allergy question

[berolina]

here - posted in Health topic

any answers appreciated!

[misdee]

if you are atopic or your partner is then there sia greater chance of your children devoloping allergies. dd1 is allergic to cats, me and dh arent, but dh brother is. just because you are allergic doesnt mean your son will devolope allergies and even if it does he could devolope different ones. my girls dont share allergies.

[berolina]

thanks misdee.
but sorry, I'm thick - atopic?

[Fran1]

I'm allergic to cats, in fact most animals. Only found out when i was about 6 or 7 years old. Not sure whether thats because i just developed it, or purely hadn't noticed it before.

Have always had cats as pets and still do since around the age of 12, i just keep clear (dp's pets really).

DD is 2.5 and shows no signs of having an allergy. I read somewhere that exposing children to animals young, can prevent them developing an allergy - not sure how reliable that is.

Provided your (sorry cannot remember) dd/ds does not show any breathing difficulties i would continue staying there and not worry about it.

Petal cleanse is a wonderful ointment that kills all the allergens in animal fur, which are the causes of all allergy symptoms. the pain is you have to put it on the animal once a week.
I used this for a few years and it worked wonders, but got bored of a miserable cat who wouldn't sit still!

BTW some animals affect me more than others depending on the length of fur - hygiene and type of house. For example i have leather sofas so the cat hair doesn't stick to it, a material sofa which attracts cats hairs can have me sneezing all over the place.

So maybe this is why you don't consistently notice your symptoms?

[spidermama]

Warning: Lengthy, evangelical posting.

I've mentioned this on other threads because I'm excited about it and am hoping that one day it'll help someone.

I have several allergies (dog fur, pollen, dust) and, for as long as I can remember, I've been blowing my nose all day every day.

I was diagnosed with asthma at age 14 and took drugs (brown and blue inhalers) every day of my life, was often horribly short of breath until 7 months ago.

I took my son off dairy and wheat under advice from the naturopath to try to sort out his snotty excess (sorry TMI). I also avoided those food groups and my asthma and sneezing have disappeared. I haven't used asthma drugs for about 7 months and it's bloody brilliant.

I still have the odd very occasional and light reaction to pollen, but it's a breeze compared with the old life.

If only the doctors had thought to look into dietary factors earlier, but they don't. It's mad.

This won't work for everyone, but surely I'm not the only one. It's worth a go. Cut out the suspect foods for 6 weeks and see how it goes.

[misdee]

atopic-eczema, astham hayfever, dustmite allergy. dd's display atopic shiners (even dd3 who is 5months old) when pollen count is high, exposure to cats (for dd1), food allergies. they also have stuffy noses.

[berolina]

thanks.
ds seems ok atm - currently greedy & feedy.
idid have an allergy test for all sorts of things approx 4 yrs ago. i can't remember animals causing a reaction, but i think there was a v mild one to grasses and there was a strong one to mites.

[tatt]

spidermama you certainly aren't the only one. What's more its well known that some painkillers can make asthma worse but it gets very little publicity. Any asthmatic should try a couple of weeks milk free to see if it helps.

Berolina it could be a reaction to the cats but another possibility is mouse allergy If the cats catch a lot of mice there may be traces of mice in the house. Some cats are more allergenic than others but don't know the details.

As far as inheriting allergy goes you inherit a tendency to be allergic but not a particular allergy. So if you're an atopic family you can end up dealing with lots of different allergies when the same one for everyone would be easier
If you have probiotics for a time before birth and when breastfeeding you can reduce the risk of your children developing allergies.

A boy who visits us is allergic to cats but he says he's growing out of it. Certainly our cat doesn't produce much impact on him

[berolina]

tatt thankyou. Giving up dairy not easy for me as am vegetarian!
I seem to be OK this time and ds is a bit cry-ey today but that's nothing unusual atm. I like the thought about the mouse allergy - the cats are free roamers who do catch mice. Also there were more of them when I was here last, now sadly a couple have died (one of them aged about 20 ), so maybe it was those.
have checked my results of the allergy test and mites and grasses were positive (funnily enough I have no hayfever), nothing else was. So no reaction to animal hair then.

