Living with Food Allergies, 2013 and on

[spacecanada]

Ugh, same situation in our house with environmentals too. I normally start dosing my husband with Reactine and Pataday at the end of March but he is already not sleeping, scratching at his eyes, and complaining about it. Pollen season is upon us...

Is it twisted that I think environmental allergies are worse than food allergies? At least you can avoid food allergens with due diligence. (Most of the time.). That, or I am just used to living with them and feel horribly sad to see my husband suffer all spring and summer, even with meds.  (He won't see an allergist because our one and only experience with an allergist was so horrible. I don't blame him.)

[spacecanada]

Seeing peanut shells on the ground during our walk this evening turned my otherwise uneventful day into a meltdown. I feel like a three year old right now, having a meltdown for something randomly insignificant.

I am just writing it off as part of my mental recovery period. 

[SilverLining]

 

[ajasfolks2]

Need some distance between me and another (LTFA) mom who is waaaaaay less careful than we are and who treats most reax with Benadryl first . . . for a child ana to egg, soy, pnut, nut and who has asthma.  Asked who their allergist is as I think I want to avoid that MD. 

[PurpleCat]

I went to the mall today.  I went to William Sonoma to pick up some cooking tools.  (love their new spatulas).  Anyway....I was looking at wooden spoons, some were whitish and some were dark brown.  The white spoons were maple which got me wondering so I picked up a dark brown spoon.  It is made of Walnut.      What would happen if I cooked for DD with a walnut wooden spoon?  Would she have any kind of a reaction?  I know, it's not the nut or the shell, but where do those parts get their protein from?

As I was walking out I thought, you mean now I have to ask people what their wooden spoons are made of??

[YouKnowWho]

Or what they are seasoned with...

And then there is the whole yeah, I get your teflon is fab but you cannot cook for DS1 with it EVER.

[YouKnowWho]

Gorgeous day but I can't open the windows.

Pollen count went from under 200 yesterday to almost 1800 today 

[spacecanada]

Anything wood, cast iron, Teflon, or unsealed ceramic = danger zone!  (Unless it's in your own house and only touches safe food, of course.)  I don't trust anyone's cutting boards either - too many little cuts to collect particles of whatever.  (I buy dollar store ones and bring them wen I go to someone's house where otherwise safe food will be made.)

I would avoid walnut wood products, for sure.  Many of them are sealed with walnut oil too.  Just the word walnut sends chills up my spine even though I know the wood is supposed to be ok.  Yeah, walnut hardwood floors or furniture, pass.  Actually, just about anything wood for the kitchen is a pass, except my solid hardwood cutting board only because I met the guy who made it and he told me exactly what woods and sealant products he used.

Wow, writing that was a reality check at just how restricted/distorted some parts of our lives get, huh.   

[PurpleCat]

Sometimes I think we live in the Twilight Zone!

[SilverLining]

I should not be this happy just because for an entire week I was able to wash my hair and not spend the day scratching the skin off. That should just be normal.

But my shampoo was discontinued. The one I used to use says "new and improved" and looking in to their "improvement" it involves protein.  My e-mail with questions was ignored.

It only took three attempts to find a shampoo that I can live with.

[Macabre]

Oooh. No bueno.

[YouKnowWho]

I am going to blame pollen...but hives all down my back after washing my hair.  Or I caught SL's issue.

[SilverLining]

Sorry to hear about the hives.

My issue was with the scalp though. I was seriously considering shaving it all off. 

[YouKnowWho]

The scalp issue arises with the majority of the shampoos on the grocery/drug store shelves.  It got really bad after Em was born (I basically went a month without regular showers  - not new mom not showering, more like going weeks at a time between the pneumonia and brain surgery). 

Scratching and umm, the most disgusting flakes ever.  Shampoo should fix that right?  No, that added to the burn, itch and flakes (not dandruff flakes - I was losing 1/4-1/2cm sections of scalp like psorasis flakes). 

This reaction is hives though which I think are because pollen is going insane/allergy cup full.

[SilverLining]

Washing with shampoo does not always help with flakes. Sometimes it makes it worse, and nothing to do with allergies.

I'm not aware of pollen being an issue here, but we are wondering about snow mold. That could be causing DH a lot of problems right now.