vomit

Emma & Emmett (@VanessaCutting – 16 years old)

October 14, 2022 / , , , , , ,

My daughter was a little less than a year maybe 9 months old and started breaking out in these horrible rashes. I took her to the pediatrician but they blamed it on me taking her flying at such a young age (but my family lived in Fl and I lived in Baltimore so I wasn’t not going to visit them it didn’t make sense), the pediatrician then blamed it on the fact that I didn’t breast feed my daughter and that is why she had a rash. So needless to say I switched Dr ‘s and instantly they had us allergy test. My son I had a feeling since birth but he was a NICU baby so he was a little more on the complicated side but none the less I had him tested as soon as he came home from the hospital. Call it a Mother’s Gut feeling I just knew. But yet again another Dr this time they said he has cystic fibrosis but i knew it was food allergies. My son would projectile vomit and diarrhea constantly.

No websites used, I did not but in 2006 there wasn’t much info out there. I mean I had to have a DR’s note and notarized to carry an epi-pen on a plane. They were not common. And in 2010 there was some info out but not a lot and I did a lot of research on mom blogs since Pinterest was just coming out. But besides that this journey has been trail and error and me never giving up for my kids sake and for their food allergies.

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!

Abby (18+ years old)

October 13, 2022 / , , , , , , , , , , ,

There were many food allergies and they progressed over time. It began with just peanuts (discovered at 2 years of age after eating peanut butter cup) and soybeans (discovered after consuming veggie burger).
Later on, around 7 years of age, pistachios, cashews,(age 17) pomegranate, (age 10) cantaloupe (13), mangos,(13) mushrooms(18) and paprika (20).
None of these food allergies were overcome, but the allergic reaction was controlled after either a combination of Benadryl and water, or in other extreme cases Epinephrine from an Epipen and Benadryl at the ER.
When the item was cooked and became airborne, difficulty breathing and throat closing happened. Upon consumption of the allergy, throat closing, nausea, and vomiting happened.

No websites were used, just trial and error upon consumption as well as healthcare professional mother who recognized the signs of severe allergies.

 Cameron (10 years old)

October 5, 2022 / , , , , , , , , ,

Our son was 13 months when he was diagnosed with his first allergy. I fed him mashed peas and he started coughing, then choking a bit and developing hives. His coughing was persistent and he started vomiting as well. It was really scary and I remember feeling helpless. I called 911 and was alone at the time. Before that incident, our son had vomited regularly after eating some foods and we attributed it to reflux. He also had terrible eczema and we just thought he had overly sensitive skin. After an upper GI and swallow study, a few different medications and other specialists evaluating his immunology responses, we finally looked at food allergies as a test. It felt like the most non-linear maze until we got to the pea reaction…and then we followed up with blood work and a skin scratch test. The tests confirmed that our son was anaphylactic to peanuts, most tree nuts, eggs, most legumes (including peas), mustard, sesame and soy protein. He is currently 10.5 years old as of 2022 and has not outgrown any of his food allergens yet.

Once diagnosed, we found FARE, Kids with Food Allergies and FAACT to be the most informative and helpful for creating allergy plans, what to include in an allergy bag and how to understand the basics (reading labels, understanding and preventing cross-contact, and understanding emergency signs and symptoms of a reaction). For every day living, I found several blogs with tips and tricks, recipes and people steps ahead on the journey who could detail tools for navigating this forward-facing health condition! Each meal requires careful planning and we had to reorient our thinking to anchor our plans in safety while also having fun. I was also finding that the Facebook groups brought together families out of trauma (after reactions) and fears (of future reactions) and as a caregiver I didn’t want to raise my kids with extra anxiety. I ended up creating Feedyourcan.com (when some foods you just can’t) as an empowering way to use the struggle as the teacher to help our kids build lasting life skills that will serve them well in food AND non-food challenging situations.

Shae Averaimo (@shaeallergy_07 – 15 years old)

August 3, 2022 / , , , , ,

I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy when I was 6 months old. When I was a baby, I had skin rashes, vomited after I ate, lost weight, and cried a lot. My parents took me to my pediatrician and that is when I was diagnosed. I had my first anaphylactic reaction at 1 year old after eating a small piece of cheese. That is when I saw an allergist and started carrying an Epipen. I am now 15 years old and I did not outgrow my allergy. Unfortunately, it is still just as severe as it was when I was a baby. I have learned how to manage my allergy in all aspects of my life. I was diagnosed by my doctor so I did not use any websites to diagnose. My family and I frequently use information from FARE’s website. I also use the Spokin app.

@purelyhaley – 3 years old

February 8, 2021 /

He had vomit to shock reactions with his first 4 foods introduced at 7-8 months old. It took a lot of internet searching and 4 pediatricians to finally receive a diagnosis. We have not overcome them. He isn’t on any medications. In my internet search I came across the FPIES foundation website and that is what led me to seek out an FPIES experienced practitioner to request an evaluation.