I haven't posted in a while because I was out of town at my parents' house for 10 days. We had a great time and even left one child there for another week! What a blessing to be able to do that with home schooling!! While I was there, I met with a DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) that my mama goes to. He was great to talk to!! He is so knowledgeable, and I felt like I could have sat and talked for hours with him. I did stay almost two hours for the appointment!! Someone cancelled behind me so we just talked! Anyway, #6 has been having some issues, and I am now embarking on the new world of food allergies!
I've known since October that he was allergic to gluten. He developed some eczema on his legs, and I knew that gluten was usually the culprit. I stopped eating gluten (since the only food he was getting was breastmilk) and the eczema went away. Problem solved, right? Not exactly. Initially, it worked. But then more problems developed.
He had a yeast infection in his diaper area that was getting worse and worse. By December it was bad no matter what I put on it. I tried mixing breastmilk and probiotics, oregano and olive oil with probiotics, and even nystatin!! Nothing worked so I knew I needed to cut out sugar as well. The prospect of no sugar or gluten was not a fun one so I waited until after Christmas. I know that I upped my sugar intake when I started gluten free because it was the easiest stuff to grab on the run. Sugar feeds yeast. So I knew I needed to cut it out.
After four or five days of no sugar (including most fruit) the yeast started looking better. By the time I got to see the DO at mama's, the yeast was mostly gone, but it looked like there was more eczema underneath! I couldn't believe it, and didn't want to!! But the doctor confirmed it.
So now I've been on the "Elimination Diet" since Jan. 6. I've taken everything out of my diet that could be allergy producing--gluten (wheat), any other grains, sugar, dairy, nuts, soy, mushrooms, corn, bananas or other high sugar fruit, etc. So basically I'm eating meat, some veggies, and some fruit.
The doctor muscle tested #6 and me and found yeast in both of our GI tracts. I believe this came as a by product of pregnancy and then antibiotics that I had to take during labor because I was GBS+. I always have yeast infections when I'm pregnant (they are very common and easily attainable during pregnancy when your pH balance is off) and this time it was worse than usual. Antibiotics can cause yeast because they throw off the flora in your gut. They get rid of all bacteria--which means the good along with the bad! I tried to take probiotics, but I probably wasn't as diligent as I should have been. All that to say that the baby developed it as well, and now it was showing!!
Some articles that I've read have shown that yeast can cause eczema as well so maybe that's our answer. Maybe the initial reaction of the eczema disappearing after I stopped gluten was because all those products also have yeast. But then when I ate more sugar, it came back. I don't know! I'm still trying to figure it all out. But for now, I'm still on the elimination diet. Another idea is dairy. I know that can cause it as well. These are the main culprits for most food allergies--gluten, dairy and yeast.
The eczema is getting better. It's completely gone from his stomach and only a little on the backs of his legs and buttocks. It should be!! I'm not eating anything!! :)
I've always been thankful for no food allergies in my kids (or so I thought--I think my other boys have them now as well.) My SIL and other good friends have had to deal with them, and I've always admired their tenaciousness when it comes to following through. So I'm following in their footsteps and will be asking a lot of questions along the way. Now, just one more thing my life that I have to spend tons of time researching and educating myself about. *Sigh*
So I'll be posting about my journey periodically--interesting finds, successes, and failures--as well as good recipes. I'm so thankful for my SIL and friend from college that send me recipes from time to time. They have both been on this journey for longer than me, and I am grateful for their help in answering my questions and helping me think things through.
If anyone is interested, here is a great website about food intolerances. Most of us have them (75%) and they show up in all different ways--things that you may have been dealing with for years and didn't think anything about. (Itchy skin, chronic runny nose, dandruff, asthma, headaches, stomach issues, etc.) Check it out and see if you can live an easier life!! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment