8 year old dd w/eczema - making me so drained and depressed!

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 10:57 am

B"H we don't have accidents or nightmares (in this kid at least Wink

) so others can sleep...just not him Sad

If we're not starting out GF but rather egg-free, I can pack matza sandwiches for now. I have a lot more leeway.
And then I'll become rich if I need to do a GF diet and send him $10 lunches every day Wink

Oh, also he can't take too much fiber and so a lot of fruits bother him. I have to limit it (he can eat apples ok, but not more than 1 one citrus fruit or peaches/apricots a day). And in the age of loose teeth, he's afraid to eat apples whole too often and he doesn't like them cup up because it turns brown. So he usually only eats them at home where he can cut it up and make it easier to bite. I'm not the type of person to send potato chips for snack, so making changes in the gluten snacks is also going to be challenging. Today I sent him peaches for one snack, but pretzels for another...I've gotten veggie straws which aren't terrible (if not really nutritious either) but they're not so cheap.

He loves salmon. If only I could afford to give it so often!

anonymrs

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 11:12 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

B"H we don't have accidents or nightmares (in this kid at least Wink

) so others can sleep...just not him Sad

Not all bread has eggs in it.

gryp

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 11:33 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

B"H we don't have accidents or nightmares (in this kid at least Wink

) so others can sleep...just not him Sad

For snacks I send one healthy snack for the morning and one unhealthy one for the afternoon (they gotta have their fun sometimes, right? Smile

) So for the morning they'll take something like: a clementine, a peeled orange, sliced grapefruit or canteloupe, cut up vegetables (peppers, celery, carrots, cukes, etc) or baby carrots, rice cake with pb or jelly or plain (I only get the more expensive things on sale), for afternoon I'll send either homemade cookies or tortilla/corn chips, potato chips, corn pops, or popcorn.

I know you saw this, but I'm writing it again: for cakes or cookies, 1/4 cup applesauce mixed with 1/4 cup rice milk = a substitute for 2 eggs. It works for almost everything. I also use it in cake-like kugels such as apple, sweet potato, or carrot.

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 12:02 pm

anonymrs wrote:

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

B"H we don't have accidents or nightmares (in this kid at least Wink

) so others can sleep...just not him Sad

Not all bread has eggs in it.

You're right -- I have recipes without egg. IY"H I'll start making from scratch again when my baby decides to let me do anything in the evening Wink

For now, I've been buying (and spending a fortune) and finding yoshon bread in the store without eggs might prove to be difficult.

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 12:05 pm

gryp wrote:

[
For snacks I send one healthy snack for the morning and one unhealthy one for the afternoon (they gotta have their fun sometimes, right? Smile

Thanks for the suggestions.
I need to start making granola bars again, and I can send that again as the "unhealthy" snack. I really am loathe to start out on the junk food route. It just grosses me out to think they're eating chips to fill them up Sad

I really appreciate that substitution formula -- gonna try this as soon as I get to the store again and get rice milk Smile

(Maybe I can use juice instead of it in some recipes? I made cake last Shabbos with OJ instead of non-dairy milk.)

anonymrs

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 12:12 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

anonymrs wrote:

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

B"H we don't have accidents or nightmares (in this kid at least Wink

) so others can sleep...just not him Sad

Not all bread has eggs in it.

You're right -- I have recipes without egg. IY"H I'll start making from scratch again when my baby decides to let me do anything in the evening Wink

For now, I've been buying (and spending a fortune) and finding yoshon bread in the store without eggs might prove to be difficult.

My dd is allergic to eggs, too. You might want to invest in a bread machine, if you want to cut down on the amount of time it takes to prepare these things. I find it very time-consuming to prepare food for my allergic dd.

If you are interested, I can give you my egg-free challah recipe.

gryp

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 12:18 pm

I hear you. This is the most junk food my kids have and I'm fine with that bit. Smile

I don't buy the snack size bags from the store either, I buy the big bags and pack them in ziploc bags so I can apportion how much is appropriate for each child.

Orange juice can probably work too, I'm not sure how well though because milk is more binding than juice (as far as the flours and everything sticking together). I have a choc chip cookie recipe that I started subbing 1/2 cup of orange juice instead of some of the oil, and it comes out really good. I'm not sure how it would work in everything though.

