brand mixes. You can order them in bulk on Amazon. They have Gluten free pancakes mixes that when used with egg replacer is very good. Also they have gluten free chocalate cake, brownies and chocolate chip cookie mixes. My husband also has a recipe for no bake oakmeal chocolate and peanut cookies. Of course we get the gluten free rolled oats for these. We have been doing the diet for about 6 months and it does get easier. We try to only go to restaurants that have at lease one item on the menu that she can have. Not all steaks are gluten free and chicken if processed has gluten in it. Even Kentucky Fried Chickens Grilled chicken is not gluten free. We learned all this the hard way. It's not so hard to follow the diet now.
However, our doctor told us that this route is not a quick fix. It takes a long time to heal a system that has been compromised. I really don't think that 3 weeks or even 3 months will do it. My daughter has been doing really good with her allergies and asthma for the past 6 month even without her meds but she dids continue to get a few new spots on her head. It seems every time she catches a cold she develops a new spots. We are also trying topical ointments of emu oil and cortizone as well as Menoxidil to regrow those spots.
My daughter has also had a relapse with her asthma in the past two weeks as well so I'm not sure what is going on. Her NP is going to try a homeopathic regime on her to help boost her immune system and we are going to retest her to see if some of her foods can be added back.
Tracy -
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Permalink Reply by Hillary Howard on
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Tracy,
While we know it isn't a quick fix (or a "cure") it feels good to do SOMETHING. He suggested 3 weeks only as an initial goal to see if her overall health improves. She has always complained of belly aches and had a lot of colds I mostly wrote off but now see could have been a result of the allergies and her latest hair loss came after her flu shot. We'll see :) I will check out the mixes. I guess I was just curious if others have "gone this route" and had any results. -
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Permalink Reply by Lara (Becca's Mom) on
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This is an interesting approach. I am very interested to hear how your results turn out. My daughter who is now 3 was alergic to milk and I actually extended her breastfeeding because of it. It never occurred to me that her issues could stem from dairy intake. But looking back it seems like the Alopecia started back when she started drinking milk. Now that I am seeing your two posts i want to explore this more.
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It seems so simplistic but like I said it makes sense and gives us a direction. Aside from the hair-loss the allergies seem to answer some other questions as well and with a family history of auto-immune it could have been enough to trigger the alopecia.
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It does sound simplistic but it gives me hope that it could be controlled with diet...although i am fearful of how to control dairy intake cause my daughter loves milk, yogurt, cheese, etc.
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I was listening to NPR and the had an integrated medicine Dr. on a call in show and for many illnesses he suggested looking to food sensitivities (both immediate and long term.) Have you looked into soy & rice "dairy" ?
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My ex mother in law uses soy and rice milks in her diet. My son (9) has tried them. I have not introduced them to my daughter. I was a lazy mom when she was little and just kept breastfeeding. It was a simple solution to just keep pumping ya know? I am waiting new med cards for insurance. As soon as they are in my hot little hand I am going to make an appt to get her in for allergy testing. However since i read your posts on here i have been reluctant to give Becca straight milk. Unfortunately she is off to her dad's for the next couple of days and he is not on board with the milk allergy. He seems to have selective memory about why i was breast feeding until she was 2 1/2 and when the hair loss actually began. UGH. Hoping those cards get here soon....if this new theory applies I want to get written documentation to put under his nose so he will stop giving her milk.
In the meantime, i guess i need to look at what other products are made with soy/rice dairy. Have you found that yogurt is still a problem? I know some children can be allergic to milk because of the enzimes but then can still eat cheese and yogurt. I am curious about your experiences with this. -
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Well, I have found coconut yogurt (very very $$$$$$) and soy yogurt but Sophie doesn't care for them. Her reaction level is so low (she has been eating these foods for all her 6 years) that there is no immediate or noticeable reaction. I guess it is a long term "sensitivity" which is keeping her immune system always running. I am still unclear how it all works.
I breast fed forever too (and that in no way makes us lazy LOL) which is why my kids never really liked straight milk but when Sophie started school she'd drink chocolate milk everyday so who knows. It must be so hard for you with your ex not being on board. The way we see it is something we can do without subjecting her to shots or questionable meds. We had to pay out of pocket to see this doctor but he was the first one to say lets see what's CAUSING the hair loss not just what treatments can we throw at it. Some blood tests where covered by insurance though and I can tell you to have a doctor look at her WHOLE health was worth the few hundred dollars. I don't expect immediate results but it is still worth it. -
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I am hoping that he will begin to be less argumentative as time goes on. In the meantime I am looking at all the theories and want to test each one of them. This milk allergy theory seems so plausible that I am hoping this is the "cure". In the meantime, I am using topical solutions as well. I am trying a Rosemary hair oil on her on the days I have her as well as using a tea tree oil shampoo. And of course like i mentioned before each time she requested straight milk I distracted her and got her on water or juice since I do not have the dairy alternatives in the house yet.
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Hi Hillary! Just wanted to check in with you since the holidays have passed. Was wondering how things were going with the modified diet. Did your daughter have any noticeable changes? We finally got our Medical Cards so I am able to take Rebecca to the doctor's on Friday. I am puting together a list of tests to request from the doctor based on what i have learned on these discussion boards. I am sure the doctor is going to think i am a little OCD when I go in there. Oh well, my daughters health is way more important than what he thinks of me :P
-Lara -
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Our regular pediatrician still says there is not medical evidence that food allergies are related to alopecia...yet how much time and research has there been? She has only had a tiny piece of hair (it used to come out in finger width locks and it was less than half of that) come out in the month we have been on the diet. Without putting her in a bubble we can't tell what other factors are helping or if she is in a "dormant" stage but we are going with it for now. We have just started to let her have limited milk- she doesn't drink it but if it is an ingredient in something we are letting her have it. We will see how that goes. I wish it wasn't so expensive and hard to eat this way but we are trying. Eating out is hard but we have managed. I'll keep you updated :)
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I have been hoping that you found a secret key. I am still planning to pursue the food allergy angle as well. Although I am not looking forward to implementing dietary changes i need documentation in order to change my WIC checks to include Lactaid milk and to get her father to stop giving her regular milk as well.
I'll let you know what we find out about Rebecca on Friday. -
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