Bless you! - a little history

Most people, when you tell them that you have allergies, assume that it's the hay fever kind. Seasonal sniffles. Coughs. Sneezes. Sinus problems. Ear infections. Benadryl. Sudafed. Nasal spray.

I know that when first faced with food allergies for myself, I never thought of them as being that serious. Never thought that my upset stomach because I had a glass of milk would be a danger to anyone but myself. Never thought that my eczema was more than dry skin, and my battle to wage. Never imagined that I would have to worry about a tactile reaction to bread. Or worry about when my son eats a cracker crumb at day care. Never, until now. All symptoms point to Mason having a dairy and wheat allergy. Tests should confirm this and should reveal if there are any others we should be concerned with on Friday. So far, we've managed to dodge more than one or two severe reactions.

We discovered diary was serious issue shortly after we began introducing solid foods to Mason. I knew he had a difficult time digesting lactose while I was breastfeeding, so I eliminated it from my diet. Once he weaned, we put him on a soy based formula & he showed no other signs of reaction. By the time he was ready for solids in his infant diet, I thought yogurt would be perfect. He was old enough now, his reflux was under control (I'll post about this later) & we had just about gone completely off the medications for that. Boy was I wrong! Within minutes of his first bites, which were more like smears across his cheeks & mouth, he began tearing at his mouth. It wasn't that he didn't like it, he was starting to itch. Before too much longer, Mr pointed out a small bump on his cheek, then another & another. Mason was breaking out in hives. I immediately wiped off the residue & called the doctor. Because his breathing was okay & he wasn't swelling up, we were told to just administer Benadryl & if things didn't get any better real soon, to take him to the ER. Fortunately, the Benadryl worked quickly, but from then on we have vetoed any milk products.

As Mason became more advanced in his diet & with the addition of several more teeth, we began introducing more & more foods. Whole Wheat Toast & Ritz crackers seemed to be a hit & didn't seem to be much of a problem for him. Until we ventured into Whole Wheat crackers. Because we thought we were in the all clear, they were introduced on a regular basis at day care. Mysteriously, Mason was ill & got the worst case of diaper rash I myself or the Day Care Provider(DCP), had ever seen. It was blistering, began to ooze & bleed. We tried every home remedy for diaper rash we could, and it just didn't seem to be easing up. Then it dawned on me. In the not so recent past, I offered Mason a whole wheat noodle & it resulted in immediate discharge from his tummy & a wicked case of eczema on his legs (much like he gets if he has been exposed to diary). What if he's allergic to the wheat crackers?

I embarked on a plan to eliminate wheat from his diet for 2 weeks & then test again with toast to see if we got the same reaction. With a few minor exposures at day care, we were able to pin point wheat as our prime suspect. The toast test (no pun intended) resulted in a blistery rash on his thigh.

So, we've discussed all this with his Pedi & have a short term plan of action. It's not the easiest plan to follow & we're stumbling through these next few weeks. But, after our visit with the allergist & the battery of tests we should have a clearer understanding of what we're faced with.

Mason is now 13 months old. We've had a fabulous year & day to day things continue to be a joy. This is my account of our journey with food allergies.