Talking Allergies

Hi~ My name is Nancy and my 7 year old son has always had a history of allegies but it seems that they have completley blown out of control. At age two his airway closed (and after numerous tests *thought he swallowed a toy- then thought it was a mass in his throat- then a CAT scan confirmed that he has subgoltic edema vrs. pharengal edmea ~ and yes I probally didnt spell it right anyhow.. then sent him to an ENT- who said " Wow he has numerous EXTRA sinuses over 20 on one side and 10 or so on the other.. but we dont know what happened" then he was sent to an allergenist who did the RAST testing and determined that he was allergic to chocolate and tomato ... no more spagheti' Os or chocolate milk! He had also come up with numerous environmenatl allergies.. well pretty much everything which he has allergy shots twice a week for.
He eventually outgrew tomato (on a test 2 years ago) ..

He has controlled asthma.. and restrictive airway disease that needs numerous breathing treatments ,decodron and epinephine to turn around.

He has had many problems with rashes and severe bloodly noses and meltdowns over the last 8 months.. He went to the Dr. and then broke out in a horrible rash after being touched with something at the appt. So.... His allergenist decieded to do another RAST test since it had been 2 years.

His IgE was extremely elevated and he showed up at class 2 or 3 to
Latex
soybean
pea
peanut
barley
wheat
oat
rye (bread)
rice
corn
tomato
celery
orange
shrimp
clam
scallop
lobster
oyster

They repeated the test.. which came back the same.. and are now testing gluten, potato, berries, pinapple, banana, tree nuts, apple, etc..

meats came back negitive as did egg and milk and regular fish -tuna, cod and salmon and unbelievably *chocolate* though I am scared to give it to him.

We are stumped to say the least.. anyone heard of all these foods coming back? Could this be why every "asthma" attack - he needs epinephine in the ER because he cant breath in or out from his throat ( It sounds simular to croup but with stryder)
sorry for the lengthy post... We read every label in the house and the only thing available for him to eat was apple and meats.. Soy is in everything, Corn is in everything, wheat and rice.... ???? how do we do this?
Next week is his appt and he wil be sent to a nutritionist. but until then??? we are lost.
~ Nancy

Wow, that is a long list.
I'm glad he has an appointment next week. Is that with the allergist or dietician? Has he seena paediatric respirologist for his asthma or is it being treated by his GP? It made a huge difference to us seeing a paediatric respirologist and indeed the respirologists are wanting to see asthma cases rather than have GP's treat them because GP's can't alsways keep pace with the research-but you have to be persistent as GP's seem to want to hold on to their patients.
I'm glad you've found us. My daughters list of allergens is not as long and daunting as your son's but other people here do have lengthy lists and I'm sure you'll find many articles and posts helpful.
And we're such a nice bunch here!

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Hi Nancy,

Welcome. What a challenge.

I'm curious - you refer to getting RAST testing from an allergenist. Is it an allergist or a naturopath allergist you are seeing? I'd definitely get him tested by a medical-college certified allergist. If that's who you've been seeing, has the allergist done skin prick tests as well as the RASTs?

Testing with allergies is an imperfect science, so allergists usually like the confirmation of both kinds of tests. That way they don't eliminate "safe" foods (and important nutrients) unnecessarily. I think you'd really want to be careful about serious allergens such as peanut and soy.

Until the allergies are definitively determined, I'd be worried about the child getting enough nutrients. I strongly recommend getting in touch with a dietititian who is used to dealing with allergies. Such an expert can guide you to foods to eat. If you're in Ontario, Toronto's Hosp. for Sick Kids even has a hotline: 1-800-737-7976 or e-mail them at sfs@sickkids.ca (you can mention that the editor of Allergic Living mag. suggested you get in touch).

In terms of chocolate, that's a combination of ingredients. Most allergists will say it's not the chocolate itself that's a problem, but rather the ingredients (e.g. soy or a nut or some such). If your son's most severe allergens can be narrowed down, you might find there is some chocolate that is safe. I feel for you, it must feel daunting at times.