[spidermama]

Berolina I'm veggie too. I use goat's cheese and butter and don't seem to be allergic to that. There are so many lovely goat's cheeses out there nowadays.

For milk I give my ds goat's but I have rice dream or soya milk.

I got some good ideas from www.wheatanddairyfree.com.

[spidermama]

Allergy test results are only part of the picture. I always knew I was allergic to dust mites, pollen and dogs, but I didn't know the symptoms were excacerbated so badly by wheat and dairy. I still have the allergies, but the symptoms have diminished dramatically and the asthma has gone.

[lynnej]

My kids have asthma which seems to peak at night and my ds often has his bottle of milk in bed, I would really like to cut out his milk but he would protest very loudly if I did as its what settles him when he's tired, its always been his comforter. I think I might try that rice dream though. I would do anything for a peaceful week!!!

It upsets me though because we are supposed to encourage our children to have milk for the calcium, strong bones etc etc but if they are allergic to it then you have to think of the allergy first.

[FIMAC1]

Yes agree allergies exist - we saw Kneisologist to get them confirmed as to which ones - ds asthma, cronic lung condition and ear infections all cleared up after coming off dairy. Night time was helped by total covering of all bedding in dust mite covers (anti) Ds has horrendous allergy to cats as I love them - he cannot even go into a room where one has been or he gets instant flu like symptoms - dd cannot have bovine products and I cannot have dairy or yeast - appart from that we are all normal and totally healthy

[lynnej]

We bought all the dust mite covers, even the quilts and pillows are anti-allergenic. We got rid of our beloved cat too as she was always trying to lie on the kids beds!!!! So far we have had a whole week without a cough but I need to try the dairy thing just in case, not very up to date on this sort of thing though. Is wheat found in bread? My son loves bread, especially crusty and brown bread!!!! I would hate to have to deprive him of that too as well as his beloved milk!!!!

[lynnej]

...oh yes at the moment both my kids have really snotty noses too, its blazing hot weather and my kids have snotty noses!!!! Both me and dp suffer with hayfever though so maybe they do too!!!!

[ziggy4]

Singulair (Montelukast)is becoming known as a wonder drug for allergies and asthma. My son has been on it for 10 months and there has been a marked improvement in his eczema, asthma and allergies. It's very expensive though so not all GPs will prescribe it willingly.

[ziggy4]

BTW paediatricians love Singulair, no side effects.

[FIMAC1]

Ds was on a cocktail of prescribed meds - until coming off dairy - really suggest you go down this route or at least try ommitting possible allergens and prescribed meds only masked the symptoms of his allergies - removing dairy stopped them - sometimes you can re-introduce after a period too so he may not have to avoid them for good

Runny noses are a classic syptom of allergies - esp with no cold present - seeing a Kneisologist was the best thing we ever did and more accurate than the hospital allergy testing, which we also tried

[misdee]

DO NOT CHANGE DIETS WITHOUT CONSULTING A GP OR DIETICIAN!! IT NEEDS TO BE DONE CORRECTLY.

sorry, but the court is split over food allergies. some gps belive everything is caused by food allergies.intolernces and some dont. but please please consult a gp before you do it. anything is worth a go in this allergy business, belive i have tried elimination diets with dd1, but they didnt work. but they have worked for others.

