Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!

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Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« on: March 13, 2007, 07:01:07 PM » by Linguist77

Hi ladies,

I am at my wits' end with my poor allergic 5yo! He has been this way since birth (maybe even before that?) and I've done all I know to help him. He was covered with eczema from head to toe for his first two years, and still has occasional bad outbreaks that do not go away easily. I nursed him for 22 months and avoided all his allergy foods myself, which left me with almost nothing to eat for 2 years. Weaning was a relief! Roll Eyes

At one time, the only foods he could tolerate were rice and millet, plus my milk, and he even had problems with those.

Here are his current allergies:

anaphylaxis to: tree nuts, peanuts, apples, pears

ordinary allergies to:
dairy (cow, goat, raw, etc., but he can have whey and butter, amazingly enough, so casein is obviously the problem)
soy
all other beans, peas, lentils
corn
eggs
pork
fish (but cod liver oil is OK)
shellfish
all citrus fruits
peaches
apricots
ginger
mustard
mushrooms
potatoes
bell peppers
oats
quinoa
probably coconut -- I'm too scared to try it!
several spices
any preservatives or food additives ... we don't even go there!

Still with me? I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of them and I don't have my list from his latest allergy tests handy (as in, it's in another country). I just avoid his allergens more or less instinctively after nearly 6 years of this.

In addition, we are on the candida diet due to toxic mold exposure, so none of us can have wheat, rye, sweet fruits, etc.

My problem with him is twofold:

1. When he accidentally has one of his allergens, as has happened often recently because of our travels (it's hard to avoid sometimes), he really goes bonkers. He is not the child I know. All the training he's had up until that point is out the window, and I can hardly stand to be around him at all. He is a "command boy" too, and allergy reactions make him arrogant and he tries to order me around, and throws screaming fits if he does not get his way. Shocked

Please know that he is NOT ordinarily like this! He's normally an intense little person (possibly even slightly autistic, who knows), but not the "monster" he becomes during a reaction. It's a Jekyll/Hyde kind of thing, and it often lasts several days before he's his normal self again, depending on how much of the food he ate and how sensitive he is to that particular food. I really don't know how to handle him when this happens.

2. Nutrition. How do I feed this kid? I feed him the same boring rice-chicken-broccoli-beef-cucumber-buckwheat-millet stuff all the time because there's nothing else he can have, and I have always worried about deficiencies. To date, I have found no multivitamin that he can tolerate. Not one! His health doesn't seem to be that great; he doesn't get colds that often, but he is rather pale.

Here is what he does get as far as supplements:
cod liver oil
bee pollen
beet kvass (he loves this)
probiotics
astragalus (periodically, for his immune system)
sauerkraut
bone broths a la Nourishing Traditions (only major source of calcium)

I plan to start him on L-glutamine when we can get back to the States and buy some next month.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Is this enough? Is there anything else we can be doing? We have taken him to allergists many times over the years, but the only benefit to that is that the skin prick test gives us at least some vague ideas about what foods to avoid and what we might try next. The medications they want us to take (Zyrtec, for example) will only destroy his good bacteria; we tried that for a year or so and gave up. It did not help, anyway.

Most of our family life is so joyful and positive these days, but this big, nagging problem is really tugging on my heart. Undecided

I love my son and don't like to see him struggle so much.

Thanks for listening.

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Laura in Arizona

www.theylivedintents.com

M, age 4: "I'm a good tornado that looks like a frog!"

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2007, 07:37:23 PM » by mommad5

My heart goes out to you about your limited little guy.I too,have a very limited little guy.My son is autistic,so I have for several years stuck to a very limited diet for him.What I've learned about my son is that not all his foods are true allergies(food),but most of his no's are food intolerances.I'm sure you know what I'm talking about here.He may very well react to a food that doesn't show up on a prick test.I have always relied on the tried and true food elimination route,because my son even reacted to the foods that was supposed to be safe for him.One thing that you listed was that butter was ok,but you know that it does have a minute amount of casien in it.Perhaps he tolerates small amounts in stretched out doses?I have been told by a very respected Dr.(in the autism field)that anything that you feed the gut everyday,it will develope an intolerance to.The gut likes variety.Soy usually is a problem for people that do not tolerate casien,because the protiens are so similar to each other that the body treats them both the same.Maybe you could try a rotation plan and see if you can start introducing some new foods.My son acts like a totally different child if he gets an infraction,so I completely understand.As far as supplements go,have you tried anything from Kirkman Labs?They sell allergen free supps.That is where I get my sons supps from and he does fine with them.I hope this helps you some.Your definately in my prayers.

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2007, 09:14:22 PM » by SarahLaRae

this may seem so so so stupid but have you tried taking them to a place of alternative medicine (like a Chinese "Dr"). I know nothing about allergies, but I just wondered if there was something you could do for their allergies naturally. My father goes to one and they were really good at helping him with some of his health issues. Like I said I don't know anything about allergies, what causes them or anything, just my 2 cents.
God bless, Sarah

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My family blog spot.... http://benandsarahmoorefamily.blogspot.com/

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2007, 09:21:40 PM » by SarahLaRae

here's another thread that has info on recipes that you might find useful.

