Food Allergy Help

[clarabelle]

My sister has suddenly become allergic to many foods (she gets terrible hives)
She is allergic to gluten, tomatoes and all corn and soy products- also dairy.
Does anyone know of some websites with recipes and ideas for food allergy sufferers. She is really having a hard time.
Thanks!

 

[chell]

http://www.foodallergy.org/

This is a great place to start. Have her sign up for the e-mail alerts as well.

I sure do feel for your sister. Developing the allergies as an adult completely sucks, especially when you can no longer have foods you once loved.

I have also found many vegetarian and vegan websites to be a great tool.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hi I have been dealing with some of the same stuff myself latey. (over 2 months now) and have adjusted pretty well. My DD has food allergies and is breast feed (for a least a little while longer) so it means I can't have it too. Dairy and Eggs is her issue.

The web site chell listed is good. Also do a search for the allergies she does has, that will help. Many cookbooks also.

I find if you focus on what you CAN'T have it gets really had. Finding a good number of things you can have helps a lot.

Soy is really hard. It is in everything that doesn't have dairy in it. This is going to be difficult, but she can do it. Many people do. Finding support groups in the area is a good idea. Others who have been through it are the most helpful. Contact your local hospital, they will have some.

Good news is she can still have eggs! (I miss eggs.) The difficult thing is being allergic to more then one food. Her's is a hard list, but it will get much better when she adjusts.

Vegan is helpful with no dairy, but they use a lot of soy. Any hot dogs that don't have dairy, has soy.

I can post more info later as I find it (have to look it up.)
Here is some for now.
http://allergies.about.com/od/recipesm/a/blmfrecipes.htm


Oh every fast food place has lists on line if you just look them up. That way you now what you can and can't eat before going. Many places do not have them in the store so it is best to be prepared.

good luck, PM me if you need to.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Clarabelle, are you my secret sister?!

That tomato allergy is probably a citric acid allergy, which is a WHOLE lot more pervasive than even dairy and eggs....as a matter of fact, the amount of citric acid in her body may be disguising itself as a gluten or corn allergy.

Citric acid is the worst. It's in nearly everything from soap to shampoo to fruit flavored gum and candy--even in feminine deoderant wipes! I think that its use has become so pervasive that it is building up in immune systems everywhere and causing the sensitivities to everything else.

Good luck to her. If she gets off all that stuff and is still having problems, suspect citric acid....

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks everyone! I went to bed early so I was not around for most replies.
I will look up those websites
Rafiki- she knows about the citric acid. She is shopping for particular shampoos etc...


She is working really hard to find substitues for things. That is what I was looking for -webistes that know what products don't have corn syrup or citric acid in them.
Basically right now she is only eating fruit- some veggies and meat.
Thanks again everyone

 

[powellrj]

my mom found out she was allergic to corn a few years ago when she turned 65. Its awful because everything has corn or corn syrup in it. Her Dr. should be able to give her a list to help her get started. I know when my mom first found out she had a booklet that had pages of things she couldn't have. It was something the Dr. recomended. Good Luck!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Thanks everyone! I went to bed early so I was not around for most replies.
I will look up those websites
Rafiki- she knows about the citric acid. She is shopping for particular shampoos etc...


She is working really hard to find substitues for things. That is what I was looking for -webistes that know what products don't have corn syrup or citric acid in them.
Basically right now she is only eating fruit- some veggies and meat.
Thanks again everyone

hugs to your sister. What a nightmare!!!!!

The funny thing is fuirts, veggies and meats is my diet too. Dried furits will be bad for her. We eat a lot of bananas around here.

I hope that this list can be whittled down as she gets things under control. Being allergic to both soy and dairy at the same time is very difficult. Take a trip to whole foods. They are pricey, but they are very good about stuff like this.

Sometimes the lists aren't right. My nurtioniest said no marshmellows because of eggs and no carmerl color because of dairy. I contacted Kraft and Jet puff marsmellows don't contain eggs. (fluff does) Also I contacted Coke and kraft about carmel color and theirs isn't dairy based, but CORN.

Lables are getting better, but not as good as they should be. Pot lucks are nightmares.

Just curious. How old is she and did something happen to precipate this? (antiboics, illness or anthing like that?)

 

[YourMajesty]

I try to follow the food allergy threads. My DS (5) had a bunch as a baby but seems to have outgrown most. However, recently he had a throat swelling incident that has us again trying to figure out what the cause was. There is also a website called worldallergy.org that has some good links. I'm looking for the website that has some brochures that you can purchase...if I find it I will post it. I also remember seeing a couple of yahoo food allergy groups you can join...but I haven't joined any yet. Good luck.

 

[momof2inPA]

My favorite cookbook with lots of advice for substitutions is Allergy-Free Cooking by Eileen Rhude Yoder, Ph.D. They have many recipes that use rice flour, which I think is gluten free. Another good source might be a Yahoo group, there are several that deal with gluten allergies, milk allergies, but POFAK is aimed at the multiple allergic people. It's mainly for kids who have food allergies, but adults can post and ask questions, also. The folks in that group probably know as much about multiple food allergies as most allergists.

