Elimination Diet: Day 2... already frustrated.

Well I started Sam on yet another elimination diet 2 days ago.  This is the first time I am only watching his diet and not mine, because I am no longer nursing him.  (As a side note, it was much easier on him than I thought it would be to quit nursing cold turkey.  He threw a good 3 hour tantrum the first night, and since then he hasn't even tried to nurse. In fact usually in the morning he comes in my room and pulls my shirt up and helps himself - sorry for the visual- but today he crawled in my bed and pointed to the stairs and said "FOOD!"  Haha. Obviously he gets it!)

My plan was to cut out all nuts, dairy, eggs, wheat, corn, soy, oats, and citrus fruits.  Oats are not usually a top allergen but last week I tried an oatmeal bath with Sam and it completely backfired. What you do is blend a cup of oats really fine, and blend it in with the bath water. It is called colloidal oatmeal and is supposed to have healing and itch-soothing properties. Moms online with eczema babies and kids raved about this treatment. I had such high hopes! Well, it wasn't 5 minutes after sticking him in that bath that he got SO itchy and could not stop scratching.  Sam is itchy a lot of the time, but I have never ever seen him scratch in a bath. Usually the water soothes him. He eats oatmeal a LOT, so I thought, maybe he is allergic to it.  Its obvious whatever food or foodS are causing his eczema is something he eats all the time. Unfortunately there are about 15 to 20 food he eats regularly so it is no easy task figuring out which ones are the trouble.

So the first two days went well and his face and eyes were looking great. I can always tell if his body is actively reacting to a food by his eyes. Only problem is they don't always flare up while eating the food, it can be within 2 hours it is still difficult to pinpoint which food caused it.  This morning when he woke up I thought his face was looking so good, and other parts of his body seemed to be clearing a bit.   Unfortunately, by the afternoon he was a mess again, eyes and face all red and blotchy.  I have been trying to eliminate the top 8 allergens and citrus which can aggravate eczema, but there are others that are common offenders I was hoping I would not have to include.  The big ones that seem to be tied to eczema are potatoes, strawberries, and tomatoes, all things Sam loves and all things he ate today.   Tomorrow those will go on the elimination list.

So what can he eat?   Peaches, pears, bananas, apple sauce, white rice, brown rice, beans, avacado, rice milk... veggies except for potatoes and tomatoes. Turkey, beef, chicken (Actually beef is a top allergen but I'm not eliminating meats unless there are no improvements, I just don't suspect them very strongly.) This is going to be a very boring diet for him.  I need to make some bean soups or something.

Oh by the way I am writing this in bed with Sam laying next to me. He is scratching his arms to death, and I am stressing out over his broken skin. It has been so horrible these past couple of weeks since we quit the hydrocortisone. The only meds I feel like I can safely give him is Benadryl. He takes it 4 times a day and I don't know if it takes the edge off but whatever it does is not much.  He gets horribly itchy at night so no matter the weather I dress him in long sleeves and long pants, all cotton, with two pairs of high socks pulled up over his pants. The socks used to keep him off his poor feet (which are the WORST on his entire body, I swear he's had a permanent rash on his feet since he was 6 months, its the one spot where it never goes away)  but now he's figured out how to rip off any number of sock layers and his little ankles and the tops of his feet are just ripped up bloody.  He is starting to do this with his hands and arms now.  My heart just aches. I have been praying all day for inspiration to know how to help him. I feel so helpless.

I will be calling his pediatrician tomorrow (who I really can't stand and don't trust) because I want him to see Sam at his worst and I think we'll need a prescription for antibiotics. When eczema kids rip their skin open like this, it is very dangerous because bacteria can get inside and cause scary problems.   The only thing is after the antibiotics (usually 10 days) I think it will be awhile again before he can be tested, this is the problem with blood testing, something always prevents it when you need it.   The antibiotics will also clear his skin beautifully, which you'd think would be a good thing, but it won't last longer than he is taking them and will just mess with my ability to measure the results of the elimination diet.

Sigh.

I am so sorry little guy. :(