A bit of a celebration in the Chandras family!

[Chandra]

DS was retested yesterday and we are starting to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel

He is still as allergic to peanut/other nuts as always (but I have given hope in him outgrowing those so I was not too disapointed). But he seems to be outgrowing his wheat, dairy and egg allergies! and...

he can have soya and fish now!!! YAYYY!!!

feel as if our life is going to be so much easier now we don't need to avoid omniprescent soya!

Problem is, again, I don't know where to start!! [confussed but happy emoticon]

[Nightynight]

that is great news chandra!
I have always read your posts with great sympathy, as you had to avoid such a lot of things.

[Chandra]

Thanks Nightynight, in reality it is not that bad, but the lazy old me would enjoy being able to put my feet up from time to time, and being able to pop out something out of a tin/packet without worrying about soya content.

So, It's a small step but a significative one, as soya was the most difficult thing to avoid of all the allergens, by far

[hunkermunker]

Oh, that's brilliant, Chandra!

[MarsLady]

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[suzywong]

hurrah for el nino de chandra!

[foxinsocks]

that is fantastic news chandra

soya is an absolute bugger to avoid - you must be so relieved!

[aDad]

terrific!

It's what they SAY is likely to happen dont they, but you dont really believe it.

Good news. Soya is v handy and we just recently made soya soft cheese from soya yoghurt - very easy to do!

[Chandra]

Thank you

[Chandra continues dancing around the room]

Yes, soya is such a bugger to avoid, and no, I was not expecting him to outgrow soya yet as, before being diagnosed, he was reacting to every single member of the legumes family so I had not kept my hopes very high. But seems he is OK now, although I have to re introduce it little by little.

He can have egg yolks, but not egg whites so, for the sake of keeping it simple the egg restriction remains in place.

Wheat was a bit of a disapointment but the good thing is that it is much better so.. perhaps by next year he would be OK.

Milk allergy results were negative but his tummy got bloated immediatly after trying it so... we will keep avoiding dairy for the time being, although he may be fine with lactose or milk being used as an ingredient in a small "doses", which allows for a bit of extra options.

[Chandra]

aDad, recipee please?

[aDad]

Barely a recipe really.

Loosely line a sieve with a new clean J-cloth.

Put soya yog in it and loosely fold J-cloth over the top.
put sieve over a bowl and place in fridge overnight.

Amazing how much liquid comes out - and you are left with kind of thickish fromage frais.

To this, you can add some fruit puree and a tiny bit of icing sugar and you have a home-made petit filou-style fromage frais. Tastes very good!

Or just serve as is - it is basically soft cheese. I guess you could add chive, garlic etc. And for an adult you would probably want to season it.

[Chandra]

Thank you

...

Erm... Before I attempt to do it... what is a J-cloth?

[sauce]

Congratulations, Chandra! That's truly brilliant news.

Don't hold your breath for outgrowing the peanuts though, as you said. At 44, my sensitivity is higher than ever. I'm grateful to be living in Europe where peanuts as additives are fairly uncommon.

[aDad]

lol sorry j-cloths are those cheap thin blue cloths you buy for mopping stuff up in your Kitchen.

You could use clean muslin or anything like that as long as it's thin and liquid can pass through quite easily.

[BernieBear]

Chandra - fantastic news. Really really pleased for you. Enjoy!

[tatt]

good news. Have you tried lactase for the dairy problem? Might allow him to have traces if its bloating rather than an allergy.

[brimfull]

wow chandra=that's greeat news.

My ds is allergic to tree nuts

I take some hope from the fact that you've been told your ds may yet outgrow his nut allergies.How old his he?

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

Yay!!! fantastic news!

I found that when we learned that dd was only minimally allergic to cows milk protein we carried on as before anyway....habits etc. Also a bit scared......

[SofiaAmes]

Congrats!!! I know exactly how you feel. I thought I was allergic to a few foods that I had tested allergic to some years ago and I was recently tested again and told that I'm not allergic to them any more! It makes life so much easier.

I think you'll find chandra, that what's happening with the milk is that since he has been avoiding it he has become lactose intolerant. You sometimes can rebuild your ability to digest lactose over time, so try giving him a very little every day. You can also buy lactose free milk or lactase enzyme pills. It's important for him to get his calcium somewhere.

Good luck.

