Need some advice from parents with allergic kids

[Karen in CO]

I'm not new to this I've known my youngest was allergic to dairy since she was a baby. Last year, we confirmed that she is celiac, but we knew she had more allergies. Yesterday, we started allergy testing. She's tiny so they weren't able to test for a lot of things, but we found out that she's allergic to dairy (knew that), soy, apples, tomatoes, raspberries, peas, and mustard.

 

I'm feeling unsure about everything today. How can my baby be allergic to apples? They're supposed to be good for you. And raspberries? It is one of the few fruits she likes. Soy? She's allergic to dairy and soy is one of the alternatives - we've used it sparingly, but still, it is pervasive. Mustard ? Did you know it is the 4th most common food allergen and is unlabeled in the US? Tomatoes? we have rice pasta with a veggie meat sauce once a week. I've been poisoning her? Her persistent eczema is caused by my red sauce?

 

She's so little and is frequently in pain - I'm unsettled by these allergies. There are lots of foods that she eats that we didn't test for. How do I know that she's not allergic to them too?

[dbmamaz]

sometimes food allergies seem like they never end. I would start by removing those (as well as you can) and see if she feels better. I used at test from ALCAT which i had to pay for cash (and they are pricey) for both me and my son. My son doesnt really react to the things that showed up for him other than gluten and dairy, and mine had a ton too many foods . . .but i took it ALL out and added it back in slowly to see what was actually causing problems.

 

Some kids allergies calm down after they've been off gluten for a while and had a chance to heal, so there's always something to look forward to!

 

Did the allergist consider doing blood-draw type allergy tests, since she's so little?

[Karen in CO]

He wanted her off of these foods and then a recheck in 3 months. He's adding some daily antihistamines and wants her weight checked monthly. When we go back, he said we'll go over some other testing options. She's had blood tests before and doesn't like them at all, but she might like it better than more skin tests. I'm hoping that she improves as she's been off gluten longer.

[athena1277]

Dealing with food allergies/intolerance is hard. My dd has Celiac Disease also. The beginning of a new diet is the hardest part. After 7+ years, her diet is now just a part of our life that we don't have to think about quite so hard. It will get easier!

 

Begin by focusing on what she CAN have. Make a list of foods. Work off that list to start. After you get more comfortable with feeding her safe things and she is feeling better, you can begin to find substitutions for the things that she can't have.

[AK_Mom4]

:grouphug:

 

We went thru the same thing with youngest DD at age 6. She turned out allergic to barley, rye, and potatos. Potatos? I had never heard of anyone being allergic to potatos! And barley and rye are in most every commercial baked good! Eeek! I felt just like you - like I had been poisoning her and it was all my fault.

 

Fast forward 6 months without those three items - she was gaining weight, no more headaches, no more tummy aches and constipation. It definitely wasn't easy, but we changed up her diet to no processed foods and no bread items that weren't made at home and it made a huge difference.

 

:grouphug: - I know it's tough, but hang in there. BTW - my brother is allergic to apples too.

[MomatHWTK]

DS was pretty much allergic to everything at the outset. Ones he tested positive for and others he just couldn't tolerate because his system was so overdone. We did hypo-allergenic formula only for several years (but of course that's an extreme case).

 

When we introduced foods, we did one at a time. I tried a carb first if I recall correctly or maybe a fruit? Anyway, one at a time we tried carb, fruit, protein, veggie. Those were it, along with sugar and salt. Then we moved forward from that point. His first meal type food was plain white rice with ground beef added, seasoned with salt. I remember he was able to have banana early on in the process so that was his sweet. I actually let him have plain raw sugar (the brown sugar) as a treat because that's all he could have. From that point, I plotted out which foods were least likely to trigger a reaction and would be most beneficial to his diet and worked on trialing that list one by one.

 

We kept the formula in his diet for a LONG time because that was his primary source of nutrition. I know he was at least partially on formula until he was 5. Without dairy or soy, it's hard to find a liquid that will offer the protein and calcium absent formula. DS was allergic to nuts so the nut-based milks were out as well. There are potato and oatmeal based milk substitutes and I think we did use Rice Dream- but it doesn't have as much nutrition as a formula does.

 

Anyway- it was long and hard and basically required me to forget about normal meals or normal eating goals and focus solely on getting the right nutrition into the child, step by long drawn out step. :grouphug:

 

ETA: The celiacs probably has caused a leaky gut so some of the other issues may be outgrown once the gut heals. That was one of our reasons for doing formula only, to heal DS' gut.

[dbmamaz]

did she show any improvement when you got her off gluten? are you sure you have her totally clean from gluten? poor thing! Of course, almond and coconut milk are good subs. well, we didnt like the coconut milk in the dairy case, though.

 

you just have to keep trying until you figure it out . . and even then, there will be occasional backslides. this is life with allergies. just focus on what you can do, and how far you have come!

