Ear Infections and Allergies

I feel like I should write a book after all the research and discussions I have had with my doctors. Luke, as most of you know, has had ear infections or fluid in his ears since he was 6 months old. He actually could have had it longer than that but Dr. Edwards caught it at his 6 month appointment. Luke had ear tubes put in on March 3 to help relieve the ear infections and it worked....until we went to see the allergist. At our allergy appointment on Tuesday the allergist told us that he could not see the ear tube in his left ear and it was a touch red and to be honest I had thought that something wasn't right with Luke for about a week or so....he has been kinda fussy and rubbing at his ear some. So, I called my pediatrician on Tuesday afternoon and took him Wednesday morning to have his ears checked out.

Some history.....

Once I stopped nursing, I put Luke on soy formula because he was very fussy with the milk based. You might not remember but Luke developed a rash on his face that I controlled with cortizone cream and eventually it went after about 3 or 4 months (now looking back on it, I think was an allergic reaction to the soy formula). Well, now that I know he has an allergy to the soy milk and since I was giving him so much through the soy formula and then soy milk (since his 1st birthday) I honestly think it is the soy allergy that is causing all of his ear infections. I have been pretty right with my gut feelings so far and this one is pretty strong.

Well back to the doctor's visit on Wednesday.....Dr. Edwards checked his ears and the right one, with the tube, looked great. The left one was not so good....the ear tube was gone and the hole had closed up, which makes me think the ear tube has been gone for a while, and he had fluid in the ear. So, Luke is back on an antibiotic to clear the ear.

After a lot of research over the past two nights I have found that allergies can be a major cause of ear infections because they can cause a person/child to be congested in the nose and inner ear area. Dr. Edwards and I both agree that we should take him off the soy milk and he is now drinking rice milk. Hopefully the antibiotic will help clear up the ear infection and then changing his diet will help keep the ear infections away. Of course, my main concern with changing his diet was making sure that he got enough nutrients. Dr. Edwards made me feel better about all the different nutrients that can be found in other foods besides milk, cheese, eggs, peanuts, etc.

So far, Luke has reacted really well to all the changes. Mrs. Binion gave me some advice that I have used as I look at foods that Luke can eat..."Concentrate on the foods he can have and not on the foods he can't have". I am so thankful to Dr. Edwards and Dr. Firshein for all their help in getting to the bottom of this problem. Hopefully over the next month or so I will be able to see a big difference in the way Luke feels. I am already starting to see a decrease in the amount of snot so maybe it is working.