[FIMAC1]

Misdee

I know the 'court' is split over this one and would not recommend ommitting foods completely - as tatt has said it is best to omit it for a few weeks and see if it makes any difference - at least you know then whether you may have a prob with that food group - then you can go for allergy testing - bloods innacurate in my dd's case so don't be dishartened if they come back negative - we saw a combined Nutrionalist/Kneisologist who was fab as she could recommend nutrionally similar foods for dd when she did her diagnosis and found her allergic to dairy (as the hospital did too, afterwards, with her 3rd lot of blood work) so we have both conventional and complimentary diagnosis of her allergies

[tatt]

misdee sorry to argue but talking to a gp often doesn't help. They get very little training in allergy. Our latest one didn't even know where to arrange testing, although he did find out At least he wasn't as bad as the ones I've heard of who deny allergies exist Sometimes (did you see the programme about severe allergy?) doing your own food test is the only way to get it recognised. Even if you have a well informed gp it can be far the fastest way.

Although I was suggesting it for berolina (an adult with asthma) I don't really think an otherwise healthy child (not babies) with a good diet comes to any harm if you try two weeks free of cows milk. They can have rice milk and calcium supplements. Then you put them back on cows milk and if you've seen a big improvement and a relapse you ask your gp to refer you to someone who does know what they're about. You can also ask for some pepti junior/ nutramigen/ neocate to give milk free another go Although I'm not keen on soya I'd even try that for a couple of weeks if a child was severely asthamtic.

Still, I forgot to say, I'm one of those people whose hay fever is a lot better if I don't have milk So I may be a tiny bit biased Still anyone who doesn't want to go the whole hog (cow?) can at least try goats milk instead of cows. Not as good but still works for some people and easier on vegetarians

[misdee]

i agree with you do have to have a good gp to work with. mine is excellant right now and thats why i'm sticking with the surgery lol. but they can help refer you to consultants who can devolope diet sheets etc for emilination diets. some people go to extremes and omit different things from a child diet all at once. and some people dont check lables properly and stop giving milk/cheese etc but still give choclate, sweets and things containing lactose/milk protein. As the lady in the programme showed whn putting her dd1 on a milk-free diet some frozen foods were not suitable as they contained milk proteins. elimation diets are hard work, and sometimes dont prove a thing. i am not saying 'dont do it, its not worth it' i'm saying make sure you do it properly with some medical supervision and make sure you do it right. you can do a half hearted attempt at it. because it wont work.

btw my dd2 was egg and gluten, additive free for the 1st 12 months, as when we started to wean her she would vomit a lot. that was hard work, and that was for a baby with limited food intake anyway. my mum once gave her rusks with gluten after she turned 12 months and dd2 screamded for days withj tummy pains. she seems to be able to tolerate it now tho (she'll be 3 in sept)

[misdee]

'you can't do a half hearted attempt at it. because it wont work.'

[spidermama]

Totally agree tatt. Odd how some people are reluctant to try relatively simple dietary matters as it seems easier to take a pill. I'm free from asthma and free from drugs. Leaving out wheat and dairy is a tiny price to pay.

[misdee]

i am not reluctant. i have been down the diet elimation process and with dd1 it didnt work (she was dairy free for a few mopnths under supervision with GP). she had severe eczema pretty much since birth. she was high dose steroids, anti biotics, high strength creams anbd i was willing to try pretty much everything. she has been seen by an allergy specialisty and we can tpin all her allergies down. she is senstive to tartrazine, which makes her IgE go haywire and cause her to react to 'safe' foods.

[tatt]

misdee I'm glad you're got a good service but unfortunately most people just don't get that sort of support. We certainly haven't.

If your child has multiple allergies and you need to do a full scale elimination diet then you need all the help you can get. I mean no disrespect to doctors by saying that for a lot of people internet websites like this one

www.talkallergy.com/webpages/features/feature_dairy_free_cradle_grave.htm

are likely to be more help for a milk free diet. Yes it's difficult to get right but the average doctor will give far less help than is on the webpage. Doctors get very little training in allergies.

If someone tries a milk free diet and messes it up the worst that can happen is that they would benefit from being milk free and don't know it. Since their doctor most likely wouldn't have bothering telling them to try it they are no worse off. It is possible they can mess it up a bit and still benefit - sometimes people don't react to small traces.