A couple of weeks ago I wrote to you all about my day — in bullet points — and in that description of a very long day I let you know about some allergy testing that Samuel had done. Well, finally on Wednesday, I received some of the results from those lab draws.
Most news was great news. And for that I’m truly thankful — I had worries of multiple allergies or food allergies on top of the Celiac Disease. We did find out, however, that Samuel has a pretty severe environmental allergy to dust mites. His pediatrician is concerned that he will develop asthma over time since he already had issues with asthma type reactions whenever he gets a cold and his immune system is still slightly compromised due to Celiac Disease.
Some of the recommendations that she gave were for him to take some allergy medication every day, to replace the carpet in his room with hardwood flooring, to get him hypo-allergenic coverings for his bed and pillow, and to make sure the moisture level in our home is lower {tricky as our home is one of those “too-tight” homes built in the late 1990s}. We’re just going to start chipping away at things the best we can. It also explains his fatigue and why he sneezes most mornings. He calls it a sneezer.
I also found that his vitamin D and his ferritin are still low. This is fairly common for individuals with Celiac Disease. I’m going to start increasing his supplements for both — and for the iron I’m going to try some Floravital liquid iron supplements for kids.
And that’s why I’m posting today. I’d love for you to share some of your tips for dealing with environmental allergies {like dust mites} in children. Will replacing the flooring in his room make a great difference? How about supplements for the vitamin D and iron deficiency? I am grateful for all the kind emails that some of you already sent me {as I posted a bit about this on my facebook page} yesterday.
Blessings on your Thursday. Oh, yes, one last thing — remember those adorable glue and glitter photos I told you about? Well, Hannah and I had a little miscommunication about pictures downloaded from the camera and I accidentally deleted those favorite photos of mine. Sigh. I guess I’ll be pulling out the glue and glitter again. Samuel will be thrilled — and my Oreck vacuum will get plenty of good use. And yes, some of the pics from today are those map photos again — they’re just too cute to not use twice. 😉
See you tomorrow for Friday Favorite Things.
17 comments
Rachel, praying for complete healing…and maybe give you a ray of sunlight. My brother was found to be extremely allergic to dust…and we could not make any changes to our home…due to many different things…my parents divorced, my oldest brother was killed in a tragic accident…and that drained my parents. My Mom prayed. My brother…today, has no allergies that I am aware of. My dd was diagnosed with extreme seasonal allergies at two…after celiac disease was ruled out (my heart goes out to you…I remember the waiting, the fear…and well…we did not have that path ahead of us)…. and for six months we had her on some strong meds…. today, she is on honey and cinnamon… I realize her situation is completely different from your sweet boy. But, I share this with you…to lift you up, remind you of how far God has brought you and to say…he will neither leave you nor forsake you…and he will overcome any environmental problems…for his glory and will give you provisions for his plan! Love you bunches!
From what I’ve heard and seen for myself, wood floor makes a big difference.
So glad that his allergies aren’t as bad as you feared!
Rachel, both of my girls and I are allergic to dust mites. Changing the flooring will make A HUGE difference. I have hardwood throughout my house. I also have a Hepa air filter in our bedrooms. If you get an air filter, DO NOT have Samuel around when you change filters/clean the machine – I almost ended up in the hospital the one time I tried to clean it!
If I think of more stuff, I will let you know.
So glad to hear that the news is mostly good! Little Sam is getting SO big!
Rachel – Thanks for the updates. Know that we’ll continue to pray for you and your Sam.
Son#2 had asthma and allergies (seasonal & dust mites). He’s thankfully outgrown the asthmas. His allergist recommended removing the carpet. We have nothing but hardwoods throughout the house. It does make a BIG difference. I also firmly believe that getting rid of most of his stuffed animals was a tremendous help. The other animals (when he was smaller & played with them a lot) got a once-weekly bath, as did his pillows. I also steamed his mattress about once a month. If you can’t put down hardwood floors, laminate is a less-costly alternative. It will be just as effective as hardwood, as it will not be able to trap the dust mites.
Hope this helps. (((HUGS)))
Wood or tile flooring will make a big difference, and will hypo bedding. It is surprising how much that will help. Anything fabric and fuzzy seem to be a haven for mites. My grandson was asthmatic and these changes helped a lot.
It’s so wonderful to get good updates on that handsome little boys of yours.
As I read this it reminded me of symptoms I use to have. Prior to going gluten/dairy free every cold I would get would settle in my lungs and make me wheeze to the point I thought my throat would close up tight. Scary to say the least.
I could never run very far because I just could not breath. It scared me to run (for exercise) because I could never quite catch my breath afterwards.
After I was off gluten/dairy for a while I was amazed that I could breath again. I could run and even talk while running. I know it was due to the gluten/dairy clogging me up. I still sneeze around dust being kicked up but now I just avoid it as best I can.
Enjoy that little guy and some sunshine~
~Cinnamon
Steam also kills dust mite. My #1 had dust might allergies. I would use my steam cleaner on everything in his room once a week. Stuffed animals, bedding, curtains, living room furniture and carpets. Might be something to look into.
