Is there a Doctor in the house?

[Debbie]

I know Oliver Clozoff is very close to being a qualified MD.
Is there anyone else here that is a Doctor/ or training to be one?
Or has medical knowledge that could help?

I have a few questions that I hope to get some answers or advice on.
My son is 8. He has a low immune system. Diagnosed about
two and a half years ago.
I have done a lot of research in the last few months.
In New Zealand we seem to be a little behind the times.
My son is not considered critical enough to be sent to
our kids hospital. (I agree there) But when he isn't well he has a lot of time off school and gets very tired.
Iron levels are good. Red cell count is fine.
His diet has been modified as he seems to have developed
food allergies.
I want to know as much as I can. I don't understand why he would suddenly develop food allergies from a low immune system?
Our Doctor explained as well as he could about
leaking gut syndrome.
He has a long list of aches, pains and other stuff but with the modified diet there has been a large improvement.
Why does he get big dark circles under his eyes sometimes?
Our paeditrician said they are allergy shiners. What does this mean? Should he be tested for allergies?
Also his pupils will be extremely large. Almost to the point of completely covering the iris. When I queried about this I was told
it is the eye reacting to a change in light/dark. But this can happen when there has been no change in lighting/darkness.
And seems to come hand in hand with the dark circles.

I am not looking for a cure or a miracle. Just any information at all that could help.

Thanks to anyone that can give me info.

 

[Azwed]

I know we have several Nurses on the board not sure if they are RN's or Nurse Practitioners or what. BlondGirl is a nurse I think and a few others. I think Oliver is the only straight up MD or soon to be MD.

Keep it bumped for all the medicaly knowledgable.

 

[Guest]

Does he snore?

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

My son is 8. He has a low immune system. Diagnosed about
two and a half years ago.

Debbie, the number of different reasons for a child to have frequent infections and a "low immune system" are very numerous, ranging from extremely severe diseases to rather mild ones. Because of this, it's hard to comment specifically on your son's condition.

His diet has been modified as he seems to have developed food allergies. I want to know as much as I can. I don't understand why he would suddenly develop food allergies from a low immune system? Our Doctor explained as well as he could about leaking gut syndrome.

His immune problems may be related to his immune system problems, but they also might not. They may be unrelated conditions coincidentally occurring in the same person. It's sounds, though that your son's doctor may think that your son has what's referred to as a protein-losing enteropathy, a clinical syndrome that can be caused by a very long list of causes, but which results in the loss of the essential serum protein albumin, as well as other important proteins such as antibodies which are involved in the immune response.

Since your son has food allergies, though, the one diagnosis that might be causing your son's protein-losing enteropathy that sprang to my mind is called [/i]gluten-sensitive enteropathy[/i] (also called celiac disease or celiac sprue), a condition in which individuals (about 1 out of 2-4000, usually white people of Northern European descent) have problems absorbing digested food containing the wheat protein gluten, but often have other allergic symptoms. What kind of diet changes were you asked to make for him?

Why does he get big dark circles under his eyes sometimes? Our paeditrician said they are allergy shiners. What does this mean? Should he be tested for allergies?

Dark circles under the eyes are often a sign of environmental allergies because the itching and tearing caused by the inflammation and histamine release in an allergic reaction causes the child to repeatedly rub his eyes. Testing may very well help you to determine what specific allergens cause the reactions so that you can make your home safer for him. Dust and animal danders are among the most common allergens, but there are many others. Your doctor can give you a list of things to do around the house to decrease his exposure to allergens. You can also do an internet search for basic ways to prevent allergen exposure.

Also his pupils will be extremely large. Almost to the point of completely covering the iris. When I queried about this I was told it is the eye reacting to a change in light/dark. But this can happen when there has been no change in lighting/darkness.

I don't think there's anything to worry about there. Children's pupils are normally larger in proportion to the iris and the rest of the eye than that of adults. You can sometimes even see kids portrayed that way in cartoons. I wouldn't worry about it.

Sorry I can't be more help, but medical diagnosis requires detailed history, physical examination, and usually some labs, and in your sons case there are many different possible causes for his symptoms. Plus, I'm gonna be a psychiatrist, not a pediatrician, allergist, or immunologist.

If I were you, I'd ask his doctors for his specific diagnosis so that I could look more information about it.

Hope I helped a bit.

 

[Guest]

 

[Debbie]

Does he snore?

No.


Oliver Clozoff,
thanks for all that!

He has never been diagnosed. All we have after visiting the paeditrician for the second time is a low immune system. Nothing else specific.
I will check into the allergies to dust etc. He was fine till he turned five and got quite sick with a virus. Then he seemed to go downhill. Each virus/ infection made him more exhausted and his bounce up and left.
Frequent infections? Yip. Chest infections, secondary infections, sinus infections, double ear infections etc.
I changed Doctors and we semi agree that he may have been given far too many antibiotics. With all the illnesses and too many antibiotics his immune system may have been affected.
He also gets tingling in has hands and feet. (Diabetes has been ruled out)
Constant stomach cramp's, muscle cramps, aches and pains in knees and legs.
Easily tired, run down and has trouble fighting off the slightest cough or cold. I lean towards some sort of dust/ dander allergies as well. As the symptoms when he gets sick are usally the same. Extreme dark circles, very runny nose, glands up etc.