(By the way, I use oats because my kids aren't celiac, just sensitive, and grinding oats into a flour has worked for me for certain cakes/cookies that call for both oats and flour (like granola bars, oatmeal cookies, things like that). It's a way for me to save some money on the expensive GF flours. I use potato starch a lot too. I'm just saying this to give you some ideas for cutting out gluten, like you mentioned a few posts ago.)

gryp

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 12:20 pm

anonymrs wrote:

reposting bec n/o saw it:

My daughter is off tomatoes, dairy, and eggs, (and soy and nuts) but still has terrible eczema. I am using aquaphor daily but her face/eyes are still awful. She is always rubbing. Also, I can see that something bothers her inside because she is constantly rubbing her nose. She is a year old. Any advice?

Can it be that she has another allergy that you've missed? Maybe something in the environment like dust or mold?

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 1:32 pm

anonymrs wrote:

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

anonymrs wrote:

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

B"H we don't have accidents or nightmares (in this kid at least Wink

) so others can sleep...just not him Sad

Not all bread has eggs in it.

You're right -- I have recipes without egg. IY"H I'll start making from scratch again when my baby decides to let me do anything in the evening Wink

For now, I've been buying (and spending a fortune) and finding yoshon bread in the store without eggs might prove to be difficult.

I have a bread machine Smile

I guess if I left it out I could handle it with a fussy baby; it's a matter of shlepping it when I'm trying to do my best to calm her.

I have to get back on track as my grocery bills lately have been exorbitant.

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 1:39 pm

gryp wrote:

I hear you. This is the most junk food my kids have and I'm fine with that bit. Smile

I don't buy the snack size bags from the store either, I buy the big bags and pack them in ziploc bags so I can apportion how much is appropriate for each child.

Here too. My neighbors were shocked that I do that. "Don't they want what all the other kids have?" (well if they would stop, it would make it easier Wink

) "When you have to pack 4 lunches, you can't spend time doing that" (um, what do you think I do? I have the same amount of kids to pack for!)
Tortilla chips at least aren't potato chips. I can do that instead of crackers.

Quote:

Orange juice can probably work too, I'm not sure how well though because milk is more binding than juice (as far as the flours and everything sticking together). I have a choc chip cookie recipe that I started subbing 1/2 cup of orange juice instead of some of the oil, and it comes out really good. I'm not sure how it would work in everything though.

Thanks...trial and error time I suppose.

Quote:

(By the way, I use oats because my kids aren't celiac, just sensitive, and grinding oats into a flour has worked for me for certain cakes/cookies that call for both oats and flour (like granola bars, oatmeal cookies, things like that). It's a way for me to save some money on the expensive GF flours. I use potato starch a lot too. I'm just saying this to give you some ideas for cutting out gluten, like you mentioned a few posts ago.)

He was tested for celiac disease a few years ago, so I'm not really concerned about that at this point (I know it can come at any point, but he doesn't have any different symptoms). I am not cutting out oats quite yet unless I see a direct reaction like I do in my daughter who I'm positive is allergic (she eats oatmeal and has a rash around her mouth within minutes).
Going GF isn't terrible for most things -- kind of like making Pesach -- but it's the substitution of foods he gets at school and also maintaining the ability to make hamotzi that I have to work hard at. Someone in his class is going GF now and I want to speak to his mother about how it is going. They're friends, and if I do decide to go GF, at least he'll be together with someone like him.

But I have to do this all in baby steps. I can start with the eggs already. Progress to off tomatoes in the next couple days. Dairy starts tonight I suppose (since he has pizza today).
How long should it take to see some improvement?

gryp

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 2:56 pm

Having a friend eating similarly or even with restricted foods can make it much easier. At least it's a ray of hope. Smile

Tomatoes and eggs can be out of the system in just a few days, in my experience. Eggs might take longer than tomatoes.

Dairy, I think would need about 10 days, according to what I've read in different places. I would go dairy-free for 2 weeks and examine any differences in behavior. Then stick it out for one more week to be sure of what you're seeing. At the end of three weeks, I would give dairy twice in one day, stop and examine behaviors again. You'll have your answers. I tested a few times to be sure.

Gluten takes much longer. It can take about 3-4 weeks or even more than that. I think it depends on the person and how sensitive they are and how much they eat it.

It's funny about not buying snack-size bags. I grew up without having the little bags everyone else did so I know my kids can too. Smile

Once in a while if it goes on a big sale I'll buy the little snack bags just so they can feel like the other kids, and if they saved .35 and want to buy their own bag, I certainly don't stop them. One of the first words my kids learn to read is: Original Flavor. LOL. As opposed to BBQ, Onion & Garlic, etc.

