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.

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.

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!

So I could she was in obvious discomfort all the time, and not just crying out of tiredness or something easier to solve. I would go to the GP, even ended up in A and E, when I did not know what else to do about a baby who was crying non-stop. She was exclusively breastfed. I soon realized one day when I had consumed a lot of cow’s milk, a day when she was especially upset, that maybe this was linked. Throughout the remainder of her first year I cut out milk from my diet (as much as I could). This significantly helped, but didn’t solve it all.

At the age of 3, she started throwing up after eating apples. I initially put it down to choking on the apple skins, but then it just became too instant; a bite of an apple, and then immediate vomiting. We spoke to the GP who sent us for an allergy blood test. 

Her list of food allergies was 3 pages long, apples and Milk being amongst her most severe.

She has not grown out of the allergies, but now we are much more aware of them. We are now aware coughing is her first obvious sign. If my daughter eats something and then starts coughing aggressively and for longer than a few seconds, we add that food to the list of no, no’s. She uses an epipen and antihistamines as and when needed.

I don’t use any websites but there is amazing child allergy community on Instagram, which I frequently learn ideas from.

My son can tolerate small amounts of dairy but doesn’t eat it often. He’s outgrown some nut allergies but not all.

Used Epi-pen for emergencies only.

Diagnosed before there was information available.

My parents mostly reached out to the best docs and allergists in Germany. Since two years I go to a natural practitioner who works on a scientific basis and starts with the roots (gut health and immune system). I really do recommend looking for one working scientifically and visiting on a regular basis.