[Karen in CO]

did she show any improvement when you got her off gluten? are you sure you have her totally clean from gluten? poor thing! Of course, almond and coconut milk are good subs. well, we didnt like the coconut milk in the dairy case, though.

 

you just have to keep trying until you figure it out . . and even then, there will be occasional backslides. this is life with allergies. just focus on what you can do, and how far you have come!

 

She improved a lot when she came off of gluten, and she even gained a few pounds. She loves the chocolate almond milk, and I made sure she was tested for chocolate and almonds yesterday. What kind of coconut milk do you use?

[Karen in CO]

:grouphug:

 

We went thru the same thing with youngest DD at age 6. She turned out allergic to barley, rye, and potatos. Potatos? I had never heard of anyone being allergic to potatos! And barley and rye are in most every commercial baked good! Eeek! I felt just like you - like I had been poisoning her and it was all my fault.

 

Fast forward 6 months without those three items - she was gaining weight, no more headaches, no more tummy aches and constipation. It definitely wasn't easy, but we changed up her diet to no processed foods and no bread items that weren't made at home and it made a huge difference.

 

:grouphug: - I know it's tough, but hang in there. BTW - my brother is allergic to apples too.

Thanks,

That is encouraging. 6 months isn't bad at all. And Potatoes? That is probably worse than tomatoes. Sorry that is hard.

[Sevilla]

I'm not new to this I've known my youngest was allergic to dairy since she was a baby. Last year, we confirmed that she is celiac, but we knew she had more allergies. Yesterday, we started allergy testing. She's tiny so they weren't able to test for a lot of things, but we found out that she's allergic to dairy (knew that), soy, apples, tomatoes, raspberries, peas, and mustard.

 

I'm feeling unsure about everything today. How can my baby be allergic to apples? They're supposed to be good for you. And raspberries? It is one of the few fruits she likes. Soy? She's allergic to dairy and soy is one of the alternatives - we've used it sparingly, but still, it is pervasive. Mustard ? Did you know it is the 4th most common food allergen and is unlabeled in the US? Tomatoes? we have rice pasta with a veggie meat sauce once a week. I've been poisoning her? Her persistent eczema is caused by my red sauce?

 

She's so little and is frequently in pain - I'm unsettled by these allergies. There are lots of foods that she eats that we didn't test for. How do I know that she's not allergic to them too?

First of all, I would say this: It is very *very VERY* possible that her little immune system is in overdrive and is showing 'reactions' to things that she is actually not allergic too. When your gut is irritated and inflamed for so long it can react to everything - sort of like when we're overtired/moody many MANY things set us off emotionally vs. when we're calm and well-rested and those things just aren't an issue.

 

I would recommend doing the following to help her body heal, at which point you'll be able to have a much better grasp of what her true allergies are and what type of diet she needs to eat.

 

1. GAPS diet.

2. Consider a primal/paleo diet as it does not include dairy/soy/legumes and it's pretty easy to avoid mustard and raspberries and apples by subbing with other foods ;).

[Random]

I'm so sorry, and I understand what it's like to feel like you've been poisoning your child, upon hearing the list of foods he/she is allergic to.

 

You still have a lot of options for healthy and safe foods. I think you should give yourself a few days to process the new information and then start looking for recipes. It's also possible that her body is in 'overdrive' and is showing positive makers, even though she's not actually allergic. Tomatoes, for example, are histamine-producers and can cause reactions in people who aren't even allergic.

 

I found it best to look at what my son could eat, rather than think much on what he can't eat. Then, figure out a way to make it happen. Do you already use probiotics and/or fermented foods?

 

 

And, FWIW, my son tested positive to/is allergic to: peanuts, walnuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, almonds, pecans, hazel nuts, Brazil nuts, chestnuts, all legumes (soy, cocoa, lentils, all beans, etc), dairy, white potato, wheat, bananas, sunflower seeds, coconut, corn, tomato, oats, strawberries, apples, spelt, sweet potato, rice, garlic, celery, onion, mustard, mango, peach, green bean, carrot, oranges, chicken, eggs, artichokes, barley, quinoa.

 

 

At that point, I stopped the testing. :tongue_smilie:

 

Are you a Christian? I found Matthew 6:25, Luke 12:23, Matthew 6:30-33, and Romans 8:18 to be comforting.

 

:grouphug:

[sbgrace]

:grouphug: I've visited that "I poisoned my child" space before too. Allergies are overwhelming. :grouphug: I agree with the advice to focus on what she can eat.

[dbmamaz]

We dont use any coconut milk for regular drinking, but I sometimes use the kinds in the can (in the asian section of the grocery store) for cooking. they are good for a cream sub, good in ice cream, and I sometimes use it in baking. The regular is CREAMY and the light is still kinda thick!

 

For regular use, my teens use almond milk, my youngest and hubby use regular silk, and I use an unsweetened organic vanilla soy milk . . .for a while i was having allergic reactions to the supplements, and this one isnt supplemented, but is YUMMY!!