By the way, I'm soy allergic (developed as an adult), and at first thought it was nearly impossible to find foods without soy. There are actually numbers of good soy-free brands in various food categories (Check out Enjoy Life, Ian's Natural Foods etc.), it just takes a little more label reading to find them. If that's what he has, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Check out the Shopping section on this site. Always some helpful tips there.

Best with it all, and hope you find the forum helpful to you.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

That's quite a lot to avoid----not that it is going to be much comfort, but I actually need to avoid most of those ingredients as well. Rice is actually the only food on that list that I eat without restriction. (Although I can have cooked oranges and drink orange juice and can have cooked celery in moderate amounts.)

The soybean/pea/peanut allergies sometimes occur together because they are all legumes.

Also, with shellfish, if you're allergic to one, you should avoid all.

It *is* possible that some of those are false positives, but I wouldn't want to test those foods on your son at home----but maybe after your son stabilizes, you might want to do oral challenges at your dr.'s office (but only for foods you're not certain about).

I'd guess that the rash at the dr's appointment could have been from latex?

Have you tried giving your son some of the alternative grains? Like millet, for instance (which is actually more nutritious than rice anyway.)

On the chocolate allergy issue---I *thought* maybe in my case I was reacting to the soy. I tried just pure cocoa (cooked with sugar and milk). I am indeed allergic to chocolate---not a dramatic reaction, but it makes my throat itchy enough that I won't eat it again.

Sorry to hear that your son is having such a difficult time of it! And welcome to the board.

Hi nancy! omg I feel for you I am allergic to everything your son is (minus rice) + more. Firstly do NOT trust allergists or medical doctors. I had over 18 anaphylactic attacks in one month and the doctors thought I was going to die and couldnt believe I kept coming in and showing up alive. I saw Dr. Shaffron "best allergist in Canada" and he did skin tests on me which were inconclusive and then durign this month said he could test me but I would obviously react to the small amounts of food in my skin as I was that allergic at the time. Also they do not use organic samples when doing skin tests which compromize the results as you could be reacting to the pesticide or additive in the food rather than the food. I will only see a naturopath and she saved my life. You should really consider contacting her. She put me on an organic rice protein smoothie diet which completely cleared out my system, got the yeast out of my blood (made me react to sugars) and I was returned to full health. It sounds like your son's situation is very similar to mine. He will just have to go on a different protein diet instead of rice. I would recommend you try making Buckwheat bread and kimut bread, pancakes, sandwiches. Those are both good grains. The more exceersize he does the better because this keeps the natural adrenaline running which can prevent allergic reactions. I have extremely severe asthma as well and have to take a puffer twice a day for the rest of my life even if i dont excersize. I would recommend getting a blood test on all foods with Bioteck laboratories in the states, they test with all organic foods so you know FOR SURE that your son is allergic to the actual food and not the additive or pesticide. Here are some good food alternative - almonds, walnuts, eggs - Kimut bread and Buckwheat pancakes, turkey, buffalo, ostrich (all good), whey protein, lots of lettuce, black and pinto beans, etc.

Well I for one would not see a naturopath, I've even had one suggest on the phone that she could "cure" me. (She was contacting me hoping to write a column for Allergic Living.) If it were that easy, wouldn't this be patented by now and none of us would be spending our time talking about allergies?

I'm sorry to hear that the previous poster has had so many serious reactions. I understand the trauma, having had a couple of full-bore anaphylactic episodes as well as several lesser (but still scary) reactions. I just wouldn't mess around me anything that was not based in good science - especially when dealing with a child with multiple allergies.

For instance, science tells us that allergy has to do with our immune systems reacting to proteins in a food or foods we eat. Yet naturopaths often want to talk about "sugars". My reactions have nothing whatsoever to do with sugars, they are protein based.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

Gwen,

I have read a book written by a naturopathic doctor and was quite amazed how her theories were ALL VERY scientifically based. I'm not saying see a naturopath eat your life threatening allergens...but how will anyone ever find a cure/treatment for allergies if we are closed minded?

