Well, essentially we are doing this because of
this book. It was recommended to us by a family therapist who thinks that some of the behavioral issues that H is having are caused, at least in part, by his diet and food allergies.
We have known for several years that H has food allergies. At the time he was tested, they told us it was possible that the blood test wasn't 100% accurate and with him being allergic to so many of the top 8 allergens (they are wheat, soy, dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish--He was originally tested for all but fish and came back allergic to wheat, soy, eggs, peanuts and also corn-maybe tree nuts too, I honestly can't remember) there was "no way" we could reasonably avoid them all--and that he probably wasn't truly allergic to all of them and that he would most likely outgrow the allergies. They also said allergies were like a cup--the more exposure you had to more allergens, the more likely your cup would be to run over. So, the conclusion was we would do a rotating diet of eliminating one food per week and change the food each week. This was AFTER we did the 2 week elimination diet, which did absolutely NOTHING for his eczema. We couldn't tell which foods gave him a "reaction" because his "reactions" never went away on the elimination diet.
Honestly, I lost stamina and we let him eat what he wanted and scratch when he was rashy. Well, clearly that is a non-coping technique and it's become clear that we need to do something more pro-active. He is having a really hard time with impulse control, and his eczema, rather than improving as he gets older, is only getting worse. Both of these point to something wrong
inside his poor rashy body.
The theory behind the research in
Is Your Child's Brain Starving is that people with food allergies that consume the food they are allergic to develop leaky gut syndrome. In a very simple way, that means that partially digested proteins and other food "parts" are allowed to enter the bloodstream and body before they are ready to be used by the body. The immune system sees these "foreign" substances and attacks them. That's an immune response, which fits into the broad definition of an "allergy." It also explains why he has never had an anaphalactic reaction of any kind. He's not truly "allergic" to the foods, his body is just attacking what shouldn't be there. There are most likely several foods he is truly allergic to, and if we can find and eliminate those, he should be able to reintroduce the other foods (after a gut-healing period) without any reaction.
We found a physician--a blessing of our unexpected move--who has treated leaky gut in ADHD kids before and we are working with him to make a real dietary change. We are doing an "anti-inflammatory" diet right now. This is very similar to the elimination diet except you can eat less oil varieties, but you can still eat eggs and chocolate. We will move into the elimination diet soon.
So, what this means at home is that we have A LOT of food changes to make. It's really been a steep learning curve so far, but we are blessed to have some great resources and people helping us out. I feel a much deeper faith that this time we can really figure out which foods he is allergic to, and which are just being attacked by his confused immune system. Thank goodness we can still eat beans and rice! Much of the world subsists on the humble dish, and we count ourselves among them now!