that I have a BUNCH of food allergies. I went in specifically to get tested for shellfish but they also had a bunch of others on the tray.
I need to go back for even MORE testing.
So, here's what I'm allergic to (that I can remember)...
*SHELLFISH (lobster, shrimp, prawn, clams, scallops, mussels, etc)
*crab
*PEANUTS
*Pecans
*STRAWBERRIES
*Celery (who would have thought?!)
....Oops, I can't remember the rest. I'll update when I get the letter from the doc.
So, I got a prescription for an Epipen.
I'm super stressed about this.
How does one go out to eat when allergic to so many things??
Do I need to make sure that I don't even have peanut butter in the house (ds likes it).
I don't seem to have severe reactions (yet) to the non seafood items but the allergist said that could change without notice!
Eek!
I'm freaking out here, mama's.
Anyone else with many food allergies??
Ds had multiple food allergies as an infant, but luckily he's outgrown all but a few. As an adult, there's a very good chance these are allergies you'll have for life. First, become an avid label reader. If it's *Processed in the same plant* it's off limits. And yes, unfortunately, I would recommend that you make the house peanut free. (and since you're allergic to pecans as well, you might want to consider making the house tree-nut free as well, as many many nut products are all processed together.) You can look at sunbutter for your ds, it's make with sunflower seeds and processed without peanuts/tree nuts.
I know the other mamas will have TONS more info for you, but I wanted to give my 2 cents.
again. I hope things start looking up for you soon.
Okay, have a few more minutes. Eating out...you should be able to handle it, since dairy and soy are not on your lists of allergic foods. You have to question EVERYTHING. If your server isn't knowledgeable about what's in certain sauces, etc, you need to request another one. (if I've had to do that in the past, I always gave a small tip to the first server, it wasn't his/her fault that they lost that table, kwim?) A lot of it will depend on just how allergic you are. I had a m/w who was so allergic to shellfish, that she had a reaction just standing next to the frozen seafood section in the grocery store.
If your reactions arent' that severe, you should be okay in a *normal* restaurant, but I'd avoid places like Red Lobster, etc.
Also, how were you tested? Was it a RAST test, or a skin test? Are you 100% sure that you are allergic to these items. Did you know there's something like a 35% false positive rate for the RAST test? Our allergist for ds, who BTW, is the leading immunologist in three states, he's FABULOUS....he said that the RAST test is basially a jumping off point...if you test positive for something with that, then you move to the skin scratch testing.....then to challenges. We have done some oral challenges with ds with good results, we've been able to narrow down some of the higher allergens without exposing him to those items, kwim?
HTH. not sure if I gave you anything new, but every little bit of info helps when you're completely overwhelmed with this.
I got the skin test. 34 jabs....ouch! Allergist said that what may give me only a slight reaction today, could have a potentially serious effect next time. There's no warning. He said that avoidance is key.
He said that peanuts/nuts are in so many things that it will make eating out and buying food tricky.
I've gotten entrees in the past that were not supposed to have shellfish in it but then i've had a reaction...Come to find out, i found tiny pieces of shrimp in it...that wasn't supposed to be there.
hmm, Id probably also do a RAST test (blood test) especially on the foods that you say you dont react to.....may have had a false positive on the skin test (this happened with DS...his skin test showed soy allergy, rast did not....turns out that he wasnt allergic to soy.)
I would definitely avoid the shellfish and nuts....those tend to have more severe reactions and adult onset is not uncommon
Eating out an be challenging but not impossible (depends a lot on your comfort level too). I was told with a nut allergy that you should avoid asian restaurants and Id avoid seafood restaurants for sure
The allergist said that the blood tests are not reliable.
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