packing benadryl

Last Thursday our two youngest saw an allergist. We have suspected that both of them might have food allergies and wanted to have them tested. We were rather surprised by the results.

I’ve mentioned before that we thought Baby J had an allergy/intolerance to dairy and eggs. We went through months of screaming and crying with him until I eliminated them from my diet. Within days his cramping settled down and the crying lessened. Perhaps it was a coincidence of timing but there seemed to be a definite link. After testing, the allergist determined that he does not have a food allergy. That was both a relief and a source of confusion. The doctor and I chatted for a while longer (he was the most helpful, kind and interested doctor we have ever seen) and based on Baby J’s continued eczema outbreaks that coincide with my intake of dairy and eggs (but less so with the eggs), he probably has an intolerance to them that he will likely out grow. The Dr. recommended that I continue to avoid dairy and eggs as long as I’m nursing (I plan to nurse him until at least a year), give Baby J soy formula when I would normally introduce whole milk (soy milk does not contain the necessary fats) and obviously not feed him anything made of those products. So pretty much maintain status quo. The trick is going to be keeping foods that contain the offending ingredients out of his mouth. It’s hard when he is grabbing food off our plates, being fed by the children (although they are good about asking first before they offer him any food) and by well-meaning friends and family. When you aren’t used to screening foods for specific ingredients it’s easy to forget and pop it in his mouth. We generally ask people to only feed him what T and I have prepared for him and that seems to solve the problem.

Little Miss Thang was also tested. I had suspected a sensitivity to dairy since she has been having random eczema outbreaks on her feet and hands and bouts of unexplainable temper tantrums (my brother used to do the same thing when he was exposed to his allergens). Was I ever wrong. It turns out that she is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. I was totally surprised but really should not have been.

When G was 18 months old her older brother gave her a bite of his peanut butter sandwich. She instantly broke out in a rash and hives and had to be liberally dosed with Benadryl. A couple of months later the same thing happened. We avoided nuts like the plague until she was three. Last spring I gave her a really small amount of a cookie with peanut butter in it and she apparently didn’t react. I tried again about a week later, again with no obvious reaction. I assumed since she hadn’t repeated her reaction that she wasn’t allergic. Since then we haven’t avoided nut products but she has continued to. Ever since she could speak she told us that nuts make her sick. We tried to explain that we once thought she might be allergic to nuts but that she actually wasn’t. Never-the-less, she continued to insist that she was allergic to nuts. Whenever we went to someone’s house she would tell them that she was allergic. I thought it was just another one of her dramatic tendencies. As it turns out, children have a sort of sixth sense for foods they are allergic to and instinctively avoid them. Even when their parents tell them to stop being dramatic! So I feel like a tool but am getting over it.

We now have an epipen, emergency only Benadryl and an action plan to post for babysitters. So far her reactions have not been anaphylactic but a mild reaction one time does not guarantee the next one won’t be severe. It is scary the way that children can react to their allergens. She is most likely to break out in hives or throw up but there is always the possibility of anaphylaxis. It really freaks me out that my daughter has an allergy that can be life threatening. It scares me that someone could expose her to nuts and unknowingly risk her life. No one wants their kid to be sick.

As we have talked about her allergy, the effects have been layered. I’ve felt rather emotional out of concern and a bit of guilt. My Mama-bear-protect-my-young instincts are kicking in (I think I just heard my husband say, “super” under his breath as I wrote that!). Our home is now nut free. I’ll admit that it was a bit sad to say goodbye to my breakfast granola and that my husband had some internal twinges when he realized no more Bryer’s Rocky Road ice cream. Bummer. And double bummer for ice cream parlours. That is a haven for cross contamination. This is where the layered effect comes in. Everyday we realize something new that we will need to do or think about differently. Restaurants, particularly Asian and Indian are probably out for the most part. So long bbq’d pork and butter chicken, hello budget savings! Grocery shopping looks different too as we need to avoid brands with trace amounts of nuts and/or items that have been processed on the same machinery as nuts. It means avoiding the bulk bin completely (although I only ever really buy a snot ton of baking soda and the occasional bit of candy for the kids there). Then there is the added complication of eating at other people’s houses. Who doesn’t have a jam jar that has been cross contaminated by a peanut butter coated knife? And then what about things like the little jar of nuts this always sits on the table beside my Dad’s favourite chair? Or the boys habit of eating nuts in the boat when they are fishing? Like I said, a layered effect.

Some people will think we are being hyper-vigilant and that’s ok with us. The allergist said to be concerned about trace amounts and cross contamination so we will. The way we have come to look at it is like this: we have always used proper carseats and booster seats for our kids. We’ve been careful install them as tightly as possible and to buckle the children in correctly every time they get in the car. To date, we’ve never been in a situation where we’ve been thankful that we are so anal about carseats. We’ve never had to test the effectiveness of them yet we do not relax our standards or remove them from our vehicles because one day, we might need them. How would we feel if that was the day we drove without our kids being properly restrained. My husband and I made a decision when our oldest was born to never be lazy about something that could save our children’s lives and we aren’t about to start now. Yes, she was exposed to nuts over the last year and THANKFULLY did not have a serious reaction. Now that we know better, we will do better.

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