# Our story, 4 years and counting, recurring gassiness, pain, and rash



## Ariell (Jul 3, 2014)

She was born by C-section nearly a month early, due to ultrasound detection of a ruptured small intestine. Surgery went well, but the hospital stay produced a serious infection. She was on strong antibiotics and antifungals, but did not finish the antifungal course due to determining a bacterial cause. She was released with an illiostomy bag, and the illium was repaired two months later (large doeses of pain meds at that time).

At ten months she stopped nursing started regular table foods, by 18 months she began to have small rashes on her legs (our older daughter had a few of the same). These increased, while we decreased foods that might make her sensitive. We did not become fully holistic until she was about 2 yrs old.

By age 2-1/2 raging itchy hive rashes were worse and worse on her back, legs, neck, arms and chest until we reached the end of our ability to manage. They would break open and become very painful. We tried to remove things from her diet that were making it worse, but we were slow to discover what they were, and so we modified her diet to a 4 day rotation, and were successful to stop the rashes with a mild steroid cream.

her rashes were never totally defeated, she has had cycles of breakouts even on her modified diet, and she craves fruit and sugar. We had already tried to use holistic methods, including some funky tree bark tea which was supposted to be a killer to Candida.... it did not work. We also tried Enzymedica digestive enzymes for quite a while, but had no success, we 've tried various probiotics without success.

She had one panel done by blood work to determine Igg and IgE food sensitivities, which revealed several spices, nuts, and so forth, which is when the rotation diet started off (age 2-1/2)

At age 3 she developed cat allergies and although she doesn't have severe seasonal allergies, she has now developed other respiratory allergies. She has a nebulizer due to having a hard time breathing.

At age 4 she began to have respiratory problems on a regular basis, (persistent cough and wheezing which increased over this spring) and this led to us throwing out the mattress which was made of cheap polyurethane foam and fire retardants, this helped but several weeks ago she took a trip to gramma's house and gramma left the windows all open and this resulted in a huge breakout of the face and neck.

She had a blood test two weeks ago to test for anaphylactic allergies, and this revealed dog/cat and mold/fungus, but we don't' have the full results back yet.

In the last several days she had a severe reaction to something that made her face bright red and caused her previous rash (from gramma's) that was not healing to get worse. Her neck is constantly an open sore on each side and her lymph nodes on the back of the neck have been hard and swollen and getting slightly larger for several years.

She complains of stomach pain. Suffers from finger breakouts on the knuckles at night times and has panic attacks about that as well as other small patches of rash especially on the neck. She is nearly allergic to her own hair which is thin an curly and tickles her neck so that we have to stop her from scratching and pull her hair back.

The holistic doctor recently advised that her rash does not appear to be fungus of the skin, but I am concerned that it is a result of overgrowth of yeast/bacteria in her gut that are leading to toxic backlog of the blood coming through the skin. He also advised to stop eating coconut, which she is exposed and eats frequently (due to no dairy)

She is gluten sensitive and severely allergic on the skin to corn, oats, eggs, milk, spices, and all manner of chemicals. She is also allergic to the very fuzzy soft kind of polyester (such as stuffed animals) and must wear 100% cotton at all times.

Trips to the doctor always produce the same prescription - steroids. We refuse to use but the smallest amounts to get us by, because we know that is not a cure. I am concerned that a nerve or blood vessel in her gut was damaged or removed during surgery, which though life saving, did not give us any details or help as to any lasting effects. I also wonder about the illeocecal valve (between large and small intestine) and whether it works properly.

At about the same time or a little after all this, my wife has gotten skin allergies to the same foods as my daughter. It is also a concern that the flora profile of the two of them is the same, and that essentially, whatever flora profile she had, my daughter has, except that my daughter's immune system was not full grown. She just turned 5.

My current thoughts on treatment include a ketogenic diet, raw garlic, Pao d'Arco, Oregano essential oil pills, full scale antifungal medications......

