# Red Dye sensitivities? What behaviors to look for?



## kamilla626 (Mar 18, 2004)

I have hunch that dd (almost 3) may have a mild sensitivity to something - just not sure what. Maybe red dye.

For those of you with dye-sensitive kids, how did you figure it out? What is your child like before and after ingesting dye? Was the change subtle? Or like a demonic possession?

How long after eating the dye does "kick in"? How long does it last?

Thanks!


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## la mamita (Apr 10, 2005)

my DS has a pretty obvious sensitivity to red dye. i had been giving him dye-free tylenol, ran out and the pharmacy only had tylenol with red dye. so the next time i gave him some tylenol, he got a rash all over his face. i didn't notice any change in behavior, but he was only 10 months old at the time.

that's the end of him getting anything with red dye.


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## Trishy (Oct 15, 2002)

I think everyone is sensitive to food dyes in some way. With ds1 I noticed a significant improvment in his behavior when I cut food dyes from his diet. When he spends weekends with his grandmother she gives him foods with dyes in them and I can certainly tell when he comes home. Recently I had some issues with him not listening well and I realized that a drink I had been giving him had yellow dye and I had not even realized it. Last year, at his first preschool, he was given Mountain Dew (something I was furious over, btw even I don't drink crap like that) and he came home and screamed nonstop for 2 hours. I'm sure the caffeine and sugar had something to do with it but that yellow dye is really bad for him. Red is also a big one.

With ds2 we noticed that he started getting a rash after baths. I found that the bubble bath we were using had dye in it. Once I eliminated that the rashes stopped. I was already trying to keep artifical dyes out of our diets when he was born so he has had very little foods with them in it.


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## chrfath (Jun 5, 2003)

My DD(3) behavior changes dramatically. She will sit there screaming and just be totally out of sorts. Once we removed the food with red dye from her diet she was back to her usual self.

Thankfully she doesn't like to eat a lot of junky food and prefers real cooked meals.









Good luck finding some answers.


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## melissa17s (Aug 3, 2004)

My brother gets migraines. As a young child, he craved the foods with the dyes and perservatives, which caused him to have daily headaches.


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## cam&kat's_mom (Jan 12, 2006)

We recently switched to all natural food sadn are making our way to all organic (as $$ allows) and teh main reason was our sons behavior. I did a websearch on food allergies and behavior and every behavior adn characteristic that he was displaying was a sure sign of aversion / allergy to food dyes. and other foods. SO we totally switched him to no dyes no preservatives etc adn his nbehavior is 100% improved. He still has teh fits and attitude of an almost 4 year old sometiems but they are FAR bettter and shorter than before and now managable. So we are in teh process of making the switch as a family. I was AMAZED at teh things they put dyes into!!! They are everywhere!!


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## *Lisa* (Dec 19, 2002)

Quote:

How long after eating the dye does "kick in"? How long does it last?
DD doesn't have dye sensitivities (as far as we know), but DH does. He says that he feels the effects almost immediately after eating something--certainly within a couple of hours. It takes three days for him to feel completely back to normal.


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