Our Allergic Family

Hi! Welcome to my blog, The Allergic Family!

I am a single working mom and have been blessed with two beautiful children, Jenna & Nedda.

Jenna, my eldest, is almost 4 years old and she suffers from many different allergies. She is allergic to wheat, soy, milk, peanuts, animal feathers, fur and dander, rag weed, pollen and other seasonal allergies. Jenna is very picky so it is hard to please her with recipes I can make or products I can buy. I also suspect she has developed an intolerance to eggs so I have removed them from her diet and will wait a while before reintroducing them to rule them in or out. I can't put her through any more tests right now. Jenna has also battled a bad bout of Asthma for the past 2 years, not uncommon in children with multiple allergies. She is still taking medication to keep her Asthma under control but has thankfully been able to sleep through the night since a short while after I took the wheat out of her diet 3 months ago.

I realized Jenna was allergic to milk at the age of 7 months when she had a violent reaction to a tiny spoon of yogurt. I tested her at the age of 1 to verify it and again at the age of 3. She was always sensitive to soy as a baby and her intolerance heightened as she grew older. She can tolerate small amounts of soy oil or soy lecithin (I only buy the product if either ingredient is listed towards the end) and I have found out how much she can tolerate through trial & error. When she was tested at 3 and 1/2, we found out she was allergic to peanuts and wheat in addition to the milk and soy, soy having the least reaction. That testing also revealed that she was allergic to almost every animal known to man and suffered from seasonal allergies as well. "You have a very allergic child on your hands" the doctor told me. At the time, I found the wheat and peanut allergy odd because she ate bagels and pasta regularly and loved peanut butter sandwiches. When I said so to the doctor, he explained that she could be tolerating them for now but since her body reacted so strongly to the allergens during testing, he suggested to keep an eye on what she eats and how she reacts. A tummy ache after a meal could signal a reaction. He also advised she take a daily antihistamine and told me that she may tolerate wheat/nuts for a period of time and then suddenly not be able to handle it in her system. I took peanuts out of her diet immediately and cut back on the wheat but she still ate bread and pretzels. When I reintroduced peanut butter a couple of weeks later, she complained her stomach bothered her so I have kept her peanut-free since.

One day after eating a piece of raisin toast for breakfast, she had a severe reaction to it. She threw up almost nonstop for half an hour and complained of severe stomach cramps for about 2 hours afterwards. She already had Claritin in her system, too. It took a while for an additional dose of emergency Benedryl to help her feel better. Her memory of this allergic reaction is what keeps her vigilant about staying wheat free. She suffers a similar reaction if she ingests any dairy. I am very fortunate that she understands that certain foods make her sick and that she is cooperative for the most part about keeping those harmful foods out of her diet.

We kept her wheat free for over two weeks and when she begged and cried for pretzels, her favorite snack, I gave her 2 mini sticks. An immediate reaction mirroring the one above proved to both of us that it was the wheat that caused it and she has been wheat free ever since. I felt so guilty for giving in to her and allowing her to get sick but part of me didn't want to believe she couldn't eat wheat. For the most part, I have been keeping her diet gluten free as well but plan to slowly reintroduce grains like oats and barley.

Nedda, my 2 year old, is allergic to sesame seeds and is lactose intolerant. She loves cheese and chocolate milk. Thank God for lactose free varieties! She also suffers from seasonal allergies. I learned she was allergic to sesame when she ate a hummus dip I made for Jenna (high in protein and calcium and a great alternative to dairy based dips). Offering Nedda small amounts of the isolated ingredients later indicated the sesame paste as the culprit. If she eats anything with sesame seeds or sesame oil, she'll break out in hives. Needless to say, I have removed sesame from her diet.

I myself am allergic to soy and have allergic reactions to certain fruits and vegetables. My mother is deathly allergic to almost all fruits and nuts so allergies run in my family.

I decided to write this blog recently in the hopes that my trials and tribulations may lead to some solutions and sanity savers for other moms and families out there. It is hard dealing with different food allergies in your family, especially in the beginning, trying to feed everyone and keep everyone happy without going crazy. Another challenge is going out to eat at a local diner or avoiding the allergy laden fare at other kids' birthday parties. It can be both frustrating & heartbreaking - believe me, I've been there.

I've found or come up with different variations of food Jenna used to love to eat or wants to eat when she sees someone else eating it. I'll also share some of my strategies for eating out. I plan to post all my tips and tricks and learned mistakes. Please feel free to comment, contribute ideas and share your own stories!

I also plan to review the products I have tried so you don't have to waste your money unnecessarily. I call these "tried & true" reviews. I won't post it unless I've tasted it or get a favorable response from my family. If you have a product you'd like me to review, please email me. If you are a company and want an honest review posted, please contact me to learn how to send samples my way.

Please note that I am currently working full time so forgive me if I can't add new posts as often as I'd like but I do promise to read every comment and respond when I get the chance!

I'd appreciate it if you can click on the obvious ads throughout my blog to help support my site. Please note, however, that the majority of links to stores and other websites - with the main exceptions of the Gluten Free Mall and Amazon.com - are listed purely for informational purposes and I have not been compensated for listing them or asked by their companies to post them.

Thanks for reading!

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