reactions to food

[jerikaka]

My ds2 who will be 5 in jan has reactionto various different types of food. Over the last two years I have noticed his reactions get worse. Dairy, eggs, chocolate, strawberries and oranges give him a red rash round his lips and sits appears to worsen his sinusitus. he also has runny poo and is not dry yet, I believe this is down to the reaction to food. The dietician I see at the hospital makes me feel like a complete neurotic mother as I have taken so much out of his diet. I have tried reintroducing the foods but get the same reactions. My question is has anyone come across this type of reaction and how did you get the help and support you needed? My doctor says that if he can wee in the toilet once then he can do it all the time.

It's frustrating isn't it. I have a DS - 5 also - who although can control his pee, is hit and miss with poo. This like your DS is due to the runny nature and the speed at which the need arises. Sometimes the first knowledge he has of needing to go is as it starts coming out. He can also pass wind and soils at the same time.
Gastroenterologist has said dairy free and IBS - here's some medication, bye and see you in 6 months. He had a very violent reaction to the meds, Gastro dept did not return my several calls for nearly a month, by which time i had sorted the dose out myself. When gastro called, i told them this and they said - 'interesting - keep us informed as to how it goes' ! As to IBS - no help at all. I have been told 'anything' could set him off, it can be stress related and fluctuate in severity possibly forever. You may, or may not ever find out what the trigger, or multiple triggers are.
In the mean time, we still have a year 1 DS who still soils, with no end in sight.
I have been looking on the gut trust website and looking into whether they can offer any practical advice.
Sorry to sound so negative, but you are not a neurotic mother. The situation is real and you have your DS's interests at the heart of this. Anyone that assumes a mother would prefer to have not potty trained a child by the age of 5 must be insane. It's also not as easy as reward charts and sanctions. If you cannot control what your body reacts to, how can you control its behaviour?
Only advice might be to take pictures of the rashes, with a detailed food diary of what was recently eaten.
Have they done all the possible tests to see what is going on?
And for your drs information - there are children (my eldest) who have been medically diagnosed as fructose, sucrose and dairy protein intolerant - which apart from the eggs would rule out all those food types you listed.

Thanks for your input. They have done skin prick tests but these all came back as negative. How did your doctor diagnose your eldests food intolerances? The specialist we saw has done lactose stool test but said that the technology for food intolerance testing wasn't there yet. I know what you mean with the blame on stress. My eldest has aspergers, so they say my youngest must be affected by that. No amount of star charts or encouragement has helped though. Glad to hear I'm not the only one going through this. Thanks again!

My eldest has had several types of test. He had the hydrogen breath test for lactose, sucrose and fructose. Very similar to the gestational diabetes test in pregnancy. Fast, have a base line breath (not blood!) test, drink a solution of 1 of the above, half hour breath tests for increase in hydrogen levels. Was gobsmacked when he passed the lactose test as the other 2 didn't (theirs was done by biopsy from endoscopy/colonoscopy/fluoroscopy).
The milk protein was diagnosed from blood tests. i think they can test for a certain number/type of foods. I think he mentioned that he was tested for shellfish, bananas, peanuts etc.
Re the sinusitis - dairy intolerance comes in different forms. The intolerance is lactose - milk sugar. The intolerance to dairy protein is an allergy. It sets the immune system off - just like hayfever, rather than the intolerance which tends to have more digestive effects! Both can cause diarrhoea though.