Jumping on the hardwood floor bandwagon. It makes a huge difference. If you can cover his pillow and mattress with a filter cover that helps as well. Basically you want to try to keep his bedroom as free from dust as possible. {easier said than done, I know!}
I see someone already mentioned it, but I was also going to recommend the air purifier (HEPA filter). Praise God for no food allergies!
–Gena
Hello!
Commenting as a brittle asthmatic adult with the very same SEVERE dust and dust mite allergies…
Wash his bedding in hot water weekly, including his pillows! Run everything through the dryer on high heat too…And don’t ever run a humidifier! Dust mites thrive in a high humidity environment.
Oh, also a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter is a non negotiable item in our home.
God bless!
such cute pictures, definitely good enough to use twice!
i’m allergic to dust mites too. but i do nothing to help myself so i have no good tips.
i’m thankful you know how to help him better with this new information.
praying God’s mercies upon precious Sam.
Rachel, Our best friend’s daughter has severe asthma and secondary allergies with dust and dust mites. She was on 2 seperate inhalers and 3 oral medications. 4 months after removing ALL carpet from their home, she was able to ween away from all medications and now only takes them seasonally. I know that the overlying diagnosis is different, but it made a huge differnce in their home. Hope this is helpful! I know Celiac can be overwhelming we have several members of our extended family that are learning the ins and outs of it now. will be praying for you and your sweet family.
Don’t have any suggestions…just praying that you’ll figure things out. My little guy…the one Samuel reminds me of, has a small break in his wrist. They’ll find out Monday if he needs a cast. Poor little guy!
Always lifting up prayer!
Psalms 40:5, 11, 13 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. (11) Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. (13) Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
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My brother had really bad asthma and allergies as a kid, which have eased considerably as he’s gotten older, so my parents had hardwood in our first house and laminate in the second. It makes a big difference. My brother and I both live in an apartment and even my far more trivial allergies have gotten worse because of it, so I’m sure my brother’s have too. I think you should definitely change the flooring in Sam’s room, and other rooms in the house that aren’t already hardwood or laminate if you can manage it.
I hope the changes you make help Sam and his respiratory system! Dealing with asthma can be so tough. My brother’s was absolutely severe, and when you write of your days in the hospital for Sam’s celiac disease it makes me think of the days my brother was there for his asthma, how my parents must surely have felt the way you and Todd did. I am so thankful for Sam’s increasing health and so glad you’re able to get him the care he needs! I’ll be praying for y’all!
Hey sweet friend. I’ve been told that they are killed by freezing as well. So, if he has a favorite stuffed animal or something that won’t wash well, you can put it in the freezer for a while and it will kill the dust mites!
I’ve never commented here before but I’m compelled to because of this post. Hopefully my husband’s experience, that I’ll relate below, will help your son.
I want you to know that while doing everything you can to mitigate the dust mites as the TRIGGER to allergic reactions is a *great* thing to do, I cannot stress enough how much more important it is to treat the CAUSE. The CAUSE of the allergies is the immune system overreacting… and as you probably know, the digestive system is one of the major components of immune reactions. Be seriously strict on the gluten free you’re doing, do more elimination diet testing if you feel there are other triggers and when your son’s digestive system heals, he’ll be able to have a more normal (or completely normal since he’s so young and resilient?) immune response. LOOK into the GAPS diet as a 1-2 year temporary healing diet to (hopefully) cure allergies.
Now on to my husband’s experience: he is nearly 30 and has had severe allergies and severe asthma nearly all his life. (I mean SEVERE. Like waking multiple times per night to use an emergency rescue inhaler ((ya know, the one you’re only “supposed” to need twice a week) in addition to using it all day long). Driving fast to the ER a couple times year. Using about 3 different allergy medications year round.)
In the last 2 years, we learned about gluten free/food allergies as immune compromising CAUSES for overreacting allergies/asthma — in addition to his already known environmental and animal allergies. He tested negative for ALL food allergies, but using elimination diet, he found he’s “sensitive” to gluten and peanuts and other nuts. He has been strictly gluten free and adding some probiotic foods for nearly 2 years and he is 90% cured of asthma AND allergies. Healing his gut has given his body the ability to deal with his environment properly instead of overreacting. Blood test were negative and I’m sure a scope test would have been inconclusive as well (look into the false positives/negatives and risks before doing a scope… often times just “proving” an allergy with a good elimination is all you need, not an invasive procedure. they both prove the same thing and have the same solution afterall — continue an elimination diet.)
Really and truly, give the gluten free time to heal your son, look into Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s book and website about the GAPS diet, and keep cleaning up the dust mite triggers while you wait for full healing. Treat the CAUSE, not only the TRIGGER. You’re on the right track!! Vit D will definitely help his immune system too!
Sorry if this is random or too long or just obnoxious, I don’t intend to be crazy sounding, only helpful. Please feel free to contact me. 🙂