My Life with Zoe

This blog is basically a diary about Zoe's allergies. She is my middle child, almost 3 years old this November. Back in June of 2011, we found out that Zoe was allergic to cashews. She ate a cashew cookie and 4 hours later after we had put her to bed, she had a swollen face, cauliflower ears, and was extremely restless, and itchy. We rushed her to the ER to find out that she is highly allergic to cashews. She was given prednisone, epinephrin, and benadryl. Once we were back in our home town we took her to see the allergist.

At her appointment, she was tested for other tree nuts, milk, corn, cat & dog dander, and found out that she is allergic to these things and has eczema, which was a surprise to us. The allergist told me, that she can have milk and corn in moderation. I do try to avoid it as much as possible and use goat cheese instead. Some of the allergies tested higher like cashews, almonds, corn, and dog. Then in January of 2012, she was having shortness of breath and wheezing from a chest cold. Since she is so young, we took her to the ER again. Upon the visit, she was given prednisone, epinephrin, and a nebulizer. At this point, whenever she has a respiratory infection/cough, she gets asthma like symptoms. Sometimes, it can be due to being around a dog, especially if she has been licked by one or if she has a cold, or environment.

Recently, this last June and also this month September 2012 she had a severe rash that was diagnosed as Atopic dermatitis (it looked like a bad case of chicken pox.) I took her to see her pediatrician and was given a oral antibiotic and emollient (cream) to help with the rash and itching. Since she has eczema, sadly it is normal for her to get these types of rashes.In between that time, we had gone camping and she had another asthma reaction. She was tested again by her allergist and tested positive for grass. As a mother, you feel terrible that your child is constantly itching and her diet has to be closely watched. Finally, after a lot of prayer I finally asked her pediatrician for a referral to see a Naturopath doctor (ND) for her rashes. Praise God, I got one that approved 3 visits.

We met her ND today and Zoe was given these suggestions to help her with the eczema and rash.

1. Avoid Gluten for 4 weeks (wow, really???)

Gluten foods:

Wheat
Spelt
Rye
Barley
Semolina
Soy sauce

Gluten-free Grains

Rice
Quinoa
Oats
Millet
Teff

Vitamins

Probiotic powder 1/4 tsp. daily (mix with water.)

All purpose salve applied to eczema as needed.

Nordic Natural chewables with DHA & EPA.

Vit D: 800 IU/day

Castor oil massage from right to left circularly on abdomen before bed.

My goal is to rule out what foods are triggering this eczema and frequent rashes. As for food allergies, once I cut them out of the diet my hope is to see an improvement in her skin and overall health.

Christina