Our dear sweet Greyson started having weird bumps showing up on his back and belly. They were red or large, but were there...not soft baby skin like he should have. It remained for a couple weeks, and I just blamed it on the colder weather. So I began applying lotion morning and night to see if it would help. Not so much. Then within one week it turned red, spreading all over his entire body. I made an appointment to see the Dr. and she prescribed an ointment for a Yeast Infection. I went along with it because my girls have both had something like this as well around this age, so I took the new info and ran with it. No good. The rash got worse, spreading to his face and is diaper area. One evening it was pretty bad I could tell he was trying to itch his neck, using his forearm. Not satisfying the itch, he grew frustrated and began crying. I put him in the bath and realized his genitalia was also itching him. I ran an oatmeal bath and let him soak. What is usually a fun experience, his bath time was filled with pulling and itching his privates. I gave him some benedryl to calm the pain and irritation for the night. The next day I went back to the Dr. He then thought it was Eczema or an allergic reaction. So we proceeded with an oral steroid to relieve the rash that was then all over head to toe, eyelids, toes and all. It immediately started clearing up the next morning. Yay!! We for a follow up appointment and voila...Diagnosis: Eczema.
OK. Now what? A Daily ointment steroid. Huh? I don't want him jacked up on medication. SO that's when I looked into making home remedies for Eczema. Homemade creams and such. I jumped on that and got brewing my own cream
HERE. A lot cheaper than a prescription. So While doing that research I learned that Eczema is food allergy related. The Biggest triggers for it are Dairy and Wheat. The world around me started spinning, the sounds in my home went muffled and muted. The newly found information was popping out of my iPad screen. I ran my fingers through my hair and rubbed my face in frustration. "I have that kid...the food allergy kid." I though to myself. "What am I going to do...reading every label...spending tons of money on special foods....wait...how do I know if it is wheat or Dairy he is sensitive to?" I continued.
I then started reading on how to do eliminations diets.
10 days to 2 weeks for each thing you are testing. HOLY MOLY that's a long time if I can't figure it out right of the bat. You have to eliminate 1 thing at a time so you know if it changes the reaction. all other diet remains the same.
HERE is my Pinterest Board on Eczema.
Okay...I thought back. When did the little bumps start? In December when he went off formula and went to whole milk...along with eating regular meals that we were eating. Everything. I'm hoping at this point that it is the milk and the eggs and cheese. So frustrated and stressed at the time and discipline this is now going to take me I begin praying to Heavenly Father that I can do this. We can do this. I know I have good resources amongst my friends who have kids with food allergies and such so I know I got good back up. I first turned to my family. Did they have anything like this happen to their babies? Yep...My niece has very sensitive skin, and gets rashes. They modified her diet slightly and seemed to help. Ok...
Target here I come. I immediately marched to the milk isle to see what my milk replacement options were. I had no idea what to do. Luckily the sweet man stocking the fridge assisted me. He and his wife are diabetic. They drink Almond milk. "Tastes fantastic!" he exclaimed. Sweet. Sold. I bought two cartons and my eyes about popped out at how expensive it is for a 1/2 gallon. There goes our cheap Milk bill.
I came home and breathed. Called a friend who lent their support. I cried a little. I got this. Here we go 10 days.
That following week I attended a group activity where I learned about Plant Based Eating. No Animal products, no processed foods, or very minimal. I thought it was just about how to incorporate more vegetables into my families diet. We could all use that right? Then it hit me. The information. What are we putting into our bodies? I'm not going to go into the whole science behind it... you can watch
FORKS OVER KNIVES, a documentary that explains it all. How eating animal products such as milk, meat, cheese etc... creates disease in our bodies. Heart disease is the top of that.
If we are putting bad things into our body more than good things, we will have bad bodies right? true. How can I fix it, not mask it or cover the symptoms of disease...? Put good things in your bodies.
If I take the bad stuff (the dairy) out of Greyson's diet, then the eczema will go away! My heart just swelled and I had this overwhelming feeling that this diet plan was for him and my family. All the things that we think we are getting from eating meat and partaking of dairy products can be found more in our whole foods. Easy replacements. Eating those other things can be done sparingly...20% of your diet, is safe that the rest of the 80% of the whole foods can over take. But here is what I love. You sick? got disease? Lets take it away with diet. No medications. That means, no steroid cream for Grey. I'm in, you bet! I will use the homemade cream on a daily basis and only use the steroid if absolutely necessary. It has worked thus far. He is a happy, cute kid again.
My life has changed since adopting this new diet plan. My eating habit is amazing. meals are more flavorful and my arthritis in my knees is almost non existent. I compared them to old lady knees. I could barely get off the floor or sit down. I couldn't even kneel down for family prayer without pain. Now I can. There are such great resources out there. Pinterest being my number one. I have found out amazing things about our whole foods. What they do for us, what they can help fight or enhance.
HERE is my Plant Based Eating Board. You can look and follow it. I also Follow this guy
HERE on Facebook. I don't juice all my meals, but I make some crazy power house smoothies in the mornings. My life has changed. My kids I know are healthier. My husband even notices how he feels now after he eats a meal with meat in it. We don't crave it, we don't need it. Life is good, God answered my prayer by having me go to that meeting so I could figure out what to do about Greyson's situation. I am now a firm believer that if you aren't feeling good and disease is taking over with all the medications and such that you think keep you going, change your diet. Its that simple. You can do it! Do it for yourself, do it for your family, your kids. You will feel the way God intended you to feel. You will enjoy life. You will have LIFE.
Quick Guides to ECZEMA from my Pinterest Board.
