Is he allergic to something? (LONG)

[essnce629]

For about two weeks now, Conner has been scratching his face and head constantly and he now has dark circles under his eyes (allergic shiners?). The first odd thing that happened was about two months ago when he got this sore at the base of his ear (where his ear lobe meets his head) that wouldn't heal. At first it was just a reddened area and then the skin started breaking down and even bleeding at times. I tried putting several different creams/ointments on it to try and get it to heal (neosporin, calendula, tea tree oil, hydrogen peroxide). The tea tree oil cleared it up completely for a few days, but then it got worse again. About a month ago I took him to the doctor and he was prescribed a stronger antibiotic cream (he's never had antibiotics orally). That cleared it up after about a week, but then it came back again, but as of now it's finally cleared up. So about two weeks ago I started noticing little scratches all over his face, although I never actually saw him scratch himself. I thought his nails were just too long (he hates for me to cut them) and that he was scratching himself in his sleep. Well, I've trimmed his nails super short several times and it's since gotten worse. Now he's actually scratching himself all day long on his face and head. But he's not scratching himself over and over in the same spot. Just every couple of seconds he'll run his finger over his cheek, chin, forehead, etc and that's it. It's almost like it's a tic since he's doing it so often and he's not scratching in any one spot. It's like a quick swipe across his face. But when I ask him if his face itches, he says yes. Then for the past couple of days, I've noticed that's he's had dark reddish circle under his eyes, which I immediately remembered was a sign of allergies in children. As far as I know, he's never had any allergies. Allergies run in my family (animal, drug, outdoor, and food) and my boyfriend's father has celiac's disease (allergy to all gluten). I myself am allergic to dogs, cats, horses, grass, amoxicillin, and sulfa medications and I have mild asthma as well. My boyfriend has no known allergies. I breastfed until Conner weaned at 24 months in hopes to prevent him from getting allergies, asthma, and ear infections. He hasn't had any new foods lately and we haven't changed soaps or detergents. His behavior is normal and he doesn't have a cough, runny nose, congestion, watery eyes, sneezing, or any other signs of allergies. I've given him Benedryl and another homeopathic allergy medicine but neither seem to do much. I did some reading up on food allergies and it looks like it can take up to 6 months of exposure for a child to become sensitive to a food and become allergic. The only other thing that sticks out in my mind is that he started drinking cow's milk 7 months ago after he stopped breastfeeding. While he was still nursing, he refused to drink cow's milk, but now he drinks about 4 oz a day. I thought I'd do an elimination diet of the top 8 allergens, but 5 of the most allergic foods he doesn't eat and 3 he does (milk, eggs, and wheat). So I started with eliminating dairy, but it's only been 2 days and there's been no improvement. In fact, today the tops of his cheeks are all red as well. What does everyone think? Should I try to get him in for allergy testing or should I stick with the elimination diet? Here's some pics of him from today and yesterday.

Yesterday (dark circles under eyes)
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33058.jpg

Today (red blotchy cheeks)
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33059.jpg

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33060.jpg

***Latia
Birth and Postpartum Doula
http://www.socaldoula.com

Conner 8/19/03 (homebirthed water baby)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aug2003angel
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif Self-weaned at 24 months!

[schums]

I can't help you with the scratching, but the cheeks look like when my DC had Fifth disease. It starts out with bright red cheeks that look like someone has slapped them, and progresses to a lacy-looking rash over some or all of the body. My DC didn't itch, but maybe some do? It's totally harmless to the person who has it, but can cause problems to pregnant women, but ONLY before symptoms appear. It appeared very suddenly with DC -- red cheeks on Friday, start of a rash on Saturday, full blown rash on Monday/Tuesday. If this is what Connor has, it's pretty easy as far as childhood illnesses go.

HTH and Good Luck!

Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[ilovetivo]

Latia - It does sound allergic to me. Maybe food, maybe environmental or seasonal. Not sure. my dd gets allergic shiners to foods (she's dairy and egg allergic - possibly nuts, peanuts). Z has had days where her cheeks got red too, along with her arms. DH nor have food allergies. Just having allergies in the family (any kind) can predispose someone. I also nursed 13 months

I'd get him checked. At the least, you can talk to a pediatric allergist, you don't have to have him tested. i'm not sure how long it takes for you to see an improvement w/ eliminating dairy etc. could be 3 weeks I think. Good for you eliminating dairy! You may want to do eggs and wheat. However, you may not be eliminating as much as you think. I've posted before somewhere on here all the names for egg and dairy. There's lots for each.

I highly recommend checking out kidswithfoodallergies.org - great site! The message boards are just like BB but for food allergies. Also foodallergy.org

[chlobo]

I think I would probably go see a doctor or if you are more naturally inclined, a naturopath. Self dianosing & administering remedies (ie benedryl & homeopathic remedies) & even doing an elimination diet withouit proper supervision might not yield the desired results.

I recently went to a lecture that talked about how allergies can develop, over time, when there are other gut problems so the fact that this stuff is cropping up now may not be surprising. One reason to see an allergist (or naturopath, however you are inclined) is to identify the potential allergens. Then you will know exactly *what* to eliminate on an elimination diet. I think that doing it sort of willy nilly without guidance might not yield accurate results.

JMTCW.

[ilovetivo]

by the way, lots of homeopathic meds are made in a lactose base - dairy

[kijip]

Since allergies run in your family it would seem to be genetic. I would get him evaluated ASAP.

[essnce629]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try and get him in to see his pediatrician on Friday and then possibly get a referral to see an allergist. I'm going to continue with the dairy elimination even though I know it takes at least 2 weeks to get it out of your system (according to what I've been reading). I've been a vigilent food label reader since he started eating solids in order to avoid hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, so I'm used to reading every ingredient. I buy all his foods at Whole Foods and Trader Joes, which tend to have a lot less fluff ingredients which makes the labels shorter and easier to read :). The list of foods that contain dairy that I'm eliminating are:

artificial butter flavor
butter
butter fat
butter oil
buttermilk
carmel coloring
casein (casein hydrosylate)
Caseinates (in all forms)
Cheese
Cream
Cottage cheese
Curds
Custard
Ghee
Half & Half
Lactalbumin
Lactalbumin phosphate
Lactoferrin
Lactulose
Milk (in all forms including condensed, derivative, dry, evaporated, goat’smilk, and milk for other animals, low-fat, malted, milkfat, non-fat, powder, protein, skimmed, solids, whole).
Nougat
Naturlose (sweetener derived from whey)
Pudding
Rennet casein
Sour cream
Sour cream solids
Sour milk solids
Tagatose (sweetener derived from whey)
Whey (in all forms)
Yogurt

I actually went on a wheat-free diet myself not to long ago to see if it would help with my severe menstrual cramps/endometriosis and I think eliminating dairy is a lot easier than eliminating wheat.

I stopped the homeopathic allergy drops today since they seem to be more for inhalent allergies and I didn't notice any improvement. They are liquid, so not lactose based. I had talked to a pharmacist who had recommended the Benedryl and proper dosing to help with the itching. I gave him a dose of that today before his nap and his cheeks weren't red any more when he woke up, although the itching continued. I'll keep you all updated if I find out anything else. Thanks again.


***Latia
Birth and Postpartum Doula
http://www.socaldoula.com

Conner 8/19/03 (homebirthed water baby)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aug2003angel
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif Self-weaned at 24 months!

[cilantromapuche]

OUr son had similar issues. His turned out to be environmental allergies. He is now on Singulair and it took care of the shiners and the skin excema that came with it (and the stuffy nose, etc.) I know that this season has been horrible because he just had an ear infection. I do know that milk exacerbates his stuffy nose but that is not the root of the problem.

Christine

mama to A (7/03)