Makenzie’s Food Sensitivities

When we took Alex off of Gluten, it was easier to have Kenzie on the diet too.  When she started eating table foods, I wasn’t extremely cautious with the gluten because I thought she might be different. Wrong. Her symptoms presented differently then her brother.  Since she was born, she had an extreme case of eczema covering her body. It would be off and on, sometimes she would wake up with swollen eyes and dark circles.  I would schedule pictures all the time and then have to cancel because of a break-out.

I tried everything…I took out fragrances, parabans, and went to all natural soaps and detergents. I do think this helped to a point, but only because it was just better for us and the environment. (We try to be as green as possible without breaking the bank.) I took her to a dermatologist who gave us some cream and sent us on our way. He just told us that some people have eczema and their wasn’t much we could do.  Anyone that knows me, knows that I wouldn’t give up that easily.

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Our next trip was to see a Pediatric allergists. We did the skin testing on her back. Trying to get a 3 year old to hold still for 30 min. was not easy!  He came back into the room to tell me that she didn’t have any allergies. NONE!  My daughter had swollen eyes, has a rash all over her body, and at that time had started showing signs of autism. (She did end up being diagnosed with Aspergers.) She had started having severe tantrums and withdrawing from the world. She seemed distant and unable to retain information. It felt like we were losing her.

I was running out of idea’s on how to fix this one.  So, like with Alex, I quit listening to doctor’s and started doing my own research. I decided to completely cut out gluten and see what happened. (It can take up to year for some people to get gluten completely out of their systems.) I knew it wouldn’t be a quick fix. It did get a little better… She was still miserable with the itching and swollen eyes.  I couldn’t understand how she didn’t have one single allergy!!!

Then one day, a miracle would happen.  I walked into a health food store to do some shopping for fragrance free soaps to try.  The owner asked me if I needed any help finding anything. “No, just trying to find some soap for my daughters eczema.”  She asked me if she had been tested for food allergies. I told her yes, but they said she was negative. That was the moment that I was told about Dr. Lamse for the first time. She told me about her and her daughter getting tested for food sensitivities. It had cleared up both of their eczema.  I had no idea you could even be tested for such a thing. She gave me the doctors number and we made an appointment right away.

We met Dr. Lamse and discussed Makenzie’s symptoms.  By this time, I was getting really worried because she had begun stemming and having severe tantrums. I felt helpless.  She had begun having tantrums, spinning, and the skin rash was still hanging on despite everything I was doing.  Dr. Lamse then explained to me that food sensitivities can be just has bad on people as regular allergies.  Food sensitivity procedures that Dr. Lamse uses is a test that checks IgG  antibodies or a prick test for IgE . After getting the results you do a food rotation plan to see if the foods are a problem. http://www.lamseclinic.com/

I was on pins and needles waiting on that test.  When we went back for the results we would discover that Kenzie in fact had sensitivities to dairy, peanuts, almonds, and tested at moderate for gluten. Which she hadn’t been eating, so the fact that it showed up at all made me sure she was a definite problem. Most likely she doesn’t have celiac, but since she doesn’t eat gluten we may never know for sure. It is in the family, so we will always have it in the back of our minds for future reference. All I know is that gluten makes my kids miserable!

We took out all of the offending foods.  At first she got worst…Come to find out this is normal. Then one day, she woke up completely cleared up and swollen free. Her behavior changed, too. No more tantrums and the stemming got better. Although, she does have high functioning autism, I know it would be even more severe had we not met Dr. Lamse. 

The rash would show up here and there, again. I then found that the soap I was using had wheat germ oil in it. After removing all gluten, dairy, peanuts and almonds she is eczema free.  We always know when she has accidentally got a food, because sure enough she will wake up with circles under her eyes or get a touch of the eczema. 

What amazes me the most? At the time we did this test it wasn’t covered by insurance because it wasn’t medically proven!  Well….to those scientists and doctors look at the pictures!!!!!!!!!!  (As of 2011 some companies do cover the test with insurance.) I hope more people will start to see what food sensitivities and allergies can do to a person.  How simply changing your diet can save you from a lifetime of heartache. 

As for us…We are forever grateful to Dr. Lamse for changing our lives and giving us answers.

Side note:  NeuroScience www.neuroscienceinc.com now offers a food sensitivity test that is covered by some insurances. I just had the test done for myself. Also you can visit Dr. Lamse’s website: http://www.lamseclinic.com/

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gluten sensitivity (GS) encompasses a collection of medical conditions in which gluten has an adverse effect. For individuals with gluten-sensitive enteropathy, removal of gluten generally results in the restoration of villus architecture or lower lymphocyte densities in the intestine.With some sensitivities, improvements may be seen in the neurological state, but a clinical finding may not be clear.  GS also can affect blood chemistry,treatability of certain autoimmune diseases, and/or an untreated improvement in autoimmune conditions.