I myself have had one rocky year this year! I had a tick bite me last year and then I tested positive for Lyme Disease. I was treated for that and 5 months later ended up with arthritis in my spine. I had to get a Cortisone shot to help that, then my health started to really deteriorate. I was depressed, confused, dizzy, in a ton of pain, fatigued and multiple other things.
One Saturday night in early August, I developed a headache like no headache I'd ever felt. I went to bed but could not sleep it off like I usually can. I woke up at 4 am and it was really bad. When I got up to take Advil, I was so dizzy and so stiff, that I could barely walk to the kitchen. That morning, my friend came and rushed me to Urgent Care where they found nothing wrong with me.
I went to my regular doctor on Monday and she ordered a CT scan to look for a brain tumor and a blood test to look for Lyme. The CT scan was clear, and 4 days later the blood results were in. It was definitely Lyme. I was treated with 3 weeks of doxycycline (worst 3 weeks ever!) and removed gluten from my diet. I'm feeling ok now...
Then about a month ago my little guy had a huge swollen lump on the back of his head at that bottom of his hair line, and had a pretty high fever. We took him in and they said he had something causing his lymph nodes to swell and put him on Keflex for 10 days. He had had multiple fevers in the past that had know apparent cause.
3 days after the Keflex was done, he started to not be able to move the left side of his mouth. Back to Urgent Care (these things always only happen on the darn weekend!) and he was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy, and they tested him for Lyme too. They wanted him on antivirals and predisolone, but something didn't feel right to me so I didn't give him those. His Lyme came back positive, and we started him on Amoxycillin right away. Turns out, steroids and Lyme DON'T MIX!! Had I followed through blindly and given him the steroid, it could have all kinds of debilitating damage. This probably explains why my health went right down the toilet after the shot I got.
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| The Bell's Palsy at it's worst. |
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| The amoxycillin caused a a rash at about day 12. But that has cleared after 3 days. |
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| And after just 2 weeks of Amoxycillin his face is almost back to normal!! |
So, I just wanted to share today, because the last few weeks have me feeling very scared, confused, and alone The pit of dispare you feel when you can't help your child immediately is nothing less than heart wrenching. We are switching to being gluten free, on top of our dairy and soy free diets. Mainly to help keep his immune system from being over taxed. Once he's better we'll be doing some tests for Immune Deficiancies. Ugh...
Here's some of the emails I have received this year. I get a few every day from thankful parents, and parent with questions... I'm glad I pay for this domain and keep this site up for people. It's been my passion since my oldest, who is now 14, went dairy free in 1999!
Hope you enjoy and an relate to some of these stories!
"Thank you so much for this site. I just went to a Naturopaths doctor for my three year old. Both my children, 3 and 5 years old are always sick. My five year old has bad constipation, asthma, and is sick all the time. My three year old is sick two to three weeks every month. She said take out milk for a month. Wow so much has milk in it. Thank you so much for this site!!!! I can't say it enough. I am freaking out about how I am going to do this, but your site will help."
"This is a great blog! I am also a dairy free mother to a now 14 month old. My son has a dairy allergy though. The first 4 months of his life he had a rash all over his body that the doctors kept telling me was Eczema...I agree he had that but know that was not the only problem. I finally insisted the doctor do an allergy test and we found a severe dairy allergy. I like reading up on the subject and am always looking for new tips and tricks! It's also nice to see we aren't alone. :) "
"I wanted to thank you for your blog. My son has been extremely ill, in and out of the ER, for over a month now. They are diagnosing him with asthma, have him on two inhalers, breathing treatments, and putting him on steroids was my last straw. They changed his personality while he was on them. I have heard a lot of Mom's say, try going dairy free! So yesterday we began the process and I am stressed out to no end. Knowing that dairy is hidden in so many products by different names... And trying to figure out how to cook for my family in this new way. So thank you for your blog. Showing me I'm not alone and giving me recipes, etc. to help prepare my family for this change as well. "
"My son was diagnosed with milk, soy, peanut and egg allergies at about 13 months old. He is currently 18 months old and still on expensive Similac Alimentum formula. Is there a good non-dairy, non-soy substitute for cows milk that has all the nutrients the toddlers need? I've heard rice milk can be binding and isn't rich enough in vitamins - but not sure about others. If you have any input I'd be so appreciative! I'm a big fan of your website!"
"I just want to say that your blog is a Godsend. I have a 14 month old with dairy and soy allergies and we are going on our first month of figuring this whole thing out. I feel so overwhelmed and well, like I am learning a lot the hard way and it breaks my heart. Your blog literally made me cry (tears of joy and relief), all of the recipes and information all in one spot. So really, this is just a thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for paving the road a bit so it is that much easier for those of us who come after. THANK YOU."
"Thank you so much. After reading your story it is very similar to my 2 year old. Your information is so useful to me as we finally had my daughter allergy tested after two years of her being sick/well, and extremely underweight. Come to find out she had a cow's milk allergy. It is very refreshing to hear your story. Thank you so much."
"I just wanted to write and thank you for your blog! When my son was 2-months old, I tried an ED of no milk/dairy products, but just the obvious ones- no reading food labels. My son became the happiest baby on the block. However, after he began eating more solid foods, and when he fully weaned at 18 months, the symptoms you've described returned in full-force. I am now reading food labels and am hyper-vigilant about what he eats (even though some believe I am too strict- they don't have to get up with him in the middle of the night, which is when most of his problems occur), but I've been trying to come up with more ideas of foods I can take to day care for him. Anyway, thank you so much for the Substitutions list and Dairy Free Foods list- they are amazingly helpful! "
"I just came across your website and I have to say I literally cried! This may sound bad but it is so nice to finally know I'm not the only one. I hate that you and your little ones had to go through so much horrible situations. My son who is now four is allergic to milk, I think your son's maybe a little different, I may be wrong. My son has a severe reaction (breaks out in hives, tongue/throat swelling) and over the pass year it has become a contact allergy. At first it was hard for us to get use to the idea and at first we thought it was impossible but now it is second nature. We now have a second child and so far so good. However we did not find out that our first was allergic to milk until after six months of breast feeding, he stop and refused it and we had to start formula, that's when the trouble began. My youngest hasn't had any problems thus far (fingers crossed) Anyway I enjoyed reading your site. I really know where your coming from, I almost felt like you were writing about me lol. I hope all is well. "
