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Why did doctors miss this? My daughter has multiple food allergies.

Since a , Claire, 30, has had bad allergies. Her face swells up, she feels itchy and her eyes are nearly swollen shut each morning. Decongestants and allergy medicine don't help. Her pediatrician thought she was allergic to pollen, mold, dust and grass tops, like her dad and me.

During the past six months, it's gotten worse. Claire has had hives all over her body. Severe itchiness even inside her body. Doctors called her "hypochondriac," said it was all in her head, stress and "just nerves."

"I thought I was dying, Mom," Claire said. "I'm going to see a nutritionist. It's covered by my health insurance." She has been eating vegan for the past six months.

"I have been eating garlic every day because it's supposed to be good for you," Claire said. "When I got this email, I cried and cried. I'm afraid to have kids because I don't want to pass my allergies to my ."

Claire saw her doctor eight times before finally getting a blood test. She demanded to see a specialist. Good for her! Yesterday at 10:30 p.m., she received this email:

Hello Claire,

Here are your food allergy test results.

Class 0/1 level allergy to-
Tomato, sesame seed, navy/ bean, carrot, lettuce, rye, rice, orange, potato.
With this level of allergy, you still may eat those as it should cause very mild level of sensitivity.

You have class level 1 allergy to- peas and wheat. That also causes low level of allergy, but if you get more inside itching with these foods, then avoid these.

You have level 2 allergy of- almond, barley, garlic, mustard and oat.You need to avoid these.

You have level 3 allergy to- hazelnut. You need to avoid this, too.

Sorry this is a long list, but hopefully avoiding these all will help you to feel better and will take care of inside itching.

LiterateHiker 9 Aug 2
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16 comments

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1

Depending on the type of specialist you saw, you might want to get some follow up testing. Theres a huge difference between a dietician (a highly regulated profession that requires a license) and a nutritionist, which is generally a wide open term like "healer" and has very little meaning or requirements. There is such a thing as a licensed nutritionist in WA, but as things settle down yoh might want to get more information so your daughter gets ongoing care from someone who is qualified to manage serious eating issues. [nutritioned.org]

@Burner

My daughter Claire has an appointment with another MD allergy specialist for further testing.

3

I could go on and on, I have a very sensitive 37 year old daughter who has, through trial and error, figured out what works for her. The #1 thing she could not live w/o is DE, Diatomaceous Earth and she drinks a tablespoon or 2 in a glass of water upon rising. It has taken her many years to get to this point, she is allergic to just about every processed food, no wheat, no dairy, NO SOY, she carries her food with her at all times and is such a cool person. The doctors were of no use and their tests were so off it's not even funny how bad those tests were. I wish you all the luck in the world. It's a journey, that's for sure. Good on you for reaching out. Heads up, she did NOT test for any of the things she is deathly allergic to either. Wheat is a 2 week experience into hell for this gal, it's THAT bad. Soy causes biblical boils. Dairy is 2 weeks on the toilet. Took 10 years to figure it all.

2

I'm happy to hear that Claire's finally getting help for allergies, had she seen specialists before in the past? if she had you do realize that medical technology has changed vastly in just the last five years. And finding a doctor that actually listens is hard but not impossible again I'm happy she's well. 🙂

@oldFloyd

Three years ago, Claire had skin allergy tests.

The results did not show food allergies.

@LiterateHiker I wasn't sure how long it was I hope it does work out for Claire

2

My community has changed from providing ground water to providing surface water . The change also required a change in the chemicals they use to treat the water , to keep it sanitary . June 7th of 2019 , after a shower , my body got itchy all over . I had some distilled water sitting in the kitchen , so poured some on a wash cloth and began wiping my body down . While the skin irritation didn't stop immediately , it did eventually calm down . I still have a rash near my left ankle , from over a year ago , now , where I apparently missed a spot with the distilled water . So glad I didn't drink any tap water . I spent the entire summer , bathing in the swimming pool . Called the Culligan man , and spent over $10,000 to have a water filter system installed .

3

I'm so glad she's getting answers!

2

Sort of surprise on the level 2. Garlic sensitivity is usually pretty rare. Did they mention other items in the allium family like onions, chives, or shallots? Allergies/sensitivities tend to run in food families. Mustard is another, no mention other brassicaceae family members like broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower?

@Doubl35534

Good point. Claire has an upcoming appointment with an MD allergy specialist.

I thought the group on yahoo was the biggest allergy group there is? My kid gets massive boils, she avoids the allium family like the plague. It has made a huge difference in her life.