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 6:15 pm

We had a big boy, mature discussion about this. I said I think wheat might be causing it but I know it's hard not to eat it, so we'll start with some easier things.
When I was looking at the whole wheat bread I bought (it is eggless Smile

), he decided to try to avoid wheat as well.
So we'll be sending tuna to school tomorrow (mayo-less I guess) and he'll have apple and veggies from the school lunch. Snacks will be applesauce and veggie straws I suppose.
I have no idea what to do about hamotzi though. I can't quickly make a wheat free hamotzi and I can't go shopping if I could even get something yoshon that is wheatless.
He's eating chickpeas for supper tonight Smile

mammala120

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 6:55 pm

for those of you who have stayed on top of diet and still see no improvement, have you payed attention to environmental exposure such as laundry detergent, house cleaners, chlorox gives me rash instantly.

important to consume fish oil like cod liver oil siince it has vit d already and probiotic is a must.
also what worked for my toddler is coconut oil. no it is not a NUT it is fruit coconut that can be applied to eczema. also aloe vera gell applied can help.

my baby was allergic to milk and tomatoes and all acidic and eggs and bunch of other things. I nursed her and took mega doses of probiiotic, immunde defense by zahlers, coconut oil, multivitamin and fish oil and now she is baruch hashem, blin ainhara free from eczema and all allergies. she was breaking out from birth depending on what I ate and I could not start her on solids due to her allergies, now after treating her with probiotics and coconut oil and my self with rest of above mentioned supplements she is is almost 2 and can eat everything blin ain hara.
oh yes and I had to switch to hypoallergenic laundry detergent and no chlorox

gd luck

ra_mom

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 7:46 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Can you send a container of rice with him to school? Or does it really have to be a Hamotzi?

gryp

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 8:01 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Wow. He is a big boy!

I wish I could give you the box of organic spelt matzah I have sitting here that my boys can't eat.

I can't help you with hamotzi though, my kids haven't washed in 3 months except the one time I made them Seraph's cornbread recipe with oat flour substituted for... another flour in there, can't remember. (For some reason they didn't like it, I'm not sure why, it smelled so good. I didn't taste it because of my aversion to GF food, but) the recipe was pretty simple.

mushkie

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 8:09 pm

I have a one year old who had terrible terrible eczema starting b4 he was 3 months old - itchy all over all the time, no skin - just cracks and blood and oozing out. I also tried many things and finally found what he is allergic to, and what I can do about it.

I want to point out that a miracle cream for one person can be a horrible cream for someone else because of allergies to the ingredients (which further irritate the eczema). and if anyone wants to borrow a cream to see if it will work for them, pm me. we can open a pharmacy with the creams in our closet. (none of them worked. when we figured out what caused the eczema and took care of it, he got better)

if you are going crazy and are willing to invest, I would recommend doing NAET treatment. I do it with my child and myself and we have both had tremendous results. been at it for almost a year and know 3 other ppl personally who it helped. it's an allergy elimination program. it is a process (takes time to see results), and you need a good dr for it, but it stays for life. it's the only thing that worked for our eczema situation.
pm me for details

MaBelleVie

Mon, Jan 09 2012, 8:49 pm

In case anyone is interested, this is the wheat-free, egg-free, hamotzi bread I make in the bread machine. I got it from a poster here named arthurdent.

A few notes: you can make your own oat flour by whizzing oats in the food processor. I use Ener-G egg replacer successfully for this recipe. The dough is very fluffy and not really workable, so I use two spoons to scoop it into muffin tins and it bakes beautifully that way. I freeze it fresh in freezer bags, and it tastes best when you reheat wrapped in the oven, or microwave- it tends to get crumbly if you just defrost.

1 2/3 cups of very warm water
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vinegar
10 squirts honey (I used agave syrup)
1 ½ tsb salt
4 eggs plus 1 white
½ cup sugar
3 ¾ cup oat flour (can be diluted/substituted with 3/4 cup of brown rice flour)
3 tsp xanthan gum
1 Tbs yeast

Directions:

Follow directions for your bread maker when adding ingredients. Some models require dry ingredients be put in first while others require liquids.
Select dough only mode. When finished dough can be placed in any size or shaped pan. Use extra egg yolk and pastry brush to coat the top of challah, add poppy seeds if desired.
Bake at 375 for approximately 20 minutes (depending on size of pan) or until bottom brown.