I just wanted to update since I haven't posted in awhile.
The kids are doing very well as am I. It is amazing how much better I feel after going gluten-free. It is even more amazing to see how much Barrett is progressing since we supposedly discovered all of his intolerances.
Abbie is also doing very well on whole milk. It is a relief to see that she is not really bothered by the dairy. I still try to keep her away from soy as much as possible. I will let her decide whether or not to eat soy when she is old enough to connect the effects of what she eats with her symptoms. We've been tempted to test her on gluten again but every time we go to give her some we get a really bad feeling about it and pull back. I hesitate because I must have gone through my whole life with an intolerance and never known it. I don't really want to take that risk with her.
And as a side note--I am loving the Earth Balance soy-free butter. It has made life 10 time easier!
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Baby Definitely Has A Food Intolerance Problem
It is now obvious that Abbie has a problem similar to Barrett's. Her diaper rashes and diarrhea the last week have been sure evidence. Unfortunately I can't pinpoint the exact cause yet. We started giving her more milk products like yogurt and cheese, and I also have been slack on my own gluten-free diet. It's possible the gluten from breast milk is bothering, or the increase in cow's milk has been bothering her, or both. So now we get to start the elimination process with her. Keep those things out of her diet for a few weeks to see if she improves, and then add them back in one at a time and see what happens. I already suspected gluten which is why I don't feed it to her directly, but my current theory is that both are a problem. I know for sure that she can't tolerate eggs at this point. She and Barrett both had a hard time the last time we fed eggs to them. I'm not even going to attempt soy with her if she can't have casein.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A Visit With the Gastroenterologist
Our appointment wasn't for a few more weeks but yesterday the clinic called and said they had a cancellation for this morning so we took it.
The appointment wasn't long but it was nice to finally be able to talk with some who actually had some experience with this sort of thing. The doctor is Dr. Harnsberger. We discussed the Enterolab results a bit but she said she couldn't do anything with them because it was considered an alternative form of medicine and she was not trained or qualified to interpret such results or use that approach. She said the tests are sketchy because some of the things they test for are naturally found in food and so would come out in a stool sample. At least that was the case with the transglutaminase tests. She did, at least, concede that the information about soy was helpful, and that regardless of any sort of testing we have seen and can conclude that Barrett is sensitive to milk, soy, and gluten.
We discussed possible causes of his insensitivities. When Barrett was a baby they suspected giardia, but the stool sample came up negative. Dr. Harnsburger said you couldn't entirely rule that out because it only shows up in 50% of stool samples when people have giardia because it lives in the small intestines. She said the bacteria could cause the food sensitivies because it breaks down the proteins in larger chunks than normal that cause the immune system to react to it. We could have seen improvement on an elimination diet because the bacteria was not being fed the foods it was previously ingesting.
Another possibility could be a genetic food insensitivy or allergy since it does run in the family. My uncle couldn't eat anything but rice until he was about three years old. His daughter had a similar problem. My family also has a history of autoimmune disease and my husband's sister has Celiac.
Another possibility is that there is some kind of damage or infection in the digestive tract that caused something like leaky gut. The only way to rule that out would be by a biopsy. Dr. Harnsburger recommended waiting on that and trying other methods first. Especially since he has done so well on the elimination diet.
Our main concern was getting Barrett the nutrition he needs on a restricted diet. Barrett was taking Usanimals, but he won't eat them anymore. Not even if I smash them and put them in his food. She recommended a simple gummy vitamin, if we wanted to give him one. Even more importantly though, she recommended some protein juices designed specifically for children like Barrett. They come in juice boxes and are called either Boost Breeze or Eo28. She gave us a sample of Eo28 and Barrett seemed to like it. They are supposed to be hypoallergenic. She also recommended a medication called Cyproheptidine, which is an antihistimine for the digestive tract to help lesson reactions. It also stimulates appetite. She wanted us to do that for three weeks and then call and update on his status.
She also said that 90% of kids outgrow their food allergies by the time they are in kindergarten. Even with kids as severe as Barrett. I guess I will place some hope in that.
The appointment wasn't long but it was nice to finally be able to talk with some who actually had some experience with this sort of thing. The doctor is Dr. Harnsberger. We discussed the Enterolab results a bit but she said she couldn't do anything with them because it was considered an alternative form of medicine and she was not trained or qualified to interpret such results or use that approach. She said the tests are sketchy because some of the things they test for are naturally found in food and so would come out in a stool sample. At least that was the case with the transglutaminase tests. She did, at least, concede that the information about soy was helpful, and that regardless of any sort of testing we have seen and can conclude that Barrett is sensitive to milk, soy, and gluten.
We discussed possible causes of his insensitivities. When Barrett was a baby they suspected giardia, but the stool sample came up negative. Dr. Harnsburger said you couldn't entirely rule that out because it only shows up in 50% of stool samples when people have giardia because it lives in the small intestines. She said the bacteria could cause the food sensitivies because it breaks down the proteins in larger chunks than normal that cause the immune system to react to it. We could have seen improvement on an elimination diet because the bacteria was not being fed the foods it was previously ingesting.
Another possibility could be a genetic food insensitivy or allergy since it does run in the family. My uncle couldn't eat anything but rice until he was about three years old. His daughter had a similar problem. My family also has a history of autoimmune disease and my husband's sister has Celiac.
Another possibility is that there is some kind of damage or infection in the digestive tract that caused something like leaky gut. The only way to rule that out would be by a biopsy. Dr. Harnsburger recommended waiting on that and trying other methods first. Especially since he has done so well on the elimination diet.
