Month 10

July 2008

Well, I found yet another bad corn product... I have been taking Vitamin C, as it is good for ridding the body of toxins, as well as for overall health. Since it is so hard to find supplements that are TOTALLY allergen free, I bought some straight Ascorbic Acid Crystalline Powder by NutriBiotic. The bottle says, "we use only 100% pure pharmaceutical grade ascorbic acid (USP-FCC) which contains no corn residue... persons allergic to corn or yeast can use this product with confidence." Apparently, were are among the 2% or whatever that cannot tolerate corn in any form... even when completely broken down. After the Vivonex incident, I should have know better... So there goes my Vit C supplement.

I had read that ghee (clarified butter) was ok for a dairy-free diet, as there are no milk proteins left in it. So I tried it, and thought that it was ok.... But after eating it for about a week, DD started showing a serious reaction. I should have known right away when I saw a fleck of blood in her poo- dairy is always what causes blood for her. I also have a feeling that there was something in the Jones cola that I drank- either in the caramel color (maybe dairy), or the natural flavors. So between those two things, the eczema got oozy and crusty again on her cheeks, and she had a brand new patch of it on her upper back. Actually, the spots on her back look suspiciously like hives, rather than eczema, which is a bad sign. It might mean an IgE (anaphylactic) allergy to dairy. (**Later update: I heard back from Jones, and they do use corn-derived products in their preservatives. :( So much for my corn-free soda...)

My current diet is this:
breakfast: buckwheat pancakes (buckwheat flour, water, flax [as an egg replacer], safflower oil, water), and some plain ground pork (pork, salt) sausage.
lunch: homemade chicken bone broth with thin rice noodles (pad thai style noodles) and sea salt
dinner: chicken, turkey, or pork with broccoli or zucchini and safflower oil

This diet actually seems to be ok with DD, and besides the few occasional flareup she seems to be clearing up really nicely!

The doctor ordered some Neocate E028 Splash for me to try. It does contain maltodextrin (which may be derived from corn), but no corn syrup solids like the Vivonex. DD seems to be tolerating it fine, so my plan is to do a 2-week run on it to get all the allergens cleared from my body and then slowly start reintroducing foods in my diet.

Finally got the full shipment of the E028 and started our trial. Just like in the first (one day) trial, DD was very itchy by the first night, and her face was slightly flared up by the morning. In the first trial, the redness went away by the afternoon, so I thought it must have been something other than the formula... Alas, this time the redness stayed. It wasn't a huge reaction, very mild- but definitely a reaction. And by day 3, my eczema behind my knee had returned, and my mystery rash on my thighs started to appear. So apparently, I can't tolerate the formula... and I think that DD is reacting to my reaction. So much for that experiment. Back to the buckwheat pancake diet.

Within a day of stopping the formula, DD's skin was almost totally clear. Within the next week, it flared up again... Now, I am convinced that she is reacting to one (or more) of the supplements that I'm taking. I will stop all supplements for a week and see how she does, then add them back in one at a time until we find the culprit.