Food allergy recipes

,Sarah

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My family blog spot.... http://benandsarahmoorefamily.blogspot.com/

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2007, 10:20:40 PM » by DHW

This sounds like metal toxicity to me. You can read what Angelle posted under "fatigue in young child"

http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,3742.msg36440.html#msg36440

to see what her experience has been so far. Integrative physician Dr. Stephanie Cave always looks for metals first. The yeast, allergies, food intolerance, behavior issues, immune dysfunction - they are all predicated by metals. Metals have to be removed to successfully treat these in the long term, according to Dr. Cave.

Now removing metals is not as straightforward as chelation. You have to find an agent that is effective and gentle. That is different for each child. DMSA is frequently used, but it is pretty harsh. NCD Zeolite and Ojibwa Tea (Essiac Tea) are both discussed on this site.

I think you would gain a lot of insight by reading the threads on autism, toxicity, and fatigue, and anything SC has written about her son (Down's Syndrome).

Hang in there! We are cheering you on!

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2007, 04:36:22 PM » by Linguist77

Dear herbfever,

I forgot to include tomatoes, carrots, and celery on my list. Roll Eyes

My son was fine with raw goat's milk kefir for a few months in a row when he was 4, but suddenly stopped tolerating it.

You know, you're right. I read your message this morning and didn't have time to respond then, but the words GIVE IT TO GOD kept echoing in my head, and I realized that I had given it to Him long ago, but have stepped across the worry line again. It's a fine line, isn't it? Maybe I should start praying again for total healing for my boy. I used to pray for that constantly.

I guess that if I'm doing my best, that's all I can really do. So I'll keep fermenting the veggies and pushing acidophilus on him.

BTW, you can get acidophilus that's dairy free. I've used Kyodophilus for a long time off and on, and I plan to get Acidophilus Blast from Beeyoutiful sometime soon. I don't see dairy ingredients in it.

**********

Dear mommad5,

I am the rotation/elimination diet queen! (Next to you, of course.) Wink

Have you read the book 5 Years Without Food? I ought to get another copy of it. Our food options are further limited by our current location; I have yet to visit a health food store here, but I know it will still be challenging to find enough variety.

Yes, I'm aware that butter contains some casein. Yet for some reason, he doesn't react to it in any way that I'm aware of. It's a very healthy food, so I feel good about him being able to have it. We use Kerrygold grassfed butter. He has gotten hives from some brands of butter. Not Kerrygold -- they must press out the buttermilk very well, plus the cows are getting real food, not garbage, to eat.

I agree, the only way to really know is to try different foods, one at a time. The whole food allergy vs. intolerance thing was a real learning curve for me when he was a baby. I read everything I could find on the topic. Since I devoted so much time to studying it 4 or 5 years ago, I confess I am sick of it and don't feel like reading anything else about it! (But I do anyway.)

I feel a bit paralyzed, because we haven't had any success introducing new foods for over a year now. I tried pinto beans (fermented and also cooked slowly for many hours) on him last week. Poor thing got hives and itchy lips right away.

Thanks for your comments ... I will definitely be checking out Kirkman. I think you must have it much harder than me if your child is autistic! I hope I didn't come across as if I was having a pity party ... I just wrote the post late at night after a very hard day, and then my son woke up this morning doing the same awful stuff. But it seemed to be wearing off by bedtime, and he went to bed without tears tonight! Grin

****************

Dear Sarah,

No, that does not sound stupid! We have visited naturopaths before, and we always try natural things first (having learned our lesson trying to get help from pediatricians). We have just moved to Poland, though, and I have yet to become fluent in this language, let alone find a natural practitioner. I think we may look for a chiro soon, and maybe that person could recommend a good naturopath.

Thanks for the recipe thread link!

****************

Dear DHW,

I'm a bit confused as to how my boy could have metal toxicity. I will have to read up on it some more. Since my son has had bad allergies since birth, I have carefully watched everything that has gone into his mouth: no tap water, no lead paint, etc. I can only figure that maybe he got it from me, in utero. Could that be? Until 6 years ago, I was a heavily vaccinated individual (all childhood vaccines, boosters, extra vaccines because of international travel), and I know I've had specifically the MMR several times throughout my life. So we're looking at what? Aluminum? Lots of other metals? Who knows what they put in those shots! Embarrassed

What about chlorella? Is it not effective enough? I was planning to buy some of that for him when we get to the States next month.

I sure appreciate the pointers. I have even more studying to do now!

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I'm so glad to be here on this forum!

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Laura in Arizona

www.theylivedintents.com

M, age 4: "I'm a good tornado that looks like a frog!"

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2007, 05:37:02 PM » by Linguist77

Good point about the acidophilus blast. And I do know better. (smacking forehead)

Well, the Kyodophilus label states that it's free of preservatives, sugar, sodium, milk, yeast, gluten, artificial colors and flavors. The ingredients are: L. acidophilus KS-13, B. bifidum G9-1, B. longum MM-2, gelatin, potato starch, and silica.

I knew about the potato starch, and since potato had been listed as his mildest allergy (and previously did not register as an allergy, if I remember right), I decided to allow him to have Kyodophilus. We are on a yeast cleanse as a family, and I felt it was imperative for him to have some probiotics. I still haven't found any that are safe for him in any place we've lived in Europe this year: Spain, Sweden, and Poland. So I asked my mom to send me a big bottle of Kyodophilus in January because one of the twins was constipated and nothing else was working (problem solved, BTW!), and I thought my 5yo would benefit from it. Maybe I should stop giving it to him.

