My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Allergies and intolerances

Allergies

1 reply

julianne63 · 19/03/2016 16:19

From a young age my DS would get chesty coughs that just wouldn't go away, as well as skin eruptions, bad headaches, and episodes of vomiting and it became obvious that he was reacting to certain foods and products. One of his chesty coughs led to us applying a menthol rub to his chest and he just got worse! Turns out menthol is one of the many products he is intolerant to. Over time I learned what to avoid..but the products varied so much ...cake icing, squash drinks, apple juice, to name a few...and seemed to have no common theme. I thought it was maybe a fruit sugar allergy or an allergy to added sugar products..fructose, glucose, that kind of thing and just tried to work with what I knew to avoid. The GP laughed at my conclusion but offered no constructive help. In the end it was a hairdresser, bless her heart, who named the problem when she offered DS a sugar lolly after one of his haircuts. We refused the lollipop and explained why...turns out she has the same problem..wow....salicylic acid. It is a natural plant enzyme that lives under the skin of most fruit and vegetables - and is also used in food colourings and flavourings...Bingo! I cried at the relief of having a name for the problem and we could move forward from there. I found out that it is one of the main causes of ADHD in children..and I found out that there is little support in the UK..so I hope to be able to share what I have discovered with you..just in case it helps anyone out there..and hlps outher mums to identify the culprit quicker than I did..7 years!!

OP posts:
Report
julianne63 · 19/03/2016 16:21

From a young age my DS would get chesty coughs that just wouldn't go away, as well as skin eruptions, bad headaches, and episodes of vomiting and it became obvious that he was reacting to certain foods and products. One of his chesty coughs led to us applying a menthol rub to his chest and he just got worse! Turns out menthol is one of the many products he is intolerant to. Over time I learned what to avoid..but the products varied so much ...cake icing, squash drinks, apple juice, to name a few...and seemed to have no common theme. I thought it was maybe a fruit sugar allergy or an allergy to added sugar products..fructose, glucose, that kind of thing and just tried to work with what I knew to avoid. The GP laughed at my conclusion but offered no constructive help. In the end it was a hairdresser, bless her heart, who named the problem when she offered DS a sugar lolly after one of his haircuts. We refused the lollipop and explained why...turns out she has the same problem..wow....salicylic acid. It is a natural plant enzyme that lives under the skin of most fruit and vegetables - and is also used in food colourings and flavourings...Bingo! I cried at the relief of having a name for the problem and we could move forward from there. I found out that it is one of the main causes of ADHD in children..and I found out that there is little support in the UK..so I hope to be able to share what I have discovered with you..just in case it helps anyone out there..and helps other mums to identify the culprit quicker than I did..7 years!!

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.