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Bright Red/Hot ears


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Weird question:

Does anyone else's kids get bright red, hot ears for no reason. I get them, sometimes only one of them, sometimes both. I feel like I have a high fever, but it will usually be slight. My son ears do the same thing all the time. Sometimes with a fever, sometimes w/o. It's sort of bizarre. Usually he does have a fever when they're red, but not always. It just always freaks me out with him b/c he has a febrile seizure past.. I know it's a weird question, he and I both have it going on right now, so that's why it came to mind.

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Yes, both my children have had this in the past. My older son is non Pandas but since he has been through puberty- I don't notice it anymore. My suspected PANDAS child gets red/hot ears for no particular reason. Fever or not fever. Well or sick. I've never been able to figure it out either??? I think it is more related to when he is excited or upset. It has lessened substantially since he is getting older- 11.5. Perhaps, he too, is "outgrowing" it with being prepubescent. IDK.

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bright red, hot ears are usually thought of to be related to food allergies.

 

personally, i think that too simple. . . i think it could be indicative of an immune response -- deeper than food sensitvities or if those sensativities exist -- it needs more attention than just avoiding the foods. -- just my opinion.

 

my ds9 -- who has not followed a strict GF/CF diet, did appear to get red ears and it did seem related to possibly eating -- it seemed that after mac and cheese this would occur.

my ds7 - who has eaten strict, and now not so strict, GF/CF did not get red ears in relation to eating. however, he did have them just recently and i think it may have been after he ate an offending food.

 

i have had ds7 on GF/CF -- in the beginning of our pandas story -- we saw a naturopath who blood tested and he came out highly reactive to over 15 foods. i don't now -- and really never thought -- for us -- this was so pivotal. i think it's more indicative that his immune system was in disarray and acting inappropriately, so i had him follow that diet to help his system calm down -- but didn't think it was a be all and end all solution.

 

i do know of many people who believe food allergies are of prime importance to their situation and see great results from treating in that sense -- and i fully believe them for their situation. i think for us, it was one of many indicators of a faulty immune response -- and needed attention, just like we needed abx to tamp down infection.

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Oh My...YES! Bright red ears...yep...I have seen that in my younger son quite often. It was so sporadic that I swore it was something he was eating. Well....after keeping a food journal for a week or so and noting when he got the red ears....I would look back at to what he ate that day. There was always something tomatoe based, spices, peppers, juices, etc. We found he had a sensitivity to salicylates. After taking enzymes when eating offending foods...he no longer got the red ears. They worked great. It was much easier, for us, to give him the enzymes instead of having him avoid particular foods (like pizza at a birthday party...that would be a bummer) Anyway...it did wax and wane with PANDAS and he is much less reactive now...but I still have the enzymes on hand in the freezer. I gave him some last night when we had ravioli (tomatoe sauce) because there is a nasty cold running in our house and if he would be sensitive...it would be now. (we use No-Phenol by Houston Enzymes)

 

 

http://www.salicylatesensitivity.com

Edited by P.Mom
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We found he had a sensitivity to salicylates. After taking enzymes when eating offending foods...he no longer got the red ears. They worked great. It was much easier, for us, to give him the enzymes instead of having him avoid particular foods (like pizza at a birthday party...that would be a bummer) Anyway...it did wax and wane with PANDAS and he is much less reactive now...but I still have the enzymes on hand in the freezer. (we use No-Phenol by Houston Enzymes)

 

 

did you find the sensitivity from the food journal? did you notice anything other than the ears -- with/without the enzymes? when you started, did you just give for certain food or did he take them regularly for a while?

and yes -- avoiding pizza at a party is a bummer!!

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After googleing hot red ears, it seems like it may be a symptom of lyme? There were lots of other possible autoimmune causes, none that were pandas related but I thought that was interesting!

Edited by meckert
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Smarty....Yes.....I found out by just tracking what he ate when he got the flaming ears. We then tested it by purposely giving him spaghetti (with tomatoe sauce) and BAM..red ears in about half hour/hour. We did this "test" about 3 times and were 99.9% convinced....then after the enzymes worked...it was a done deal. We began with the Feingold diet....but he was only reactive to a handful of things and that diet was much more intensive than he needed..but, it taught us a lot about what to look out for.

 

Yes...he would also get moody and irritable with the ears...not always...but often. With the enzymes he was perfectly fine. I tell you I was shocked at how well those things worked. I was very skeptical but thought it was worth a try. They totally took his reaction away and he could eat anything. The enzymes also a yeast killer,(some people use it for just yeast issues) and, although my son has no issues with yeast...I thought that was good considering the antibiotics. (bonus #2) Also, they help soften/loosen stools and that was good because my son tended to run on the slower/constipated side of things. (which has improved over the years..but..bonus #3) No he did not take them regularly...just when eating offending foods...we had it down pretty good as to what caused reactions in him. He started out with grape chewables and he would chew a tablet right when he sat down to eat. We later switched to powder/capsules.

 

 

"No-Fenol was developed by Dr. Devin Houston in response to parents' request for a product that would allow their children to eat fruits and vegetables without the problems thought to be associated with polyphenolic compounds. Initial response from many parents indicate that for many, No-Fenol does allow the addition of these foods to the diet without complications.

 

All plants contain some degree of phenolic compounds. The phenol structure itself is ubiquitous in nature, and is actually essential to many of life's processes. Current thinking by many is that some subset of children on the PDD spectrum have difficulty in the processing of phenolic compounds, which may present as behavioral problems and physical symptoms such as red ears and cheeks, and dark circles under the eyes. While the basic mechanism behind this phenomenon is not well defined, it is thought that perhaps the phenolic compounds become "trapped" in some part of a metabolic cycle, presumbably involved with various detoxification pathways."....from the Houston Enzymes site

 

 

 

 

Kimballot.....food dyes are in the Feingold diet and some contain salicylates. Not sayin' that is what your son was reacting to....just sayin'. :)

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Yes another whose pandas ds gets bright red ears...no idea if they are hot and he's never described them that way. Sometimes it is when he has a fever and other times it just is. I haven't really seen a connection to things he eats but I admit I haven't been tracking it. He also has the deep purple rings under his eyes and the pediatrician and the eye doctor always ask if he is an allergy kid which to the best of my knowledge he has none.

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DS8 had the flaming red ears most of the time - very noticeable. It went away shortly into lyme treatment. They were red again a couple of weeks ago along with a flare up of other lyme symptoms. For him it seems to be linked to lyme. The mention of fevers would also make me consider lyme in your situation.

 

I didn't know red ears could be linked to food allergies. I will have to pay closer attention to any changes in diet in the future and see if there is any link for us.

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It doesn't have to be a true allergy. A sensitivity/intolerance can cause it......to an actual food or a chemical in the food. My son also shows no allergies when tested for traditional allergies via skin prick. There is no way to test for salicylate sensitivity other than an elimination diet.

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