Progress Report on Dr. Visit
We saw Baby E's pediatrician, Dr. B, today. DH went in with me, which was very nice. It was good to have the extra support and help with remembering info. and keeping track of the kids.
I took in lots of information--all my charts and journals from June through November and a number of other things I'd printed out, such as my 15-month summary.
Dr. B kept some of it to look over later, talked through some of it with us, and listened.
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He said the only thing he can do at this time is try to bug the GI specialist to see us sooner. Dr. B seemed to think it was conceivable that most if not all of what's going on with Baby E could be allergy-related, but did want us to see the GI doctor and rule out some things that way. He also gave us a kit to send a stool sample to be tested for blood in case she has another tarry black stool.
I'm putting together a packet of all the information I've gathered to send to the naturopath, too, and will have a phone consultation with her toward the end of the week. I'm not sure yet whether I'll send a copy to the allergist at this point or not.
Dr. B wasn't too impressed with the allergist's claim that it's almost impossible for a child to be allergic to more than 4 things, etc. He also didn't think the nasal spray the second allergist had prescribed was the most appropriate approach if allergies were at issue. He suggested that we try an antihistamine, and (unlike the allergist) is willing to prescribe whichever one I find information on that's free of or can be compounded free of E's allergens.
Interestingly enough, in compiling the records from June through November, a few patterns did emerge. Many of the "unexplained" bad spells took place after eating mushrooms, oats or apples.
The mushrooms, even though they were only borderline positive on the allergy test, were very clearly correlated with bad spells. She reacted every time we ate them. I think we can confidently say she's definitely allergic to mushrooms.
Dr. B pointed out that a mushroom allergy makes perfect sense, considering that it's a fungus and we already knew Baby E was allergic to mold.
The other items we ate much more frequently and I probably didn't always note when we had them, so it's harder to tell how much correlation there was with those.
Still, most of October was one big bad spell and there's nothing food-related but the possible gluten issue that we're aware of that could explain most of it. However, the gluten theory doesn't really seem to hold water because Baby E has been eating just as much gluten in November and has been feeling much better, although still having quite abnormal bowels.
As Dr. B said, Baby E seems to be thriving and healthy other than the fact that she's miserable so much of the time. She's probably not seriously ill, but whatever is going on is obviously making her very uncomfortable and seriously disrupting our family life.
Dr. B wants to work with us on finding some solutions to hopefully help restore some normalcy and make life a little more manageable.
I took in lots of information--all my charts and journals from June through November and a number of other things I'd printed out, such as my 15-month summary.
Dr. B kept some of it to look over later, talked through some of it with us, and listened.
##################
He said the only thing he can do at this time is try to bug the GI specialist to see us sooner. Dr. B seemed to think it was conceivable that most if not all of what's going on with Baby E could be allergy-related, but did want us to see the GI doctor and rule out some things that way. He also gave us a kit to send a stool sample to be tested for blood in case she has another tarry black stool.
I'm putting together a packet of all the information I've gathered to send to the naturopath, too, and will have a phone consultation with her toward the end of the week. I'm not sure yet whether I'll send a copy to the allergist at this point or not.
Dr. B wasn't too impressed with the allergist's claim that it's almost impossible for a child to be allergic to more than 4 things, etc. He also didn't think the nasal spray the second allergist had prescribed was the most appropriate approach if allergies were at issue. He suggested that we try an antihistamine, and (unlike the allergist) is willing to prescribe whichever one I find information on that's free of or can be compounded free of E's allergens.
Interestingly enough, in compiling the records from June through November, a few patterns did emerge. Many of the "unexplained" bad spells took place after eating mushrooms, oats or apples.
The mushrooms, even though they were only borderline positive on the allergy test, were very clearly correlated with bad spells. She reacted every time we ate them. I think we can confidently say she's definitely allergic to mushrooms.
Dr. B pointed out that a mushroom allergy makes perfect sense, considering that it's a fungus and we already knew Baby E was allergic to mold.
The other items we ate much more frequently and I probably didn't always note when we had them, so it's harder to tell how much correlation there was with those.
