New to this forum, not to allergyland :(

[homemademom]

Hi. My 5 yr old dd and 2 1/2 yr old ds both had allergies/sensitivities we discovered in infancy/toddlerhood. We did some allergy testing in addition to food journaling to figure out the problems and avoided their allergy foods until a year ago. We had testing re-done and it came back all negative. I probably shouldn't have been so trusting, since I know that those things aren't always accurate, but dd was 4 1/2 and the allergist said most kids outgrow their allergies by that time.

Anyway, from Halloween to Christmas of this past year, both of my kids' skin has gone crazy.  They started getting eczema break outs, but it escalated to the point that the rash was constant and angry and from head to toe.  I decided to cut out dairy this week and of course they're healing and clearing up. It looks like the dairy-filled candy and desserts from the holidays sent them into overdrive.

I'm just so frustrated.  I'm actually not worried about my ability to live this way permanently. Dairy bothers me, too, so I rarely eat it (I get congested).  We've done it before, so there's no learning curve. Dh is totally on board, always has been. I have an older dd that hates milk subs, so we keep a 1/2 gal of cow's milk for her and her occasional bowl of cereal. Otherwise, cutting cheese and yogurt isn't that big a deal.  

My frustration is with our large group of friends and family. Everyone knows "the test" came back neg and that the kids are fine now. They all congratulated us and made a big deal of it. Now I feel like an idiot saying that the allergies are "back" and I'm afraid they won't believe me or will give us a hard time about our "special food."  Again. It took a lot of time for them to accept the dietary changes we had to make back then, but now I'm worried they'll have even less patience with it, since "the doctors said" the kids were fine. Ugh. We have a lot of extended family nearby and eat with them a couple times a month.

I'm sorry for rambling. I don't even know what I'm looking for. Support, I guess. And recipes, lol.

 Nice to meet you all! 

[changingseasons]

Welcome, and sorry you're here.

Maybe try the IgE testing again now that dairy is back in their systems? Their body might naturally be more reactive to it, and you might get different results. Just a thought. Or at least talk to your allergist and let him know that the skin symptoms returned, and then disappeared after you pulled dairy- any allergist should agree that food trials trump test results. So then you could at least say that you talked to the allergist, and he confirmed that they are still allergic.

[kjbrown92]

Recipes, I have. On my blog.

Sympathy I have. In spades.

For one, they may have outgrown the allergies, but still have intolerances, or they could have been intolerances in the first place. Eczema and rashes can be caused by food intolerances, food allergies, or environmental allergies.

For friends and family, you could choose the simple explanation. They're still allergic; the test was wrong. Or you can go into the difference between allergies and intolerances, and explain that even though the test said the food was safe, it wasn't.

Have you done any healing type things or just food avoidance?

[homemademom]

Thanks for the welcome.  Yes to healing. We do fish oil, probiotics, bone broths. We did digestive enzymes at one time, but didn't notice a big difference and stopped. However, I had migrated toward some probiotics grown on dairy when I thought we were over the allergies (they're cheaper than the specialty ones), so now I need to go back to the old probiotics or find new ones. 

I'll check out your blog, Kathy. Thanks:)

Thanks for the advice, changingseasons. We recently switched to an excellent pediatrician (very naturally minded), and I know he would back me up on the food trials being more accurate than test results. I could definitely use the "well, our pediatrician said. . ." line ;)