need some guidance

[crankymomma]

I also posted this on the mothering.com board as well.  But I wanted to post it here as well just in case there were others here with any suggestions.

[crankymomma]

opps brain-fog..i forgot to paste it

Ok-where to start?!

I have been reading so many websites and forums and now my head is spinning, so if I please forgive my jumbled intro...I am a breastfeeding mom of a 4.5 month old baby. He had normal poop's for the first few weeks after his birth and since than off and on green diarrhea, mucousy, intermittent blood specks of blood in his poop. After being told it was a virus for the couple months by his pediatrician and that it just needed to work itself out, I decided to listen to my gut instincts and investigate it further. I know it is food intolerance related as the more I have read and playing around with my diet seems to improve them. I've been top 8 free for well over a month (maybe even longer), plus corn. I had gradually started taking things out of my diet but as soon as I stopped eating big proteins (beef, chicken, legumes) I did see less mucous and blood. I went ahead and took him to a pediatric allergist and he was skin pricked. Everything came back negative except he is allergic to walnuts. I started the TED consisting of turkey, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, squash and zucchini last week. It wasn't until I cut out the turkey that his stools showed improvement. They seemed more normal by Saturday, with curdles and no mucous. I was estatic to be able to try and eat other things. I indulged Saturday night on rice and kimchee. Sunday morning his stools are back to diarrhea. Now I am back to living off of squash and potatoes. The probiotic should arrive tomorrow so I will be starting those for him and I. Any other suggestions?

Oh, I don't know if this relevant or not but I do have interstitial cystitis (bladder), though it subsided while pregnant, which leads me to think it may be hormone related. I do have MTHFR and was taking 1 mg of folic acid (prescription) a day. Should I still be taking it? The doctor said it only is really a big deal when pregnant. I have other symptoms of possible leaky gut, maybe yeast problems. As well as numerous medicinal and environmental allergies with asthma.

Where do I start? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Kathy for corresponding with me last week! I appreciate it!

[Yvonne LV]

At 4.5 months old, I wonder if it is a problem of oversupply of your milk. Have you looked into that too?

"Occasionally, blood in the stool may be due to breastmilk oversupply. Per Dr. Jack Newman, bloody stools in some babies have been eliminated completely by resolving mom's oversupply. This can be done by following the usual management procedures for oversupply; it can also be helpful to use breast compressions to increase the amount of fat that baby gets while nursing." -- kellymom.com http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/bloodystool.html

[crankymomma]

Hi Yvonne!

I actually have looked into it. Kellymom.com is the first website that I went to before I even consulted with the pediatrician. I feel that is not the issue after I followed the suggestions and started block feeding and still had the abnormal diapers.

Thank you for responding. =)


Yvonne LV said:

At 4.5 months old, I wonder if it is a problem of oversupply of your milk. Have you looked into that too?

"Occasionally, blood in the stool may be due to breastmilk oversupply. Per Dr. Jack Newman, bloody stools in some babies have been eliminated completely by resolving mom's oversupply. This can be done by following the usual management procedures for oversupply; it can also be helpful to use breast compressions to increase the amount of fat that baby gets while nursing." -- kellymom.com http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/bloodystool.html

[Yvonne LV]

OKay. :) Just wanted to be sure that was covered. I always have oversupply for the first 6 months. Annnoooooying. but nice of course. I had to do 12 hour block feeds as I had so much oversupply!


Have you tried bifidus for kids?

[crankymomma]

I am not sure what bifidus for kids is, a probiotic? I just started the baby and myself on some probiotics from GI ProHealth with several different strains, supposedly.

Yvonne LV said:

OKay. :) Just wanted to be sure that was covered. I always have oversupply for the first 6 months. Annnoooooying. but nice of course. I had to do 12 hour block feeds as I had so much oversupply!


Have you tried bifidus for kids?

[Yvonne LV]

Yes, it is a probiotic - a specific strain that is meant for babies/young kids.

crankymomma said:

I am not sure what bifidus for kids is, a probiotic? I just started the baby and myself on some probiotics from GI ProHealth with several different strains, supposedly.

Yvonne LV said:

OKay. :) Just wanted to be sure that was covered. I always have oversupply for the first 6 months. Annnoooooying. but nice of course. I had to do 12 hour block feeds as I had so much oversupply!


Have you tried bifidus for kids?