Tell your sister that some people with soy allergies can tolerate soy lecithin and soybean oils (hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, etc.) because most of the protein is processed out of those. My soy allergic son tolerates those soy products but gets hives and wheezes when exposed to soy flour or soy protein or any other name for soy flour/protein. Anyway, it's worth looking into, as the oils and lecithin are in tons of foods.

Tell her, good luck. It sounds like she needs to go on the Atkins Diet or the zone from here on out- simple foods, meat and veggies. It's a bummer, but you know what they say, eat to live don't live to eat.

 

[momof2inPA]

Any hot dogs that don't have dairy, has soy.

Both my dairy allergic son and my soy allergic son eat Ballpark and Oscar Mayer all beef hot dogs with no problem. Is there something in the natural flavorings that I should be avoiding?

 

[DisneyPhD]

Both my dairy allergic son and my soy allergic son eat Ballpark and Oscar Mayer all beef hot dogs with no problem. Is there something in the natural flavorings that I should be avoiding?

Not that I know of. I have just noticed that ones like national hewbrew have soy in it, and Koggels doesn't (a local brand around here, really yummy but off our list) has milk in it. Soy seems to be a big replacer for dairy. (even in trace amounts.) The hard thing is they put it in everything. It is easy to know this pizza or yogurt has dairy in it, soy is more hidden.

DD does have eat both ballpark and oscar mayer if that is what avilable, but I find myself sticking to kosher since I know it is dairy free and a pretty good standard.

Natural flavoring is hard isn't it? I have found many list the source but not all. I just hate calling manufactors. (but I have found some helpful people.)

It just seems to me that every "safe" thing on our list (no dairy) has soy in it. I guess it just comes down to finding a list for each indivdual need.

hugs to you for having both in one family. We just learn to deal with what life hands us don't we?

I have found my best source of info so far is the internet and others (or parents of) who have the same situation. The professionals, it all seems to be a mater of opinon.

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks again everyone. My sister is 43 -overweight (a big eater) and always had hayfever type allergies. Then she started getting huge hives and had facial and lip swelling. She was also diagnosed with Asthma at the same time. They did a blood test that said she was allergic to all those things.
To be honest -I am a bit skeptical about the blood test -is that how most non anaphalactic type allergies are diagnosed now?
She is taking Singular,Zyrtex and using an inhaler. She says if she skips the antihistamine -once -she still gets the hives.
I am hoping that once she gets a bit better she can start adding foods back in and see what works and what doesn't.
I agree about the atkins -She keeps trying to find substitute bread -and I think she should just hang it up and accept she can't have it right now. She is kind of grieving her food if that makes any sense.
The good thing is -she has lost about 10 lbs.

 

[chell]

To be honest -I am a bit skeptical about the blood test -is that how most non anaphalactic type allergies are diagnosed now?

From my understanding the blood tests are the best way to diagnose food allergies. When I had the skin test the reaction wasn't near as bad as what the blood test indicated.

Another website you may want to check out is Ener-G Foods. They make an egg replacement that I use sometimes. They have some other replacements that might be useful to her.

Sorry that I can't remember the other sites that have been helpful to me.

 

[DisneyPhD]

From my understanding the blood tests are the best way to diagnose food allergies. When I had the skin test the reaction wasn't near as bad as what the blood test indicated.

Another website you may want to check out is Ener-G Foods. They make an egg replacement that I use sometimes. They have some other replacements that might be useful to her.

Sorry that I can't remember the other sites that have been helpful to me.

My DD's doc did blood tests for her also. Her reaction is not anaphalactic, and gets a face rash if has expourse. However she will vomit if she has too much (hasn't happened much since we caught it right away) and she is very uncomfortable at night. (won't sleep, she is only 14 months old). Her doc feels she should outgrow it. I haven't heard too much about adult unset food allgeries, hopefully with elemiantion it will get better. There is no other food allgeries in her family and she is very heathy otherwise, no skin exema that many babies have with food allergies.

Since I am doing the dairy/egg free with my DD I have lost 10 pounds too. (I am only about 10 pounds over my idea weight now.)

I use an egg replacers to bake too. I found there is a trick to it, you have to mix it up very well 1st, or it is really yucky.

Maybe this allergy will be a good thing for your DS. I know that I was never able to diet before because I just couldn't get movotaved. Since it is for my daughter health (to be able to breast feed her until she is ready to ween) it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. I know it has been good for us, we eat at home more and a lot more healhly now too. It makes total sense that she is griving her food. I greive pizza (or a number of other foods) daily. It is getting much better, it has only been close to 3 months for me and I most likely only have a few more months to go. This might be forever for your sister. It is very hard. This is a MAJOR adjustment for your sister. It is going to be really hard, but she will make it, and then she will be feeling much better. My DD doesn't know what she is missing with pizza and so many other things, I do. I hope when it is over I will have gained better eating habbits and more self control that I can continue with.