Do you have a probiotic now that is truly dairy free? If so, do you mind passing on which one you use? I need one that is dairy free and stable at room temp (so I can manage to bring it all the way here and keep the little critters alive!). Maybe I'll have to stuff my boy with beet kvass and sauerkraut every day instead. Is that what you have to do? Cheesy

I feel guilty now for not being more vigilant recently. We have been traveling so much, and just finding relatively safe (allergen-free) food every day has been enough of a challenge.

Thanks for the info.

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Laura in Arizona

www.theylivedintents.com

M, age 4: "I'm a good tornado that looks like a frog!"

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2007, 05:57:22 PM » by DHW

If you will do a little more reading (argh!) you may conclude as I have that babies today are BORN with metals contamination, and yes I believe it is mostly from their mothers, in utero. Some could have come from the father, but much less so than from the mother. It is important to realize that the metals are there, but not every child shows evidence. Also, boys are much more susceptible to the effects in utero because their developing brains do not have the protective effects of estrogen.

The symptoms that you have listed with your son may be due to other causes, but they also fit the profile of metal toxicity very closely.

If you read back over Angelle's posts you will note that her son NEVER had a vaccination and virtually NO pharmaceuticals. Yet he is battling metals. (Angelle you can chime in here!)

I spoke to Dr. Cave and asked her where all the metal is coming from; where is it NOT coming from? Vaccinations, pharmaceuticals, antacids, contact lens solution and many opthalmic solutions (thimerasol), ALL dental work, canned goods, flourescent lights, petroleum products, and many more....Anybody remember using Mecuricrome? A little mercury to kill germs. These all get dumped in the water supply and thus come right back through your faucet and through the food supply.

Metals accumulate easily. They do not move out without powerful chelators, though. Read ILoveGodsWisdom posts on her husband's ordeal with toxicity. After years of juicing, raw foods, saunas, etc, her husband's arsenic load is still terribly high.

Chlorella can be a helpful chelator for recent exposure (like amalgam removal), but I wouldn't expect it to move entrenched metals very efficiently by itself.

Promising ones I have read about are NCD Zeolyte, HMD homeopathic heavy metal detox, Metal Magnet hulvic/fumic acid peat-based chelator, and Ojibwa Tea for Life (Essiac Tea).

Also, Epsom salt baths and liver support and other cleansing techniques to support the body in detox, plus lots of good oils to feed the brain.

It seems overwhelming, but it is where we are. Thank God that in His mercy, God gives His wisdom freely to those who ask.

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2007, 06:11:38 PM » by herbalmom

Quote from: Linguist77 on March 14, 2007, 05:37:02 PM

Do you have a probiotic now that is truly dairy free? If so, do you mind passing on which one you use? I need one that is dairy free and stable at room temp (so I can manage to bring it all the way here and keep the little critters alive!). Maybe I'll have to stuff my boy with beet kvass and sauerkraut every day instead. Is that what you have to do? Cheesy

I feel guilty now for not being more vigilant recently. We have been traveling so much, and just finding relatively safe (allergen-free) food every day has been enough of a challenge.

Don't beat yourself up, we all make mistakes. With as many allergies as your son has & traveling, I'm sure finding ANYTHING for him to eat is a challenge. BTW, the average parent wouldn't be doing all the research you are or doing all that you are for your son anyway. They would just bemoan the fact that their child was the way he was, give him whatever the Drs said & that would be it. You are working hard to make sure that your son has the best health possible & the best life possible. No Dr can do as much for him as you can & most parents wouldn't go to as much trouble. Give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it.

Check into this probiotic. I haven't used it but it is supposed to be the best researched, best selling probiotic in the WORLD. It's dairy free & doesn't have to be refridgerated.

Dr Ohhira’s Probiotocs

I'm sure you can search for Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics on the 'net & find out more than the link I gave you provides but the 'puter I'm using right now (very old laptop) doesn't like the 'net so I can't give you any other links right now. HTH Blessings ~herbalmom

« Last Edit: March 22, 2007, 12:37:29 AM by herbalmom »
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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2007, 07:48:13 PM » by Angelle

Linguist77,
I understand exactly what you are going through. What you have described about your son sounds exactly like my son. My son who is now 3 1/2 has shown symptoms of allergies from birth. His initial symptoms included a runny nose and sneezing that was always present. He was also a poor napper and wanted to be held a lot. At about 2 months I went gluten free and dairy free and his nose cleared up. At the time I couldn't correlate many of his symptoms to my diet, except for dairy.

Your son's symptoms are so similar to my sons. But I had a very had time figuring out what he was allergic too. I had been studying and praying for direction but was becoming very discouraged by his constant inability to function. I went through a 3 month period where all he did was cry and throw fits all day long, he had virtually no control over himself. And there was no training it out of him. He seemed to be autistic, but every once in awhile would function normally.

I did not take him to the normal allergists because I was convinced from my research that I was not going to find out the true extint of the problem through conventional methods.

