We got the results of the blood work for Ahren. Remember the test that we told him we were doing to see if he was allergic to something giving him migraines and he wanted it to be broccoli? Well, it wasn't broccoli. It was peanuts! He has a high latent (delayed) allergy to peanuts. The other things he had a slight allergy to were: cantaloupe, flax seed, pinto beans, corn, cottage cheese, grapefruit, navy beans, oat bran, soy and string beans. The dr. recommended eliminating all of these for 3 weeks. She also recommended eliminating all dairy. This is going to be a challenge. He eats peanut butter EVERY day of his life. He has at least one PB&J for lunch everyday. Most days, it's two sandwiches. However, here is what concerns me most. To quote the book of explanation they gave us:
"Since we often develop food allergies because we eat the same foods too frequently, rotation diets can also help prevent food allergies and intolerances. If you avoid all the foods you were advised to avoid, but eat some of the allowed foods on a daily basis, those "allowed" foods could potentially become symptom-producing foods. For example, if all dairy foods are avoided and then milk substitues such as soy milk and soy cheese are used every day (rather than occasionally, on a rotation basis), soy allergy may develop. Likewise, if wheat is eliminated, and rice is eaten every day, an allergy to rice may develop."
Did anyone know this could happen? Did I cause Ahren's peanut allergy by feeding him too much PB&J??? I know variety is nice, but if I try to make something other than PB&J, there is mutiny in this house! That's what they want, it's easy to make, that's what they get. Now, I need to be more creative with our foods and not feed the rest of the children too much of something for fear they will develop a latent allergy.
So, we will follow dr.'s orders for these 3 weeks. Ahren may lose a little weight, because he loves PB and cheese and milk. Or he may gain weight by drinking more juice! I only hope these changes will eliminate his migraines. I have a feeling it will take more than 3 weeks to know if these eliminations are working.
That is tough!! We have giving Teddy almond milk for a while and he LOVES it. I didn't see almonds on the list that is milk substitute you can try. Hang in there.
ReplyDeletei know that will be hard... i'm sorry about the PB, especially! but i really hope this will be the key- imagine sweet ahren never having those yucky migraines again- that would be amazing!
ReplyDeletei don't imagine that you caused an allergy- he must have had a propensity towards allergies to begin with since he was sensitive to so many things. if you need meal ideas for the kids, i bet we can come up with a good list together!!
I was kind of thinking along Missy's lines that almond or sunflower butter could be a good substitute. I'm so sorry Ahren has these migraines and I really hope just changing a few things can help him. I've found the staff at Trader Joe's (more often the people you see stocking the shelves rather than the cashiers) can be really helpful in recommending food substitutes. Feel free to drop your kiddos off here so you can take a trip to the store to do some research and take your time reading labels! We'd love to have a Mule kids playdate!
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