egg

Katie (@Katiehollcreative – 9 years old)

March 22, 2023 / , , , , , , , ,

Our first experience with food allergies was when our oldest, now nine, had her first reaction at 6 months old at daycare. There were certainly symptoms she experienced prior that could have alerted us to food allergies, such as eczema and excessive spitting up after eating, but it was initially always diagnosed as reflux until she had formula mixed with her oatmeal. That’s when we had her tested and found out she was allergic to milk, egg, peanut, and tree nuts. Fast forward, all three of our children have multiple food allergies, some anaphylactic. Between the three, we manage milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, and shrimp. We’ve done some oral challenges and have been able to cross some off, but each has epipens and also our oldest two have asthma.

We didn’t get a lot of information from our allergist apart from “avoid these foods” so it was a big learning curve navigating this new lifestyle. I found lots of useful information on the Food Allergy Research and Education’s (FARE) site and after a few years, found some great Facebook groups to connect and learn from others in the community. Other useful sites were FAACT and Allergic Living. I also wrote a children’s book about multiple food allergies to help educate and bring more awareness to the community in general.

Meryl (@merylottenstein1 – 18+ years old)

March 22, 2023 / , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I had a reaction to nuts when I was 2 yr’s old. I saw many doctors as back then allergies were not very common. I was tested and was allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, and tomatoes. I also have asthma and oral allergy syndrome. I was on different medications and basically made sure not to eat anything with nuts in it. As I’ve gotten older my allergies have increased and I am now ana to eggs and allergic to wheat and many additives. I make sure to read all labels and have started cooking more. It can be very anxiety provoking and I am learning to do meditation and yoga. If I am in social situations where there is food I do not eat it if I feel uncomfortable. Many people don’t understand but I have to put myself first. We need to be our own best advocates. I use Flovent, Proventil, and Singulair medications.

I use FARE for information and many Instagram accounts that provide recipes and support. I believe in research and advocacy and hope that there will be a cure soon. Many more people have allergies today and it seems that there have been a lot of good changes. Social media is very helpful as well as the apps for eating out. It’s important to find a good doctor and always pay attention to symptoms. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to speak up about it.

Iya (8 years old)

March 22, 2023 / , , , , , , , ,

When my daughter was about 9 months, her preschool teacher called to let me know she was fussy and was tugging on her ears. I recommended some Tylenol since it sounded like an oncoming ear infection. Five minutes later she called and said my daughter’s face was swelling and they had to call 911. This obviously was very terrifying. I worked about 25 minutes away, so called my husband who worked locally to head that way. Luckily, our daughter was breathing fine. We took her to urgent care and gave her benadryl which helped with the swelling and itching. We believe she ate eggs for the first time that morning. This prompted allergy testing where we found out she was allergic to peanut, tree nuts, eggs, sesame. We later found out she has an allergy to green peas. She can now have baked egg. We think we will be able to challenge egg and sesame soon. We use epinephrine and benadryl as needed.

At first, we relied on our allergist and pediatrician for resources. When she was younger, I used relevant FB groups to see how other parents navigated certain situations. I’ve used the Food Allergy Fund and FARE as a resource.

Nathan (1 year old)

January 26, 2023 / , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nathan went into anaphylactic shock after a small spoon of peanut butter when I introduced it to him at 7 months of age. He has not overcome this allergy, and since then we have discovered he is also allergic to eggs and milk (after having reactions to ingestion) and cashews and pistachios (after skin prick testing for tree nuts). All allergens were confirmed by IgE blood testing and we monitor them every 6 months.

I really didn’t know much about food allergies (including the top 9) when I started introducing foods. We have no history of food allergies in my family or my in-laws. Since his diagnosis, I have been on a mission to find as many resources as possible- through Instagram, podcasts, health care providers, and the community.

Harper (@anaphylactic_kid – 3 years old)

January 26, 2023 / , , , , , , ,

From the moment we started introducing foods to Harper at 6 months old we had problems itchy hives rashes etc. She is our only child so we didn’t know what it was. Even thought it must be normal for babies when they eat certain foods. We got to see an allergist who tested her for eggs and sent us home with Epipens, recommended watching YouTube videos to learn how to use them. 2 years (and lots of hospital visitors for testing, anaphylaxis and check ups) go by and having hot rock bottom after witnessing a very serious anaphylactic shock that nearly took my beloved baby from us. We joined Instagram as a way to connect with others like us and find support… boy did we find support love friends and the answer to our prayers @socalfoodallergy provide a treatment for food allergies like Harper’s and she’s now half way through treatment and should be at complete food freedom by the time she starts school. None of this would have been possible without the amazing people who found us via Instagram. Forever grateful that we get to share our journey with you all.

I reached out to a Facebook moms group who informed me it wasn’t normal and to book to see my GP. I attended zoom meeting ups with other moms of kids with allergies and that’s were I first heard about @socalfoodallergy later on @natashasfoundation contacted me to feature our story on their page. And another mum who was doing to TIP program reached out to me to tel me about this life changing treatment. Our lives have changed so much and the best is yet to come.

