Food Allergies/Intolerance Kith

**Michelle** · 07-01-2008, 09:43 AM

Do *you* suffer from food allergies or intolerances? (hoping to find people who personally suffer from these vs. family members)

I am lactose intolerant and have been for most of my adult life. Food has come a long way in that there are more choices now than when I was first diagnosed.

What are your allergies/intolerances, and what do you see as the biggest challenge(s)?

**YankeeMom** · 07-01-2008, 10:03 AM

I'm still in the process of being diagnosed. I go back next week for more pokes & prods

**Michelle** · 07-02-2008, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by YankeeMom

I'm still in the process of being diagnosed. I go back next week for more pokes & prods

:anyone: else?

**shoiji** · 07-02-2008, 10:43 AM

I need to stay away from nightshades. Meaning tomatoes, potatos, peppers, etc. Otherwise my face itches, I breakout/cyst type of acne, and my mood is horrible. Not really easy to do when eating something processed since modified food starch is most likely from potatos. So this is another reason why I make most of my food from scratch. I do miss these types of foods, like pizza, potato chips. But I have found different foods to replace things or make a white pizza. Plaintain chips now replaces potato chips.

**quiltergirl** · 07-02-2008, 11:26 AM

Oh yeah. Mine are gluten and dairy. The dairy is for sinus issues -- it forms more mucus. The main one for me though is the gulten. DH has the same issues so that makes things somewhat easier for me -- I cook the same for both of us. Once I got over the OMG what are we going to eat phase I've got the home cooking part pretty well down. At first I thought we were going to be eating twigs and leaves. Oh I forgot the cooking part is complicated by dh's sensitivity to nightshades -- it's part of pain control for him. We also try to stay loosely low fat and low carb -- I inherited tendencies toward heart and blood sugar problems. Lucky me.

Eating out hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. We don't eat out often but when we do we tend to stay with restaurants we know can accomodate us. I do get tired of saying "no rolls" though. Servers look at me like I'm crazy.

Believe it or not the hardest thing for me has been family, church dinners, etc. I have learned the hard way to never assume that there will be "something" we can eat. Now I always take something we can eat or there might not be anything for us. Visiting my parents is okay because my mom lives gluten free too. But dh's family can be a nightmare. The never remember and when we decline something like pizza they offer us leftover pasta. They just don't seem to understand no matter how hard we try to explain. That is frustrating because they are family. It's never fun to not be accepted by family.

What keeps me going with the diet stuff though is that I still remember what it was like before. How sick I was. I never want to go back to that. I'm always looking for new ideas and recipes. That helps keep me motivated as well.

**danni** · 07-02-2008, 05:13 PM

I'm allergic to something in carbonated drinks, the drs aren't sure exactly what but if I do have it I get a headache, which quickly develops into a migraine and I will start vomitting. It actually saves us money because we only buy pop once in awhile for a treat for dh and the kids.

**sixfreds** · 07-02-2008, 05:30 PM

I can't eat processed meats like hot dogs and things like that that are processed with nitrates, I get a horrible migraines as soon as I eat a processed meat.
I stay away from all processed meats. Otherwise I will be in bed with a migraine for days.

My oldest daughter has a sensitivity to store bought fruits like apples and cherries, the wax the dr thinks, if she eats the skin of store bought apples or cherries her lips look like Angelnia Jolie, no lie! So no store bought fruits that you eat with skin on.

Eileen

**halloweenfreak** · 07-02-2008, 07:29 PM

fruits and veggies. im not sure what about them tho... they make my lips and ears itch and my throat close off so i have to carry an epipen with me. watermelon and cantaloupe are the worse tho.

**HisDaisy** · 07-02-2008, 07:37 PM

I have an intolerance to a mystery food additive. It is very frustrating. Eating out can be a nightmare, since we cannot figure out what is causing the problem. There are times that I cannot get out of the restaurant without running the restroom. Also have to avoid prepared foods, so we cook from scratch.
I am also allergic to sprouts. They cause my lips and tongue to swell.

**AmyBoz** · 07-02-2008, 08:03 PM

Eileen, I used to also be allergic to the skin of apples...swollen lips and the whole nine yards. I generally grew out of it, though. I get a small reaction, but not like it was as a kid.

The allergy that has stayed with me for life, though, is a seafood allergy. I'm allergic to all seafood...freshwater, saltwater, shellfish, etc. However, processed tuna is fine. Can't have a tuna steak, though. It's weird.

There's also something else that I'm allergic to, but we've never been able to identify it. When I have eggs with bacon and home fried potatoes at the local diner, I get a reaction in the back of my throat. However, I can make eggs, bacon, and home fries at home and have no reaction, so it's gotta be some sort of additive or perhaps they aren't cleaning their pans/pots after cooking seafood. Hard to pinpoint.

So, my allergies really don't impact my life. I just steer clear of seafood.

**quiltingmommy** · 07-02-2008, 09:35 PM

Let's see: I have a shellfish allergy or any other fish that is high in iodine like swordfish. I can eat salmon, cod, haddock or tuna though. I don't swell up, I just get sick for days. I also have an intolerance to MSG and Sodium Nitrates so only nitrate free bacon or hot dogs for me or I have to be prepared to have a migraine. (remember everyone; MSG is many things not necessarily listed as MSG - doritos are loaded with it! - found that out the hard way). I also don't buy/eat anything with artificial sweeteners (migraines) or hfcs. I think that's everything.

**suebeehoney** · 07-02-2008, 09:51 PM

hey halloweenfreak! I've never met anyone else with the melon allergies like I have!! Everyone looks at me like I'm nuts when I say I'm allergic to all melons - thought I was the only one!

I don't have to carry an epipen with me - I just avoid the melons like the plague. If I eat it, I look like a blowfish afterwards....all puffed up. But I can't even get the juice on my skin - if you dripped watermelon juice down my arm, I would get hives in a pattern that followed the path of the drips. (Found that out the hard way when I cut up some watermelon for the kids - had REALLY bad hives for about 48 hours, despite the Benadryl.)

**suebeehoney** · 07-02-2008, 09:56 PM

oh, I forgot to mention....

youngest DS has an allergy to pineapple - we found out by the process of elimination when he was a toddler. He was drinking fruit juice provided by the daycare that was sweetened with pineapple juice. His skin on his poor little bottom looked like it had been smacked - hard. And he screamed in pain if I even touched it. (Diaper changes were horrible.) It took two separate incidents of this for us to finally realize what was going on.

Both DS' have acid reflux, but youngest has it the worst. He knows what he can eat and can't, but red dye is the worst thing for him. No red kool aid, no red candy, no red jello. Nothing with concentrated red dye. Maraschino Cherries are so concentrated with red dye that they make him vomit. Again, process of elimination - find out what they can eat and can't - and eliminate those things they can't eat!

We're actually trying to eliminate about 95% of the artificial colors & flavors from our diets, as I've found the boys react badly to them, behavior-wise.