Food allergies and severe mucus? Can symptoms worsen initially upon elimination?

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Food allergies and severe mucus? Can symptoms worsen initially upon elimination?
« on: September 29, 2009, 03:58:23 PM » by srkfan1

Hi. I thought my little one had parasites but now after reading and having him tested for parasites (negative) I do believe that he may have serious food allergies. We have seen small reactions before such as redness around his mouth with bluberries, hummus, ketchup, etc, but I am beginning to wonder if he has something major going on and that one of his major symptoms is severe mucus production. He has had what we thought was a cold for 3 weeks now--lots and lots of congestion to the point that sometimes he would choke on it. Seemed like the congestion was finally clearing up when he started to feel bad again, but it didn't seem like a cold. So, last week I took him back to the Dr for the 3rd time and she said he had a double ear infection and gave him antibiotics. Well the day he started them he seemed like he was feeling better, and the day after. I have suspected the food allergies for a while and was preparing to do an allergen free diet (dairy, soy, eggs, gluten, wheat, peanuts--the whole list of usual offenders) when Sunday morning he woke up grunting in between breaths. It seemed like he couldn't breathe. So I got him up and tried to clean his nose out--which he wouldn't allow because he's 2 so I put saline in there to loosen it up. He later went back to sleep and wasn't grunting. The next morning he had apple juice and a gluten free cereal and within a short while after having that he started the breathing difficulty and grunting again. It got really bad, so much so that he couldn't speak without grunting in between words. I called the Dr and they said to take him to the ER.
Up to that point I hadn't noticed much congestion (at least wasn't hearing it)--his head nor his chest seemed congested. However, after getting to the ER they listened to his chest and didn't hear wheezing. About 40 minutes after getting there you could tell that he was having increasing difficulty breathing and cried and cried. Then suddenly he started swallowing a lot and gagging until he vomited all over me. It was completely full of phlegm, so much so that it looked like melted cheese (sorry if TMI--I know it's gross). Well they couldn't find any cause for breathing problems--they did a breathing treatment even though it didn't sound like asthma, they did an xray to check for pnuemonia and a flu/swine flu tesst as well as a test for strep. All negative. They gave him Motrin and in 45 minutes he looked like a completely well child---running around laughing and playing.

That night we got home and after eating dinner he got a fever back (he had one of 102 the day before) but this time it went up to 104. We gave him Motrin again and put him in a cool bath and the fever broke immediately.

Today he hasn't had a fever but right after starting to eat lunch he started crying uncontrolably and sounded like his throat was getting all full of congestion again....gagging and coughing. I took him down from the table and within minutes was doing the grunting thing again. Now his nose seems a bit congested but that is it.

My questions are.....can food allergies present by causing severe mucus--he does have discoloration around his mouth at times and every once an d a while hives in reaction to something but would mucus be a symptom too? And could it be that because I began the allergen free diet that since it is the first 2-3 days of being allergen free that his body is reacting by getting worse before getting better? I know with yeast there is a die-off period where things get worse at first so I wondered if this could be similar? I also noticed that today is the first time in weeks that his poop has been formed instead of total mush or diarrhea. That seems promising.

Anybody with lots of experience with food allergies ever see the extreme congestion and mucus? Or the worsening of symptoms when beginning an allergen free diet?

Sorry to be so long winded.

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Re: Food allergies and severe mucus? Can symptoms worsen initially upon elimination?
« Reply #1 on: September 29, 2009, 04:44:29 PM » by mykidsmom

Definately, mucous production is a problem with food allergies. My son was congested all the time. For every person it's different because everyone has a different weak spot. So, for your son, congestion is likely always going to be his weak spot. While you think you have removed all his allergens, he apparently has more then you think. Once something is removed the congestion should continue to get better over a two week period. Not worse. There is no die off with food allergies. However, most with food allergies have candida to a small extent and that can produce die off but that's not what this sounds like. While he may be allergic to major offenders there may be others that you have not pulled that are also a problem and therefore the continued congestion. I would suggest reading through the thread on food allergies and also infant food allergies. There is a TON of info in there. At this point, he sounds like he's allergic to more then just the "usual" offenders and you should have him tested. It's possible you're removing one thing that could be a good source of nutrition while another he's eating is causing an issue. A test will tell you this.

hth

patti

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Re: Food allergies and severe mucus? Can symptoms worsen initially upon elimination?
« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2009, 12:28:09 PM » by floydian

I know milk was a BIG factor in our son's allergies. I also know that milk/dairy tends to produce lots of mucous.

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Re: Food allergies and severe mucus? Can symptoms worsen initially upon eliminat
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2009, 12:21:44 PM » by srkfan1

Quote from: mykidsmom on September 29, 2009, 04:44:29 PM

Thanks Patti. Well we had already had him tested before this with the one that they do skin pricks on the back; they all came back negative. So the Dr asked for blood tests but we haven't heard about the results on these yet. I suspect you are absolutely right; it is very frustrating because he is struggling so much and seems completely miserable. Today he seems to feel MUCH better but he's had 2 BMs today that smelt very bad (vomit like). Perhaps he has had a virus or something that is finally getting out of his system. We'll see. I'm doing a food, elimination and symptom journal every day--have done it for about a week and he has his next appt with the allergist in 12 days. Hopefully we'll get some answers. In the meantime I'll keep reading. Thanks for the the input again.

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Re: Food allergies and severe mucus? Can symptoms worsen initially upon elimination?
« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2009, 12:52:11 PM » by mykidsmom

I'll give you my honest opinion of allergists..... Angry

Unfortunately, skin tests are not accurate unless someone is so allergic that just touching a food makes them react. A regular blood test may come back with *some* allergies but they will not accurately show the severity nor will they cover every food allergy a person has. We had multiple blood tests done on our son over a 7yr period and NONE of them came back showing the enormity of his food allergies. The only test we have ever had that was actually accurate was the ELISA 96 food allergy panel. Your doctor can draw the blood but it HAS to be sent to the Seattle lab for proper testing. You can find out more about this test in the thread about food allergies. I've written about it pretty extensively in the past. The only blood test that showed any allergy at all prior to the ELISA was a dairy allergy and in hindsight it appears the reason it picked up on the test was because he was SO allergic it showed a "mild" registration. Ummmm, he was so allergic it was off the charts on the ELISA. My DS is so allergic to dairy he can't even eat beef because dairy comes from beef. That's how allergic someone has to be for a doctor's allergy test to come back as showing even a mild to moderate allergy. I would encourage you to take the ELISA req. form to your allergiest and TELL him that's the test you want run. Not whatever he has to offer. If he's a good doctor he'll do the test. If not, he'll fight you over it (that's when I'd fire him Wink

).

keep us posted.

patti

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For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.

Re: Food allergies and severe mucus? Can symptoms worsen initially upon eliminat
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2009, 07:32:49 PM » by srkfan1

Quote from: mykidsmom on October 01, 2009, 12:52:11 PM

I'll give you my honest opinion of allergists..... Angry

).

keep us posted.

patti

Thanks Patti. Will do. We see the allergist for a followup tomorrow. I'm not optimistic that he'll have anything conclusive to offer us. I have also found a local doctor that deals with allergy testing using NAET--I'm not sure if you've heard of that or not but it is supposed to be promising. I have an appt with that dr on the 23rd and if I find it a positive experience will be taking my son as well. We'll see.

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