hidden allergy

Ever since we discovered that a diet eliminating artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives has helped Josiah with behavioral issues, my mind has often wandered back to his infancy.  His first year was full of feeding issues that left my husband and I ready to pull our hair out at times.  Today I sat down with the book Is This Your Child by Dr. Doris Rapp.  She describes possible signs of infant allergy, which include the following symptoms we noted in Josiah:

-feeding issues: Josiah cried with colic-type symptoms at 3 weeks and starting pulling away while nursing from the age of 5 weeks.  I noticed he seemed to wheeze after feedings and would vomit forcefully--more than just spitting up.  When we switched him to soy formula at the age of 3 months, he continued to pull away from the bottle through his entire first year, but the wheezing and vomiting disappeared.   Anytime I tried to give him frozen breast milk, the wheezing and vomiting returned.  This would indicate that Josiah most likely had a milk allergy and the continued pulling away from the bottle of soy formula may suggest he was either allergic to soy or (more likely) to corn derivatives.

-Early hyperactivity and early walking.  Josiah was a difficult baby to hold because he was so active.  He did not cuddle.  He also walked at 9 months.  One indication of allergy is hyperactivity and walking between the ages of 7-10 months.

-At age 1, we switched Josiah from soy formula to cow milk.  Within 2 weeks he developed his first upper respiratory infection (most likely RSV) and ear infection.  He continued to battle ear infections and sinus infections for the next year, and these were only alleviated after 2 sets of tubes and adenoid removal.  This indicates a milk allergy.  (It is also interesting to note that 90% of children diagnosed with ADHD have a history of ear infections.)

-Somewhere in his second year of life, we noticed Josiah had white splotches on his tongue that changed shape over the course of many days, but never seemed to totally disappear.  He was diagnosed with geographic tongue, which we were told was benign.  Recently we reintroduced tomatoes and noticed the return of geographic tongue.  When we removed them from his diet, it disappeared.  This would indicate a tomato allergy.

Josiah was checked for a milk allergy at one year of age with a RAST test.  It did come back negative, but I have learned from my own experience and further research that RAST does not catch every allergy.  It also cannot detect food sensitivities.  Another thing to note is that children with allergies can be quite sensitive to environmental chemicals.  Inexplicably, a child with allergies or food sensitivities sometimes craves the very foods that are causing them harm.  (Josiah loves tomatoes, milk products, and corn.)

This is most certainly my child.  Perhaps the things we are learning will help others...I wish I had this information 4 years ago!