Allergy Journey Part 2

If you read my last post you have followed Bugg's journey to just over 6 months old. 

Things get more complicated from here on out.

We left the allergist encouraged to start solids and with minimal restrictions. 

We started with avocado which was a smashing success.

Spurred forward by or success we waited a week or so and introduced our second food... BANANA! 

It was love at first bite. She couldn't get enough and was shovelling it in as fast as she could pick it up. 

I wiped her down post bananathon and immediately noticed the hives...

I gave her Benadryl and monitored the situation. Two hours later she vomited twice before going back to normal. 

So back to the allergist we went, this time armed with a banana for testing purposes.

Her allergist was convinced the hives were a coincidence and likely a reaction to a virus that caused hives and vomiting. She tested her for banana just in case and it came back positive. She was still skeptical of her allergy and decided to run blood work and bring her back in three months for repeat testing.

At home we continued food trials 

She was doing alright in the skin department for the most part but her diapers were horrendous and getting worse. Her sleep was awful and she was in obvious pain all night long, every night.

I was eliminating any food I thought might be an issue [dairy, egg, peanut, all soy, banana, wheat, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, sesame seed, mustard seed, nightshades and corn] and she was still miserable. 

I decided that I needed to do a total elimination diet (TED) and try to

Pinpoint her problem foods. 

Now when you do a TED it is recommended that you take clean supplements to maintain good nutrition and it was my attempts to source the supplements locally that eventually led to some answers.

It was through a local natural

Moms Facebook group that I connected with a handful of fellow moms of FPIES kids. 

They were curious about our symptoms and journey and the more I explained the more convinced they were that FPIES was the answer to our mystery. 

I was confused because all I had ever heard about FPIES was focused on acute FPIES that comes with profuse vomiting and lethargy, neither of which had ever been an issue for us. 

They explained the world of chronic FPIES and recommended an amazing paediatrician who specializes in FPIES. 

We got referred to Dr. P as soon as possible and she placed Bugg on immediate gut rest and instructed me to start my TED [turkey, pork, potatoes, brown rice, zucchini, blueberries, coconut and cocoa]. 

After a few tough weeks we adjusted and eventually eliminated rice, turkey and zucchini as well. 

After about a month starting on the TED Bugg got her first baseline diapers in months and months and she dropped down to ~3 night wakes. 

Since we hit baseline we have had ups and downs. Teething always throws a wrench into the mix and cold so a real number on us. I have been able to successfully introduce sunflower seeds into my diet and was eating chia seeds and garlic for a while too. [I have since pulled the last two but I will go into that more in the next post.]

We have come so far, and step by step we are making more progress all the time. 💜