Allergy vent

[cari]

This is going to be a complete vent/whine, so feel free to skip this post.  I just need to get this off my chest in an ugly way.

DS1 had MPI (nursed, gave up dairy for a year) and when tested at two, was confirmed with a peanut/tree nut allergy.  Sucks, but doable. It's just our new normal.

DS2 has MSPI (blood and mucous in stool and eczema starting at 10 days old, continuing until now...) and I am just so frustrated.  Dairy plus soy are harder to eliminate, but I was handling it.  BUT HE DIDN'T GET BETTER.  Went to allergist this week and a scratch test determined that he is allergic to corn.  CORN. Nothing with corn syrup, corn starch, corn meal, corn oil, in addition to all the dairy and soy I've cut out.  All of this happened the day after his 4 month shots when I gave him two doses of high fructose corn syrup-containing acetaminophen because he was miserable.  I feel like such a failure.  This also means that there is exactly one formula that he might tolerate - Alimentum Ready to Feed, which costs a ridiculous amount of money if we are for some reason unable to continue nursing.  And there is no guarantee that he will even be able to tolerate that.

Allergist is also having me do a complete elimination diet in which I can only eat plain chicken, plain turkey, a few fruits and a few vegetables, all of which must be cooked prior to eating, for the next month.  I'm dreading finding out what else might aggravate his colitis.  I'm hangry all the time and now I'm stressed that my milk supply is dropping because I'm struggling to get enough calories in me with such a limited diet. 

I know that really, this isn't the end of the world and I am lucky that I am able to breastfeed DS.  I just can't help but feel so incredibly defeated and frustrated.  Ugh.  I NEED COFFEEEEEEEEE dammit! It's going to be a long month...

[drink227]

Hugs. I can't imagine giving up corn.

Good luck. You can get through this.

[soozy87]

That is rough. My little brother was allergic to corn and eggs when he was little. He outgrew it after a couple of years.

[Deleted]

((Hugs)) I had to give up dairy, eggs, and nuts when nursing D's due to allergies and I found that hard. Corn and soy are in so many things and that's even harder to navigate around!

When I first eliminated those things I did notice.a huge drop in supply because my calorie and fat intake dropped so dramatically. So you do want to watch that, as best you can. It will be hard with such a limited diet though.

I wish In had some great advice. All I can really offer is commsieration and hope that you can add back more foods soon! I am so hoping these babies don't have the allergies too. It is so hard!

[zeewifeandmama]

::: hugs ::::

[shellbear09]

Oh wow I cannot imagine how hard that must be. You are such a great mom for trying to continue to bf and changing your diet. I hope that can work and he will grow out of this.

[gogadgetgo]

((Hugs)) you're a trooper.

[water*drop]

::hugs::

[chickens987]

(hugs) you're a good mom for figuring out all this and trying to help him any way you can.

[karinothing]

What is the reasoning behind such a restrictive diet. I get eliminating soy, corn, and dairy. But why is he restricting you to a few fruits/veggies and boring old chicken/turkey (both of whom are fed corn?)? Sorry, I don't mean to start trouble I am just curious. It just seems like eating grass fed beef and potatoes or a wide range of veggies/fruit shouldn't cause a reaction?

I just feel bad for you! I am sorry you are having to go through this. You are amazing.

[luvmagoldn]

Food allergies suck. What a difficult spot you are in. Are you part of a support group? You can find one on the FAN website. My local group is fantastic. It can help a lot to have others you can talk to about this.

Hang in there mama.

[elcjet]

I so feel your pain and I am sorry you are going through this.  It seems #2s are really difficult these days!!!

Mine was MSPI and seemed okay being 100% breastfed and on Zantac....but she started slipping off her weight curve at 1, getting bad eczema flareups, and then the diarrhea and vomiting started.  My pediatric GI has been great trying to get to the bottom of it -- she tests negative for allergies, but she is having an allergic reaction to food.  We eliminated gluten in addition to dairy & soy and she has been 100% better.  The diet is a serious pain in the butt, but having a happy, healthy toddler (18 months) is so nice. 

Anyway, you are going to get through this -- the elimination diet stinks but it could give you some really good insight into his triggers and eventually that will make for an easier time as he gets older.  Just healing that gut for a few weeks might make it easier on you both.

Good luck!!  (Clinking coffee cup)

[MadamePresident]

Food allergies are hard. Especially when you are still figuring out exactly what they are. I'm sorry you are on such a limited diet. My sister who is on a pretty restrictive diet just likes smelling and thus enjoying via her imagination other foods.

[curbsideprophet]

That sounds very hard, I'm sorry.

Do they think he will outgrow any of them?

[cari]

Mar 7, 2014 10:02:21 GMT -5 karinothing said:

What is the reasoning behind such a restrictive diet. I get eliminating soy, corn, and dairy. But why is he restricting you to a few fruits/veggies and boring old chicken/turkey (both of whom are fed corn?)? Sorry, I don't mean to start trouble I am just curious. It just seems like eating grass fed beef and potatoes or a wide range of veggies/fruit shouldn't cause a reaction?