During my search for options my Mother's friend went to see Dr. Stephanie Cave for her children's allergies. She took them to have bioset treatments done. She found out what their allergies where through this method and then was able to treat them. She had tried every conventional approach to figuring out what was causing her children's terrrible excema. After the treatments they were able to eat normally and the excema cleared up. I looked into this and prayed about this and other methods. Last summer at 2 1/2 I took Eli to have the bioset test and treatments done. During the testing the nurse told me that due to the number of allergies he had it was very possible he was toxic with metals. This shocked me. Like you I couldn't figure out how that could be. After doing a urine challenge with him it was clear that he was toxic with metals. We have been using DMSA and the metals that have been removed include: aluminum, antimony, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel, thallium, tin and tungsten. Like my friend DHW has said he has not had one vaccination and has only been exposed to antibiotics during breastfeeding when I had mastitis. I consider myself a pretty health conscious person.

My son's allergies are probably more sensativities due to the metals exposure. We did do several bioset treatments with him that are suppose to allow you to eat the foods again. However, due to the metals toxicity they have not been effective. I have recently realized that he can not tolerate a rotation diet. He can't tolerate even the slightest exposure to his disallowed foods. He just loses control and goes into a fit that generally takes about 24 hours for him to completly come out of.

They are finding that autism is directly linked to metals toxicity. Although my son has not been diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum when he has an episode he very well resembles an autistic child. Metals chelation and diet control have been found to work miracles on autistic children and when caught early enough can even reverse the effects.

Please, Please, Please do not discredit this idea because it seems so unlikely. I never would have considered it for my own son unless I had stumbled upon it not even looking. The funny thing is when I explained his symptoms to my family practice doctor he right away said that it sounded like lead poisoning. He asked me the standard questions about where you would think that lead poisining would occur and we didn't fit the answers. So he ruled it out. I wish I had pressed him to just check to see if that was the problem. But I am very glad that the Lord directed me the way he has.

My son's diet is almost as limited as your son's. I have become increasingly frustrated trying to eat a variety of things. I have made the same 5 meals for the last 9 months and am tired of eating them. But he is not very open to trying new things. So even though he may be able to eat spinach I haven't been able to get it into the mouth. He is much more apt to try new foods when he has had many good days in a row and I have exposed it to him several times. It has taken me 3 weeks to introduce cucumber. For the first time last night he ate one slice of cucumber without the slightest complaint or fit. There is hope I suppose. But I too worry about his diet. We as a family eat according to his diet so that I am more apt to try new things for him instead of feeding him a hamburger every night.

I know that I have said a lot and probably rambled some. I would love to help you in anyway that I can. Just know that your son's problems are probably complex and will not be fixed in a short time. From what I understand we may be chelating for up to 2 years or more to remove the toxicity. However, this is a small sacrifice to pay for the possibility that in 2 years he can eat a variety of foods and have a normal life.

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2007, 10:20:26 PM » by DHW

To read one mother's story of helping her child recover from autism and metal toxicity:

www.generationrescue.org/pdf/holmes3.pdf

This mother is oncologist Dr. Amy Holmes. Her son is now 12 years old. She is no longer in practice with Dr. Stephanie Cave due to health problems, but between them they have helped hundreds of autistic children. Have they all recovered? No, but Stephanie Cave said in an interview that 100% showed improvement. 100%. It is worth looking into.

BTW, I made a typo earlier: Metal Magnet is a HUMIC/FULVIC acid agent for chelating metals, derived from peat moss.

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2007, 12:27:26 AM » by uptrapperdansgirl

My little 20 month old and I have are going down the road of recovery as we type.....what a long journey. But Gods ways are perfect and I was never alone. there is so much to my story, but the hour is late...my two youngest have had these same conditions, but my baby was the worst. Ironically (or maybe not) I was way more heatlh consience (sp?) with my last two. anyways lots of research, allergist,dermatologist and still no answers God leadus to the alternative Doc we are seeing now. The first thing he did was a hair anaylsis. wow. the results shocked me! she was in bad shape, "allergic" to everything, weepy sores on face, itchy, moody, cried in the middle of the nite, chronic diareah, undigested food...heart wrenching- We cried alot too Sad

she was toxic- cadmium, lead, aluminium. our theory is that she got this way from my own body, another long story, but I just want to say that 4 days ago my baby girl woke up happy for the first time in months! Praise God!! we are treating her with mild supplements. she is definately better and improving eveyday. I have learned alot. I'll post more later...don't give up and keep asking God for a healing. Remember the story of the widow and the judge in the bible? love to all hugs to all those mama"s whose hearts are heavy....Go to the Lord that bought you, He cares and He alone is the Healer!!!

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2007, 02:13:06 PM » by new2herbs

I am always saddened to hear of others who are going through this same problem that we went through with my third child. It is a very lonely road and all 8 of the different specialists that we saw were virtually no help. What I did do was start on the rotation diet with all foods he could tolerate and those that were a 2 or 1 allergy. We also gave him one acidopholis pill a day. I prayed over him nightly many times with tears and came close to just giving up the fight for information. It was so tiring and exausting, especially because I was pregnant with #4. By the grace of God, my son was healed overnight, literally, from all by three of his allergies and most all of his excema!! I can say this with certainty because when I went into the hospital to deliver my baby, my allergy son ate a cherrio with the sitter. She said he broke out all over. When I came home from the hospital, I noticed he seemed healthier, happier and was able to eat more foods without getting sick. We started adding things back into his diet, in moderation of coarse, and he has not reacted to them since. We are still dealing with milk, peanuts and almonds, but this is so much better than where we were 6 months ago.

