Allergies

[CG031]

Anyone here have any allergies to foods, medicines, animals, etc. etc.?

I'm allergic to Peanuts, Peanut Butter, etc. anything containing Peanuts, lol.

Anyone else have any allergies?

[CarlSpackler]

Anyone here have any allergies to foods, medicines, animals, etc. etc.?

Just the air in the late summer, but I think everyone is here in sinus valley. I would die if I was allergic to P-Nuts. Love those things.

[zeg]

No, although I have psoriasis so I guess I'm allergic to myself.

My 3-year old is allergic to wheat, milk, eggs, and perhaps peanuts (the blood test said he was, but he's never been exposed). That's a tough set of allergies, we're hoping that he'll outgrow some of them... although it has forced us to do a lot of our own cooking since prepared foods generally involve some or all of those ingredients.

[CG031]

No, although I have psoriasis so I guess I'm allergic to myself.

Wow. I thought I had it bad with my allergy to Peanuts. To be allergic to all those...what does he even eat!?

[MI Rob]

No food allergies for me.
But I have all the normal outside allergies real bad. Cats and dogs inside are the worst too. Spring time and summer are the worst part for me sometimes depending how my allergies are. Zyrtec makes my life 10x better lol

[Dub]

Anyone here have any allergies to foods, medicines, animals, etc. etc.?

Yes I do....it starts from February and runs through October....24hr Claritin and lately Zyrtec have been the cure.

Pollen, dust, smoke, freshly cut grass, and etc.

[zeg]

Wow. I thought I had it bad with my allergy to Peanuts. To be allergic to all those...what does he even eat!?

For home-cooked foods, it's not actually that difficult. Normal breads are out, but there are some half-decent gluten-free breads (although many of these are out because they add eggs to make up for the binding power of the gluten), and there are some very good recipes for bread machine bread that we use. The other thing that's tricky at first is a butter substitute -- virtually all margarines actually contain whey from milk. There are at least a few vegan ones that don't. Other than that, you can cook most things if you just look out for the surprising spots where these ingredients show up (e.g., ordinary soy sauce contains wheat, which is a surprise to many).

Eating in restaurants is harder because many mix butter, cream, or milk into random things, or use wheat flour or eggs as thickeners and binders. One thing I'll say is it's a lot easier here in California than it would be in some parts of the country. A lot of the foods he eats come from organic stores because those are the only places that stock the obscure gluten-, egg-, and dairy-free products that he needs. The most frustrating thing is that there's generally pretty good awareness that some people are gluten intolerant or allergic and peanut allergies have gotten a lot of publicity. There's reasonable awareness of dairy problems, although it's usually focused on lactose intolerance and not protein allergies, and so-so awareness of egg allergies. But there's very little out there for folks who are are allergic to more than one of these things. Oh well... It's frustrating, but of all the health conditions one could have, this is a pretty tolerable one. Fortunately none of his allergies have ever shown any reactions worse than a few hives, so I don't think there's much risk of a life-threatening reaction.

[CG031]

For home-cooked foods, it's not actually that difficult. Normal breads are out, but there are some half-decent gluten-free breads (although many of these are out because they add eggs to make up for the binding power of the gluten), and there are some very good recipes for bread machine bread that we use. The other thing that's tricky at first is a butter substitute -- virtually all margarines actually contain whey from milk. There are at least a few vegan ones that don't. Other than that, you can cook most things if you just look out for the surprising spots where these ingredients show up (e.g., ordinary soy sauce contains wheat, which is a surprise to many).

Oh, I see. Yeah, I certainly think it's helped out you living in California, as oppose to other parts of the U.S. like you said. It's also good that it doesn't seem life-threatening - I guess that could be used as optimism that he'll out grow a few or all of the allergies.

Peanut allergies has a pretty decent awareness, I guess. There a few places I can't eat but most places are fine. Mine is prettty serious though as I have an Epi-Pen just incase I need it (never have used it though.). I haven't had a reaction in about 3 years, but when it did happen I took two benedrylls and went to the hospital where I was there for about 4 hours with an I.V. in me. Wasn't fun, but I made it through.

[zeg]

Peanut allergies has a pretty decent awareness, I guess. There a few places I can't eat but most places are fine. Mine is prettty serious though as I have an Epi-Pen just incase I need it (never have used it though.). I haven't had a reaction in about 3 years, but when it did happen I took two benedrylls and went to the hospital where I was there for about 4 hours with an I.V. in me. Wasn't fun, but I made it through.

That's a bummer, but glad to hear it wasn't worse than that. We have a set of epi-pens for him just in case, since allergies can be unpredictable in kids, but there's never been a sign of needing them.

Out of curiosity, do you have any problem with bee stings? The day-care he's in has a no-peanut or tree nut policy, just as a precaution. I know a lot of people were up in arms about some schools trying to do that. Personally, with little kids it seems like a fairly prudent thing to do. Of course, before we had the allergies in the family, I wasn't aware of the alternatives to peanut butter. The sunflower seed butters seem like very good substitutes. Have you tried any of those?

[CG031]

That's a bummer, but glad to hear it wasn't worse than that. We have a set of epi-pens for him just in case, since allergies can be unpredictable in kids, but there's never been a sign of needing them.

No problems with bee-stings, or so it seems. I'm unsure I've ever truly been stung by a bee to be honest. I probably have, or thought I have when I was younger, but nothing happened besides the normal reaction, so I don't think I'm allergic to those.

As far as the schools doing that, no school around me did that but I know of a few far away who did and read about it - personally I think it is a good thing, but I can see how it could bother some people. I don't really like how they have a "Peanut-free table" in the cafeteria at some schools - I feel that's kind fo mean to kids who have to be segregated from their friends at lunch because of their allergy. If they made me do that in school I'd be miserable! As far as trying any other butters or anything, I have never done so. Just tried to steer clear of anything with Peanut, Peanut Butter, Peanut Oil (restaurants), etc.

[zeg]

This is technically off-topic as Celiac Disease is an intolerance and not an allergy per se, but I thought this was interesting. Because of my son's wheat allergy we educated ourselves about Celiac in case that turned out to be what he had. Anyway, it appears that about 1% of the US has this condition, but only about 0.05% actually know it. Further, it appears that this incidence really is on the rise in the last 50 years. If you've got unexplained digestive problems, it might be prudent to inquire with your doctor.

http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disor...re-on-the-rise