Food allergy help

[momsully]

I know many folks here deal with food allergies with their children and I need some help. The doctor called this morning and said DS7 is a "highly allergic child." According to the doctor he is allergic to milk, egg white, wheat, and corn. I am looking for any suggestions on websites, reading material, cook books or anything else that I should be looking at. We need to rethink everything in our kitchen and I am overwhelmed at where to start.

In addition to the food he is also allergic to cats, dogs and lots of trees and grass. Any advice or help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!!

 

[cynsaun]

Oh, poor little guy, and poor you! I know how hard it is to find foods without certain ingredients, as my oldest daughter and I were recently diagnosed with Celaic disease.

I have found a line of bakery items called "Enjoy Life" that are completely allergen free. You can go to www.enjoylifefoods.com for information. I find them at health food stores, or in the organic area of my grocery.

Good luck!

 

[chell]

First of all s to you. It is a huge adjustment to deal with. The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network has some great resources to offer. You may also want to sign up for their special allergy alerts. They send you emails when recalls have been issued.

There are several parents here who know the ins and outs of dealing with their child's allergies and they will give you all the info you need.

 

[PixieDustTink]

ohhh we went through this exact same thing. In fact my son had to have his food mixed up for him at Children's Hospital in Ottawa for the first four years of his life until he went on Nalcrom.

I don't know if they still use Nalcrom but it GREATLY improved my childs food allergies! They take if four times a day and you have to mix it up in water, it is hard to mix but, it saved my kid. My son doesn't even need to take it anymore!

First off the hardest thing with food allergies is getting used to shopping and reading every single darned label before you buy anything. And even THEN you have to scan it twice...as in if your child has a milk allergy you need to know that when you see "casine" (sp) on the label that it is milk protien and that will cause a reaction! My son was allergic to soy too so those products were out as well.

One other thing that helped us was knowing that, you should alternate foods ALOT. If a "truly allergic" child, which what we were told our son was eats alot of the same food then they will tend to develop an allergy to that food so don't serve peas four times a week even if your child REALLY likes it. Variety matters!

There are a ton of good books out there with recipes and such for kids with food allergies. I'll look some of them up for you again. As I said we don't need to worry about this anymore as the Nalcrom solved our problems within about two years. It was wonderful!!

For the environmental allergies, get rid of carpets, they hold in pet dander, dust and all kinds of nasty stuff like crazy. It was expensive but we pulled up all our carpeting. We started with sons room. Making sure your kids room is free of books, stuffed animals, and carpeting and has a dust cover on thier mattress goes a long, long way to helping them breath easier. Use air conditioning especially during high pollen months. Keep air filters on furnaces and other appliances clean. Hepa filters are wonderful for vacuums and such. I can give you links for products that will help with this stuff too.

You will get very used to dealing with this and it will become second nature in no time. I know it is overwhelming at first. We didn't have a problem when we went to WDW. We told guest services and every place we made ressies at what my sons allergies were before hand and they were very accomadating.

It's alarming when you first find out this stuff but, I'm sure your doctor has a handout about what to look for on food labels. If not ask him or her to write one out for you.

Hang in there! It REALLY does get easy to deal with after a while.

 

[momof2inPA]

There are some good Yahoo groups for people with multiple food allergies.

Some little advice: Fleischman's unsalted margarine is milk-free
Oat flour tastes pretty good, and many cereals are made with oat flour instead of wheat flour
Can you still use egg yellows or will they have some white in them? The egg helps baking recipes stick together. Without it, they will fall apart but still tast good.
Cherrybrook Kitchen makes yummy cookie and cake mixes.
We use Rice Milk as a substitute, but you could use soy milk.
Make sure your son takes a calcium supplement.
If he's highly allergic, make sure he always carries an epi-pen.

How could he be highly allergic and you not know about until he's 7? What have his symptoms been when he's eaten these foods?

 

[chell]

A note about reading food labels - you have to read them every single time! The packaging and everything may look the same but something inside could have changed. There is one brand of taco mix that I have seen contain egg whites from time to time. I have no idea what the difference is though. Just make sure you always read them.

 

[momsully]

How could he be highly allergic and you not know about until he's 7? What have his symptoms been when he's eaten these foods?

Thanks so far for all the advice. As for how he could be highly allergic and us not know I am not sure. He is a picky eater and I don't know if that has something to do with it. As for symptoms the primary symptom is abdominal pain which has gotten worse over time. It got so bad last weekend that he was doubling over after eating lunch one day. He also gets a rash around his mouth when he eats certain foods. I have to call to make an appointment with an allergist on Monday as so far we only have the results from the pediatrician but it is a start and at least I feel we are moving forward.

