Puzzled about how to handle dd's food allergies

[texasrose]

Hi, I would really appreciate any thoughts on this.

About a month ago my dd (aged 4) had RAST tests which showed her to be allergic to wheat, eggs, soya and nuts. Her scores were impressive - her overall IgE level was 1348 (the normal range is between 0 and 52). She's had severe excema from birth and both sides of our family suffer from the whole shebang - hay fever, ashthma, excema, allergies...we're a very 'atopic family'.

The thing is...my dd's teacher asked me how she was getting on having cut out the alergic foods and I said 'well TBH it hasnt made much difference yet'. She said in that case what's the point of cutting those foods out? You may as well let her eat them. I wasn't comfortable with that but cuoldn't really find an answer.

THen I read a book about food allergies and the thing it said was that parents do more damage over-fussing about allergies and as long as you avoid those foods most of the time you should be okay to let children have them every now and then (eg. at parties). There was a long section about Munchhausen's by Proxy and how health care professionals will suspect any 'over-anxoius parents' (i.e. me!) of manufacturing / exaggerating the symptoms.

THe reason this is bugging me is that I thought the best thing to do was to avoid the allergens altogether but now I'm just confused. Eg - soya lecithin is used in lots of procssed foods and if I'm shopping with my mum she always says 'oh it must only be a tiny amount'...but I'm not happy buying those foods.

WE are waiting to see a hospital dietician and when the allergies were diagnosed the GP (who is fantastic, we are v. lucky) certainly gave the impression that we had to cut out those foods altogther.

I don't want to needlessly cause my dd stress by saying 'no you can't have that' to certain foods, and I really don't want her to feel 'different' or have a less happy childhood, but on the other hand surely I have a duty to take the allergies seriously? I'm confused!!!!

Any thoughts would be really appreciated. Sorry to have gone on - it's just all come tumbling out of my brain!!!

[Chandra]

DS is allergic to soya, nuts, fish, milk (any kind), eggs and wheat. His IgE levels are 2926.5. I have been avoiding the allergens for a year now.

We have also been told that if we didn't see him reacting to a particular allergen that the test showed positive, that we should ignore the test.

I'm glad we didn't follow that advice because it would have been impossible for us to notice if something was affecting him if he was having it so often. Milk for example, we couldn't believe DS's change after 3 weeks avoidance, he was a very placid child which meant that at 2.5 yrs old his movements were more simmilar to those of an 18m old. After avoiding milk he become very active and is catching up, the perennial snotty nose is gone and eczema flares are a thing of the past.

We didn't see any change at removing egg and fish, but now that we have tried to reintroduce fish we have noticed that his asthma coughs returns on the night he have eaten it. As for eggs, we have not tried introducing it as his IgE leveles for it are out of scale (>100) but the times it had sliped in by accident DS gets a spotty/puffed face immediatly. Same goes for soya.

So, it may take some time before you can see the difference.

[bettythebuilder]

Would it be possible to do the 'cutting most stuff out but letting the odd thing slip through' until you can see the dietician? You can then see what difference it makes.

I can see what a quandry you are in, as I'm lactose intolerant and can't bring myself to buy stuff that "may contain traces of milk"!

You have such a lot of stuff to cut out, that shopping must take forever!

[bettythebuilder]

Good post Chandra - I was thinking that all the food avoidance may be having more benefits than it seemed, but it can be so hard to know.

[Chandra]

As for soya lecithin... it depends really in the child, I have heard that the more removed the allergen is from its original form the less likely to cause reactions. We have bot seen a problem if DS eats a piece of bread which contains soya, however he can get a very puffy face if a teaspoon of soy sauce is added while cooking a casserole, and strangely... he also reacts to soya lecithin.

Oh the world of allergies [sigh]

[Chandra]

Texasrose, may I ask you a huge favour? when you get to see the nutriologist... could you ask her what is the appropiate size of the portions for a 4 yrs old child? It's been quite while since we saw ours and I have started to wonder how to adapt the portions to his new size (he is eating for England at the moment)

[mamado]

My dd is allergic to milk and eggs and has been tested by skin-prick test (what is a RAST test?) and we have definitely been told by the specialist to completely avoid any potential allergen. Is it not also the case that the more often you come into contact with the allergen the greater the reaction?

Would having an allergic reaction not be more distressing than not being allowed a certain food? Besides it is very likely she will grow out of these allergies [approx 90% do] so it wouldn't necessarily be forever!

[texasrose]

Thanks for all that. It's tricky because dd's excema is so severe that I would love to be able to sort her diet out in such a way that the excema is cured.

But I don't want to be a paranoid mum and screw my dd's relationship with food up for life! (see how paranoid I am!)

Will post later...

[Chandra]

Don't worry about spoiling her relationship with food. Once you get used to it you will see that you can eat very normal food, it's just a matter of finding the right replacers. And the good point is, your whole family will end up having a more healthy diet. Besides, if your child is like mine, she will be able to apreciate the discomfort/pain these foods cause her and she won't fancy them anymore.

As for eczema... there could be so many things causing it, even some that are not edible. I dealt with it as if it was a cold, treat the symptoms and accept that it will be back with a vengeance from time to time, and eventually... it's not such hardwork anymore.

[TooTickyTheAppleBobber]

See a classical homoeopath. If you are in the south of England I can recommend some excellent ones.

[texasrose]

Yes, I know you'r right.

I will ask the dietician about portion sizes - my ds eats like a horse (he's 2.5) and dd usually eats lots too.

When she was a baby I thought she was a 'fussy eater' as she spat out so much of what we gave her and ate very little indeed until she was about 3...I wonder now if it was a sign that she was allergic to what she was eating? (her reactions are sometimes immediate and obvoius, oter times more subtle...)

thank you for your advice!

[texasrose]

Forgive my ignorance, but what's a classical homeopath?

[TooTickyTheAppleBobber]

A classical homoeopath gives only one dose of a single remedy. They will take an hour or more to take the case fully and will then work out exactly which remedy is right for the individual. It isa very careful and scientific process and the results can be startling.