We have never been asked/ or encouraged to change his diet. The paeditrician shrugged his shoulders when I asked about the dark circles and said they were shiners due to allergies.

I went to a natureopath and had a blood sample sent to America. ($359 New Zealand) Which identified sensitivities to casein (sp?) dairy products, sweet potato, (we call them kumara) garlic, guar gum, blueberries and a few other things like poppy seeds.

Lately I have pulled anything with red/orange or blue food colourings and sugar as he seems to be reacting to them also.
I have replaced these things from him diet with soy milk, soy products and spiralina to keep his calcium intact where it should be.

New Zealand seems to be limited as to the technology we have available in this case.

Thanks for your help!

BTW?

"Plus, I'm gonna be a psychiatrist, not a pediatrician, allergist, or immunologist. " So you are going to require a black leather couch for your patients to recline on?
Seriously I know you haven't got long to go now before you are qualified. Looking forward to that announcement.


Thanks foxinsox.

 

[Guest]

 

[just pet]

check your PMs... re Chinese medicine

Love,
pet

 

[Debbie]

Thank you just pet and foxinsox.
And Azwed for the bump.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

bumping for the next time zone

 

[christophe]

Debbie

sorry to hear of your son's situation. While his situation sounds puzzling at the moment, diet modification is a good idea. many of the foods we eat have numerous additives and preservatives, dyes etc. Eliminating these may prove beneficial. You mentioned he has many aches and pains, have they investigated this? some digestive diorders can predispose a person to arthritic pains and aches, these could also be due to malnutrition such as low potassium.

there is a web site that may be beneficial www.webmd.com

If you have any other questions give me a jingle I will be happy to try and help

 

[Azwed]

Bumping for starfish.

You might want to try to do as suggested above and eliminate as many of the artifical colors and flavors as you can.

I think I remember Starfish saying that the artificial red colors were espesialy bad for some people.

When I was younger I had some type of immune defficency. It showed up when I was much younger then five though and I got special shots of gabu globulum(sp????????) or something like that which straightned me out. I didn't get sick for years after my last shot because of how much it boosted my immune system.

 

[Georgia Girl]

Bump

I wish I could help Debbie, but its not my area....however I sent a message on over to Desdemona to see if she may have some ideas.

Best wishes to you and your son. Sending some strength over your way to share with you and he also.

Dawn

 

[ToPnOtCh]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid5/pc560d9443a12f1139dd48a9d583f1b3c/fde450e8.jpg

ME!

 

[Summery]

Bumping before it drops off the first page.

And Debbie darlin'.....you have a PM.

 

[Kitte]

I share your pain...

My 9 year old step daughter suffers from so many of the same things you discussed. She has allergies to everything, and yes she does have "allergy shiners" She also has asthma and severe exzema. Drs here in the US havent been much help either, They treat her symptomaticly rather then delving into any deeper problems. In bringing up the possiblility of naturopathinc remedies her pediatrician said he would stop treating her if he became aware that we were using "voo doo" on her. So our options have been limited as well. I have at her worst times put her on an allergen free diet. Organic lamb and white rice which does sometimes seem to help pull her through some of the tougher times a little quicker. I strongly believe there is a correlation between excessive antibiotics and her illnesses as well as the fact she was using a topical steroid cream from the age of 6moths till age 7 when we finally had the courage to refuse to use it anymore. I wish you luck and if you find any insightful information please let me know.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

Bumping for those that actually left Lit for five minutes, but of course couldn't stay away.....

 

[Calamity Jane]

I almost never take, or allow my children to take antibiotics. Too many of them, or too strong of a dosage, kills off the good bacteria in your body, leading to all sorts of problems. Unless it's a severe infection, I've noticed that there's no difference in the time it takes for them to get over it whether they take antibiotics or not.

You may want to try rice milk instead of soy... soy contains a lot of plant estrogen, and I'm not sure what effects that may have on a young boy. When we thought that my daughter had milk allergies, I was instructed not to give her soy.

Getting rid of the sugar and colorants is a good start, there are a lot of people who have serious problems with that. Watch for hidden sugars too though... cut down on carbs in general. Wheat allergies can often be expressed by a 'general rund down feeling', so cutting down on the carbohydrates he's taking in may help with that too.

Bottom line is though, if you're not getting help from your MD's, seek alternative therapies. I could give you a list of herbs that may help, PM me if you're interested.

 

[Georgia Girl]

Bump!! for the next round to enter.

Dawn

 

[Desdemona]

Debbie, I'm sorry your little one is ill. I wish I knew something helpful. Since this isn't my area of expertise, I thought I'd give you a good page of links that may have some helpful information.

http://www.immuneweb.org/resources/