Food Allergies

When we had Gabrielle, one of my biggest "little" fears was a peanut allergy.  It seemed so scary and just a giant pain in the rear for everyone involved.  Oliver Max was diagnosed with food allergies at 7.5 months.  It started around 3 months old with eczema.  Lots of babies have eczema.  I have eczema.  Whatev. 

Well, very quickly the eczema covered his whole face and head, and the topical steroid cream that should "clear it up within the day" did nothing - ever.  He also had rashes all over his body randomly.  I noticed a huge flair after I ate a couple of large servings of shrimp.

At his 4 month well check with doctor suggested I not eat shellfish.  Done.  The flair seemed to improve. 

At 5 months the eczema was awful on mostly his face and head and I took him into the doctor.  She suspected possible food allergies and told me to stop eating nuts.  Done.  Eczema vastly improved.

At 7 months he had weepy eczema wounds on his arms and legs (and random red watery eyes, and all sorts of fun) and took him back to the doctor.  The doctor couldn't treat the eczema anymore because the wounds were open so she had me give him liquid Benadryl for two nights (which healed the eczema very quickly) and referred us to an Allergist/Immunoloigist. 

At our appointment, they decided to do skin tests for the most common allergens (I think it was the top 8 foods, dog, dust mites, and a few other things....I need to get the list of all things tested).  They scratched his back with all sorts of stuff and then had to sit and lets the welts develop.  Baby did great, especially considering it was right during his nap time. 

The skin tests came back as allergic to peanut, shrimp, milk (severe - it developed it's own welt next to the scratch), and moderate dust mite.  They then did a RAST blood test to look at antibody levels and to then test for more foods like different nuts and other shellfish.  The blood test came back as allergic to peanut, most nuts (cashew and pistachio were severe), milk, moderate wheat, and no shellfish. 

The MA called to tell us the blood results - she said the doc said to avoid all shellfish and not worry too much about wheat right now even though the blood and skin tests didn't come back the same.  The allergist was talking about doing "food challenges" (going to the doctor and feeding Oliver these foods to see exactly what happens and how severe..... ) around 1 year old.  I guess we will know a lot more after our follow-up appointment in August.  Right now we just have the results of the tests they did and will talk about what they really mean and the game plan next month.

So right now I am eating no nuts, no shellfish, and no milk products (milk, butter, yogurt, cheese, and thing cooked/baked/prepared with any of this).  It's not the most fun and easy thing but it's doable.  Right now Oliver is completely immobile and eats a few very simple things that I feed him.  It's when he's running around with other kids (and snacks), eating a restaurants, going to school, and basically out of my complete control like he is now that worries me.  But I know we will adjust.  We have Epi Pens and anyone that ever cares for him is trained in using it.  He has a topical steroid for his face (weaker) and another for his body (stronger) to clear up a few residual patches.  She also said to give him Zyrtec (antihistamine).  I gave it to him for a few days but don't really think it's necessary.

So that's it.  Our new normal for now.  Oliver's skin is so clear, his eyes look nice and bright, and I'm sure he is feeling much better.  And that's all that matters.