So, this is post to give you hope! God has taught me so much about health in the mean time and given me the opportunity to encourage may others with allergy children. I hope it encourages you all as well.

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2007, 06:52:59 PM » by Linguist77

Wow, thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

I am still trying to digest it all ... maybe I need some enzymes ... Wink

It's too late for me to respond in detail tonight, but I will try again tomorrow! This metal toxicity thing sounds very plausible, and I think we might start with clay baths, since I just so happen to have some bentonite clay handy (from Bulk Herb Store -- yes, I dragged it and other herbs all the way to Poland!).

Good night for now!

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Laura in Arizona

www.theylivedintents.com

M, age 4: "I'm a good tornado that looks like a frog!"

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #14 on: March 18, 2007, 06:51:25 PM » by Linguist77

*** Warning: long post! ***

Ladies, I have HOPE again!

I'm going to have to be patient, though. I've done tons of reading starting with your links and ideas, and even DH is intrigued enough with this to be helping me research it. He is on the other computer just across the room from me and we're sharing "did you know"s and "I can't believe it!"s from what we're reading.

Well, where to start? I think we're going to do clay baths, Epsom salt baths, and figure out some sort of chelation therapy. All the evidence -- and I do mean all of it -- points to our son having metal toxicity. I am so thankful to the Lord that he put people in our life who cautioned us against vaccinating our son as a baby, and that we actually listened then. I am certain we would have a severely autistic child on our hands if we had vaccinated.

I have spent so many hours grieved and desperate about our boy's behavior. It seemed to me that all we did was train and try to tie strings with him, but he would still have these awful fits. It didn't make any sense, really, except that there was our old nemesis, the food allergies, but could we really blame all his behavior problems on food allergies? This metal toxicity thing is the first comprehensive explanation for this, and if it's correct, gives us the big picture. I can't thank all of you enough.

We gave T a clay bath the other day. He had some black and orange deposits in the bottom of the tub, not much, but enough for me to notice. Since that bath, he was extremely happy and cheerful the rest of the day! My husband came home from running errands and commented that T didn't have his usual pale look. Could that be an effect of the bath, I wonder? I will use up the rest of our clay on his bath next week.

And now to respond to some points in your posts:

Quote

I choose to encourage healthy flora through fermented foods. I DO NOT use whey or citrus. I now use real apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar and salt as described in NT. My kids can handle apples now.

I feel like I need to use whey, because my cultures end up getting some mold on the top otherwise, even if I sterilize the jars before starting the culture. Ugh! And even a tiny speck of mold is a huge problem for us right now. With the candida diet, everything I've read says to avoid vinegar, so I don't even use vinegar except to clean with or as a shampoo replacement (another wagon I've jumped on recently after reading threads here! Grin

).

The recipe from morethanalive.com for children's blood purifier sounds excellent. In fact, I've decided to switch to that instead of the single herb (jatoba) I was using before for my children's yeast cleansing.

Thanks for the link to Kirkman's. I'll be ordering the probiotics and a multivitamin from them. Yay!

Quote

It must be so difficult being in a foreign land.

No, not really! We love Poland! It's just that getting oriented takes quite a while, even when you have helpful friends locally. Plus, we are still trying to get past the baby-talk stage of learning the language. Grin

It gets better every day.

Quote

Our poor babies! It sounds like dh and I could really use some chelation therapy ourselves. Maybe all 5 of us should get tested ... but this might really add up financially. Yikes.

Dh and I have joked in the past that I must be autistic. I have weird ways about me ... hmm, do I really want to mention this here? ... aw, why not. I am always doing some repetitive motion (like mild rocking or foot tapping) that I find comforting and have to concentrate hard to stop doing that. I always feel obligated to balance things out; i.e. if I spin 4 times to the right, I absolutely don't feel okay spinning only 3 times to the left after that. I have to unwind exactly the same amount. If I glance out of the corner of one eye, I have to do the same on the opposite side with the other eye. Noises bother me and make me want to hide in a dark closet and cry (and I have 3 boys, so I am always having to take deep breaths and pray for help with this). Dh says he has always wondered why I consider certain physical touches painful when they really shouldn't be. And the idea of being touched and hugged is wonderful to me, but the reality is that often touch bothers me very much. I could go on, but you get the point.

I've noticed my 5yo is very much like me, except much more intense. Until today, I've wondered why he screams in pain when we barely even touch him -- really, if he even thinks I'm going to reach out a hand to stop him from doing something he shouldn't, or even sometimes just to hug him, he freaks out and screams "You're hurting me!" Which is just a lovely thing to have happen in public. Oddly enough, he is a cuddly child some of the time, but only if you hold still while you're holding him. You can't stroke his hair or his back or tickle him without him protesting. When you hug him, you have to be super gentle -- no squeezing. If one of his younger brothers tries to wrestle with him or hits him playfully, he gets terribly upset. I thought he was just being a wimp and have been telling him to toughen up and take it like a man. Hmmmmm.

But now I'm seeing a light at the end of this tunnel. If it's truly a toxic metals problem, then sign T and me up for chelation right away! Now we just need to pray about which way to test for the metals and which form of chelation, etc.

Quote

I understand exactly what you are going through. What you have described about your son sounds exactly like my son. My son who is now 3 1/2 has shown symptoms of allergies from birth. His initial symptoms included a runny nose and sneezing that was always present. He was also a poor napper and wanted to be held a lot.

Angelle, our experiences are very similar indeed! I could never put my son down as a baby, and he was nonstop miserable. I felt powerless because no doctor, internet advice, nor natural remedy I tried helped his total body eczema and general misery. I think all that misery altered his personality and gave him a negative outlook on life, which we are hopefully turning around now with the Lord's help (he is much more cheerful than he was one year ago and understands the importance of being thankful!).

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I went through a 3 month period where all he did was cry and throw fits all day long, he had virtually no control over himself. And there was no training it out of him. He seemed to be autistic, but every once in awhile would function normally.

Exactlly. EXACTLY!!! I just wanted to quote this because you summed it up perfectly. This is our life, and has been for almost 6 years. What can you do when he doesn't respond to training? Stop training? We feel the need to enforce boundaries, but on the other hand, our son can't help it when these fits happen. He seems to just fall into them and only being physically restrained by being held on our laps has any effect eventually. He does not like to be held firmly, so it's a pretty powerful persuader in getting him to stop screaming, but it's just so unpleasant all around. Oy.

And anyway, why does my first boy have all these problems and my twin boys don't? I really don't get it. None of them have been vaccinated, but they all grew inside a toxic mommy. The twins also had terrible colic and food allergies as babies, but they rapidly outgrew the allergies and have almost none now (maybe citrus, just avoiding apples, pears, nuts, peanuts, additives and preservatives out of pure caution).

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Just know that your son's problems are probably complex and will not be fixed in a short time. From what I understand we may be chelating for up to 2 years or more to remove the toxicity. However, this is a small sacrifice to pay for the possibility that in 2 years he can eat a variety of foods and have a normal life.

A normal life? What's that? Wink

Yes, 2 years of chelation and being patient would be worthwhile if it could lift the heavy burden from my son and from his parents' shoulders. It sure would be nice if we could stop carrying around these epi-pens, too! (Can I get an amen?)

DHW, that Generation Rescue site is incredible. I'm going to share it with my parents the next time they question our vaccine avoidance. It's truly all the evidence anyone should need on the topic. Thank you.

I'm having such a lightbulb week!

Laura
a grateful and now very encouraged mommy!

« Last Edit: March 18, 2007, 06:58:07 PM by Linguist77 »
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Laura in Arizona

www.theylivedintents.com

M, age 4: "I'm a good tornado that looks like a frog!"

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #15 on: March 19, 2007, 07:56:01 PM » by Linguist77

Bentonite clay, the one from Bulk Herb Store. Although I'm wondering if it's going to be as effective as the so-called magnetic clay on the Clay for Autism site. DH is really skeptical about their claims and thinks we might do just fine ordering more from BHS. I'm inclined to agree, unless anyone chimes in with evidence that the "magnetic" clay is much better.

Clay bath experiences, anyone?

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Laura in Arizona

www.theylivedintents.com

M, age 4: "I'm a good tornado that looks like a frog!"

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #16 on: March 20, 2007, 07:53:23 AM » by Angelle

Linguist,
I am so glad that we have found each other. It is soooo comforting knowing that I am not the only one who has a child like this. When I first started to see my son's "non reactive" side I was so encouraged. It's like he was a different child. He could obey me, say yes ma'am, he didn't cry when I asked him to get dressed. Some of his behaviors have been learned from his episodes and we have to be so discerning as to when he is sick and when he is well.

Exactlly. EXACTLY!!! I just wanted to quote this because you summed it up perfectly. This is our life, and has been for almost 6 years. What can you do when he doesn't respond to training? Stop training? We feel the need to enforce boundaries, but on the other hand, our son can't help it when these fits happen. He seems to just fall into them and only being physically restrained by being held on our laps has any effect eventually. He does not like to be held firmly, so it's a pretty powerful persuader in getting him to stop screaming, but it's just so unpleasant all around. Oy.

I was crying and crying every day wondering what was wrong with my child. No amount of discipline or training was helping. I found that when he starts his fits, I pick him up and put him in his bed. I tell him that he can come out when he is happy. This has worked pretty good. Some days all I do is pick him up over and over and over. But it keeps the crying to his room which only minimally disturbs the rest of the family. He eventuallly works through it and is ready to obey.

I wonder exactly how he feels when he is in the middle of an episode. When there is a food that he can't have all I have to say to him is it will make you sick and he doesn't want it.

I look forward to continue to compare notes with you.

Angelle

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #17 on: March 20, 2007, 05:58:43 PM » by Linguist77

Angelle,

Yes, let's keep comparing notes. Right now DH and I are just trying to figure out how, where, and when we can get metal toxicity tested. Not only that, how on earth to get going with chelation therapy here (we would like to do this under the advice of some kind of professional because of the risks).

It's amazing how differently children respond to things! I tried putting my son in another room before, but he only gets much worse. Holding him still seems to be the only (temporary) remedy. Thankfully, he has had a lot fewer fits in the last few days, due to the bath and probably also due to taking him off pork. I look forward to giving him his second clay bath on the weekend ... will he get even better? But his eczema seems to be getting worse, and I really don't know which of his few foods to eliminate, if that's even the cause. I'm stumped there. I think the heavy metal testing really is the next step.

