More of an intolerance but can anyone help me wih this one? Think I might have found out what causes DDs skin problems

[used2bthin]

I hadn't been shopping for a bit so for three days DD was without her usual breakfast of weetobix. She has had very bad excema on her cheeks since she was 3 months, she is under a paediatric dermatologist for it. Then early last year she developed psoriasis on her arms and leg. The dermatologist said she was keeping an open mind as to what was on her face, excema or psoriasis but treat that as excema for now. Anyway, I digress- her skin looked so much better after the three days and I realsied that just by coincidence she hadn't had pasta either so decided to try it yesterday and today her skin is terrible. So would this be wheat I should avoid? Gluten? Do people usually avoid both if they are avoiding one? Clueless! Any tips? I think I will cut it out for the next two weeks completely to see.

Out of interest tomatoes, strawberries and any red fruits seem to cause a flare up, wheat based snacks like quavers and baby crisps do it and baked beans are so bad that I always know if she has had ven a spoonful fro the state of her skin.

This might help when you start to exclude.www.sensitivefoodies.co.uk/

haven't read all the replies so might be repeating.

I would definitely go for wheat exclusion first - wheat intolerance is fairly common but poorly understood, as there often seems to be no medical reason for it. However, lots of people who exclude wheat from their diet find it benefits them in many ways (skin, bloating, headache, IBS, tiredness, brain fog etc.)

Oat gluten is sufficiently different from wheat gluten that even the coeliac websites say that it might be ok except in the severest cases. Barley and Rye are often problematic though (they also contain gluten and it is more similar to the wheat)

For an exclusion diet, you really need a minimum of 2 weeks exclusion before re-introducing and then do it very gently.

Have you noticed it with dairy at all? A friend of mine had eczema with dairy intolerance - when his mum took him off dairy, she said you could almost see the eczema clearing up - within 2 weeks it was gone.

whoops, sorry!

Thanks thumbwitch that is like what happened when she stopped having weetabix. It just sirt of faded then right back the morning after she had pasta. Right will definately do at least two weeks wheat free and se what happens. I have thought about the dairy thing but actually the foods she flares up with are things like pasta and because she doesnt now have tomatoes often due to her skin, she often has it with cheese sauce. Weetabix she has with milk, ec etc. So I will try the wheat free to startwith and see what happens. Especially as in those few days without weetabix and pasta she was still having her usual masses of cheese in the day, bottle befre bed etc.

He is 3 and 1/2 now and he has not long been diagnosed and I am slowly finding my way around things. The nappies and bloating had always been like it. Then as he was weaned (we b/f for 15 months) the skin condition appeared. He had numerous lotions and potions to put on it and nothing realy worked. I was made to feel neurotic.

By the time he was 2 1/2 I was totally fed up as he obviously wanted to potty train and just couldn't because of his bowels. So I pushed and pushed for a referal. When he was 3 we saw the dietician, who was hopeless, he didn't think that the skin thing was food related. But he did do a skin pin prick test (DC2 was so brave) and also took some bloods.

Got a call a week later to say take gluten out of his diet, but I had already done that because of a comment one of the nurses made and I told the dietician that every thing had turned around for DC2 and he was a different child. The other thing we noticed was his behaviour improved too. The bright spot is as he has had it so young he is likely to grow out of it and possibly won't take it into adult hood.

You also mention the tomatoes thing. I note to that with DC2 and 3 they get rashes with some tomato products and also anything with vinegar in them.

thanks spidermama!

definitely the wheat first then - and if it doesn't clear it up entirely, maybe consider removal of milk later. Although tbh it sounds like she's fine with dairy

I have a wheat intolerance - although no eczema, I had all the symptoms I described - the joy of losing them all when I gave up wheat was immense! Especially the IBS!

There are so many alternatives around now - check the Free From section in your supermarket (if you haven't already done so) - my favourite pasta alternative is rice and millet - good "bite"; and DH is converted to it, says he prefers it to normal wheat pasta!

My dd had this with weetabix when she was 2 not all wheat just weetabix gave her a rash on her cheeks! we stopped it for ages and at 5 she's fine with it now i'm sure there's an ancient tread on here about it.

Mrsgokwan I just read on the site Bensmum linked to that certain vinegars have gluten in. DD has had the opposite problems to yor ds she has constipation. She also had a few episodes of vomiting blood but it is thought to be related to the oral steroids she has for her genetic condition.

My DS also had problems with tomatoes (or any of that family), citrus fruits, fish, seeds/nuts, egg, strawberries. Don't forget the tomatoes in the baked beans.

