Tested allergic to dairy/yeast/vinegar!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2002
Tested allergic to dairy/yeast/vinegar!!
8
Sun, 11-25-2007 - 12:48pm

I am so overwhelmed. We took our DS to see a DAN! doctor last week - allergist/immunologist. They did a skin puncture test on his back and he tested positive to various molds, dust mites and then milk/dairy, yeast/vinegar, and mushrooms. He has to go back next week for a blood panel to look for additional food allergies and we have to collect various other specimens for other tests for yeast overgrowth, heavy metals, fatty acid levels, thyroid levels, etc. So we may have to take away other foods as well, but for now I'm just trying to figure out what I can feed him that doesn't have any dairy, yeast or vinegar in it. I'm floored by how many packaged foods have those items. Basically he cannot have any condiments or salad dressings because of the vinegar, which is causing issues because he only eats his chicken nuggets (actually found some without yeast or dairy) if he can dip them in ketchup or ranch dressing. He lives off of PB&J and grilled cheese sandwiches! Even the hotdogs we have have yeast. I even saw that chicken broth has yeast! This poor kid is going to starve! And I have a sinking suspicion that gluten will get removed once the rest of the tests are done and I wouldn't be surprised if sugar has to go too.


Where do I start? I'm planning to go to the library today to try and find some special cookbooks. I'm also planning a trip to whole foods, but I don't even know what to look for there. I'm assuming once all the tests are back that they'll refer us to a dietician, but for now I'm so overwhelmed with where to start and what I can feed him. One cookbook I looked at in a bookstore had a recipe for bread that was supposedly dairy free but the recipe called for non-fat milk??? He's drinking rice milk right now so I would assume I could substitute that but are there types of milk that are allowed? I'm not sure what all to look for on labels either.


If anybody has any tips, advice, etc. for getting started, I would so appreciate it. I have emailed his teachers (preschool) and let them know but I'm panicked about snack time too. I looked at the Nov. list and didn't see a single day that he could have eaten the provided snack. I've already caught DH trying to give him banned food twice - not on purpose, just not thinking.


Thanks!


Trisha

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 11-25-2007 - 1:47pm

Wow, that's a big list with some major foods on it.

                                

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2005
Sun, 11-25-2007 - 2:04pm

Hi Trisha,


I still have a house full of relatives, but I promise to write you a longer post later.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2002
Sun, 11-25-2007 - 11:11pm

The more I read, the more I want to go hide under my pillow. I'm really getting stressed. I don't know how to do this. Now I'm reading that enriched flour can have milk products in it, which means I'd have to go ahead and eliminate everything with wheat. I also saw that some fruit is waxed with a casein compound. I really do not know what to feed this kid if he can't have any dairy, wheat, gluten, sugar (including all those things like fructose, etc. on labels), yeast, vinegar, or peanuts. What is left?? Some things with b-vitamins in them have yeast. Caramel coloring has casein in it - so there goes the turkey I bought him.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 7:46am

As the mother of two kids who appeared to be allergic to everything (nuts, wheat, dairy, eggs...) you have my sympathy and empathy. My advice would be to absolutely radically change *everything* that your entire family eats and *cut out processed food* altogether. Re-think your shopping, cooking and eating habits completely - no processed, convenience or packaged foods at all. Involve your kids in *making* all of your food (and this includes all of yours and DH's food) *from scratch*. Salads, fruit, veggies, cuts of meat from the butcher, fish, tofu etc. Get to know your local greengrocer/organic food store, swap recipes and hints on-line, get to know your food again from scratch. Make it fun. In the long run you will all be healthier (and wealthier as well!) and it cuts out the endless, heartbreaking poring over ingredients lists and lists of 'banned' foods and 'safe' foods. When you go out, take your own snacks and food that you've prepared, and when you attend parties etc always have a backup of 'fun' snacks that are safe. Patronise cafes and restaurants that only serve 'homemade' or 'real' food and avoid the burger chains like the plague. Once you've learned the basics - how to prepare sauces from scratch, where to find rice pasta, how to not base meals around bread, how to prepare allergy-friendly cakes and deserts from scratch - it gets a lot easier.


This was really tough for us at the beginning, particularly as a busy working mum, but actually it opened up a whole new world of 'real food' and DH1, now 9, is an absolute foodie who loves cooking and preparing food and helps to 'educate' his friends on it. We're all a lot healthier for it. Don't panic - but do take control over it. Look upon it as an opportunity (to learn new skills, to have fun with food), not a threat (to have a limited life constantly reading package ingredients and saying 'no' to everything).


hth


Kirsty mum to Euan (9, Asperger's) Rohan (4, NT) and Maeve (2, NT)


iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 9:29am

Trisha,


Are these food sensitivities or actual outright

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2005
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 11:30am

Hi Trisha,


Just put the parents on the plane, so I am back!


What Paula said is right.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 12:03pm

Wow, you really sound overwhelmed Trishap!

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2002
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 2:11pm

Thanks, guys! The dairy, yeast/vinegar and mushrooms showed up as allergies to the scratch test they did on his back. He's been eating all of this stuff and hasn't had any life-threatening reactions. We're looking into this more to see if it will help with his PDD symptoms - help his focus better, reduce stimming, help with bowel movements and such for toilet training. The yeast came up as an allergy, not an overgrowth, although I suspect an overgrowth will show on his labs when those come back.


I took DS for his second allergy shot (for the mold and dust mite allergies) this morning and asked the nurse about referring us to a dietician. She said they have a woman on staff who is not a dietician but is an expert on all of the diets and we could schedule a consultation with her. When I asked the receptionist to set it up, she said they would do that, but not until after his food panel and other labs come back because we will probably have to remove additional foods based on that. She said the doctor usually doesn't recommend that you make any radical changes to the diet until after all the information is in. So for now I guess we'll just eliminiate dairy, yeast and vinegar and leave the rest alone until we have to take it out.