Feingold questions

Skaterbabs do you follow the book with feingold or just go by ingrediants? I have been reading the feingold site, but I just cannot swing the cost right away. I think I am going to try it without the materials (something is better then nothing, right?) and then try to restructure the budget.
I have a few questions to get me started if you would be so kind -
1. I need to read every label right - even nonfood right?
2. So I already use "free" laundry products (all and downey), but do I need to check them for anything else?
3. what about soap and shampoo (he uses gerber baby)? health food store?
4. cleaning products - any guidelines (I use cascade for dishes, fantastic on hard surfaces, clorox wipes, natural baby wipes, foaming pampers baby hand soap, and clorox cleanup spray) ?
5. He drinks silk soy(mostly), bottled water, and decaf tea.
6. Breakfast = cooked quaker oats w/ alittle soy milk, sugar, and butter (my mom started this and he will not eat without butter and sugar he was happy with his baby oatmeal plain or mixed with fruit) or pancakes w/ whip creme and blueberries(the only fruit he will eat), or if in big hurry quaker breakfast bar.
7. lunch/dinner= pb on whole grain or graham cracker, chk nuggut or fish sticks, or mac and cheese, plus babyfood veggies
every now and then he will eat a beef hotdog, a few fries, corn, potatoes, lo mein, a taco, or chicken salad
8. snacks= yogurt, applesause, pudding, drumsticks (thanks granpa), blueberry frozen yogurt, goldfish, raisens, and cranberries
9. If I get this right, i need to avoid all artifcial colors, flavors, sweetners, and preservitives right? so I need to read the labels on the above items.
10. what about his meds? his prevacid is definately flavored and sweetened, and I imagine that the chewable fluoride/multivit and singulair are too. He also takes breathing treatments of pulmicort and albuterol. Then there is the clartin, mylanta, and nasonex. He has has IgE checked for allergins, but nothing showed. He appears to be somewhat lactose intolerent (milk is a problem, but he can handle small doses of other dairy?) Antibiotics, which he takes like 10 times a year, really mess his stomach up.
Well I would really appreciate feedback. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance. Well, I am off to read labels.

vamom said:

Skaterbabs do you follow the book with feingold or just go by ingrediants? I have been reading the feingold site, but I just cannot swing the cost right away. I think I am going to try it without the materials (something is better then nothing, right?) and then try to restructure the budget.

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You can do it that way, but it's MUCH harder. Call the 800 # and explain the situation - they do offer financial assistance, but I'm not sure of the details.

vamom said:

I have a few questions to get me started if you would be so kind -
1. I need to read every label right - even nonfood right?

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Yes, although there are often "hidden" ingredients. (For example, all brands of reduced fat milk have vit A palmitate added. For some brands the vit. a palmitate is preserved with BHT, and the milk companies are NOT required to list it. But all whole milk is ok.)

You won't get brand names, but join the FG yahoo group I posted earlier. You can get a lot of helpful info (recipes, ect) there.

vamom said:

2. So I already use "free" laundry products (all and downey), but do I need to check them for anything else?
3. what about soap and shampoo (he uses gerber baby)? health food store?
4. cleaning products - any guidelines (I use cascade for dishes, fantastic on hard surfaces, clorox wipes, natural baby wipes, foaming pampers baby hand soap, and clorox cleanup spray) ?

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You will very likely find that ALL of your cleaning products are unacceptible, as well as your general hygeine products. However, you can do almost all your cleaning with plain old baking soda & vinegar. lol You can even wash your hair with it!
To be honest I started out by switching to acceptible toothpaste and mouthwash. We have yet to find a new shampoo for the kids. Most of the Tom's of Maine stuff is OK, but you have to verify with FG exactly which formulations are stage 1 vs stage 2.

vamom said:

5. He drinks silk soy(mostly), bottled water, and decaf tea.

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It will vary by brand, and you will have to read labels carefully.

vamom said:

6. Breakfast = cooked quaker oats w/ alittle soy milk, sugar, and butter (my mom started this and he will not eat without butter and sugar he was happy with his baby oatmeal plain or mixed with fruit) or pancakes w/ whip creme and blueberries(the only fruit he will eat), or if in big hurry quaker breakfast bar.
7. lunch/dinner= pb on whole grain or graham cracker, chk nuggut or fish sticks, or mac and cheese, plus babyfood veggies
every now and then he will eat a beef hotdog, a few fries, corn, potatoes, lo mein, a taco, or chicken salad
8. snacks= yogurt, applesause, pudding, drumsticks (thanks granpa), blueberry frozen yogurt, goldfish, raisens, and cranberries

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You will need to switch brands on many things. The quaker bfast bars are not ok, but you can make your own fairly easily. There are acceptable versions of everything you listed.

vamom said:

9. If I get this right, i need to avoid all artifcial colors, flavors, sweetners, and preservitives right? so I need to read the labels on the above items.
10. what about his meds? his prevacid is definately flavored and sweetened, and I imagine that the chewable fluoride/multivit and singulair are too. He also takes breathing treatments of pulmicort and albuterol. Then there is the clartin, mylanta, and nasonex. He has has IgE checked for allergins, but nothing showed. He appears to be somewhat lactose intolerent (milk is a problem, but he can handle small doses of other dairy?) Antibiotics, which he takes like 10 times a year, really mess his stomach up.
Well I would really appreciate feedback. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance. Well, I am off to read labels.

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Yes, all artificial colors, flavors (including sugar substitues), preservatives, BHT, ect. For his meds you may need to find a compounding pharmacy and explain that he reacts (don't say "we think he reacts" - he does and that's all they need to know.) if it's a drug that is available as a generic they should be able to compound it without the artificials, or your doctor may be able to suggest a different drug that can be.
There are acceptable vitamins.

If there is anything else I can help with, please don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks so much. After reading labels I will have to find many new things. I would not have thought about the milk, since the label does not mention it. We were using whole milk, but now WIC will only allow reduced fat, and they won't cover organic or soy, so I have been buying his soy anyway. I would love to know why there is talc and titanuim dioxide in my child's meds, not to mention other things that don't sound good either (including aspartamine). Thanks for the suggustions. I will sign up for the group and call the feingold folks tomorrow. My parents help with alot of things, but they all ready think I am too weird about food. My mother is the chemical queen, and they both only eat things that are deep fried and over processed! Before I was seperated I was very picky about the food in the house, but now that I am staying with my parents they do not respect me as a parent and will try to get my child to eat what they are eating. We keep a weird schedule so that we do not end of sharing meals. I would like to move out, but I have not found a safe option. I have been approaced about being a nanny (again) but with my ds's issues (and mine) I don't feel it is appropriate right now. Anyway, thanks for the advice.

Glad to help. And I understand about family - what I do is present it as an allergy.
"I've discovered that he's allergic to petroleum based dyes and preservatives and here's a list of things we have to avoid."

FWIW, we started doing a modified FG at the beginning of this school year. (Basically skipped to stage 2, bad mommy! LOL) I have not yet replaced all my cleaning products, but I do try to use them without the boys around. As a curious side effect of the diet, no one in my family got so much as a cold all winter!

My parents just don't get it. My friend's child has severe food allergies (wheat, dairy, egg, nuts, pork, strawberries) and it is a pretty immeniatde reaction, yet my parents still don't get why I am so careful when the little girl is around. I have environmental allegies that I suffered with terribly my whole childhood. My mother was unwilling to give up her perfumes and candles and other smelly junk that left me gasping for air and splotchy. I think my son is just being a boy until he attacks them - then they yell at me. I have learned to accept my parents limitations (mostly) and just try to avoid conflict and keep my head down. I struggle with my living situation, but we spend alot of times outdoors and have adjusted our schedule to avoid them as much as possible. Right now that seems to be the best solution of the lot.
Now stage 1 is the elimination part, right? then you can add back all those fruits and veggies to see which ones are triggers?
Ironically, when I pulled up the yahoo group there were several posts about art supplies, too! From the feingold group I found myself in a homeschool group then an unschool group, then an unschooled special needs group! Thanks again for all the help, now I just need more hours in a day!

