This NY Times article, Have a Food Allergy? It's Time to Re-Check, caught my attention recently. Having lived through this with my child for the past 10 years, my concerns about the accuracy of skin and blood tests continues to rise. A year and a half ago, based on blood test results, we were told to add more "foods to avoid to the list. This was going in the wrong direction!
I've shared our experiences with adding baked milk and baked egg into the diet. This continues to be successful. We are now wondering about other foods we've been told to avoid and so, after consultation with our allergist, we are trying some of the "allergenic" foods in a safe environment.
Safe, as in at home, with epinephrine on-hand.
We tried sesame seeds- no reaction.
We tried almonds- no reaction.
We tried McDonalds® french fries (contain milk in the U.S.)- no reaction.
So, not allergic to sesame seeds, almonds or french fries from McDonald's. Now we know.
While I continue to feel greatful for the advances being made in food allergy, I still feel like the medical community is relying on "avoid the allergen" based on blood tests, and not giving us the information we need to make good decisions for ourselves and our children. It is not okay to live for a decade without dairy, eggs, nuts and many other foods. These food groups provide important nutrients and proteins and I want more from our doctors than "stay away from it".
So we continue. We've made a list of things to try. It's scary and exciting, but we need to figure this out. As always, your allergist is still the best source of information when it comes to food allergies.
I am not advocating this method for anyone else. We just needed to find something that works for us now. Already this method has reduced worry, fear, anxiety, and improved quality of life for our family.
I'll keep you posted.
5 comments:
I'm thrilled for you and your family! Being able to add more foods to your child's diet, without having to worry about a reaction, is unbelievably freeing.
I do get concerned with so much press about allergies that aren't real, that all of the effort we've put forth to educate people about the seriousness of food allergies will be minimized. I hope we can find a balance so that no one is unnecessarily avoiding a food, but also that people with very serious allergies are respected and understood.
Thank you for sharing your story. I really appreciate your blog.
Pam
I'm so torn about all of this. We recently did a wheat challenge after being urged by two different (highly respected) allergists to try it. It was declared a success, despite me seeing some rashiness around his mouth, and then he started coughing, which worsened, until he was crying for an inhaler on the way home and sneezing every 10 seconds for the rest of the day. It was a nightmare. On the flipside, we accidentally fed him a bakery loaf of bread that contained some baked in egg a few months ago (wasn't included on the ingredients label! yikes!), and he was perfect. So now I think we probably should go do a baked in trial. They just scare me.
Yes it is.There are some who even suffer from allergy of milk.It is important to understand the restrictions of the body and thereafter keep much away from them.
I agree, Pam, that we need to find a way for people to get the answers they need to this confusing food allergy puzzle, while balancing the needs of those with food allergy.
I know my child had food allergies. I've witnessed the reaction. We're just not clear how allergic, or even if, at this point.
Thanks for reading about our journey.
We've been there, Infant Bibliophile. We had a few car trips like you describe with me saying, "should we go right to the hospital?" as the reaction worsened.
You trust your gut. You know your child best. Interesting about the baked egg. I added 2 eggs to a cake recently- no reaction.
Good luck. Keep us posted.
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