Our main concern was getting Barrett the nutrition he needs on a restricted diet. Barrett was taking Usanimals, but he won't eat them anymore. Not even if I smash them and put them in his food. She recommended a simple gummy vitamin, if we wanted to give him one. Even more importantly though, she recommended some protein juices designed specifically for children like Barrett. They come in juice boxes and are called either Boost Breeze or Eo28. She gave us a sample of Eo28 and Barrett seemed to like it. They are supposed to be hypoallergenic. She also recommended a medication called Cyproheptidine, which is an antihistimine for the digestive tract to help lesson reactions. It also stimulates appetite. She wanted us to do that for three weeks and then call and update on his status.
She also said that 90% of kids outgrow their food allergies by the time they are in kindergarten. Even with kids as severe as Barrett. I guess I will place some hope in that.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Tips for Going Dairy-Free
I think it was harder to adjust to going dairy-free than it was to go gluten-free. I couldn't hide the flavor of unusual flours with cheese anymore! We tried soy cheese but it was made with casein and so it still was no good (I didn't know my son also had soy intolerance at the time). You have to be careful looking for dairy replacements because some things still use milk. A friend of mine whose child has a milk allergy says that even "milk-free" acidophilus still has traces of milk because it has to be cultured with milk. I wanted so bad to give it to Barrett to help with digestion but he could not tolerate the milk-free tablets, like she said (although they may possibly contain soy so it's possible that it is the soy and not milk that bothered him).
There are a few kinds of dairy-free margarine. Nucoa, Blue Bonnet Light, and Earth Balance are all dairy-free. If you are intolerant to casein other kinds might be okay too because they contain milk but it is whey and not casein. ((Milk is usually divided into two parts--curds (casein) and whey (not a protein). Cottage cheese it the curds and so is basically pure casein. Don't ever feed it to your kid)! I found it safest to just avoid milk altogether though to avoid cross-contamination. I would also avoid using butter-flavored Crisco because while they claim it contains no milk it is derived originally from milk.
A good alternative to milk, if your child can tolerate soy, is Silk Very Vanilla which is specially fortified for kids. I found it to have the most vitamins as well as calories and my son loved it (until we found soy was bad for him). Even the Silk Plain tasted good to me. There are many brands of soy milk and you can try as many as you like, but I never found one that was fortified as well as the Silk Very Vanilla. If soy is also a problem or if you want fewer calories I would recommend almond milk or rice milk. Hemp milk is supposed to be the most nutritious, but let's be honest--it's nasty! And do not use oat milk because it contains gluten. Also, if you buy rice milk be careful if you buy Rice Dream because some of it is made from barley which contains gluten. For a list of gluten-free rice dream products click here.
You can make a very good pumpkin pie with soy milk (don't use vanilla flavored milk though). You can substitute soy milk for evaporated milk and it will still taste good (use the recipe on the package of Libby's Pumpkin), it just won't set up quite as well. You can, however, make your own evaporated milk by boiling 2 1/2 cups of soy milk down to 1 cup and using that. I could not taste the difference between my dairy and my soy pies. You can use a gluten-free crust (I'll post a recipe later), or I like to just pour the mix into cupcake wrappers and have crust-free pies. That's what I did for Barrett's second birthday. It makes for nice easy servings and easy storage.
You can get dairy-free chocolate chips as well. Tropical Source is the only brand I have been able to find. Be careful if you are sensitive to soy. They have soy lecithin in them. It shouldn't bother most people but if you are extra sensitive to soy it may bother you.
You can also buy soy ice cream and yogurt but I have never tried them so I don't know if they are any good. I have recipes though and I will post those later as well.
There are a few kinds of dairy-free margarine. Nucoa, Blue Bonnet Light, and Earth Balance are all dairy-free. If you are intolerant to casein other kinds might be okay too because they contain milk but it is whey and not casein. ((Milk is usually divided into two parts--curds (casein) and whey (not a protein). Cottage cheese it the curds and so is basically pure casein. Don't ever feed it to your kid)! I found it safest to just avoid milk altogether though to avoid cross-contamination. I would also avoid using butter-flavored Crisco because while they claim it contains no milk it is derived originally from milk.
A good alternative to milk, if your child can tolerate soy, is Silk Very Vanilla which is specially fortified for kids. I found it to have the most vitamins as well as calories and my son loved it (until we found soy was bad for him). Even the Silk Plain tasted good to me. There are many brands of soy milk and you can try as many as you like, but I never found one that was fortified as well as the Silk Very Vanilla. If soy is also a problem or if you want fewer calories I would recommend almond milk or rice milk. Hemp milk is supposed to be the most nutritious, but let's be honest--it's nasty! And do not use oat milk because it contains gluten. Also, if you buy rice milk be careful if you buy Rice Dream because some of it is made from barley which contains gluten. For a list of gluten-free rice dream products click here.
You can make a very good pumpkin pie with soy milk (don't use vanilla flavored milk though). You can substitute soy milk for evaporated milk and it will still taste good (use the recipe on the package of Libby's Pumpkin), it just won't set up quite as well. You can, however, make your own evaporated milk by boiling 2 1/2 cups of soy milk down to 1 cup and using that. I could not taste the difference between my dairy and my soy pies. You can use a gluten-free crust (I'll post a recipe later), or I like to just pour the mix into cupcake wrappers and have crust-free pies. That's what I did for Barrett's second birthday. It makes for nice easy servings and easy storage.
You can get dairy-free chocolate chips as well. Tropical Source is the only brand I have been able to find. Be careful if you are sensitive to soy. They have soy lecithin in them. It shouldn't bother most people but if you are extra sensitive to soy it may bother you.
You can also buy soy ice cream and yogurt but I have never tried them so I don't know if they are any good. I have recipes though and I will post those later as well.
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