Kim's True Story
Around 4 months of age, our son developed severe eczema on his face and body. We were told to go see a dermatologist who treated his skin condition. No one ever told us it might be food allergy related. Then......
When our son was a little over 8 months old, I was feeding him a chicken noodle baby meal for dinner. We were at a birthday party. An hour after he had digested his meal, he had what looked like a bug bite on his forehead and started to get fussy. We all thought he was reacting to a wool blanket he had been laying on; none of our relatives have food allergies so unfortunately we did not know what we were looking at. All of a sudden these "bites" kept popping up on his face. I remember telling myself not to panic. I got my son home 15 minutes later and stripped him down to his diaper. He had welts all over his body. I gave him a cooling bath per the pediatrician's advice and kept a watchful eye on him and monitored his breathing. I thank God he did not go into shock. After that we took him to an allergist who did a scratch test on him. I couldn't believe the foods that he was allergic to including chicken and turkey! Peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, and sesame were all big allergens, foods that we had been eating around him constantly. This explained his eczema that was constantly flaring up.
As someone that had a difficult time at first accepting this new lifestyle and the challenges it brings, I think it is so important to help others going through the same thing. When our son was first diagnosed, I did not know anyone who was going through what I was.
Now our son is almost 4 and his allergens are dramatically decreasing. His peanut and tree nut numbers have dropped 50 - 70%. (he is still anaphylactic to them). He can eat foods with egg in them, and turkey and chicken are no longer problems. He is almost ready to do the egg challenge in his allergists office. While we always remain vigilant about our son's food, our anxiety has significantly decreased thanks to the support of family and friends.
Does your child have severe food allergies?
You've come to the right place.
