Buttercurl has another ear infection. We’re off to the osteopath. Then to the pediatrician to discuss allergens and their role in recurrent acute ear infections. Even though little Butterbug has only ever had serous (2) and acute (3) ear infections when he has some kind of sibling’s-preschool-generated illness, I’m now desperate to prevent another ruptured ear drum, and I’m looking at food and airborne allergens.
From what I’ve read, we might need to eliminate a lot of foods from our diets. (Mine, really. Butterbean hasn’t eaten any of the foods on the list himself. But I do. From the look of the below list, my milk is made exclusively of allergens.)
The allergen elimination diet is daunting. Could *you* give up:
Wheat
Dairy
Egg
Corn
Soy
Peanut
Citrus
Sugar
and
Chocolate
for four months and still be alive?
Looks like I’m going on a hummus and sweet potato diet, y’all. Wish me luck. This might just be goodbye.
NaptimeWriting 
Children are the ultimate parasite.
Namaste.
My friend Hilarie had to undergo this torture with her first daughter. She was particularly depressed about no cheese.
On the bright side, she lost Hella lotta weight. Please tell me you can have cocktails? ;)
seriously, don’t even TALK TO ME about food allergies. there’s only 2 on your list that I don’t have: sugar and chocolate, but certain TYPES of sugar and choc give me migraines (like dark choc, choc contaminated with peanut processing, and artificial sugars).
I am the absolute no-funnest person for trips and holidays because I can’t eat anything without a hospital visit courtesy of allergen nightmare. Any kind of chemical, like MSG and food dye, also set me off.
ORGANIC ORGANIC ORGANIC. I can do organic milk, eggs, and cheese in LOW amounts. I kept a food diary for years trying to figure out my triggers and how much of the item is needed to set me off. The list of triggers is so long. And it’s not just food. Shampoos, soaps, lotions, toothpastes also set me off because of dyes, fake sugars, and preservatives.
My fridge is perpetually empty because I make everything from organic scratch and then freeze it.
Start a garden. It’s the only way to keep pesticides and unwanted shit from touching your food. I can tell you within 1 hour if something advertised as ‘certified organic’ is organic or not. MUCH IS NOT. Lying Bastards. Anything that comes in a box or can, you are screwed. Start with Gluten-free cookbooks, use rice flour as a base for everything, you’ll get used to it. I do mix all-purpose and rice in amounts that won’t send me to the hospital.
jc, DANG! Seriously? I can’t believe how badly that sucks.
We’re a hyper-organic, local, only brands we trust, and never fake sugars kind of household, and we don’t do cow’s milk (cuz we’re not baby cows, yo). But cheese, peanuts, chocolate, some soy, some corn, and wheat are staples. WHEAT! Oh well. I’m pretty happy at all my choices.
Except that I am not doing the no-sugar thing. A feminist’s gotta have her limits for what she’ll give up for someone else’s benefit.
Another thing. Exercise. At least an hour a day. It will flush the allergens out of your system faster than if you were not active. I feel a ton better when I’m exercising regularly. Not as many migraines or rashes. I can push the limits of the allergens a bit farther because my metabolism pushes the crap through faster.
Buy stock now in benadryl, excedrin, gluten-free pantry, rice crops. The numbers of allergies are skyrocketing.
Nap, that is SERIOUSLY the saddest list I have ever seen. I cannot even begin to fathom what you can eat, sister…Here’s to Butter overcoming, and you surviving the “nothing good to eat for Mom” diet…Sometimes, it just REALLy sucks to do the right thing, eh?
Hope this helps little Butter out! If not, he’s gonna have to have a future therapy fund for all the guilt you’ll be forced to throw his way!
My son had to get the ear tubes put in, his ear infections were so bad. They were life-changingly awesome.
Think of it this way: I can’t eat chocolate EVER AGAIN. If I can manage not throwing myself in front of a bus, you can last 4 months without it. Just have lots of sex or get some really good books or something to take your mind off it.
Oh noooooooooooo! So sorry to all…that sounds incredibly difficult. Huggies, huggies, huggies!
How do you KNOW it’s not Butter sneaking out at night and consuming wheateggsoychocolatesugar bombs? I mean, babies have no self-control, right? He could be doing it to himself…
Poor Butterbabe and poor Buttermama.
I’m fairly certain I couldn’t give up all that stuff. One or two things? Sure. But wheat? Never. Not unless it was life-threatening to myself to eat it. Maybe not even then. Good luck. Ugh.
I’m so sorry. My baby brother had at least one ear infection a month for the first three years. The kid would scream if anyone stopped pacing him. Paced. Not rocked. Not held. Paced. My mom screamed to get him tested for allergies at the moment he turned three. It was dust and mold.
Good luck.