History: When Lily was around 9 months old I discovered that eating wheat, oat, corn, egg, apple, or tomato made her sick. When I informed her doctor, he subjected her to many tests. When all those tests were negative he sent her to a specialist who gave her another battery of tests. All these tests and it has not been determined why Lily gets sick when she eats these foods. They tell me she will probably grow out of it by the time she is four, or she might have celiac disease, many people especially little ones test negative for Celiac even when they actually have the disease. It is all very confusing for me. Except, I just don't feed her stuff that makes her sick. That part is easy. The why she gets sick, that part is hard.
Now what: Lily just had her fourth birthday. I decided it might be a good idea to re-introduce some of these foods and see if she still gets sick. I started with egg. I put an egg in her pancakes every morning for about three days. At first I didn't see any reaction. No rashes, no diarrhea, no lethargy-I am thinking, great, this is fabulous, I am so excited.
Screaming: Then the screaming happened. For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile, you will recall that Lily spent most of her twos and threes screaming at the top of her lungs all day long. And then she stopped. For the last six months we have had very few episodes. We had a bad episode while visiting Jeff's family toward the end of our vacation, how embarrassing. Mostly, Lily has been screamless. I mean whole days, even whole weeks with no fits. She communicated with words, it is lovely, so lovely. About three days after the introduction of egg into her diet, the screaming came back.
Was it the egg? Many other things happened during this time, that could have led to the screaming. Things like driving all day long. Due to Mandy's volleyball and work schedules, Lily went from having a daily three hour nap to not having any nap at all. That could lead to a grumpy gus. We also started swim lessons, which was new and perhaps a bit stressful at first. We also ran out of many of the foods Lily loves and have been unable to find these foods again. Like her favorite cereal, the gluten-free and corn-free flour we use to make pancakes, her cookies, blueberries, etc. So Lily has been refusing to eat some. Could it be that she was tired and hungry and just grumpy? Or was it the egg?
Previously she would have rashes and diarrhea. This time there was no physical reaction. A part of me is questioning myself. A part of me is wondering, is this food allergy thing just in my head? The doctors tests have all been negative, according to them there isn't a logical explanation or scientific evidence of her having an allergy or whatever to these foods. I have never heard of anyone else being allergic to such a weird combination of food. No one else in our family has problems with these foods or any foods. Lily is never sick (knock on wood), most kids who have food allergies get sick a lot, and she is almost never sick.
I just don't know what to think. There was a real difference in her behavior when I gave her the egg. There was a real difference in her behavior when we were on vacation and eating out at restaurants and she was most likely ingesting one of the foods which may or may not cause her to get sick. It has been a week since I have given her any egg, and it has been a week since she has thrown a fit.
The fits: Just to be clear, the fits are when she starts to scream and cry and I cannot snap her out of it for a very long time. She wont listen, or react to me, she just loses it. Usually we communicate, she listens and discusses things etc. But, when she is having a fit, she will get mad at something like if I call her pajama shorts, just shorts instead of saying pajama shorts and this will cause her to start screaming, lose all sense of everything and just scream and throw things for an hour. I will have to rock her or just leave her to get it all out. This used to be my life all the time, it was a nightmare. But, lately she will laugh and tell me that I said it wrong and go on with her life. It used to be everything like when she would have a cup of milk if I set the milk down on the table in the wrong spot or if her babies were put on the pillow in the wrong order etc. Everything would drive her crazy. Lately this behavior has totally disappeared.
Conclusion: I really don't have a conclusion. I don't know if it was the food that led to this behavior or if it was just the age. Was the fits last week a result of the egg or just a coincidence? This week there is still swimming lessons, still no time for naps, still none of her favorite foods, but this week there haven't been any fits. I just wish she could take a test and have a diagnosis. I just don't know if I want to keep testing the food or if I just want to let it go. Any thoughts?
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4 comments:
It's a tough call. I would wait until Lily is back in her routine, before reintroducing eggs into her diet. It tough when more than one variable changes to know which one is the culprit. Good luck
Mine used to throw similar fits when he was overly tired. Usually the screaming would tire him out and then he'd have a good sleep (as would we!). It would seem to me if the eggs caused an allergy it would show itself soon after eating it; it wouldn't wait a few days. When my cousin ate a mushroom without knowing it she was in the ER within a few minutes.
Lily's allergies have always manifested after a few days, her condition is thought to be due to a lack of the enzymes necessary to digest these foods or celiac disease, she is not allergic in the sense like your cousin which is a ig reaction. The tests indicate she does not have an ig reaction, no breathing problems or hives, just rashes and upset stomach, head ache and behavior issues. Mandy people believe that some forms of ADHD and Autism are the result or can be better managed by eliminating certain foods from their diet, a lot of the same food Lily has problems with. But, you are right there is no definitive reason to absolutely believe it is caused by the food. Previously I could see a physical reaction to the food, now it is just behavioral, which is subjective.
I guess what I am saying is that I feel that the food is the cause of a problem. The differences in her behavior is not black and white but my mother instinct tells me that it is different. But, I reserve the right to be wrong.
Have you talked to her doctor there? I believe that your at a pretty good hospital on that base. They may be able to send you to a specialist. Maybe it is time to do the tests again. What about any of the other foods that she is allergic to? Maybe try one of them out instead of the egg. I can't imagine how hard it is for you and for Lily to have to deal with all of this. Getting out of routine is probably a part of it, but I would not be surprised if the egg did have something to do with it. Talk to her doctors there.
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