[Jae Jones]

It sounds like he's having problems with animal protein. It is rare but does happen. I had the same problems as an infant and I do fine on a vegan diet. Just make sure he gets B12 because that is the one thing you really need to take a pill of! The sublingual form is the best. Also note that intollerances are not detectable by allergy test. It's a whole trail and error, test foods and see how he reacts process that can literally take years to sort out! While your breast feeding, you should avoid meat since that seams to be a major problem for him. If you feel you need to eat meat, I would advise making up several days to a weeks worth of bottles, then eat your meat for a day or two then let your system clear for a few days before going back to breastfeeding him again.
I have never tested positive for any allergies even though I've had anaphalactic shock reactions several times! The test are not always accurate because they usually only test 1 or 2 different immunogobulins and there are others that can be reacting to the allergen! Its all very complicated!
Anyway, here is a site on raising healthy vegan kids, since your son seems to have problems with animal protein... http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/treatmentguides/veganchildre...
He probably will have problems with cow milk as well! Your milk is different because you are the same type of animal and you are his mother! Breastfeeding can help minimize food allergens in children and as they get older, so it it good that you are doing that. Have you tried fish at all? I was able to eat fish when I was younger but developed an allergy to it as an adult. I have a lot of other health factors at play now and I wasn't breast fed! I know it's so overwhelming when your whole family is raised with a meat & potato mentality and then food allergies/issues throw a curve ball at you! Your son can be healthy and live a long fulfilling life! And respecting his food issues and keeping those foods out of his system will help prevent illness and more food allergies from developing! :)

crankymomma said:

opps brain-fog..i forgot to paste it

Ok-where to start?!

I have been reading so many websites and forums and now my head is spinning, so if I please forgive my jumbled intro...I am a breastfeeding mom of a 4.5 month old baby. He had normal poop's for the first few weeks after his birth and since than off and on green diarrhea, mucousy, intermittent blood specks of blood in his poop. After being told it was a virus for the couple months by his pediatrician and that it just needed to work itself out, I decided to listen to my gut instincts and investigate it further. I know it is food intolerance related as the more I have read and playing around with my diet seems to improve them. I've been top 8 free for well over a month (maybe even longer), plus corn. I had gradually started taking things out of my diet but as soon as I stopped eating big proteins (beef, chicken, legumes) I did see less mucous and blood. I went ahead and took him to a pediatric allergist and he was skin pricked. Everything came back negative except he is allergic to walnuts. I started the TED consisting of turkey, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, squash and zucchini last week. It wasn't until I cut out the turkey that his stools showed improvement. They seemed more normal by Saturday, with curdles and no mucous. I was estatic to be able to try and eat other things. I indulged Saturday night on rice and kimchee. Sunday morning his stools are back to diarrhea. Now I am back to living off of squash and potatoes. The probiotic should arrive tomorrow so I will be starting those for him and I. Any other suggestions?

Oh, I don't know if this relevant or not but I do have interstitial cystitis (bladder), though it subsided while pregnant, which leads me to think it may be hormone related. I do have MTHFR and was taking 1 mg of folic acid (prescription) a day. Should I still be taking it? The doctor said it only is really a big deal when pregnant. I have other symptoms of possible leaky gut, maybe yeast problems. As well as numerous medicinal and environmental allergies with asthma.

Where do I start? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Kathy for corresponding with me last week! I appreciate it!

[Brandy Lance]

The stools sound exactly the same as what my son had when he was an infant. Slimy, green stools became the norm for him after about 2 weeks of the mustard seed poos. I ended up seeing a chiropractor who does Applied Kinesiology and he discovered that my son was sensitive to foods that I was eating. It ended up that corn was a really big one for him. Once I removed it from my diet (along w/ all of my own sensitivities) his stool cleared up and became normal. So I'd say good for you for listening to your intuition. Another of my chiro's said that skin pricking isn't really the best way to test for allergens because the body will react unreliably to a "food" pricked in to the skin where it normally doesn't end up. He said that a blood draw is more effective as well as muscle testing (applied kinesiology). I think that AK is the best way to go personally because it isn't at all invasive and the mom can be tested for the baby. If you can find a chiropractor in your area who does AK then you might consider it. It's SO much easier than removing everything from your diet and then adding it back in. It takes the guessing out of it all and can provide faster relief to your baby.

Good luck! I know it's hard when you know something is wrong but can't pinpoint the problem.