I just feel bad for you! I am sorry you are having to go through this. You are amazing.

I forgot to mention in my OP that I've noticed the bloody stools when I've eaten beef and cocoa, as well.  The idea is to start with a "clean slate", so to speak, in three weeks when I start introducing individual foods to see how he tolerates them.  Since he's allergic to corn, we need to eliminate all grains and introduce them one by one to make sure he doesn't have a GI reaction to any others. Same with legumes since my older DS has a peanut, tree nut allergy.

I can have potatoes, sweet potatoes, as well as tapioca (which what the heck can I do with that??).  Veggies and fruits are cauliflower, broccoli, squash, asparagus, peas, string beans, lima beans, spinach, chard, carrots, beets, artichoke, prunes, peaches, pears, cranberries, apricots, and pineapple and they all need to be cooked.  No spices other than salt, white vinegar, salt, and vanilla extract.  These are the most hypoallergenic foods.  No other liquids, oils, beverages, etc.  It's such a challenge!

[cari]

Mar 7, 2014 12:19:42 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

That sounds very hard, I'm sorry.

Do they think he will outgrow any of them?

I hope so! My older DS outgrew his milk protein intolerance around 1, so I hope this little guy will, too!

[cari]

Mar 7, 2014 10:03:07 GMT -5 luvmagoldn said:

Food allergies suck. What a difficult spot you are in. Are you part of a support group? You can find one on the FAN website. My local group is fantastic. It can help a lot to have others you can talk to about this.

Hang in there mama.

Thanks for this advice. 

[karinothing]

Mar 7, 2014 12:37:25 GMT -5 cari said:

Mar 7, 2014 10:02:21 GMT -5 karinothing said:

What is the reasoning behind such a restrictive diet. I get eliminating soy, corn, and dairy. But why is he restricting you to a few fruits/veggies and boring old chicken/turkey (both of whom are fed corn?)? Sorry, I don't mean to start trouble I am just curious. It just seems like eating grass fed beef and potatoes or a wide range of veggies/fruit shouldn't cause a reaction?

I just feel bad for you! I am sorry you are having to go through this. You are amazing.

I forgot to mention in my OP that I've noticed the bloody stools when I've eaten beef and cocoa, as well.  The idea is to start with a "clean slate", so to speak, in three weeks when I start introducing individual foods to see how he tolerates them.  Since he's allergic to corn, we need to eliminate all grains and introduce them one by one to make sure he doesn't have a GI reaction to any others. Same with legumes since my older DS has a peanut, tree nut allergy.

I can have potatoes, sweet potatoes, as well as tapioca (which what the heck can I do with that??).  Veggies and fruits are cauliflower, broccoli, squash, asparagus, peas, string beans, lima beans, spinach, chard, carrots, beets, artichoke, prunes, peaches, pears, cranberries, apricots, and pineapple and they all need to be cooked.  No spices other than salt, white vinegar, salt, and vanilla extract.  These are the most hypoallergenic foods.  No other liquids, oils, beverages, etc.  It's such a challenge!

Ugh, that sucks. I could give up all that (maybe) but to give up hot sauce on top of it! Or spices? Horrible. I see lots of tapioca pudding with pineapple in your future.

With those veggies and the chicken you might be able to make a chicken soup?

[rex]

Oh this is awful, i'm so sorry. you are such a trooper. only avoiding soy and dairy is frustrating enough for me, i can't imagine corn as well. 

do you have to even be careful with store bought fruits and veggies, as they are generally coated in corn to look appealing? or is that why they need to be cooked?

neocate is also corn free. i'm assuming that if this is all documented you should be able to get this covered by insurance so you do not have to foot the bill.

[rex]

Mar 7, 2014 10:37:59 GMT -5 elcjet said:

I so feel your pain and I am sorry you are going through this.  It seems #2s are really difficult these days!!!

Mine was MSPI and seemed okay being 100% breastfed and on Zantac....but she started slipping off her weight curve at 1, getting bad eczema flareups, and then the diarrhea and vomiting started.  My pediatric GI has been great trying to get to the bottom of it -- she tests negative for allergies, but she is having an allergic reaction to food.  We eliminated gluten in addition to dairy & soy and she has been 100% better.  The diet is a serious pain in the butt, but having a happy, healthy toddler (18 months) is so nice. 

Anyway, you are going to get through this -- the elimination diet stinks but it could give you some really good insight into his triggers and eventually that will make for an easier time as he gets older.  Just healing that gut for a few weeks might make it easier on you both.

Good luck!!  (Clinking coffee cup)

the bolded is the most frustrating part of all the food allergy stuff. so much of the time they don't show up in the blood but are still allergies. our g.i. does a "challenge" first before a blood test for this reason. it's 6.5 months away and i'm already dreading what might happen. i don't want to see my baby vomit again or have hives!

[momof2boys]

You are an amazing mom! Both my boys had to be on special formula and by getting a script we were able to get it at the pharmacy. My first son it was free but then we changed jobs and insurances so second son we had to pay a copay. Still way cheaper and they give you a month at a time. Our ped also had to write a letter to our insurance company. Good luck!