I didn't believe it when people told me he would grow out of it - it was so bad. But, he has and can eat school lunches/any food he wishes now .

thumbwitch thanks I hope she is ok with dairy, she so loves cheese (like her mummy!) Ledodgy, wonder what it was about weetabix for your DD? Glad she can tolerate it now, thats like me with milk, I am ok with it now so long as I don't over do it. Right really must get to bed, I have been terrible for late nights on here recently but its so tempting!

used2bthin - I checked the oatibix ingredients today and afai can tell, there is no wheat in any of them, ordinary or bitesize. So you will be ok with them.

Good luck with the exclusion diet!

Bananaskin, egg seems to irritate Dds skin too if she has boiled egg, I had thought it was because she gets it all over her face! Glad to hear he grew out of it, hope its same for DD.

thumbwitch thank you for thinking to do that! Glad they are ok as she seems to eat them now having refused last time I tried them. And to be fair they don't look great! I didn't do well today because after merrily telling all who would listen about my discovery with the weetabix, I proceeded to give her toast at toddler group! Oh well, her skin actually looks great compared to normal so I am feeling hopeful that this will make a difference.

lol used2bthin - this wheat-free existence can take a bit of getting used to. Viz this convo that I routinely used to have with my mum:
Mum - would you like a biscuit?
Me - no thanks, Mum, I don't eat wheat now.
Mum - oh, ok... what about a bit of cake?
Me - (ditto)
Mum - oh yes, of course... well how about a sandwich then?
ARGH!

Without trying to be at all patronising (because I know some people do get confused about this), remember that rice and potatoes are absolutely fine for a gluten/wheat-free diet. The bread I use is made by a company called Ener-G - they have 2 that I buy, a rice&Flax loaf (quite crumbly but good toast) and a rice loaf (but NOT the one that feels like a brick) which is better for DS. I am keeping him wheat-free until he can tell me if he gets tummyache from it.

Also - oatibix have just produced a new bitesize flavour - with cranberries! I bought some today and they are rather good..

wheat is a very common allergen.

cut it out and gluten then re-introduce gluten eg rye bread, oats after three months.

have you read 'digestive wellness for children' by elizabeth lipski. its brilliant

also try giving her a teaspooon of flax seed oil

Hi! I'm back again to annoy you!! I'm glad to hear about the oatibix bitesize,thumbwitch, they've obviously changed the ingredients since last time I looked! I tend to just end up buying what I know is OK and don't recheck very often!! The thing with vinegar is it is made with barley so will have gluten in it but maybe not wheat, I only found this out when I went to our local chippy that does gluten free batter and was told that she would get the vinegar for me..... I wondered what she was talking about at first!! I know exactly what you mean thumbwitch about the "what can you eat" remarks, my fil is always asking me - can you eat potatoes, butter, meat etc!!

My friend had really, really, really bad eczema (worse I have ever seen, and as my mum has minging eczema that is saying something). She went gluten/wheat free, and her skin is absolutely amazing now.

Cereals - I like Vogels GF, the new one that is like Special K (but I can't remember the name, is made of buckwheat), Gorilla Munch, and one I get in Morrisons which is cinnamonny.

Oats aren't a great choice in cutting out wheat as they are often very contaminated with wheat in processing. You can get certfied wheat free ones from the specialist suppliers.

Watch out for soy sauce, mustard, and gravy too - all often contain wheat

Thumbwitch not patronising at all I was wondering about potato actually because someone mentioned it as a possible allergen. Dd actually is bad at eating them anyway though. She loves rice though and cous cous etc. Will have to get some wheat free bread. She doesnt eat much of that either though actually!

Lol at your mum that sounds like me when we went to south africa years ago and I tried to explain that I was vegetarian to a waiter. Who then offered me... chicken..no? fish...no? oh well what on earth do you eat?! How can you not eat meat you will get ill! And on and on and on until I almost felt like ordering meat to shut him up!

kalo12 I haven't read that but will look it up, sounds good. What does the flax seed oil do? I'm sure my mum takes that!

Isn't cous cous made of wheat??

s'bulgur wheat, isn't it?

whoops, no, apparently not. It is made from wheat though - semolina wheat and flour.

I think you're right, its the difference between wheatfree and gluten free then I suppose. I used to know someone with a potato allergy that could eat mcdonalds chips cos they didn't have potato in them!!! Thats changed now though.

Oops she won't be eating that then! Thank goodness for mumsnet! yuck at the macdonalds chips, what did they have in them?!

I dread to think!!

the potato thing is a different issue from the wheat/gluten thing - the person who mentioned them on this thread did so because they are in the same category of foods as tomatoes - the Nightshade family (which also includes bell peppers, chillis, paprika, cape gooseberries, aubergines) - and because if your DD has ishoos with tomatoes, she might have ishoos with other nightshade foods.