Kid got diagnosed w/wheat allergy

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pied2

100+ Posts
OK, long story regarding my 7 year old that I will try to condense, but she had to have some blood work tested for environmental allergies.

Now, she was diagnosed w/peanut/shellfish allergies at about two, so Mrs. pied asks if they can do a food test as well. So they do and it remains positive for peanuts/almonds/walnuts. They also say she is allergic to wheat/soy/eggs. All of this so far is over the phone and we are set to see the Dr. next Monday.

She has not had a reaction, that we are aware of to wheat/soy/eggs that we are aware of, but can see that maybe some health problems could be attriubted to this. on the other hand, we may be reading into this. We have a very good friend who is in tune with this stuff. She has Celiac disease(allergy to gluten). Very well meaning but perhaps a little over the top.

In any case, she advised the Mrs. that the best way to go is no wheat at all and that either the wife or me has the allergy.

We certainly will be speaking to the doctor, but wanted to see others opinions thoughts. Most of it is fine and we are used to the peanut drill. A whole other pain in the *** for the wheat/eggs though. No pizza/spaghetti/birthday cake/ice cream etc.
 
i have 2 (adult) friends with peanut / shellfish allergies and that seems to be some pretty serious business. they were diagnosed in their childhood.

I have about 5 separate adult friends who have this wheat / gluten allergy you describe and they are all bordering on looney. the correlation does not surprise me. they were all diagnosed within the last 5-7 years.
 
My 7 year old daughter was also recently "diagnosed" with a gluten/wheat allergy. She also exhibits no real symptoms, but we're trying to eliminate it from her diet.

It's a huge pain in the ***. Kids' diets are bad enough, but pulling out pasta and bread is ridiculous. She's not wheat free yet, but we're minimizing her intake. HEB now has a bunch of gluten free stuff (including pastas), so that's helped a little.
 
Thanks for the replies.

HookEm-have you noticed any difference? We have lived for 7 years looking for peanuts and it's really no big deal any more. I take my daughter to school and breakfast every Thursday. I'm looking at the crap we eat in the AM, and have almost no idea where to take her.

uggggg
 
My 7-year-old had multiple food allergies, diagnosed by a blood test. these allergies, or sensitivities, do not always manifest themselves w/rash, hives. asthma, runny nose, etc. as we normally perceive allergies. Many times they manifest themselves behaviorally or cognitively. Adhering to the prescribed dietary restrictions, while indisputedly a pain in the ***, has resulted in a huge improvement in our little girl's behavior and academic performance. She is calmer, not so prone to tantrums, concentrates better, sleeps better.

You don't have to be perfect, but get as close as you can. Check out Whole Foods and Central Market gluten-free sections. there are websites devoted to this as well.

Good luck. It is well worth the considerable effort.
 
We've noticed nothing at all, really. Her only real symptom was constipation, which sucks for a kid. No real change there, but the doctor indicated that this would be a long term thing. Avoiding exposure will help minimize the allergy. Continued exposure will only make it worse and could lead to real problems.

Breakfast is the toughest meal, especially during the school year. We don't have time to make eggs every day, and her siblings are eating Eggo waffles and cereal. It's tough.
 
I'm still in denial at this point, I think. I can see where there may have been times, upset stomach and the like, but mainly want it to go away. Explaining the peanut thing to the school/soccer team is one thing, avoiding pizza/birthday cakes/eggs, is something altogether different.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. One thing we will do, is the whole house, me/wife/little brother will be in it together.
 
I was diagnosed with a wheat allergy when I was about 9. It was asthma/allergy-related, so I don't know how similar the diagnoses are. Anyway, I went on a strict no-wheat diet for a year. Potato flour, no sandwiches, no pizza, etc. It sucked.

My allergies/asthma didn't improve, so I started eating wheat again. Didn't do anything other than make me happier and make life easier.

I'm not doubting anyone in particular who has a wheat allergy and follows it strictly, but I do get the impression that all these food allergies are over-diagnosed.

Also, when someone goes without a type of food for a long time, then eats it, the body will probably react badly to it, and that may be due to a lack of acclimation to that particular food, not an allergy.
 