It would be great if we could stay alittle healthier. Due to my son's resp. problems what is the sniffles for his friends, turns very quickly into bronchitis for him. He does not improve with out antibiotics, which upsets his stomach, and we get in this viscious cycle of sickness. The dr put him on lactobicilius tabs, but they are full of so much crab that I switched to yogurts and such that have added probiotics, but then I realised that my child's favorite kind are full of aspartimine. Ugh.

Yes, Stage 1 is the elimation part. The art supplies thing is opne that just came up - I didn't think about it either until I saw the post the other day.

Some people don't get it- it's hard for them to understand how a food can kill a child. My MIL doesn't get how someone can react to peanuts by just being in the same room with them. Thankfully, we don't have any food allergies.

I meant to say that my parents just think he is being a boy, not me. They equate aggression with manliness. They would rather have him be a bully then a wimp, and I want to find the middle road. He is a very sweet and loving child alot of the time, until he just spins (literally) out of control. His behavior is not normal, and he is stressed out by it too. Although meds have been suggusted, they will be a very last resort.

skaterbabscpst said:

Glad to help. And I understand about family - what I do is present it as an allergy.
"I've discovered that he's allergic to petroleum based dyes and preservatives and here's a list of things we have to avoid."

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PLEASE - for the sake of the kids who actually DO have allergies - PLEASE do NOT do this.

People using the term allergy so loosely is a HUGE part of the reason why nobody (or very few) take allergies seriously at all. Make life even more difficult for those who have to deal with a real allergy.

Use terms like "reaction to" or "intolerance", but leave "allergy" alone. Allergy is a measurable immune-system response, while generic reactions (behaviours, etc) and intolerances (usually GI symptoms) are not.

I understand your meaning, but there are people who will ignore a parent and decide "a little won't hurt" and continuously give a child something they react to. And while it won't kill them, not all allergies will kill either.

er parents need to hear that it's detrimental to her son's health, and if telling them it's an allergy will prevent them from sabotauging (sp) her efforts, then that needs to be done, and does not IMO make life more difficult - if anything it brings more attention to the fact that foods (even healthy foods) can be harmful for some people.

For example, I cannot have the antibiotic pennicillan. Even a small dose will cause me to vomit. A normal adult dose will have be spewing for hours. Yet it's classified as a "sensativity" not an allegy because I don't get hives.

Sorry - I will continue to tell my doctors I'm allergic to pennicillan.

skaterbabscpst said:

For example, I cannot have the antibiotic pennicillan. Even a small dose will cause me to vomit. A normal adult dose will have be spewing for hours. Yet it's classified as a "sensativity" not an allegy because I don't get hives.

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Wow- I didn't realize that HIVES are what some doctors are using to classify an allergy. My allergist classifies my allergies as any substance that causes a consistent reaction. For example, I have life-threatening allergies to several foods and medications (I get hives, low blood-pressure, swelling of my face, mouth, and throat, and I go into respiratory distress). I also, however, have allergies to fungus, dust mites, cockroaches, grasses, and cats. While the cats, cockroaches, and grasses do cause hives, the fungus and dust mites don't cause hives, but do cause asthmatic spasms and asthma attacks, which is why my allergist classified them as allergies (and I did break into hives when I had the skin-prick test). I guess the asthma issues qualify those as allergens for me?

It sounds like you definitely have more than a sensitivity if one dose can cause you to vomit profusely. I am so sorry for you!

Thanks. I've learned to just say I'm allergic and not tell them what the reaction is unless they specifically ask.