She cried on me for ten minutes last night because she was extra tired that day and could not cope with the discomfort ......

God bless


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## IBS & Surviving (Jun 24, 2014)

I have crazy allergies from both sides of my family....grrrrr. Your poor little girl, at least I was an adult pretty much when all of my issues started. Here is everything my mom would advise and she is one of the smartest people I know:

Make sure you are not using any fragrance in soaps, laundry detergents, dryer sheets, perfume, lotion, shampoo, etc. and double rinse all laundry. Also, have you tried Benadryl for the rash? May need to use a different decongestant so you can avoid sugar, and all food coloring and preservatives. No bubble baths!!! Actually only use soaps on her skin if it is actually dirty. Really can use water for washing body almost every day. Baking soda for hair and vinegar to rinse every few days. Maybe check your water for contaminants also.

Good luck! You are such good parents to turn your world upside down to try to help her.


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## Ariell (Jul 3, 2014)

Thanks. I will have to see if my wife will quit on the special soap we use on her hair, it does have a fragrance, it's a pretty high end stuff all natural for curls and such, but it may have to go.

We use the soap nuts for her clothes but I don't know if that really cuts the grease or such, it is fully all natural and organic though. We use frgrance free everything. We even went to paper plates for a while to cut down on soap residue. Tonight I broke down and used some generic hydrocortizone on her face, but it helps only so much, almost none. But it may help her sleep a little bit.

We got the bill for the doctor call, he's just by phone, and he charges 6 dollars per minute..... that will be the last time with him....

Maybe I could have her eat some dirt. That might replenish some natural flora, I'm crazy enough to try it, not sure if wife will go along.

Have you tried using some essential oils, or strong herbs for your issues. We'd use them on her, but she's too little to do pills and wont do gross foods....


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## IBS & Surviving (Jun 24, 2014)

If she isn't having any gut issues anymore, it may truly be allergy problems that you need to address. I'm not saying they aren't related, because I think they are for me. Sounds like you have an Allergist you are working with, but a second or third opinion couldn't hurt.

I would not do any essential oils as these could be concentrated allergens for her, or quickly could become allergens for her! Might also try foods that have anti-inflammatory properties that she does not react to. You might research this. I know that orange juice is an anti-inflammatory, not sure about what else is. Probably chocolate. However, know that allergies can be like addiction and we crave that which makes us sick. If she craves fruits and sugar, OJ may not be a good solution for her. Chocolate is also a common allergen.

One other thing about food allergies, it can be a combination of foods. My sister can't eat pears and chocolate within 24 hours of each other. She decided to just give up pears for life rather than give up chocolate LOL keep this in mind that even on a rotation diet, you may keep giving her this combo frequently.

I've also heard of people who are allergic to fabrics other than natural fibers like cotton and wool. This would include elastic bands in underwear, and other fibers in sheets, blankets, coats, sweaters, socks, etc. No laying on rug/carpet unless it is cotton also. And no feather pillows.

As for dishes and rinsing, hmmmm, maybe try vinegar for rinsing those also if you are concerned about residue. Makes me think of another thing about her skin, no petroleum products i.e. Baby oil, Vaseline, could also be in the hydrocortisone and other ointments you use. The pharmacist will know and be able to advise on that I would think. You should also deep clean your washing machine as it may have hidden mold in it. 

It could also be a sun allergy. My mom took meds for a while that caused her to have a sun allergy and she had a reaction that was very much like what your daughter has.

Problem is, when you have severe allergies, you can develop allergies to other things in your environment that you are around at the same time as your severe reaction. I understand that you are frantically trying to figure this out, and with good cause! If you get the results from the blood tests and the doctor recommends allergy shots (actually histamine shots) go for it! I get these shots and they really help. I see a lot of little kids getting shots too. They can hurt, temporarily, but you feel better between times.

There are some clinics around the US for severe allergy immunology issues. I know there used to be one in Denver.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.


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