According to my understanding from the naturopathic point of view sugars feed yeast which naturally lives in everyones body. An overgrowth of yeast stresses the immune system, and is EXTREMELY common. Reducing sugar stops feeding the yeast while probiotics are needed to re-culture the digestive tract with helpful microorganisms which aid digestion/immune system and not stress it like yeast does.

Naturopathic medicine recognizes proteins are the culprit. Proteins must be digested fully...or they enter the blood stream whole and are recognized as an "invader". Viruses are protein based too...so the body recognizes whole proteins in the blood as a threat. The naturopathic point of view wants to know WHY they are entering the blood stream whole...is the digestive tracts' impermeability comprimised by yeast (or other reasons)...and/or are the proteins entering the blood stream whole because they are not being digested because the body lacks the ability to produce the enzymes to digest them? Enzymes necessary for breaking down food are in all foods but are destroyed by heat, this requires the pancreas to supplement them (if capable and not overworked by too many cooked foods). This is why the major allergens are all COOKED ENZYME DEFICIENT protein rich foods which are void of the enzymes needed to break them down.

I really wish you would reconsider and hear what she has to say. I'm even wondering if the naturopath who contacted you is the same doctor who wrote the book I have. Believe me Gwen, I was VERY scheptical (sp?) of any naturopathic medicine...but once I was familiar with it and how it views allergies...I understand it IS scientifically based.

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

Everyone has a right to investigate alternatives however, pease read this (rather lengthy) article:
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRel ... pathy.html

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

But what is common sense nutrition anyways??? Common Sense nutrition knowledge has been sooo swayed by advertisements and fad diets how could people not be confused. Even the canada food guide has had 2 major changes in my lifetime and some say another change is to be expected in the near future. So if a naturopathic approach to medicine wants to get past all the hype about fad diets and advertisements that try to sell specific products...and teach people about nutrition...and what specifically certain nutrients and vitamins present in foods (usually fruits and veggies) actually DO...why is that bad?

The site you linked "quackwatch" is run by a doctor of psychiatry and you can make donations to the site on there...it is even "paypal" friendly. I have a hard time believing a doctor who has spent his entire life pushing pills (that's what psychiatry is) is not incredibly biased towards any health/nutrition approach that doesn't include a prescription. He also says this about multiple chemical sensitivity...a psychosomatic disorder in his opinion

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

More info on Dr Stphen Barrett and Quackwatch:
http://www.quackwatch.org/00AboutQuackw ... nding.html

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Susan, I'm not exactly sure what you are saying. Do YOU support the ideas on this site...and do YOU feel that very mindful nutrition DOESN"T play a role in health and healing?

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

I do believe a lot of what Dr Barrett has to say.
I am very skeptical of naturopaths and homeopathy.
I believe that a lot of people who wish to take advantage of people have done so under the guise of natural medicine.
I don't believe you can place an infant on a persons stomach and decide what the child is allergic to based on how high the adult raises their arm but I have heard this is practiced in Ontario.
What I think is not really that important. What is important is that people research and make their own decisions on how best to handle their unique situation.
I am only offering information that I think may assist in some way.
Personally, I take our daughter to an allergist. I research what he tells me and I form my own opinion. I was taught to question everything.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

I take my daughters to an allergist too. I have never seen a naturopath. I bought a book for about $20 (and done other reading on nutrition). I could have even tried my library for the one book I actually own, but I was out of town when I bought it and unsure my local library would have it. No one is "lining their pocketbooks" by my being curious in the role nutrition plays.

Their is a big range of "alternative medicine" and naturopathy and homeopathy are not the same thing. Then there are other branches (if you can even call it that) that do the odd ball stuff.

Personally, I got bladder infections every 3 months for 8 years (and had my kids during this time). My doctor gave me refills of antibiotics so I could keep them on hand it happened so regularily. I learned about probiotics and asked my doctors opinion about taking them (not instead of antibiotics...but a bit everyday)...he said it was worth a try...I have not had a bladder infection in a year and a half of taking probiotics. My doctor never suggested I try that in 8 years...it was ME who searched for supplementary ideas and then cleared them with him first.

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.