Bridget E Coffman

Allison,

Good for you for figuring it out - and helping him to!

My son is allergic to dyes and some preservatives. The initial symptoms
are behavioural but if there is continued exposure he gets rashes and
asthma. He also has a problem with wheat. The terms allergy and
sensitivity are interchangeable in my mind and the mind of the old man
Physician we used to see. Not so much in the minds of these newer
"upstart docs" these days. But whatever you call it the symptons are the
same. When he eats wheat, he has severe intestinal problems. Bloating,
loss of bowel control combined with constipation (which is possible, I
never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it - over and over and
over), upset stomach, gas, gas, and more gas, etc. We have restricted
his diet for about two years now and if no caring person gave him a
"little treat' because we are so mean to him, he was for the most part,
fine. He is nine now though and I want him to assume more of the
responsibility for food choices so I started letting him cheat. A lot.
He was miserable. I sat him down and explained why he is sick and we
went over what he had been eating. He seems to have gotten it but I know
from experience that we will have to go through the cycle several more
times before he really gets it.
I've been through it before with middle daughter and milk and with older
daughter and corn. I control (and yes, I do believe that a three year
old may need some parental control in this issue) it long enough for them
to feel good (or get old enough to handle it) then I put the
responsibility on them, because I won't be here forever. 'Old enough'
was different for each one. Jenni was ready at 5, Rachel was never
really in my complete control and never will be, but I stopped trying to
get her to listen at about 9, and Wyndham is 9 and just starting to get
it.
Oh, BTW - I've been though it myself with several substances so I do know
what it is like to have to watch others eating something you can't have
and really like.
One thing you can do to help the diet go over better - find a good
natural food store and experiment. There are loads of wheat and
dairy-free products available if you know where to look. Jenni like
Tofutti best of the "ice creams". Barbara's Bakery is good for wheat
free stuff. And I found some cookies he liked but I forget the brand
name just now. There are lots of groups for this too. Most of them will
be more than willing to share recipes and stuff. But finding good
alternatives helps A LOT. For example, we made Mac and Cheese last night
for dinner. Wyndham has special corn pasta for his and Jenni eats plain
Mac or mixes plain mac into a spoonful on mac and cheese so she gets the
flavor with just a bit of milk, which she can handle occasionally.

Bridget

>
> My son has both eczema and asthma. I've never heard anyone claim
> that there are emotional factors involved with them. I have heard
> lots and lots of claims, and research, of the direct dietary factors
> involved. My son and I don't drink milk or eat wheat. Neither of
> us are allergic, but we are "sensitive" to them. Without them in
> our diet, my son no longer has stomach cramps, night terrors,
> eczema, his astma is under control without drugs, and his behavior
> has changed significantly (we both also have Tourette Syndrome, and
> the behavioral "co-morbidities" that go along with TS have
> disappeared.) My son hates his new diet, but is very, very happy
> with the changes that have gone on in his body. He'll get used to
> the diet eventually, and there is no way that I will allow him to go
> back to his old ways of eating. The diet hasn't caused me any more
> stress than eating the old way, it's just replaced the stress of
> having a sick, cranky, anxious, depressed child, with a healthy
> child who is generally not happy at dinner time.
>

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In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it
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