Still, most of October was one big bad spell and there's nothing food-related but the possible gluten issue that we're aware of that could explain most of it. However, the gluten theory doesn't really seem to hold water because Baby E has been eating just as much gluten in November and has been feeling much better, although still having quite abnormal bowels.
As Dr. B said, Baby E seems to be thriving and healthy other than the fact that she's miserable so much of the time. She's probably not seriously ill, but whatever is going on is obviously making her very uncomfortable and seriously disrupting our family life.
Dr. B wants to work with us on finding some solutions to hopefully help restore some normalcy and make life a little more manageable.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 11:52 AM[Permanent link]
12 Comments:
Is it possible that in October there was some sort of seasonal/environmental problem as well? Perhaps a low-level irritant that would make everything else just seem that much worse?
"Baby E seems to be thriving and healthy other than the fact that she's miserable so much of the time."
That made me laugh. Was Dr. B aware of the irony of such a statement?
Otherwise it sounds like a good visit. I'm glad you have some doctors who are trusting that you do know your daughter better than they do!
I'm glad the charts are helping you to pinpoint things more specifically. And, now that you have them, you can be that much more clear in your future record keeping. For me, at least, that would make life seem so much more in control amidst the "out-of-control-ness" of it all.
Hooray for Dr. B!!!! I'm so glad that you have at least one doctor that is willing to listen and be supportive.
Well, there's something that Baby E and I have in common: mushrooms make me miserable, too! Stupid fungi.
Glad to hear the visit went reasonably well and that Dr. B is interested in helping you decipher your charts.
I agree with Amy that that was a pretty funny statement!
parodie may have a point about October. I would guess that is prime leaf mold season, as the leaves fall and rot. Do you have an info on when you had leaves lying around in your area? Though I guess if November was better that might not be the answer, unless you got frost in early November which I think would kill off the molds. (I'm mostly guessing, though.)
Yay! This appointment sounds ten times better than previous ones. I'm glad that Dr. B is willing to listen and help out with prescriptions.
On another note, though, I'm sorry that Baby E and Phantom are allergic to mushrooms. Stupid, tasty, fungi.
I love Dr. B! You certainly deserved a good appointment after the string of bad ones.
Glad the chart is helping but I wish you were able to truly pinpoint the problem.
parodie and madeleine, the environmental allergy theory is an interesting one, and I'm sure it could contrubute.
But the weather and everything has been about the same. Also, if that were the case it would seem odd to have that one week of green days in the middle of all the orange to purple ones, just happening to coordinate exactly with being on the 5-ingredient elimination diet.
I don't know . . . but you do have a good point, and that's not a variale I've been taking into account. I should find a local website to check on the daily allergen charts and add that information to my record-keeping.
Something is obviously high today, given my excessively itchy nose and throat.
Amy, he did kind of give a wry chuckle when he said that. He's the one who said the thing about "disrupting our family life."
The charts are very useful; thank you both again for helping with them.
Phantom Scribber, do you get the same kinds of symptoms with mushrooms as you do with mold and other environmental allergens, or different symptoms?
madeleine, Baby E was out helping DH rake leaves on Saturday and was in a great mood all day Saturday and Sunday.
Jane Dark, I really do like Dr. B.
I like mushrooms, too. :(
CCW, I'm really hoping we can get more answers soon!
For my friends who have environmental allergies, especially mold, October seems to be a bad month for them because of the leaves, etc. Just yesterday a friend was saying she goes on her allergy meds every year just for October.
Sounds like the doctor visit was productive, or more productive than previous ones....
You know, chichimama, now you've got me thinking . . . on Nov. 6th I took the hamster cage out to the garage because the smell was bothering me. I think the litter grows mold spores almost immediately within a day or two of its being changed. Baby E has had mostly green and yellow days since then.
Very interesting . . .
Sorry, I should have checked back in earlier. Yes, I do get the same symptoms from mushrooms that I get from exposure to mold. In my case, that's migraine-style sinus headaches (auras, light sensitivity, nausea).
Thanks, Phantom. I get migraine-style headaches from some of my allergens too . . . or at least I used to.
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