Elimination diet and food intolerance question.

nekorayne · November 2011

I feel really stupid asking this to be honest.

Note:DS has never been diagnosed with food allergies.

DS has been having some issues the past month or so: His stool has been VERY runny, loose, watery, and yellow and he has had sulpher burps with gas. He also has been spitting up ,he was never a spit up-y baby. We thought it was possibly a stomach bug but he was still acting happy and it was not going away. He was not acting sick and the symptoms would go away and come back. We ended up suspecting a mild allergy or food intolerance...it sounds way more like an intolerance I guess. My mom says I used to have this issue with dairy but I don't anymore so I'm not sure if I had true lactose intolerance.

I ended up calling our pedi and since we have a well child appointment in two weeks he said we could try doing an elimination diet and then go over it during the appointment. We are supposed to start with no dairy and if he is not doing better then we call him and try the next step next week. I still BF a few times a day and I was wondering if I should be doing this with him.

Also does this sound like an intolerance at all? I am honestly not sure and just know that he is not acting sick with the stomach bug. The pedi said it is possible it is food related but does not want to run tests tell we try the elimination diet. Any more info about doing this>

Jessica-Kay · November 2011

The runny poo does sound like an intolerance. You could have very well had an intolerance and out grew it also.

My son is lactose intolerant and gets the runs. Honey also does the same thing to him.

Since you are still BFing a few times a day I would go ahead and cut all dairy out of your diet as well.

CHS2005 · November 2011

Think about trying wheat as well - We started DC #2 on a dairy free diet at birth since we had so much trouble with #1, and still had lots of issues. Turns out, wheat is something like #2 or #3 in the top foods that children are allergic to or cannot tolerate. I cant remember exactly what the time frame was, it was 7 months ago, but I can tell you that when we went back to the pediatric GI specialist a for a follow up appt a week later, I could already tell a HUGE difference. A gluten free diet is not as hard as I thought.

CHS2005 · November 2011

Sorry - I read the post more carefully....

An elimination diet is not that hard. Its hard to get your head around, but not impossible. With #1, I only had to eliminate obvious diary (milk, cheese) and did not have to pick through labels or avoid foods that were baked with diary in them, so be aware that there are different levels of intolerance. Some people do have to do those things.

For wheat, get gluten free pasta, crackers, etc. Rice is good

For Dairy, I actually like Silk Milk - I think its almond milk...

If you do end up going on an elimination diet, its really not that hard. You will get the hang of it quickly

nekorayne · November 2011

CHS2005:
Sorry - I read the post more carefully....
An elimination diet is not that hard. Its hard to get your head around, but not impossible. With #1, I only had to eliminate obvious diary (milk, cheese) and did not have to pick through labels or avoid foods that were baked with diary in them, so be aware that there are different levels of intolerance. Some people do have to do those things.
For wheat, get gluten free pasta, crackers, etc. Rice is good
For Dairy, I actually like Silk Milk - I think its almond milk...
If you do end up going on an elimination diet, its really not that hard. You will get the hang of it quickly

Thanks! Did you eliminate everything at once or one at a time?

CHS2005 · November 2011

My Dr said to do soy, dairy, wheat, egg, peanuts and something else and I almost started to cry. Basically, I found if you try to do all top 8 its just impossible at first, and way too overwhelming. So, I did the top 2 or 3. I know two of those are diary and wheat but I am not sure what the other one is. Basically, for 2 weeks, I lived on those rotisserie (sp?) chicken,rice, gluten free crackers, gluten free soups, gluten free cereal and silk milk and dried fruit. Go to Whole foods or trader joes and they have some options. My local store also has a good natural food section. HTH

magdusia · November 2011

it does sound like an intolerance or a mild allergy. I would avoid milk (including you since it does pass through the milk) for 2 weeks and see if he gets better, if not.. add soy to the elimination (over 50% kids allergic/intolerant to milk are also allergic/intolerant to soy). OR if you you can, avoid milk and soy now and then introduce one at a time and see if the symptoms come back.

if that doesn't work and he's still having issues.. i would just get him a RAST test for the top 8 b/c these symptoms could be really anything.

Also, start a food/reaction journal. Every time he eats something.. write down how his BM's were right after.. maybe you'll catch the culprit on your own.

good luck!

amy21tom · November 2011

magdusia:

it does sound like an intolerance or a mild allergy. I would avoid milk (including you since it does pass through the milk) for 2 weeks and see if he gets better, if not.. add soy to the elimination (over 50% kids allergic/intolerant to milk are also allergic/intolerant to soy). OR if you you can, avoid milk and soy now and then introduce one at a time and see if the symptoms come back.

if that doesn't work and he's still having issues.. i would just get him a RAST test for the top 8 b/c these symptoms could be really anything.

Also, start a food/reaction journal. Every time he eats something.. write down how his BM's were right after.. maybe you'll catch the culprit on your own.

good luck!

This. I would definitely take out soy before wheat. Also a wheat free diet doesn't have to be a gluten free diet (gluten is also in barley, oats and rye as well as a bunch of random things). A gluten free diet would only be helpful if your son had Celiac, and it doesn't sound like he does (symptoms would likely be more severe and he would feel discomfort).

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