am having a small pity party...anyone wanna join me.

[eragon]

DD 15yrs had allergic reaction to kiwi fruit. something she has eaten loads of times before. (hospital, steriods usual story)

currently under investigation for soya and milk allergies, has all environmental allergies.

son has auto injectors since he was 2 , now 17 with long list of allergies.

I hate allergies.

My mother is allergic to them too, she used to eat them by the punnet. Reacts to oranges too but not in the same way. Apparently allergies can be caused by consuming a lot of a particular foodstuff. Bakers often have skin reactions to flour, milkmen ditto and sometimes butches. Bee keepers are more likely to develop a bad reaction to stings .

im taking a seat

allergies make daily chores so much worse. doing the house work leads sneezing, wheezing, runny-nose... inner eyelids itch, puff, water. then generally feel awful for 2 days.

used to eat peanuts, peanut butter, nuts, snickers ... then after first DS I started getting stomach cramps, nausea and feeling pretty shitty after eating anything nut, bananas have same effect (boy, I loved a banana with breakfast :-( )

then just to make sure im striped of anything enjoyable - i have to be allergic to rats, mice, hamsters (small rodents my fav pet) my friends staffies send my allergies crazy too!
i still keep small rodents and put up with itchy skin and eyes, rashes, sneezing, wheezing... the usual!

childhood sleepovers where a nightmare - with the different environment (dust i suppose) didnt enjoy it at all....

allergy rant over! ;0)

Oh eragon that's pants! As if you don't have enough to deal with! I too hate allergies and coeliac disease. They make life bloody hard work and are very unfair.

eragon that is a utter shiz. Allergies are a pile of pants.

DD is 9 months so we're new to this but the hard work and worry sometimes feels like a life sentence. Sometimes it feels like there's this cloud hanging over normal happy events like birthday parties, holidays abroad etc. But I'm bloody determined that DDs allergies won't define her.

Ok rant over, I will take a seat at the pity party and pass round the Free From while I'm at it x

Allergies are not to be scoffed after being given penicillin, I was in hospital for a week. Teapig ,what are you trying to say exactly? Your message is confusing.

amiatwat - yes, my message probably was confusing. I don't scoff at allergies, DD now 9 months first reacted to milk at 6 months - facial swelling,
struggling to breath, losing consciousness. Cue an ambulance to hospital and the news she is severly allergic to milk and egg and peanut plus wheat and soy so believe me I don't scoff at allergies.

My language in my message may have been flippant but sometimes I have to look on the lighter as normal childhood events like birthday parties pose a very serious risk and it gets me terribly down. Plus I am sleep deprived as she hasn't slept properly for over a week and watching her scratch herself to bits while I desperately try to intervene is heartbreaking.

So yeah allergies are bloody serious and bloody terrible.

Should have said she has bad eczema at the moment hence the scratching and lack of sleep

Oh and saying a dark cloud hangs over things like parties and foreign holidays probably sounds completely random without the context that she has serious food allergies.

I would love her to be well travelled but even though we have an epipen travelling to places where I don't properly speak the language and therefore can't read labels or communicate the risks properly scares the bejesus out of me. At the same time I don't want to let her allergies define her life.

Ok I'll stop hijacking this pity party and take a seat

Teapig I am terrified of going abroad,I can't see how it's possible to be honest. No dairy soya gluten wheat oats nuts and eggs ...going to enjoy saying that in French .
Looks like Cornwall in a tent again this year folks.
My Dd2 is having her 2nd birthday in two weeks, I am thinking of only serving her food . She has learned that she can't have 'bad food' and has never got upset, but it would be nice for her to see her friends sharing her grub. Is this what you would do ?

we have done the travel bit with son, he has lots of allergies.

am feeling really weepy esp as she is at home on steriods and is still having swollen lips!

Oh and I didn't think the op was being flippant , it's just nice to know others understand .

That's really tough,is it just from the kiwis? How long do the steroids usually take?

steriods keep the airways in lungs open. the antihistamine (having loads) should keep the reaction from appearing. so the lip swelling , tight throat shouldnt be happening.

hence the stress. (am eating loads of chocolate and ate 2 cream cakes yesterday which is typical of me when stressed.)

So is the kiwi is a new problem. Apart from the issue of the current reaction are you now wondering what else could pop up as an allergen? Did they offer any insight as to why its happened now?

Another epi-pen user here

Tiz shite, I feel your pain

Eragon, so sorry - allergies are utterly rubbish. I know you have been through so much already.

Waltonswatcher, yes, that's what I do at ds1's birthday parties. I think that if it's his own birthday he should be able to eat all the nice party food - and it also makes supervising the party a lot easier!

Also, we have invested in camping equipment. Had a great time last summer, on the cheap and only 20 miles from home.

Allergies are still rubbish though. We develop good coping mechanisms, but we all wish that they would go away!!!!

eragon, that must be so tough. I have tons of empathy for you x

walton, well Cornwall is beautiful so I bet you'll have a fantastic time. I'm sure we'll brave travel abroad at some point just not yet. When we do I plan on using the translated allergy cards you can get.
I think it's a lovely idea for your DDs friends to share in her food at her party. DD is only 9 months so we haven't done the party thing yet but when we do I plan to do only foods she can eat. Even when we have people round for dinner and DD is in bed we only do food that is allergen-free. I'm sure we'll change that at some point we're just not comfortable enough to have allergens in the house. Good I miss dairy and eggs, I know it could be a lot worse though.

Tea and sympathy to everyone x

i think my DD has recovered, in a typical teen way has demanded why i havent ordered her jeans from next yet?

having been busy looking after her it slipped my mind. (and as she asked me in such a horrible way, she can wait)

Her current list of allergies : soya/milk/ kiwi fruit/ dust mite/tree pollen/mould/hay fever/cat/dog

Her brothers list: peanut/brazil nut/kiwi fruit/beans/raw egg/yeast extract/OAS tomato, mango, strawberry/ dust mite/tree pollen/hay fever/mould/dog/cat

I think that's enough so far.

I'm glad your DD is better eragon. That is long list of allergies, I do hope it gets shorter one day and the reactions milder.

Sending you virtual hugs x

So sorry Eragon. You're right allergies are pants!
Teapig - everything you said resonated with me - holidays, restaurants, parties - just one big ball of stress diddly stress stress!!

Can I join? Allergies are pretty rubbish.

To those of you worried about going abroad don't be. We've travelled with DS to many countries including France, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Italy. All have great food labelling and waiters are as used to dealing with allergies as they are here.

We used to take a suitcase full of food for DS , but have stopped bothering as alternative milks and yogurts are so widely available now, particularly in France and Spain. We are going skiing in France in a couple of weeks and even in ski resort supermarkets there is a free from section.

Do take allergy translation cards and learn how to say " My child has allergies to ..."

You 'eat out' ??
I am totally not able to do that . No no no. I am on a restricted diet as I am feeding allergy riddled Dd . I had a 'safe' Indian one night from a really good restaurant . I got suspicious halfway through the food and so deliberately vomited the meal up. Gross I know,but it reflects the fear I guess.
I refuse to eat anything unless I have cooked it. I know Friends and family think me extreme ,that's one of my main issues I think; putting up with the raised eyebrows ...