3

News flash, doctors ignore everyone, not just women. The pat answer when they just don't know is to try and claim it's psychosomatic. ( I had to put up with that crap for years till I FINALLY found someone who bothered to test. By then the arthritis had already destroyed most of my back beyond repair.).
Aside from a specialist running allergy tests, a doctor is the last person to see for nutrition issues.. I went to school to be a dietitian. Doctors are only required to take one basic nutrition course. The same one the basketball players take ( and quite frankly, the basketball players generally paid more attention than the pre meds) . The American Dietetics Association did a study at Harvard Medical school about 30 years ago and found that the average doctor knew slightly less about nutrition , than the average doctors secretary. Nuff said.
Look like that list is going to pretty well kill the whole vegan thing. Time for the beer and bratwurst diet 😊

2

Sadly, in my experience, some Doctors around these days only seem to interested in the Consultation Payments they WILL get and not the Patients themselves.
Glad your daughter got a result after such a truly long, trying ordeal.

4

Itchiness inside her body?! That must have been absolute agony. I'm so glad so she has gotten some answers now and hope she begins to feel better very soon.

dkp93 Level 8 Aug 2, 2020

@dkp93

You're right. Like me, Claire has a high pain tolerance.

I can't believe it took 30 years for her to get the correct diagnosis.

My poor girl grew up eating my homemade bread right out of the oven. She loved it.

@LiterateHiker Sounds like you'll have to work on some wheat-free bread recipes!

@dkp93

Nah. I will stop sending Claire home with freshly made bread.

1

Amazing it took the doctor so long to figure that out!! I’m sorry Claire has had to deal with this so long

@BudFrank

Thank you.

3
  1. Understand that this list is unique for your daughter. Other people will have other lists in a different order.
  2. Only the tedious 100-year-old desensitization protocol is available.
  3. Mitigating and curing allergies can be done. Sadly, the best techniques remain in the realm of research. Big Pharma makes too much money to allow cures to be made available. I saw research 40 years ago that could have transformed Humanity by relieving the torture of allergies; I can only suppose it was suppressed. Selling tons of anti-histamines makes so much more money.
  4. Also, allergies are rarely fatal, so the impetus to develop treatments isn't there.
2

This is so sad, but at least she was finally diagnosed. I'm very fortunate, I have no allergy to anything.

6

It is well documented that doctors, especially male but often female as well, disregard what female patients tell them, and pass it off as "hysterical". Our pain is never as bad as we say it is, our rashes and discomforts just not worth the time. I am glad your daughter spoke up and became her own advocate and got some answers. Hopefully things will get better for her soon.

@HippieChick58

Exactly. Girls and women are routinely ignored and discounted by teachers, supervisors and doctors.

1

WOW that is such a long list ,loved the way they laid it out for her in the different classes, So very sorry ,that is a lot of allergys, I would have claire ask her if there is any way she can try and desensitive herself to some of these and see if the nutrionist can give her a list of chemical compaunds in them all and see what the common denominators are among them if any and to what degree percentage are in each one ,I have a feeling it may be only two or three compounds thru out all of these fruits vegetables and grains and nuts. Certainly worth the investigation,,you never know where it will leed,hopefully positive results will come from it

1

I'm sorry your daughter, had to go through that.

2

If it's covered, get the tests. Many folks who are ADHD, (like me), or under the Autisim spectrum have food intolerances, up to actuall food allergies. It's hard to diagnose if the child is non-verbal.

@TeresaWyckoff

Claire was talking in sentences by 15 months. She has been extremely articulate since age two. People were amazed.

Like me, she has a high pain tolerance.

@LiterateHiker My apologies, I did not mean to imply your daughter, had any learning disabilities.

@LiterateHiker I am sorry to hear about Claire. Could it be that there are personal problems that are causing stress that she is not responding to and is under more stress than normal?

@dalefvictor

It's not just stress. However, Claire threw out her abusive husband after 18 months of marriage. Bravo! I feel proud of her strength and intelligence.

Women return to their abusive husband an average of eight times before leaving him for good.

Claire is dealing with the assault trial against her husband, divorce, house refinancing and house sale. That's a lot. Good thing she has a great counselor.

I gave Claire $30,000 from my life insurance policy to pay for her attorney. Glad I had the foresight to take out a $100,000 life and disability insurance policy when Claire was two. Finally paid it off in Sept. 2018. My father was an insurance agent.

So far, Claire paid $10,000 to her attorney. My first husband and I did our divorce ourselves in 1980. "We're smart enough to figure it out without a lawyer," Tim said. The divorce cost us $14 each.

@LiterateHiker some autistics are early speakers and most are of high intelligence.

@TeresaWyckoff

Thank you.

Claire is highly intelligent with a photographic memory like my brother.

@AmmaRE007

Claire is not autistic.

"Claire is the most empathetic person I have ever met," four of her friends told me at her wedding. "She's our group leader."

@LiterateHiker As she is Empathic, all the more reason to keep her safe, from stress. Bless her heart.

@TeresaWyckoff

Thanks, Teresa.

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