[mymama]

Congratulations Chandra and ds

It must be a relief to have a few more options foodwise. Weird how you are "happy" they are "only" allergic to nuts now. I felt the same when my ds started improving with his other allergies.

With the dairy - when my ds tested negative I tried him on milk asap and he was "uncomfortable" with it, so I then tried cheeses and yoghurts first and did half/half with his milk ie half soya/half milk slowly building up to full milk over a couple of months. Realise in your case it would be something different to soya but might help anyway.

Good news!!!!!!!!!!

[Chandra]

Thanks again.

"It must be a relief to have a few more options foodwise. Weird how you are "happy" they are "only" allergic to nuts now. I felt the same when my ds started improving with his other allergies. "

Mymama, I know what you mean, when I was writing the OP, I thought somebody would feel more pity at the amount of allergies DS still has than joy at the ones he has outgrown, but hey! it's a step forward! It could have been far far worse!... Actually, I'm still wary about them returning after reintroducing the foods

[Chandra makes a note of J-clothes, lactose free milk, lactase enzymes] Tatt/ SofiaAmes, if you are still around could you please tell me more about them? Whether his problem with milk is allergy or intolerance I don't know, but he did such a change for the better when we removed milk from DS's diet that I'm a bit wary about using it again . He is currently getting his calcium from enriched rice milk and calcium rich vegetables, but I'm not totally happy about the rice milk (it makes him a bit hyper...)

Ggirl, he is 4 years old, I don't keep my hopes high about him outgrowing his nut allergy as he seems to have grow more sensitive to them but I have seen a 14 yrs old girl having a food challenge and she seemed OK, so who knows? with a bit of luck your DS may be one of those children that outgrow it

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

Chandra - the nut allergy is unlikely to go. DD's paediatrician said that at her last appointment.

All other allergies have a chance of resolving, but nut ones rarely do.

Excluding nuts is not as difficult as other foods though, IMO.

Stuff like soya, cows milk salicylates (sp) etc are much harder, i think, arent they?

[Chandra]

VVV no ofense meant but perhaps your paediatrican could do a bit of his homework , outgrowing nut allergy is unlikely but not impossible, this is are extracts of some publications:

"Peanut allergy is an increasing problem in children. Recent research has identified that up to a third of allergic children will outgrow their allergy by the age of 7. Children are most likely to outgrow peanut allergy if they are male, do not have egg allergy and have not had other allergic diseases. " (www.ubht.nhs.uk/paediatricrespiratory/Asthma%20documents/Allergy%20info.doc)

----
or this:
"21 per cent of the children had remission of presumed peanut allergy by age five, and that prognosis of peanut allergy could be predicted by either a constant rise, or constant fall in the level of immunoglobulin E (IgE) sensitisation to peanut by age three.

The investigators determined that a child was two to three times less likely to develop tolerance to peanuts if they had a wheal diameter on skin prick tests that was 6mm or larger before age two.

"A 3mm or greater rise of skin prick test wheal size between one and four years of age was strongly predictive of persistent peanut allergy whereas as falling levels was a good prognostic sign," Dr Allen said." (www.pca.com.au/articles.php?rc=901)

---
or this which may sound familiar:

"Until now the rules have been that when you diagnose a patient with peanut allergy you tell them that it is a life-long allergy, with no chance of being outgrown.

"I recommend from this study that children with peanut allergy be re-tested on a regular basis, every one or two years," he said.

Professor Woods found that children who lost sensitivities to other foods like milk and eggs were much more likely to outgrow their peanut allergies than those who did not.

"We saw a few allergic people who did not react when they had an accidental exposure or when they were re-tested as part of our normal follow-up of food allergies.
(news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1160218.stm)





Unfortunately DS doesn't fall into any of those categories, so, as I have said several times, I have given hope of DS outgrowing his peanut allergy but... that doesn't mean that other children won't

[brimfull]

chandra-interesting quotes there.Wonder how it relates to ds who is allergic to tree nuts and not peanuts.
Really want the allergist appointment-we've had it cancelled twice now ,he hasn't been seen since he was 2.5,he's 5 in september, and our next appt is feb

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

None taken

He is the PCT's child allergy specialist so I tend to give his opinions some weight

He seems pretty clued up, but, its been a short while since we last saw him, so, perhaps new studies have come to light since then?