Congratulations! Your Daughter is Allergic to Life.
Well, we just got back from the allergist. They tested the Punkin for 56 different allergens (poor thing looked like a swarm of mathematical mosquitoes had mauled her back.). And it turns out that she is allergic to (drumroll please):
-
Cow’s Milk (butter, cheese, cream, whey, yogurt, caseinates, hydrolysates, etc)
Eggs (whites, yolks, globulin, mayonnaise, meringue, etc.)
Peanuts (peanut butter, oil, hydrolyzed plant protein, etc.)
Tree Nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, almonds, nut oils and butters, pecans–that was her biggest allergen)
Oats
Those are the 5 that we have to avoid completely until they test her again next year. That doesn’t count the ones we have to avoid for a week or so, then add in one at a time to see if there’s a reaction. Those are corn (do you know just how many things have corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup in them?!), apples, pears, beef, turkey, chicken, and tomatoes.
Now we get to carry an Epi-Pen, just in case. Her allergies seem to be only skin-related, but the allergist wanted us to be prepared if one day her body decided anaphylaxis would be a fun thing to experience.
The good news is:
- These are somewhat common childhood allergies, and the Punkin will most likely outgrow most of them in the next year or so.
- She is also just peachy with wheat and soy. Between those two and all the fruits and veggies she can have we should still be able to give her a nice varied diet. Thank goodness for the Internet and all those free recipes!
- She’s not allergic to her beloved doggies.
Thanks to those of you who sent well-wishes. I really appreciate them 
April 13th, 2006 at 12:16 am
Praise the Lord that you found the culprits….but now you’ll have to diligently read label. You think the proliferation of corn products is bad…wait till you see how many bizarre unbelievable things have nuts in them. Watch for,”Produced in a factory where nuts are used” or something similar. That means that the same machinery that made the specific product in your hand was also used to process a nut product (and they are no good at cleaning the machinery!)
April 13th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Yeah. Like the fish sticks I bought that said they were processed in a facility that also processed milk. You wouldn’t think fish sticks and milk, but there you go. I’m kinda used to reading labels–I don’t do refined sugar, and high fructose corn syrup gives me migraines, but this is way beyond that. I mean, you wouldn’t believe the things that have whey in them!
But yes, we’re very thankful we’ve got the culprits, and found them before they could get any worse. It might be a blessing for my mother too–she’s had chronic eczema for 30+ years. Now, the Punkin has milk allergies that lead to eczema, my younger sister had milk allergies that caused eczema and pneumonia. what are the odds that mom might have a food allergy too? That would definitely be an answer to prayer if that was the solution.
April 15th, 2006 at 7:25 am
Label-reading is going to take up a lot of time.
We found a daughter was allergic to certain preservatives - particularly sodium benzoate.
So glad she’s not dog-allergic. Though apparently one may be allergic to some dogs, but not your own dog/cat.
Especially nice news that she may outgrow/develope tolerance for these.
April 17th, 2006 at 11:48 pm
Hey there…just jumped over from Bonnie Calhoun’s blog because you cracked me up. Sorry about the allergies! Glad you found out though. I had to go through that with one of the kids from a Children’s Home I used to work out. She was 17 and cried so much from the pain. It was horrible! All those welts (sp?) the size of quarters and some misquito bite sized too. Wouldn’t want to go through that again!
God bless…hope she’s doing okay now!
April 18th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Thanks Mimi!
Had a slight itchy spell yesterday–we think it was her liquid vitamins, which has “natural flavors” and “caramel coloring” both of which can be code words for milk products sigh.
Yeah, she’s doing so much better now–don’t even have to drug her up with Zyrtec to get to sleep any more
and glad I gave you a good laugh
April 23rd, 2006 at 11:38 pm
[...] We recently took our daughter to an allergist, and we found out that she was allergic to a bunch of common things. [...]