 

[cynsaun]

Thanks so far for all the advice. As for how he could be highly allergic and us not know I am not sure. He is a picky eater and I don't know if that has something to do with it. As for symptoms the primary symptom is abdominal pain which has gotten worse over time. It got so bad last weekend that he was doubling over after eating lunch one day. He also gets a rash around his mouth when he eats certain foods. I have to call to make an appointment with an allergist on Monday as so far we only have the results from the pediatrician but it is a start and at least I feel we are moving forward.

With what you have just described, don't be surprised if he also has a gluten allergy.

 

[momof2inPA]

Thanks so far for all the advice. As for how he could be highly allergic and us not know I am not sure. He is a picky eater and I don't know if that has something to do with it. As for symptoms the primary symptom is abdominal pain which has gotten worse over time. It got so bad last weekend that he was doubling over after eating lunch one day. He also gets a rash around his mouth when he eats certain foods. I have to call to make an appointment with an allergist on Monday as so far we only have the results from the pediatrician but it is a start and at least I feel we are moving forward.

What was he eating that made him double over? Severe stomach cramps in and of themselves can be a sign of a very serious allergic reaction.

 

[momof2inPA]

With what you have just described, don't be surprised if he also has a gluten allergy.

It's something to look for, but my son is allergic to all of the same things as her son, except for the corn (my son is allergic to barley, peanuts, egg yolks, turkey, and chicken too), and he isn't gluten intolerant.

 

[PixieDustTink]

What was he eating that made him double over? Severe stomach cramps in and of themselves can be a sign of a very serious allergic reaction.

Absolutely!! My sons symptoms got sooo bad that he was having frank bleeding from the bowel every single time he ate! The gastro symptoms get worse over time until they get diagnosed and the offending foods are removed. The gut needs time to heal and the effects of the allergic reaction are cumlative.

Remove all foods that he is allergic to. It is so hard to see them in pain from this stuff. But there is a remedy! Mine had this start from birth and they kept telling me it was "colic" till he finally showed very severe symptoms i.e. the bleeding. I'm glad you got your wonderful kid diagnosed before it went that far.

 

[cynsaun]

It's something to look for, but my son is allergic to all of the same things as her son, except for the corn (my son is allergic to barley, peanuts, egg yolks, turkey, and chicken too), and he isn't gluten intolerant.

Oh, what I meant was the abdomial cramping, that could be a sign of gluten intolerance.

 

[geffric]

you may also want to check out this site... http://www.feingold.org/program-pg.html

 

[momof2inPA]

Oh, what I meant was the abdomial cramping, that could be a sign of gluten intolerance.

That's true.

 

[Christine]

I used to subscribe to the Food Allergy Network's newsletter. Every newsletter had 2-3 pages of new recipies that were free of LOTS of stuff. Additionally, you used to be able to order back issues of their newsletter and maybe even a recipie compilation.

I found them to be a very good source for children's food allergies. (I have a peanut and egg allergic son).

 

[momsully]

What was he eating that made him double over? Severe stomach cramps in and of themselves can be a sign of a very serious allergic reaction.

We had just finished lunch. We were in Plymouth, MA for a wedding and doing some of the tourist stuff. For lunch he had a hot dog, fries and a gatorade. That morning for breakfast he had a donut so I am not sure what caused the severe pain.

 

[momsully]

With what you have just described, don't be surprised if he also has a gluten allergy.

Maybe a dumb question but what exactly is gluten and how is it different from wheat?

 

[momof2inPA]

There are more proteins in wheat than the gluten proteins, so a person could be allergic to the other wheat proteins. The gluten proteins in wheat are also found in other grains. Here's a link to a good explanation:

http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2001/december/gluten.htm

 

[momof2inPA]

We had just finished lunch. We were in Plymouth, MA for a wedding and doing some of the tourist stuff. For lunch he had a hot dog, fries and a gatorade. That morning for breakfast he had a donut so I am not sure what caused the severe pain.

Since it was right after lunch, I would guess it was the lunch.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

There is some speculation that a gluten intolerance can lead to a lot of food intolerances.My sister is studying this for the HMO she works for. So that before Celiac might be diagnosed in an adult there are still gut problems that allow food not totally broken down to get into the blood stream . Some people she knows (including herself and our brother )have reduced allergy symptons by going to a wheat free (gluten free actually) diet.