So, I Have This Kid...

 

And, like all of my other kids, this kid has asthma and allergies. This kid has never had any food allergies, though, other than being somewhat lactose intolerant when she was younger.

About six months ago, this child came to me and said, "Mom, whenever we have pineapple, my mouth feels funny. I get little sores, and my tongue feels thick and fuzzy." Okay, don't eat pineapple.

I know, I'm a genius. Others beg to be as smart as me.

Over the past couple of months, the same thing has happened with mangoes, peaches, pistachio nuts, and broccoli. Each time, she would report same thing – fuzzy mouth, puffy lips, and sores inside her mouth.

I know enough about food allergies to know something about Oral Allergy syndrome, and this fits the bill. This child has a birch allergy. She has a grass allergy. Ragweed makes her sneeze like crazy. It all makes sense.

We practiced avoidance, and she learned to like other fruits and vegetables. Which wasn't really a hardship, being that she is a great fruit and vegetable eater, as are my other kids. I'm pretty lucky with that.

Hey, we may have smart mouths and bad attitudes, but at least we are eating fruits and veg. I take what I can get some days.

Said child went away over the weekend, and I was very nervous about it. Not for her safety, but for her food choices. After all, she would be far from me, and what if she ate something she was allergic to? I packed her some Benadryl, signed over power of attorney, wrote everything I could about allergies on an index card and shoved in her medicine bag, and hoped for the best.

She didn't text me much this weekend that she was much too busy, but she did text me once to tell me that she ate fruit salad, and that her mouth felt really bad. The fruit salad had pineapple, but she didn't eat it. I don't think she thought about the juice. I instructed her to take the Benadryl, tell her teacher and hope for the best.

And it was all fine. Probably I'm over thinking this, I thought to myself.

But then yesterday, she texted me from a restaurant on the way home. She had eaten sesame chicken, and was feeling very bad indeed. She said she had no pineapple, but I told her to ask what was in the sauce. The list of foods that she can't eat encompasses more than pineapple, and maybe one of those was in it.

Ding ding ding. Give me a medal.

She took a Benadryl. It didn't work. She took another Benadryl, and I sat by my phone, wondering what in the world I was going to do if it progressed.

But it didn't, and she came home, apologetic for her lack of forethought, very tired from the Benadryl, and with a firm pinky promise to never eat another food without checking the label.

Knowing what I know about food allergies, though, I'm very nervous. These symptoms have grown with each exposure, and I know that doesn't leave us in a good place. She had an allergy appointment scheduled, but it's not until May - I really wasn't sure we could wait that long.

Today, I got in touch with the allergist. We have an appointment tomorrow. I am predicting that we'll have a blood draw, and leave with prescriptions, a medic alert bracelet request, and epi-pens.

I wish I could be wrong. But I've seen this too many times in the past couple of years to be able to close my eyes to it. I'm annoyed, frustrated, and wondering – where does this stuff come from? I don't have food allergies. Or, at least I didn't, until I began to develop enormous, paper plate size hives every time I ate pizza from one particular restaurant, and went to get tested and found out that I have a sensitivity to fish. Which he puts in the red sauce.

Where does this stuff come from?

Comments

[Kyooty/Mary]

I would have been very nervous. AJ had something this past month and had the same sores. Sadly I'm not as smart and didn't write it down... What was it? ACK!!!!!! We gave him Reactin, as my husband is allergic to Benedryl, so we avoid that one.
A Pizza with the D as the first initial uses something in there sauce that sends Dh off the charts to swollen mouth. It's not fish for my man it's Carregean? seaweed type of thickener used in a lot of sauces and lunch meats.
Also as you probably know our body seems to do a shift every 7yrs or so.

[Becki]

Ack. I'm so sorry. It's starting to look like my peanut, tree nut, sesame allergic kid may be allergic to shellfish as well. Food allergies are near the top of my list of things that can suck it. The list grows almost daily, but the place of food allergies on it is secure.

[addy]

Squash - any kind. She eats it - it comes right back up! An enzyme in pork she can't digest - can put her in the hospital. Pepperoni, hot dogs, sausage etc. forbidden. Chocolate any kind mouth gets fuzzy can't breathe right .... I wish I knew where these things come from. I really do. Eating shouldn't be this complicated.

[Megan]

I get the itchy/fuzzy mouth after eating raw spinach, some shellfish sometimes, spicy foods and mangoes. None of those are on any of the lists for seasonal allergy connections. Go figure. I think there are other raw foods that cause similar issues but I can't remember which ones. I'm doing such a great job keeping track of this, aren't I?

I had annoying (I initially wrote "massive" but that's an exaggeration) allergy issues last spring for the first time in several years.

I had scratch and patch tests several years ago, and they came back completely negative for everything.

It really bothers me that we have to deal with this in our society, and we can't find the answers.

[maggie]

I'm sending good thoughts your way Carmen!

[Philippa]

Boy do I feel for your kid. i am super allergic to birch trees. With a lot of research, I found out there is cross. Reaction between birch trees Nd most fruits. Consequntly, I cannot eat ANY fresh fruits except grapes. Talk about heartbreak. Though I can eat some fruits when they are cooked.

I also am allergic to soy, peanuts, peas, green beans, hazelnuts, almonds.

It's a major p.i.t.a.

I think I sent my body into histamine overdrive by crawling under my house to try and clean up white mold. It was directly after that I started with the food issues.

[KG]

You know I don't look good in tinfoil so bear with me... but I'd put a lot of money on Genetically modified foods causing a majority of food allergies nowadays (& possibly all the crap they put & spray on foods- pesticides, preservatives & what not)
Had no idea how bad the GM mess was till my peanut allergy son did a research project on it last year...

[Cold Laser Dallas]

Your daughter is so cute, my son always complains to me too when he eats pineapple. It was a bit funny.

[Mert]

Hope you appointment with the allergist goes well! Have you seen this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/magazine/can-a-radical-new-treatment-save-children-with-severe-allergies.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[swlikeablegirl]

Ugh. I don't know how it is to have a food with kid allergies, but still...what a worry. And what a pain. I had really bad seasonal allergies until, for the most part, they disappeared shortly after my 30th birthday. I started running - I think the heavy breathing from that sent me into overdrive. But then I developed a mild allergy to sugar snap peas - which I love. If I eat more than 5, my mouth itches on the inside and I get all Angelina Jolie-mouth. I save it for special occasions when I want to wear lipstick on date night. All told - I'll trade the seasonal allergies being gone for a few snap pea itchies.