Sunday, May 14, 2006
Food Allergy Awareness Week
This is food allergy awareness week. Lots of people ask us about Chloe's allergies, so I thought it would be a good time to answer some of the questions we usually get asked. You can also find lots of good facts about food allergies through the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.
Here are answers to questions we usually get asked:
1. What is she allergic to?
So far, we know that she is allergic to milk, soy, oats and squash. The last two are pretty minor allergies, just causing hives and lip swelling. Soy gave her allergic colitis, which basically means she had very painful tummy issues, and blood in her poop. Her most serious allergy is milk. It is life threatening, as small amounts make her go into anaphylaxis.
2. What is anaphylaxis?
It's when your immune system goes a bit haywire, and reacts to a harmless substance. There is a good description of anaphylaxis here. In Chloe's case, she drank two ounces of infant formula that contained milk protein. Within about 30 minutes, she vomited (think exorcist), broke out into hives, and had trouble breathing. As it progressed, she started getting spacy like she was going to pass out from the shock her body was in. Anaphylaxis is serious (life threatening), and requires immediate medical attention. We had an ambulance come and take her to the ER the last time. We also now carry Epipens so that if she has a reaction, we can give her a shot of epinephrine, which will slow the reaction until we can get her to a hospital.
3. Is that like lactose intolerance?
No. Lactose intolerance is when your body doesn't have the enzymes it needs to digest the sugars in milk. It is a digestive issue, and does not involve the immune system. It causes a lot of gas and tummy aches, which is uncomfortable, but not life threatening. Milk protein allergy is an immune response to the proteins in milk (generally casein and whey).
4. Will she grow out of her allergies?
Nobody know for sure, but we are hopeful. Most likely she will grow out of the soy, oat and squash allergies during the next couple of years. Her milk allergy is quite severe, but she has a good chance of growing out of it, or at least the severe response, by the time she is 5 years old.
5. Why does she have these allergies?
No one knows. There is a good article in the May 2006 issue of National Geographic that talks about the hygiene theory. Interesting stuff, but most likely it just comes down to genetics. People inherit the ability to be allergic, but not the specific allergy. So, while we don't have food allergies in the family, Martin and my mom both have seasonal/environmental allergies. So, we have the "allergy" gene on both sides.
6. Is there a cure for food allergies? Can't you just get shots?
There is neither a cure, nor shots for food allergies. The only thing we can do is avoid the things Chloe is allergic to. It means that we read labels on everything looking for milk and milk derivatives (i.e.: whey, casein, butter, lactose, etc...). She can't have anything that contains milk protein, so no cheese, milk, yogurt, and nothing with it baked in (a lot of crackers, breads and chips use butter, cheese, milk, etc for flavor). Although her other allergies are not life threatening, we also have to avoid soy, oats and squash. Right now it's easiest to just make most of her food ourselves.
7. How will you know if she grows out of her allergies?
We will take her to the allergist once a year for testing. There are both blood tests, and skin tests. If the blood tests show that she no longer has the antibodies, we'll do a skin test. If the skin test is negative, then we will do a food trial. That is where we go to the doctor's office for the day and they monitor her vitals while she ingests increasing amounts of her allergens over time. We are very hopeful that we'll have a milk trial before she reaches schoolage.
8. What can others do to help?
The biggest thing is to avoid feeding Chloe anything without asking us first. Also, just understand that while our rules about keeping dairy out of the house, or wiping things off before she touches them (like restaurant high chairs) may seem a bit extreme, we are just following the recommendations from her allergist to keep her safe.
Here are answers to questions we usually get asked:
1. What is she allergic to?
So far, we know that she is allergic to milk, soy, oats and squash. The last two are pretty minor allergies, just causing hives and lip swelling. Soy gave her allergic colitis, which basically means she had very painful tummy issues, and blood in her poop. Her most serious allergy is milk. It is life threatening, as small amounts make her go into anaphylaxis.
2. What is anaphylaxis?
It's when your immune system goes a bit haywire, and reacts to a harmless substance. There is a good description of anaphylaxis here. In Chloe's case, she drank two ounces of infant formula that contained milk protein. Within about 30 minutes, she vomited (think exorcist), broke out into hives, and had trouble breathing. As it progressed, she started getting spacy like she was going to pass out from the shock her body was in. Anaphylaxis is serious (life threatening), and requires immediate medical attention. We had an ambulance come and take her to the ER the last time. We also now carry Epipens so that if she has a reaction, we can give her a shot of epinephrine, which will slow the reaction until we can get her to a hospital.
3. Is that like lactose intolerance?
No. Lactose intolerance is when your body doesn't have the enzymes it needs to digest the sugars in milk. It is a digestive issue, and does not involve the immune system. It causes a lot of gas and tummy aches, which is uncomfortable, but not life threatening. Milk protein allergy is an immune response to the proteins in milk (generally casein and whey).
4. Will she grow out of her allergies?
Nobody know for sure, but we are hopeful. Most likely she will grow out of the soy, oat and squash allergies during the next couple of years. Her milk allergy is quite severe, but she has a good chance of growing out of it, or at least the severe response, by the time she is 5 years old.
5. Why does she have these allergies?
No one knows. There is a good article in the May 2006 issue of National Geographic that talks about the hygiene theory. Interesting stuff, but most likely it just comes down to genetics. People inherit the ability to be allergic, but not the specific allergy. So, while we don't have food allergies in the family, Martin and my mom both have seasonal/environmental allergies. So, we have the "allergy" gene on both sides.
6. Is there a cure for food allergies? Can't you just get shots?
There is neither a cure, nor shots for food allergies. The only thing we can do is avoid the things Chloe is allergic to. It means that we read labels on everything looking for milk and milk derivatives (i.e.: whey, casein, butter, lactose, etc...). She can't have anything that contains milk protein, so no cheese, milk, yogurt, and nothing with it baked in (a lot of crackers, breads and chips use butter, cheese, milk, etc for flavor). Although her other allergies are not life threatening, we also have to avoid soy, oats and squash. Right now it's easiest to just make most of her food ourselves.
7. How will you know if she grows out of her allergies?
We will take her to the allergist once a year for testing. There are both blood tests, and skin tests. If the blood tests show that she no longer has the antibodies, we'll do a skin test. If the skin test is negative, then we will do a food trial. That is where we go to the doctor's office for the day and they monitor her vitals while she ingests increasing amounts of her allergens over time. We are very hopeful that we'll have a milk trial before she reaches schoolage.
8. What can others do to help?
The biggest thing is to avoid feeding Chloe anything without asking us first. Also, just understand that while our rules about keeping dairy out of the house, or wiping things off before she touches them (like restaurant high chairs) may seem a bit extreme, we are just following the recommendations from her allergist to keep her safe.
