need help identifying allergies (long)

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone. I’ve been struggling with an issue related to food allergies with Ally for maybe 2 months now and I’m looking for some advice.

We never had indications of allergy when Ally was taking formula only, which was a relief to me. She takes a full cow’s milk formula really well and is (luckily, I know) a good eater. We moved on to solids when she was almost 5 months old and we also didn’t have indications of allergy then, either. No mucusy stools, no rashes, no increase in reflux, etcetera. There was a periodic red, bumpy rash on her chin, which I always attributed to drool. However, I now think I was wrong.

About 2 months ago, Ally got a bad stomach flu that almost landed her in the hospital. She didn’t eat solids for almost a week, and when she started again, she was really picky, just eating a few noodles and a little fruit. At that time, she developed really deep allergic shiners and that rash reappeared around her mouth, then under her eyes, and finally in her diaper area. I thought, surely this is an allergy, so I took away wheat and berries, which she had eaten during those days. We saw our doc, who said no, it’s just her fair complexion, so I gave her wheat and berries again and the rash reappeared. So now I feel pretty sure this is an allergy to wheat and berries.

And, after a few days, her usually pretty disturbed nighttime sleep got a TON better.

Now that rash is reappearing around her mouth and her sleep is rough again. I am convinced that she has food sensitivities that I haven’t identified. But she eats such a wide variety of foods now, I’m not sure where to start.

So for those of you with kids with food allergies, how do you go about finding them? Any tips or ideas would be appreciated. Also, since she never had problems with her cow’s milk formula, do you think that it’s possible for her to have an allergy to dairy? She eats a ton of yogurt and cheese and I cook with milk for her, and I feel like since she does well on milk formula, it can’t be that. But maybe I’m wrong?

Thanks for any of your ideas.

[Anonymous]

Tiffany ~ Right around a year it’s so difficult to figure anything out. I was suspicious of a lot of allergies with Hailey. From what you’ve posted, I doubt it’s milk/dairy. Some foods cause an oral type of allergy (not an allergy really just a skin sensitivity) just from the food touching their mouth. Hailey got a rash around her mouth from cinnamon, strawberries and tomato products like ketchup and spaghetti sauce. She’s eating all of these things fine now and gets no rash. She also went through a phase of having HORRIBLE diaper rashes and has had loose stools since she was a year. I was convinced it was a milk thing and pulled that several times but there was really never much change. I switched diapers and that seemed to solve the diaper rash problem amazingly enough. I know how you feel though, there are so many things going on at that age that it’s just so hard to figure out what’s what. Hopefully something from our experience might ring a bell!

[Anonymous]

It really is so hard to figure out. Kaelyn’s rash got progressively worse as she got older and she continued to be exposed to foods that we now realize are problems for her. The allergic shiners and disturbed sleep make me think that there is some sort of allergy/intolerance issue going on. Kaelyn’s reactions can often come a full day after eating a problem food, so we had a really hard time identifying her problem foods. We ended up having a RAST blood test done which showed wheat and milk were major allergens for her. We followed that up with a skin prick test which showed that apples were an issue. She was still having issues, so we did a more extensive skin prick test which added peaches to the list. She is still having a lot of rashes/eczema which the doctor insists is “just” eczema.

We were convinced that she was allergic to oranges and strawberries because they both seemed to cause a major reaction for her, especially in the diaper area. She tested negative for them on the skin prick test. The allergist said that oranges and berries can make urine very acidic which can lead to major diaper rash issues for some babies. So, apparently, she’s not allergic to them, but we’re going to continue avoiding them for a while longer.

So… it’s possible that the wheat is an allegy/intolerance for Ally, but the berries may only cause diaper issues. It’s probably worth cutting them out of her diet for a while. If you continue to see improvement then it’s a good idea even if she hasn’t officially been diagnosed with an allergy.

[hellbennt]

(jonah got a HORRIBLE diaper rash from strawberries- I posted about his one year birthday- poor baby- it was a strawberry-topped cake and boy did he eat his overfill! Needless to say we avoided strwberries from one year to about 2 & now that he’s 2 and 1/2 (& change) he can have strawberries in moderation…)

[Anonymous]

Hi Tiffany, I struggle with this so much too. For instance, Seth does fine with bread and pasta but everytime he eats waffles, he breaks out in a rash on his stomach, so does this mean he is allergic to wheat? He does ok with hidden dairy (or so I think, has night wakings) but when we trialed yogurt, he had loose BMs and woke up crying out in pain. Also, just the other day, he accidently got in some mashed potatoes made with milk at daycare and he had a pimple like bump under his eye when I picked him up and was very fussy and did not sleep well that night. This with several other experiences make me sometimes think he is allergic to dairy vs. being intolerant. It is driving me crazy. I have finally decided to quit trying to figure it out. I have made an appt. with an allergist and I am hoping they can help me sort it out. I know this does not help you at all but I just wanted you to know that you are not alone and it really is a guessing game. I would think though it is not the dairy since her formula is milk based. I have been doing a lot of research on allergies and outside of being tested, the only thing you can do is go back to a very basic diet and add things back one by one and note reactions. I am going to start keeping a food diary myself to give the allergist. Good luck- I hope you get some answers! Mom2Seth2006-2-25 21:40:31

[Anonymous]

Hi there, just going through the same thing. Hard to narrow down what’s causing the rash. We went to 3 docs. for a red bumpy rash on her eye that spread down to below her bottom lip. They said it was atopic dermititus- got the old “its just eczema”. Then the GI doc told me that they typically get it on the eye lid or just below and under the lip if they are reacting to milk proteins. Sorry it i’m not much help. I understand how hard it is to eliminate something consistantly for a period of time! it’s enough to drive you crazy! We are going for the rath blood test next week to rule some things out since she seems to not tolerate many foods. Sarah

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much, I feel so much better after reading your replies. I have the same experience as some of you describe, that she’s fine with things some days and not others, that it seems so inconsistent. Her one year physical is the beginning of April and if I can’t tack it down more, I’m doing to talk to our ped about allergy testing so that I’m sure about what’s going on. Her nighttime sleep is massively disturbed right now, and I can’t shake this feeling that it’s because of something that I’m feeding her.

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