Ronin (10 years old)

November 2, 2022 / , , , , , , ,

As an infant, we suspected Ronin had eczema and food sensitivities because he was always fussy and blotchy and would spit up after breastfeeding. The pediatrician suggested switching him to a special baby formula at 4 months old. So, we did. But there was no mention of food allergies. At one years old, he had his first reaction to food. It was on vacation while eating some scrambled eggs. I still remember running around like a chicken with its head cut off- because we had no clue what was going on. He had another reaction shortly after that to his birthday cake. It was then that the pediatrician ordered a food allergy panel and it was determined Ronin was allergic to soy (false positive), dairy, egg, peanut, and treenuts. He still has all of those same allergies including a tomato allergy.

We didn’t use any websites early on in our diagnosis because the whole thing was just so new and overwhelming and we honestly had no idea how many resources are actually out there. But in the years since, we have relied heavily on FARE and Allergic Living.

 Jaime (@triofudge – 6/4 years old)

October 17, 2022 / , , , , , , , ,

When my son was 10 months old he had an anaphylactic reaction to peanut butter. I didn’t know it at the time because that was our introduction into food allergies! Since then we have added some allergens to the list of ones we manage. Between our two children (ages 6 and 4) we manage: peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, egg, shellfish and banana. Peanuts, shellfish, egg, and banana were confirmed from having reactions, and then with annual follow-up skin and blood tests at our allergist’s office. Sesame and tree nuts are confirmed through testing only. Both children are currently undergoing SLIT treatment (SubLingual ImmoTherapy) at Allergenuity in North Carolina. We are hoping SLIT will protect against cross contact and hopefully lead to more free eating.

We use information from FARE to educate ourselves, family members, care takers, and school staff members on food allergies in general, how to recognize symptoms and reactions, how to administer epinephrine, and how to create an Emergency Action Plan that fits our family’s needs. We have used information from FAACT to develop 504 plans for public school.

  Benjamin, Christopher and Abigail (@themomplicatedeater)

October 17, 2022 / , , , , , , ,

When Benjamin was 6 months old, I had eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and given him a kiss on his neck. He broke out in hives in the area he was kissed pretty soon after. We took him to an allergist who diagnosed him. Since then his blood work results have continued to worsen. For both of my subsequent children, our allergist tested them before we introduced foods. With my second child, he was positive for dairy and egg, which I had not cut out of my diet (and was breastfeeding), but did so after his diagnosis. We saw huge improvements with his skin and discomfort level. Our third baby is about to be tested, but based on similar signs that Christopher displayed, I eliminated dairy, egg, soy, gluten and peanuts at 8 weeks of age.

We were so unaware when Benjamin was first diagnosed. But as we’ve attempted OIT and experienced anaphylaxis at home, we have joined Facebook groups, receive several newsletters and follow multiple accounts on IG to learn and grow. Some of the resources we use currently are Allergen Inside and Susie at Spokin.

Landon (1 years old)

October 17, 2022 / , , ,

I learned about my son’s food allergies when he was only 6 months old. What was supposed to be a fun milestone (baby’s first food!) turned into a very scary situation, where he had an anaphylactic reaction to pureed peas. After he saw an allergist, they ran some blood work and he tested positive to eggs, peas, peanuts, and a handful of tree nuts. Since then, while slowly introducing new foods, we have unfortunately discovered more allergens.

We used FARE. Also a lot of blogs from other food allergy moms, Facebook groups, and social media.

Daveigh Bea (1 year old)

October 14, 2022 / , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When we first started introducing solids to little miss we noticed small hives and redness with eggs and milk products as well as an increase in her eczema. At first we did not think much about it and I kept exposing her to milk and eggs thinking she would get use to it but instead she kept getting redness, hives and runny noses. All this would improve with a bath and dose of zyrtec. I had bought some peanut butter banana food pouches and we had given them to her with what I thought was no reactions but one afternoon I came home to my husband freaking out and showed me the baby and she was covered head to toe in welts and hives, he told me all he gave her was the banana peanut butter about 10 minutes prior. She then proceeded to vomit multiple times, now at this point I am still not educated on food allergies or reactions but knew something was wrong so we took her to urgent care by the time we got there the benedryl had kicked in and she was doing better so urgent care pretty much dismissed us. Looking back I realized that she had been having small delayed reactions to peanut butter as she had been vomiting randomly but each time I had given her peanut butter I just did not correlate the two. Currently I am waiting to get into see an allergist as I have had to educate and advocate for ourselves. Our pediatrician did the blood allergy test and gave us an EpiPen and said she was too young for an allergist. Right now her allergies are peanut, eggs, dairy, wheat, oats and peas. We have excluded those foods and have had no reactions and her eczema is gone. We are hoping to try some food challenges once speaking to an allergist. She is now 15 months old still breastfeeding and we have found many safe foods and she is happy and thriving!

I found the websites FARE, The Food Allergy Counselor, and joined some food allergy groups on Facebook. I took it up on myself to learn about food allergies and symptoms of anaphylaxis. I am a mental health therapist and realized I was having increased anxiety around feeding her which let me to the Food Allergy Counselor social media and website where I educated myself on how to help others parents with the same anxious feelings I was having. I educated myself enough to become one of the therapist on their directory for my state I knew if I as a therapist was having these anxious thoughts and feelings there had to be more parents out there that may need an allergy informed therapist!