My kids have allergies! Help!

[Cookie3]

Background..My oldest dd (9) has always had itchy nose/sore throat symptoms..she also has very dark circles under her eyes. My dd2 (4) and ds (2) have always had eczema and break out in hives regularly.
My dd2 got some poison ivy two weeks ago and her face swelled up three times it's normal size and she was covered with hives. After a week of steroids she finally got better..the doc. ordered blood test for allergies and it came back that she's allergic to cats (we have two) and pork..then, my dd1 was having some ear pain and had swollen lymph nodes..so when the doc. gave her an allergy blood test she came back allergic to milk, cats, beef, corn and one type of grass..:
I am going to talk to the doc. Wed. and she suggested getting rid of the cats..not possible..they are super mean to any strangers and would have to be euthanized before re-homed. She also suggested giving soy milk which I have read is very bad for you..does my doc. know what she's talking about? Should I just go see an allergist?

[elanorh]

You may want to ask for a referral to an actual allergist. Our allergist does both the blood and the skin tests .... And the allergist may give you more information about what to avoid, etc.

Meantime, I'd suggest finding a safe probiotic for the kids (I know there is a corn-free one which is also dairy-free). And get that in their systems ASAP. Hopefully someone will post with that information for you. Probiotics have been shown to be helpful at helping kids outgrow their allergies.

In terms of starting soy milk, if you're not comfortable with it, you could always use alternative calcium sources (calcium OJ, if it doesn't have corn?).

Do you have good lists of hidden terms for all the allergens to avoid?

IIRC, if allergies are only environmental, they can do shots for them - but having food allergies as well makes those not work? I am not sure, since mine don't have environmental allergies ....

You will need to figure out how to manage your cats, if rehoming them isn't an option. Probably deep cleaning bedrooms and keeping doors shut so they don't get in the kids' rooms, at the very least?

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by elanorh

You will need to figure out how to manage your cats, if rehoming them isn't an option. Probably deep cleaning bedrooms and keeping doors shut so they don't get in the kids' rooms, at the very least?

Coming from a family with my DH and DD1 allergic to cats, no amount of cleaning is going to matter. If the cat is in the house, so is the dander, and so are the symptoms. I asked the allergist what the odds were of my DD1's cat allergy turning into asthma. He said that if we were to get a cat and expose her all the time, it would likely turn into asthma. Are your cats more important than your kids' health?

Aside from that, if you get rid of the food allergies (and possibly any intolerances they might also have), you'll reduce their allergy load, and perhaps they'll be able to tolerate the cats, if that's the only trigger left.

I wouldn't do soy. It's a top 8 allergen, and one of the top 4 intolerances, and it's used to make adhesives. Hemp milk is possible, or oat milk, or coconut milk (if you have to use a milk). There are other ways to get the nutrients that are in milk (since if you're using pasteurized, low-fat milk, all the vitamins have been taken out by the processing and fake stuff put back in anyway). There's chicken bone broth for calcium and minerals. If it's the fat that's needed, there's coconut milk, animal fats, avocado, etc.

My kids have many intolerances (not IgE), and one is intolerant to chicken and turkey, and the other is intolerant to beef (among many others), so I know it's difficult to make food, but it's not impossible. There are many recipes out there.

Some common corn sources that you might not realize:
iodized salt (use sea salt)
baking powder (equal parts tapioca starch, baking soda, cream of tartar)
confectioners sugar (make your own, or Trader Joes)
Heinz white vinegar (though since yours is an IgE allergy, that one might be okay)
There are listings of corn allergy terms on other websites

Good luck. I have lots of recipes if you want them (that don't use corn, soy, gluten, dairy, among other things).