I decided to start this blog after my son was diagnosed with food allergies. For the first seven months of his life he suffered with terrible eczema and after a trip to the ER we found out he is allergic to milk, soy, eggs, sesame and peanuts. As a parent of a child with food allergies it is a constant emotional rollercoaster. I have cried at grocery stores, at birthday parties and at night. He has had the Epi injection twice and spent too much time in the ER.

Current allergies: Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree nuts
Outgrew: Sesame, Soy

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Symptoms and Levels

Food Allergies are confusing. There is so much information out there and I still don't fully understand everything.  There are so many symptoms out there and no magic pill to cure it, yet.  Aiden will get a diaper rash from Soy.  He'll break out in hives from Dairy and he'll go into an anaphylaxis shock from Peanuts and Eggs. 


Food Allergy symptoms: 
-Hives
-Itchiness 
-Skin Rash
-Sneezing
-Runny Nose
-Itchy Watery Eyes
-Nasal Congestion
-Asthma or shortness of breath
-Swelling of the Mouth, Toungue or throat
-Vomiting
-Diarrhea 
-Mucus in BM
-Diaper rash

I learned that if your total IgE levels are high, the RAST test is almost always inconclusive.  Also, the skin test has many false positives and false negatives.

Many people don't even know they have food allergies and live their entire lives eating foods that can possibly kill them.  My allergist told me that if I (or anyone) got tested for food allergies, there might be some foods that I am allergic to but my body knows how to handle them every time I consume that food and therefore I never see a reaction.  It would be interesting to get tested and see for myself, but I'd rather not know.

IgE    kU/L        Level of Allergen
0      <0.35          Absent/Undetectable
1      0.35-0.70    Low Level
2      0.71-3.50    Moderate Level
3      3.51-17.5    HighLevel
4      17.6-50       Very High Level
5      51-100        Very High Level
6      >100           Very High Level

Aiden will be tested again in February.  The anxiety is beginning to build.


I love him

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4 comments:

  1. I totally understand your anxiety, frustration and feeling of being overwhelmed with it all! My eldest son is 15 years old now and still is showing no sign of outgrowing his food allergies to dairy,egg,beef,sesame,fish,shellfish,peanut/tree nuts, raspberries and now mustard. (he has always not liked Djon mustard in my marinades, just recently had a funny tingliing feeling with dry mustard with our Dairy Free Mac and Cheese...when tested for mustard it came out positive.) Trust your gut...trust your children's responses to food...trust that you will find a way to adapt to your new lifestyle. Susan H. @ the food allergy chronicles

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  2. 15 with that lengthy list of allergies! Poor guy! hope he outgrows them soon.

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  3. It is so hard - the only real way we've found to determine allergies and intolerances is a food elimination diet, but it's a real challenge. But, wow, does it work! Like you said, the skin prick and blood tests just aren't very accurate. We still do them just for peace of mind.

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  4. My son and daughter have similar allergies. add in a few more foods and some asthma and call it a day. My son is seven and has outgrown a few gained a few more, and we are starting over again with my daughter. Thanks for the recipes. this time around I feel more overwhelmed and it seems a lot harder. It's strange that after seven years I am just now finding all these food allergy blogs. I would suggest a medical I.D. bracelet. It helped with my anxiety a lot.

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