My boy also doesn't want food that I tell him will make him sick, although he has started to be silly lately and say, "Eggs! Give me eggs! Hey, I want some red pepper, too!" Roll Eyes

Yeah, and Mommy really wants a crazy child for the next week. Riiiiight. Silly boy. He's just trying to have a sense of humor about the whole thing.

Gotta run and get things in order around here ... it's getting late and this mommy needs sleep.

Take care,
Laura

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Laura in Arizona

www.theylivedintents.com

M, age 4: "I'm a good tornado that looks like a frog!"

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #18 on: March 20, 2007, 08:24:27 PM » by uptrapperdansgirl

hi all you awesome mamas!! Wow! I am awed at what soilders God is turning us all into. He needs us to be strong and ready to fight for what we believe in. What better way to "prep" us then too give us children to fight for! anyways-Baby Gracie is still having "bad" days but her skin looks alot better. I was feeling sorry for myself and Gracie because she couldn't eat nothing, but I will count our blessings as it could be worse. lets keep on encouraging and learning!!

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #19 on: March 20, 2007, 08:39:45 PM » by Angelle

Quote from: Linguist77 on March 20, 2007, 05:58:43 PM

Not only that, how on earth to get going with chelation therapy here (we would like to do this under the advice of some kind of professional because of the risks).

I feel much more comfortable working with a professional on this as well.

I stumbled on my doctor by chance. But she is listed at the following website: http://www.generationrescue.org/what_action.html

I noticed there were a couple of professionals in Poland. I travel about 3 hours to see our physician. We only have to see her once a year though. She does everything by e-mail and regular mail. She has clients all over the world.

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #20 on: March 20, 2007, 09:16:44 PM » by DHW

I was just reading over www.generationrescue.org and I thought you might find this interesting:

Dr. Rashid Buttar who is mentioned as developing TD-DMPS was faced with his own son becoming autistic at 16 months after the child's mother had him vaccinated (without Dr.Buttar's knowledge). His son was classified as moderately autistic, but has since fully recovered. He became the youngest person to testify before Congress about the vaccination/autism link. (source: Dr. Robert Jay Rowen, www.SecondOpinionNewsletter.com)

Dr. Rowen also talks about a treatment protocol developed by Dietrich Klinghardt, MD, of Germany. It includes

1) removing allergens and toxic foods (i.e., gluten, dairy, processed foods),
2) adding sublingual B12 and folate (to restore methylation),
3) RNA products by Dr. Amy Yasko (to restore cellular metabolism), and
4) adding TD-DMPS to remove mercury.

Using this protocol he says he has 100% success treating autistic children. "Success" is not defined. I would hope at the minimum it means significant improvement, and hopefully complete recovery.

There IS hope. There IS HOPE. Pray for wisdom. Cheering you on.

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #21 on: March 20, 2007, 09:35:48 PM » by uptrapperdansgirl

Just a quick note~`on my papers from the hair anaylisis they mentioned saunas. for those from warm places a sauna is a wood-type structure with a woodstove w/rocks that you pour water on to create steam, wich causes you to sweat, thus cleansing the body thru the skin....did you all get that? Wink

It is a huge help to detoxifying your body.

my list of things to do

get bentonite clay
more dead sea salts
talk to hubby about building a sauna.
continue supplements

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #22 on: March 21, 2007, 09:21:54 AM » by dara

Quote

ordinary allergies to:
dairy (cow, goat, raw, etc., but he can have whey and butter, amazingly enough, so casein is obviously the problem)

Butter, for one, does contain some casein, and my allergic son cannot tollerate it. Taking him off dairy was not effective until I finally, reluctantly, took butter out of his diet as well. There are a couple options for alternatives. One is to clarify the butter (here's an article with information and instructions: http://www.kurma.net/ingredients/i2.html) and another is to try coconut oil. You said you hadn't tried coconut yet. I would encourage you to try it out just to see. I don't know of anyone that is allergic to it (which isn't to say it's not out there), so I think your chances are good, and the Extra Virgin stuff is pretty nutritious. You can also explore other healthy oils, like flax, etc. Anyway, hope you find some answers, I know what it's like...

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"Write your hurts in the sand
and grave your blessings in stone."

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #23 on: March 21, 2007, 05:30:44 PM » by Linguist77

Angelle!!!

I went to look at that list of doctors and I nearly fell out of my chair -- one of them is actually here in the city where we live!!! Shocked

I'll be calling him in the morning ... ehhh, that is, asking my friend to call for me, since my phone Polish is bad, very bad. (You can't rely on mime on the phone!)

Sooooo ... I need to credit God here, too. I was sort of pacing the floor last night and telling Him, "Lord, I know what we need to do, but I don't know how we can do this way over here in Poland. I'm just going to ask You to fix this up for us, because I really have no idea where to begin. I don't even know how to describe chelation therapy in Polish, and my friend has never heard of it. Please help, Lord!"

Are you laughing with me? Wink

Silly human that I am, I forget so quickly that the whole thing is child's play for the Lord! He has been so wonderful, just paving the way for us to live here innumerable times in the last few months. Cheesy

Maybe we can get in to see this guy before we leave here in 2 weeks!

Thanks so very very much, and I'll update when I know something.

