anyone have experience with a wheat allergy??

[wyattsmama]

a couple of months ago (some of you may remember) i took wyatt's pacifier away because we believed it was causing an awful rash on his face.

this is a picture from last week...
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll238/wyatts_mama/Westley039.jpg


well...it's obviously been a while, and the rash is still as bad as ever. we've just been waiting it out, but the other day my mom made a comment that it looked like it may be a wheat allergy. i was assuming it probably is a food related allergy, but just didn't have the energy to start weaning things out, not to mention i didn't even know where to start.
even after she told me that i just kind of went, oh well, whatever. but my aunt just discovered that she has an allergy to it. and she was talking about the way wheat makes her feel, and what she was describing sounds so much like wyatt's really odd behavior occasionally. so we took the jump. wyatt has been wheat free now for about 3 days, and the rash looks SO much better. i's definitely not gone, but i know it can take a while to get out of his system. i'm hoping it will clear up, and then i'll give him a wheat product to see if it starts up again so that we know.

so i'm curious if anyone here has a child who has one? or have one themselves? basically anybody who's had to deal with it and change eating habits. what are some good things you've found you can make as substitutes for things you would normally eat?? and has anyone experienced it before and had it pop out as a rash that looks similar to wyatt's?

[jellybeanmichelle]

I don't have experience with that personally.
Wheat is another word for gluten, right?
My new cousin-in-law can't have gluten.

[wyattsmama]

i don't know. i'm a little confused on that front.

it was looking to me like not being able to have gluten was something more strict than not being able to have wheat...and more related to celicac disease?? i really don't know the whole thing confuses me. i can't wait for his well child checkup soon so i can chat with his doctor.

[Colleen&Kail]

the little girl i used to watch couldnt eat wheat, that have SO MUCH stuff thats wheat/gluten free now.

[Lynette]

Gluten I believe is the protein in grains so it would be in wheat AND oats, barley, etc. Celiac's is a more involved digestive disease in regards to wheat and/or gluten, much more than just an allergy or sensitivity. I think if you do an elimination diet they should be free of the suspected allergen for 2 weeks before reintroducing it?

[hlebakos]

I have a friend who has diagnosed with a terminal illness and had months to live. SHe had two young children 9 months and 3 yrs. old at the time. After intensive research he mother came across info about gluten and after eliminating gluten from her diet, she progressed slowly and in now semi-healthy and living way after her supposed terminal illness.

I have been told that milk also has lots of negative effects on people. Billy has super dry skin and I was told milk can be a contributor to this condition although it is a hereditary "gift" that runs on my side of the family, icthyiosis epidemiaiousghkd something....

[Debbie]

My Aunts allergic to wheat ( among a great many other things). I think she eats Spelt bread. Maybe potato bread would be okay too :dunno Allergies are so frustrating. hope you get to the bottom of this soon.

[Lorah]

Lynette is correct, Celiac's is a digestive disease in regards to wheat and/or gluten, much more than just an allergy or sensitivity!!! The symptoms are typically drastic weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, intestinal pain, etc. basically people who have it feel too ill to do anything, and can't keep anything down. It runs in our family, so we are really careful with introducing anything wheat or gluten before about 1 year old. And we still look for the sighs and symptoms.

Yes, with elimination diets you generally cut out the suspect and don't reintroduce in at all for a minimum of 2 weeks. Some allergists will say 3 or 4 though because you want ALL symptoms to go away before you really start counting the "free" period.

If he was allergic to wheat he would probably never lose the rash because wheat and gluten is in pretty much everything. But you could still check.

If you do an elimination diet though you need to keep track of everything he eats. That way you know what else was eliminated too as often happens with elimination diets just because you typically feed certain items along with others. kwim.

It looks to me like a rash I have seen on my nephew (he is 3.5) after eating dairy and citrus fruits, strawberries, pears, and peaches. He is allergic to everything! And odd thing is the other 3 older kids and both parents have NO allergies AT ALL.....poor kid just got the short end of the stick.

Anyway....I'd def. do an elimination diet. The first items I'd try out were dairy and fruits. But you could easily take out wheat too. You can eliminated it all at the same time, wait until all symptoms are gone, and then add in one new item every 2 weeks and see what happens. It's A LOT of work, but SOOOOO worth it!

That's how we learned I can't have nitrites, nitrated, MSG, large quantities of avocados or bananas, or any artificial sweetners. And Maverick can't have raisins or large quantities of citrus fruits.

[CrystalD]

There are several people in my husbands family that have wheat allergies and they do not eat wheat, ever. They use subsititions and they say they don't even miss it.

Kayden used to have a rash around his face and we did an elimination diet. We found out that his body didn't like certain fruits and sugars (mainly from juice or fruits). We stopped giving him those things and it cleared up. Then after a couple of months I slowly reintroduced certain foods and now he is fine. He hasn't gotten the rash since.

Good Luck!

[wyattsmama]

ok...was able to purchase brown rice pasta, brown rice bread (which actually is pretty yummy, just a little funkier consistency than i'm used to), and some wheat/gluten free cereals. we'll see how it goes...

[Debbie]

Im not sure at what age they start but you could also just ask the MD to do an allergy skin test. That way youd get your answers sooner and more reliable.

[CrystalD]

ok...was able to purchase brown rice pasta, brown rice bread (which actually is pretty yummy, just a little funkier consistency than i'm used to), and some wheat/gluten free cereals. we'll see how it goes...

I Love TJ's brown rice pasta, brown rice bread, brown rice tortillas, Puffin Cereal, rice cakes, and corn tortillas!

I buy these items on a regular basis!!

[khanson]

Im not sure at what age they start but you could also just ask the MD to do an allergy skin test. That way youd get your answers sooner and more reliable.

They can also do a blood test for this age. We just did one for T because I was worried she might have a milk allergy. They were able to test for like 50 different things through the blood which was so much better than having to do a skin test at this age. I couldn't even imagine!

[wyattsmama]

wow, i will definitely ask his doctor at his next appointment. which i really need to schedule...but it's been such a hassle (we couldn't get one scheduled because the comp system was screwing things up for our doc, and now she's been called away on some type of person emergency, and they don't want us to go to anyone but her for his 2 year wc...so i'm just sitting around waiting until she comes back. and since i don't know how long that will be...)

[Debbie]

A lady I work with brings in Animal crackers from time to time from Barbara's Bakery in petaluma - they are organic oatmeal, wheat and gluten free. Very tasty