More Newbie Questions: Skin, Inflammation, Sinus Infections

[undfined]

Hi All -

I'm a 29 y.o. male living in the Denver area. Sorry for the long post. My short story and a few questions for ya:

I've had digestive issues since high school. Near the end of college I took a nutrition class where we kept a food diary. I was able to eventually notice that breads and pastas hurt my stomach and gave me D, so I cut wheat out and switched to spelt & ezekiel breads. Everything's been relatively fine until the past couple years (mostly after my daughter was born in early 2005 but especially since my son was born back in June).

I keep getting sinus infections. I installed a whole house humidifier last year but every time the kids bring home a cold I manage to get it. Then a week or two later I'm still congested and at the docs office for another antibiotic. I have had 3 infections since December alone.

My skin is also a lot drier than it has been. This keeps getting chalked up to getting older. I have an eczema type problem on the sides of my nose/under my eyes - religiously applying Aquaphor (nothing else worked) every night takes away the redness and most of the dryness, but I can steel feel the crusties and odd itch. My hands are cracking without daily or twice daily Aquafor treatments too.

I also have a persistent inflammation in my reproductive area for the last 5 years. No anti-inflammatory pills have worked and I've just been dealing with the dull pain. And the fatigue, while has always been there, is getting worse.

The doc gave me some Prilosec OTC with the Zithromax last week and that made me irritable all weekend so I stopped taking it. I popped a couple St. John's Wort to help the mood swings on Sunday evening and spent all day on the couch Monday completely sick, so I started the food journal again.



So here are the questions:

Anyone know a good doctor in the Denver area?

I'm not insured right now but will be in October (switching careers). I make decent enough money at the moment though, so I'm thinking of just ordering the tests online and finding out for myself now so I have one less thing to worry about. Yea or Nay?

I do all the cooking in our house. If I clean out all the gluten items from the pantry and breadbox, and settle on only making meals that satisfy my requirements, will I be depriving the rest of my family, nutritionally?

And finally: my son had troublesome gas when breastfeeding that kept him up all night and was extremely colicky all day. We fed him a bottle of formula one day and he got better. Then back to breastfeeding for a few more days. The gas was so bad that we had to stop breastfeeding him at 6 weeks. Complete turnaround then. The doc dismissed my concern for wheat and just told us to stick with the Enfamil. Now that he's eating solids he's perpetually hungry. We can't feed him enough. Eczema too. He's was an average 7 lbs 8 oz at birth but has been on the small side (lower 25%ile) since. He's also picked up his second ear infection since December. He's insured, thankfully. Is there a better way to approach the doctor with my concerns?

Thanks all for bearing with me.

[ostrich]

Welcome undfined! I'm a little short on time, but I'll try to help...

[nancw]

Hi Undfined,

I see Dr. Scot Lewey in Colorado Springs. Dr. Lewey's office website is here and check out his excellent blog. Without insurance any attempt at an official diagnosis (blood panel and endoscopy) will be expensive, though my insurance did pay for my testing.
You can do stool testing for gluten and a few other food sensitivities through Enterolab.

Sounds like mom and baby should be tested too, though testing is not reliable in kids<2 years old.

If you need help navigating GF waters in Denver, let me know.

Glad you found us!
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Nance

gluten, dairy, soy, rice, yeast and 99% grain-free

[undfined]

Thanks for responding guys. There's a lot ot think about and hopefully I'm on the right path this time.

The boy eats whatever is in front of him. From Steak to Sweet Potato Puffs. He's doesn't discriminate, yet. He's a good eater and still takes a bottle. He's had D for the past few days but since he's on antibiotics we have to blame those. I noticed he's had softer stolls since he started eating table & snacky foods, which raised my initial concerns. He's a small fry but he's looking good otherwise. Proportional, for a 9 month old. Just smaller than all the other 9 month olds.

The pregnancy went perfectly, so I don't know if mom needs testing. But I read gluten can pass through breast milk (our doc at the time said he didn't think it did, and we've switched docs since) which led me to my line of thinking.

I'm a DIYer (although usually intelligent enough to know when I shouldn't be) so I'm seriously thinking of going the Enterolab route. The book I was flipping through today mentioned these guys as well: http://www.immunoscienceslab.com/

I'm always open to restaurant recommendations. I'm up in Broomfield for now, moving (back) to Phoenix , AZ in October. I was reading Pho (Vietnamese rice noodle soup) is fine so I've was at Pho Duy yesterday. Today I ate a PF Changs - GF lettuce wraps and scallops in cantonese sauce.

My mood is getting better and the fog is lifting. Hopefully my little experiment works.

I dunno. The more I look into it the more I think it explains. I kinda settled on subtle misery as part of the human condition. I'm hoping I've been wrong and am on the right track. The move to Phoenix is to better our quality of life...but with all these little, sucky things going on the move won't matter.

So thanks again for your help.

[cruelshoes]

[jsb]

OK, to start with, I really get burning mad with the attitude of a lot of docs to breastfeeding. If the baby is having colic or reflux, it's ridiculous or too much trouble for mom to have to change her diet and probably won't work anyway. Here, have some formula instead. What, still having problems? Oh, your milk is all dried up now, so switch to a different formula. And then a different formula. (Meanwhile, baby's perfect first food is no longer an option, and might have been really good if only mom had been encouraged to experiment with her diet.)

Sorry, rant over now.

I wish you luck with your gluten-free trial and testing. I hope it gives you the help you're looking for. For the little one: I agree about starting to make him gluten-free. It's worth a try, and much easier to do it with a 9mo old who eats everything, than with a picky 2yo!

Jen
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Jen
GF since 10/07

[aklap]

Hi Undfined,

Welcome to the board! Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Dairy allergy is common in those with eczema. There's no definitive word on it, but some people notice an improvement when dairy is removed.

If you son is eating all the time and still small - has to make you wonder if there's an absorption problem.

You experience with your doc is common. Often they easily dismiss concerns about food intolerances or celiac disease. You might try looking for another doctor...one that might be more open to these concepts.

It certainly sounds like you are on the right track. Keep at it!
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[ostrich]

As a sort of footnote to what Colleen said, you might want to check this thread out.
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Ostrich :>--O==={

I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of