guinnea pig

Jasmine has, at least in principle, been accepted on a trial. The trial is to assess whether the use of softened water would have any impact on her eczema.

Softened Water Eczema Trial

It's early days yet and we have yet to have Jasmine checked to see if her eczema is 'moderate to severe'. We also need to have an engineer out to see if they can even fit the softener. Either way, it's an avenue to follow. I must admit though, I am a little concerned as to the risks of the salinated water effect. More research required methinks.

On another note, we've received the latest batch of supplements from the kinesiologist, all aimed at tackling the candida and leaky gut and strengthening Jasmine's tummy.

We'll still be taking the flower remedy - Daffodil formula FF14 (one pill, morning and night). We'll also keep the New Vistas Microflora homeopathic drops (x4 drops morning and night) and the BioCare Acidophilus Plus (1/4 teaspoon with her evening milk). The new additions are New Vistas Baby Thrush homeopathic drops (x4 drops morning and night) and New Vistas Digestive Enzyme Liquescence homeopathic formula (1/4 teaspoon before her evening milk).

We'll see how all this pans out! Fingers crossed :D

The tour

Well it's only been a few days since the last real post but it feels soooooo much longer, the last post really sums it up.

We had another meeting with the dietician where we let them know that we had stopped all dairy (including the hydrolysed formula). Our mission with the dietician was to address whether this would provide the sufficient nutrients for Jasmine (alongside her already varied and healthy diet). We were asking because Jasmine seems to fit into clothes where the labels suggest they're suited more for a 6-9 month old. I know Dairy is the major contributer to the nations 'tubby' babies and clearly being dairy free will have an impact on her weight, but we felt we have to check.

Is essence, Jasmine's varied diet doesn't ring any alarm bells for the dietician, and despite not having any dairy derivatives she is not concerned.

We wanted to pursue some tests aswell as so far much of our approach to tackle Jasmine's eczema through diet seems involve alot of 'guesswork.' The tests we had in mind were for Leaky Gut, any mal-absorption issues and possibly for Candida.

Apparently this is beyond the scope of the dietician though... >.<

Immediately following our wonderfully productive meeting with the dietician we had another appointement with our local GP. We had a number of issues we wanted to bring to his attention; Jasmine's weight, her walking style, a rattly chest she's had for a little while now, and following the dietician's ineptitude, advice on tests. The Doctor is the joint owner of the practice and his attitude to us has usually been acceptable. This time he was merely arrogant.

We weighed Jasmine on the Doctor's scales (normal adult ones) and gained a not-overly-accurate 8kg reading, placing Jasmine on the 2nd centile. ....ie tiny. The Doctor didn't think it unusual. <frustration> Jasmine had gone all afternoon so far without a nap, it was almost her dinner time, she's teething like a crazy thing, she's still sickly and it was very hot in the Doctor's office. Asking to see Jasmine's chest to assess any rattle seems harmless enough, but exposing Jasmine's skin = itchy. exposing her skin with the prevailing list of angry baby points = fervently itcy!!!

Jasmine was soon raking her sides, chest and back with her nails whilst the Doctor tried to listen with his stethoscope. Naturally Jasmine was screaming in annoyance aswell. With Jasmine getting more and more worked up the Doctor at least says that her chest is clear and there is nothing to worry about there.

He then has the audacity to throw in his opinion regarding Jasmine's vaccine status, as if that has anything to do with our visit or Jasmine's condition <frustration>. Following a brief discourse where it is quite clear we are at opposite ends of the spectrum regarding vaccines we agree to disagree.

Jasmine is too upset by this time to even attempt to walk so showing how she tends to point out her left foot as she steps is impossible. The Doctor briefly examines Jasmine's ankles, knees and hips and just presumes this will correct itself if it was even anyhing to have worried about in the 1st place <frustration>.

We enqured about a referral to the Homeopathic Hospital in London. He denied our request. We asked why as it was NHS. He responded 'Is it?' <frustration> His Ignorance was shining through, we pressed for a referral and left is at "I'll get my staff to research the option." <frustration> He was prepared to refer us on to another pediatricitian (or anyone else - read 'official').

We then mentioned that we would like to pursue some tests and get a blank faced response. We pressed on high-lighting leakygut and mal-absorption. He stated that that could be something that the Homeopathic Hospital could organise... <frustration>

The Doctor brought up vaccines twice more before we left <frustration> I wish he would just respect our decision, whatever his own opinions.

Yay for the UK's medical system... Indoctrination and propaganda! ...it's a wonderful thing.

Summary

I think it's going to be fairly long-winded to account for every detail 11 months down the line, but I shall try to summarise the more important aspects and noteworthy events.

Jasmine had a long, but fairly uncomplicated birth. She popped out at 3.39pm on Wednesday 13th February weighing in at a healthy 8lb 1.5oz. Along-side our pre-planned decision to not vaccinate we also declined the hospitals push to give a vitamin K jab. Her APGAR test was nigh on perfect with the only issue being slightly sticky eyes, for which the paediatrician immediately claimed Chlorophenicol should be administered just as a precaution.

Jasmine never lost weight following her birth as most newborns do, gaining 4oz in the following week, and a further 7.5 oz by the end of that week. *chubber* :D

I (Dad) returned to work on the 25th, some 11 days after she arrived. Jasmine started developing symptoms of eczema around two weeks of age. This coincided with the introduction of formula milk along-side breast milk. The initial formula was Aptamil and she took to it fairly well to start with.

She was diagnosed with Seborrheic Dermatitis on March 18th (6 weeks old) and the doctor prescribed Daktacort, a steroid cream. We were always hesitant to use steroids but followed the doctors advice for a week. We started using cradlecap shampoo (Dentinox) at 7.5 weeks, and the doctor claimed Jasmine was at the tail end of a viral infection (spotty chest) at 8 weeks. From 8 weeks Jasmine was exclusively formula fed.

We started taking Jasmine to a homeopath at 12.5 weeks and she started hypoallergenic formula at 13 weeks (Nutramigen), following sickiness with Aptamil.

She gave her 1st giggle at roughly 16 weeks! :D at 17 weeks she tried her 1st meal of apple and pear pudding. We started Jasmine on Nanny Care goats milk at 18 weeks. Her skin seemed to improve a little with the goats milk though her weight gain slowed.

At 22 weeks we met another paediatrician who helpfully informed us Jasmine had eczema. >.< class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">dietician was at 43 weeks where we were advised to start a dairy and egg free diet. We met the dietician again 6 weeks later (11 months old) with no great trend of improvement, though we are not convinced that nursery was sticking to the diet regime as rigidly as we were.

That pretty much brings us up to the present. We're continuing with the dairy and egg free regime, avoiding steroids, hoping homeopathy will help and applying creams with the least amount of chemicals in.

Generally her skin as gradually deteriorated over the weeks with waves of flare-ups and calm periods.