My children continue to baffle me. I suppose, if I’m honest with myself, this trend will continue for the rest of my life, so I should probably just get used to it. But good lord, sometimes I just can’t figure them out.
We just hit the one year anniversary of finding out about Dylan’s food allergies. Long story short, I took him to the allergist to find out what to do about his seasonal allergies, only to be blindsided by the fact that he has a host of food allergies. Soy, Tree Nuts, and Peanuts, to name a few. Also milk, but mildly. His reaction to the skin test was alarming, and upon seeing the results, his Doctor said it was the worst reaction he’d seen in the past year. At least.
We followed the skin test up with a blood test, just to be as thorough as possible. The results came back from that and showed that he’s also allergic to Corn, Eggs, Sesame Seeds and Wheat. We finally met with the Allergist the other day and, upon reviewing the results of the blood test he said, again, “This is one of the worst reactions I’ve seen. Wow. Look at the corn results!”
After looking Dylan over and talking to us about his symptoms, or lack thereof as the case may be, he declared him a “very lucky kid” because, based on his test results, he should have some major issues associated with eating these foods. But…he doesn’t. His symptoms are all gastrointestinal in nature and usually result in just a mild stomachache. So, we’re going to avoid corn, tree nuts and peanuts, and try to limit wheat as much as possible. Gluten free foods, here we come! He can have things that have eggs in them, but we’re going to avoid plain eggs. Which is fine, because he was never a scrambled egg eater anyway.
Now Ollie, on the other hand, shows some pretty obvious symptoms of food allergies. He’s never had any anaphylaxis issues (thankfully) but he’s usually covered in eczema, has hives on occasion, and often has…nasty…diapers after eating certain foods. After eliminating dairy and green beans (of the legume/peanut family) his symptoms seemed to clear up, with the occasional flare up that we could never figure out.
So, on Valentine’s Day, it was his turn to visit the Allergist. After discussing his symptoms, it was agreed that he most likely suffers from food allergies as well and we decided to do a blood test. Yesterday, I got the results.
He’s allergic to…nada. Nothing. Zilch.
Zero food allergies. Which is FANTASTIC news, but left me speechless for about an hour. I would have bet good money that he had a whole host of food allergies.
So, to sum up: the kid who has crazy, off the charts food allergies shows almost no symptoms of them and the kid who has no food allergies exhibits most of the symptoms of them.
These kids, they keep me on my toes.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
email me if you want gluten free suggestions. products are VERY expensive and many are not very tasty. i also have a great cookbook to recommend, i’ve baked breads, cookies, and muffins that my whole family eats and they’re gluten free and dairy free. my daughter is both, in addition to being a vegetarian. FUN.
But I don’t wannnaaaaaaaa.
Waaah.
My 7 month old has similar reactions as Ollie. He is on the super expensive formula that does not contain milk or soy proteins. I was told to wait until 24 months to have him allergy tested as his current symptoms are likely an intolerance, but with his reactions, I have been silently freaking out. So glad to know there is a possibility that allergies might not be the only outcome, even if he reacts.
Christina – I’m going to slowly introduce a little dairy to see how he reacts. Hopefully his system can handle it now that he’s a little bit older. Time will tell…
Try changing laundry detergents. His father couldn’t have his clothes washed in Tide. Just a suggestion to the exzema.
Grandma Pam – I thought about that, and this week his skin has been great. Last detergent cycle I was using Arm & Hammer sensitive (no dyes or perfumes) and he was a mess. Now that I’m back using Tide he seems to be better.
*knock on wood*
What a pain! Hope your boys are feeling well
.
Wait, what? That’s so strange. I’m glad Ollie doesn’t have food allergies, but how does that work out? Hopefully he’ll grow out of the food sensitivities.
MomEinstein´s last [type] ..Twenty-Two Weeks
Kids, man.
Medical mysteries.
I’m so happy, though, that Ollie has NO food allergies. So so happy!
Hi Meg,
Did the doctor say he might have tested negative for dairy and green beans because he had not eaten them in a long time? I know that a gluten test can be negative even if the person is really allergic to gluten if the person has already pulled it from their system. Just a thought. Good luck!
–Katie
You have’t posted in too long a time. Is every thing O:K ?