Today was Sophie's annual allergy exam. Sophie wants to try to eat some tree nuts, so she had skin tests for some of the tree nuts today, and she had a definite negative to almonds.
BUT
Our allergist wants her to continue to avoid all tree nuts, because of cross-reactivity. And what is cross-reactivity? Well, apparently all tree nuts are very similar in their protein makeup, so if you're not allergic to almonds, and you eat them 100 times with no reactions, but your 101st time you might have a reaction anyway.
So, we are trying to sort this out. Have any of you had any cross-reactions to things that were not your allergies? Tell us about it.
My daughter wasn't allergic to Tree nuts a year ago. She was allergic to peanut butter, milk, eggs, and wheat. I gave her a granola bar that had tree nuts in it. She reacted instantly and was transported to the hospital on oxygen. Thank heavens for Epi-Pen! She spent the night in the intensive care unit. Her Allergist informed us that sometime in the year she had developed an allergy to pistachios and cashews. After this horrible situation, I refuse to try almonds or other Tree nuts that she is not allergic to because it's not worth another reaction. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteHow old is your daughter, Carsen? We had a similar situation with Sophie when she was 3--she hadn't ever been tested for tree nuts, and the allergist said she could start trying some new things. She ate a pecan and had a pretty scary reaction. I think she was already allergic to them but we just didn't know. After that I had her tested for all kinds of stuff before I would try anything new.
ReplyDeleteWe've been on an elimination diet for a year now. Both my kids are allergic to milk, eggs, wheat and soy. The youngest can have a reaction to peanuts one day and not the next time. It is the same with strawberries. Naturally, we have stopped with these foods, but it doesn't stop my oldest from asking for it. The allergist doesn't know why and her last test showed that she should be fine with these things. We have no clue why, but are continuously told to look for reactions because new allergies could develop at any time. Not very encouraging.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter will be three in August. I am very glad to have your wonderful cookbook because I have celiac Disease and just found out my six month old is allergic to eggs and milk so far. I need to change my profile. Carsen is my husband. I am Bethany. I am just new to this blog thing.
ReplyDeleteLOL, ok Bethany. Do you think your daughter developed a new allergy or do you think she was already allergic to those nuts, or did she develop that allergy?
ReplyDeleteWhat a challenge to have 2 kids with food allergies. At least your baby isn't adding any new allergies to the mix so far!