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Laura in Arizona

www.theylivedintents.com

M, age 4: "I'm a good tornado that looks like a frog!"

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so ENCOURAGED!
« Reply #24 on: March 21, 2007, 05:35:40 PM » by Linguist77

Dara,

I admit, I am slow. I have been pondering the butter thing and probably need to just take the plunge. T sure does love his butter. I hate to take one of his favorite foods from him, and that means I will have to rethink a lot of my cooking unless I make clarified butter. Ack!

Will try the coconut oil soon. I wonder if I should try it topically first, or as DH suggested, maybe a sort of scratch test at home. Hospital is only about 2 km from here ... good thing! My main hesitation is that coconut is a tree nut, he is allergic to all other common tree nuts, and coconut has never been on any of his tests.

Still wavering on the edge of the cliff,
Laura

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Laura in Arizona

www.theylivedintents.com

M, age 4: "I'm a good tornado that looks like a frog!"

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #25 on: April 02, 2007, 03:19:37 PM » by Angelle

Laura,

I am just wondering about an update. Have you been able to contact the doctor there in Poland? What have you been doing since your last post? How is your son doing?

Angelle

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #26 on: April 07, 2007, 12:12:59 AM » by larissakissa

Quote from: Linguist77 on March 13, 2007, 07:01:07 PM

At one time, the only foods he could tolerate were rice and millet, plus my milk, and he even had problems with those.

I am very sorry to hear that your son has so many allergies and I would like to share with you a home remedy that helped my now 3 year old daughter and myself.
At about 18 months old she started to get a rash on her cheeks and on her hands which looked really dry and itchy. The doctor said that it is eczema (I think I spelled that right) and that it's not curable. As far as I know, eczema is a really bad form of allergies and I remembered a home remedy to cure (and yes I mean cure) any type of allergies. My brother cured his allergies this way and I know other people who have tried this- and it works. It is really easy to make, you take it two or three times a day until you feel better and then you can take it once or twice a day.
What you do is, you hard boil some eggs and you peel them and let the shell air dry. Once the shell is dry, grind it in the coffee grinder until it looks like flour. The smaller the grind the easier it is to take it. You get a table spoon, put about a 1/2 teaspoon of the grind-ed egg shell in the middle and squeeze fresh lemon juice over it to fill the table spoon. Carefully mix it together so it starts to foam, and then drink it. You can drink water right away to help it go down if you have a problem drinking it.
I gave this to my daughter for about 1 month and all her eczema went away. To really cure the allergies you have to take it for about a year, but you can see it get better within a few days to a couple of weeks. She is three years old now and I noticed that she started to get the same rash on one of her cheeks. I have been giving her the same thing for about a week and it is almost gone. I know I should give it to her for the whole year, but I just kind of forget to do it sometime. (shame on me Angry

)
About me: I get seasonal allergies every year in spring and I took that same stuff for two weeks and now my nose doesn't get stuffed up during the day and I can breath at night and I almost don't sneeze anymore. Thank God! I hope that this will help somebody out there because it sure helps up. Cheesy

Another thing that I was told is that if you have allergies to eggs, most likely you won't have any problem taking this remedy because the egg shell is not what causes the allergy symptoms.
One thing I know for sure is that the doctor told me that my daughter will always have eczema, but she doesn't anymore. (at least not noticeable and it doesn't bother her anymore)
Sorry to write so much!

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #27 on: August 23, 2007, 07:00:10 PM » by refreshed

I don't know if this is the appropriate place to ask this question, but it seemed the best with the links I could find.

Do any of you know anyone who has outgrown a peanut allergy by avoidance and if so, how did they avoid all forms completely? My son is highly allergic to peanuts (among other things) and I have trouble keeping him out of situations where peanut products are being used (church, friends' houses, even stores). How much of the residue of peanuts or even milk products etc. will affect his ability to outgrow those allergies?

I have to say that most of the people we know try to stay away from those things he's allergic to when we come around and for this I am very grateful. But I can't expect them to totally alter their lifestyle every time he comes in the room. But because it is so dangerous for him to even be in the same room with peanut oil, I wonder how much of the allergen it takes to undo the good we've done in keeping it away from him? Any ideas, anyone?

Dara--my son is one of those that's allergic to coconut, although it is not as much an allergy as peanuts. Go figure.

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Check out our family's and church website:
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For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #28 on: August 24, 2007, 12:19:01 AM » by skelliott2

I would highly recommend the book -- Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders (Hardcover) by Kenneth Bock. This mainly deals with autism, but this doctor has discovered that severe allergies, like peanut allergies, are caused by the same basic issues that cause autism, and can also be helped by the same things that help autism. It's very good, easy reading, and explains a lot.

Also, please don't worry about expecting people to change their lifestyle around you and your children. You are only protecting him from serious harm, and anyone who cares about you would definitely respect that. It's scary how dangerous peanut allergies can be. I hope you find some answers.

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Re: Food allergies in my 5yo -- so discouraged!
« Reply #29 on: August 24, 2007, 03:02:41 PM » by refreshed

skelliott2--Thanks for the recommendation. I will look into this book and perhaps I shall find some information to help. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a cure for those diseases? I'm just waiting for my glorified body. That will be a sure cure.

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Check out our family's and church website:
www.havenbaptistfellowship.com

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

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