We recently received Owen's RAST results from his 18 month check up. Unfortunately all the numbers have increased, but the doctor prepared us for that possibility. The doctor said that most allergies escalate until about 2, when they hopefully start to plateau.
After reading other people food allergy blogs, and reading about all the highs and lows on the food allergy journey, I have decided to keep a mind set that I am in this for the long haul. I am just preparing myself that he won't grow out of anything (except soy) for the next 15- 20 years. If he grows out of anything sooner, I will consider it a miracle. I have a tendency to set my expectations low, so I don't get disappointed. I do this as a coping mechanism. But I need too. It hurts too much to get my hopes up, and then be so disappointed. And not just my disappointment, but feeling the disappointment of a little boy is overwhelming.
So here are the latest and greatest numbers. Not that bad, compared to some other kids.
Milk 11.9 (was 3.26 in Jan)
Egg 8.93 (was 1.46)
Peanut 9.19 (was 6.81)
barley 21.8 (was 14.0)
wheat 60.1 (was 24.1)
sesame 10.0 (was 7.03)
garlic 7.01 (was 8.54)
pea 1.13
soy 0.56
beef 1.02 (was negative)
cashew 0.36
8 months ago
3 comments:
Your son sounds a little like the son of a friend of mine. He had so many food allergies and over the years the numbers have decreased markedly. He still has food allergies, but they are much fewer in number. It is so much easier for him to enjoy foods now, and for his family to cook for him! By the time he entered elementary school, he had already outgrown a few of his allergies.
Stay strong. It's so hard to feed a toddler ordinarily, but when you add multiple food allergies to that, I know it must be so overwhelming. (We have had it easy with just peanuts/nuts.) For recipe ideas, check http://www.youwontevenmissit.com/ or http://allergickid.blogspot.com/
I had a similar experience with my daughter. It got worse before it got better.
I also mentally prepared myself for her not outgrowing her allergies. When she turned 3, they wanted to test her in case she had outgrown anything. I said yes, but deep down, I was sure nothing had been outgrown. It turns out she outgrew her wheat and corn allergy. I could not believe it! At 4, her numbers were much much lower, especially on dairy. She will be tested in a few months for her 5 year old assessment. Again, I am not hopeful, but even if we get to a point where inhalation and/or cross-contamination is not so much of an issue, I will be happy.
The thing we did that might have made a difference was to see a pediatric nutritionist specializing in food allergies. Her goal was to get as many foods in her diet that would boost her immune system. We did add supplements such as probiotics, calcium supplements and zinc. It was costly, but worth it. She got healthier and now very rarely gets sick even when exposed to other sick kids.
It will get better....
I felt the same way about my daughter. She had a peanut allergy and a tree nut allergy (multiple tree nuts) and I resigned myself to the fact that she would always have them. Lo and behold, in subsequent skin tests she outgrew the tree nut allergies. I was so elated! Then this year (at age 3.5) she had a RAST and all her counts (even for peanut) came back negative (<.35)! Alas, she reacted on the skin test for peanuts - but talk about progress. But good results happen, so stay positive! I blog over at http://peanutfree.blogspot.com if you want to hear our story. take care :)
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