I'm a Christian wife & homeschooling mama, saved by faith through grace. I changed my family's diet from SAD (Standard American Diet) to healthy, delicious & nutritious traditional foods. I've recently discovered there's a name for the way that I eat. It's called Primal or Paleo (I like the diet and think of the men and women who worked hard from sunup to sundown, constantly on the go, eating meat, berries they picked, cheese they made. I do not believe in evolution). No grains, legumes, refined sugars, and no/limited dairy.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Allergy Testing

We had a basic blood allergy test done for E3 & E4. Not fun.
E3 came back as allergic to eggs, which was a TOTAL surprise and has changed breakfasts around here.
E4 came back negative. I was expecting her to be allergic to eggs, due to hives on her face after eating them a couple times. So I went to a local chiropractor who does advanced nutrition and allergen testing. They ran a test on her blood that checks her reactions to 96 different foods and rates them on a scale of 0-3 stars. 
The next day, I took her to an allergist and they did a scratch test for 10 things, and egg came back positive. We now have Epipen Jr that we hope to never need to use. Yesterday, she had some berries and got hives, so now those are on her allergy list. Eep. 
The wonderful news is that a lot of kids outgrow these food allergies by 3-5, so she'll have allergy testing once a year. 
The IgG ELISA test that tested for 96 foods is her Intolerance list. 1 star means she/I can eat it every couple days. 2 stars means once a week. 3 stars means total elimination for 2-3 months. (results posted at the end of this post).
Avocados, grapes, lemon juice and pears are a hard one, because they were a big part of what I was eating. Some of the negative foods she may actually be intolerant to, and because we haven't eaten them in recent months, they don't show up on the test.

Right now, I'm trying one food at a time, to see if there is anything new she can handle. I'm starting with things that would be most beneficial for me to have, the most nutrient dense & easiest to eat. I started with peanut butter and that seems to be going pretty well. I even came up with a new recipe to try the PB out! Chocolate PB Cupcakes.

Here's the real deal: this is scary. Intolerances are bad and not fun at all, but there's not a risk her airway will be cut off. Allergies are a whole new ballgame and a boatload scarier. It means that we have to be even more hyper vigilant that she doesn't eat something off the floor, that a well meaning person doesn't give her a piece of food, that any babysitter has to know how to use her epipen. I am grateful that my Lord & Savior, Jesus, is in control of the situation and already knows the days that He has ordained for her. I will do the best I can to protect her and I know that He has her in His hand. What a blessing. 

So what am I eating now? Chicken, pork, broccoli (yay!), cocoa powder, peanut butter, honey, decaf green tea. E4 can eat chicken, pork and we've given her a little broccoli.


We appreciate prayers for introducing new foods and safety for my precious little E4.

E4's 3 Star foods:
Apple
Green beans
Cashew
Eggplant

Grapes
Grapefruit
Lemon!
Oranges
Peaches
Pears


Sweet potatoes
White potatoes
Black tea

2 star foods:
Avocado


Bay leaf
Iceberg lettuce

1 star:
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Cocoa
Cucumber
Green olives
Onions
Oregano
Green pepper
Spinach
Strawberry
Tomato



1 comment:

  1. I am so thankful that you took this opportunity to do the testing. You are a wonderful Mom who is doing the best for her kiddos. The testing can be so overwhelming but oh so helpful at the same time. My E's 1's aren't even able to be in her diet as she reacts so badly to those things. It has been a long road but she is thriving and doing well so it is totally worth it.

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