You will want to consider the advice of your allergist but IMO, the wheat allergy is the most nebulous of the food tests. I've seen postive test that seemed to have no clinical bearing on the patient.

These test do not always correlate to symptoms but you should pay attention. Peanuts and shellfish are usually pretty accurate and can be very dangerous.
 
My son (he's 15 now) was consistently "snuffly" when he was 5 yrs old, so I took him to a pediatric allergist. He was tested for allergies to 64 different things (the skin prick test) and showed a positive reaction to FORTY-THREE of the 64.
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So, we started allergy shots. TWO shots (they couldn't get the serum for all of the 43 different allergies into just one shot), two times per week. (Side note: the one thing he WASN'T allergic to was cedar. Go figure.) So, the shots continued for a year (what a pain that was, to have to go to the doctor twice a week for the allergy shot).

Fast forward to 3 years ago. I noticed he would have swollen lymph glands/nodes at the back of his jaw line and back/side of his neck. Sometimes, more pronounced than others. I take him to the pediatrician and blood work-ups indicate no problems. A few months later, same swollen lymph nodes, more blood tests, same "no problem" diagnosis. Six months later, more of the same. At that point my pediatrician (who I have a very good relationship with) tells me that he honestly doesn't think that there is anything to be worried about, but that he feels that I need some additional reassurance, to be able to sleep better at night. Given that my first son died during surgery when he was six months old, I acknowledged the truth in that statement. He then goes on to say again, that he doesn't feel anything serious is going on, but he is going to refer us to a pediatric oncologist, for more testing. Talk about "cold sweats" on just hearing the words "pediatric oncologist".

So, we go and in the course of the examination, the oncologist is explaining the symptoms of lymphoma, and how those differ from swollen lymph nodes that are fighting infection. I happen to mention to him that my son had been previously tested for allergies, and had a year of allergy shots. So, he decides to do a blood test for food allergies, thinking that the swollen lymph nodes could be a reaction to ingesting certain foods.

Among the things he's allergic to are:
Rice, wheat, barley, rye, parsley, eggs, carrots, peanuts (he LOVES peanut butter and has always eaten PBJs like crazy), tomatoes, lettuce (who in the HELL is allergic to LETTUCE??? It's like 99% WATER, for God's sake!), and a whole list of about 30 other different foods.

Other than the intermittent swelling of the lymph nodes, he has no other "reaction" or indication of a problem when he eats any of the foods that showed "out of range" reactions on the blood test. So, we were told not to modify his diet, and just continue to monitor for any problems. At this point, there isn't much, if anything, that he doesn't eat. All with no problems.

As NewDoc said, listen to your physician, and be mindful of negative reactions if she eats something on her list. But, hopefully this diagnosis won't require a total upheaval of your household, just as it didn't in our house.
 
Soy beans and peanuts are essentially the same thing. Soy is used is a TON of stuff. Just start reading lables.

I dated a girl for a while who had a wheat allergy. If she ate bread, it made her drunk. Whenever we would go out, she would joke "I either want a vodka tonic or a slice of rye, I can't decide." She was a lot of fun.

My wife is on a gluten-free diet, not for allergies but for dieting purposes. It is a pain in the *** but it can be done. Ezekiel bread and pastas can be found in most stores now, in the health food section. The bread is in the freezer.

Best of luck. I am extremely allergic to soy products. They really can't give you shots for food allergies, you just have to be diligent about avoid that food. Best of luck to you and your family. Hopefully, the kid will grow out of a portion of them.
 
Thanks again to everyone. Mrs. pied has already purchased all of the non-wheat stuff at the store.

Cool Ranch Doritos = ok
Nacho Cheese Doritos not ok

She already skipped her first classmate's cupcake. I'm torn, I can think of times where it may have manifested itself, stomach aches that we wrote off to eating too fast or just silly complaining. Now I think, was it the allergy?

Dr's appointment is Monday, but that is not with the allergist. I'm sure we will be referred though.
 
My wife and I took care of my grandfather for several years. Wheat could kill him. Literally.

He snuck a roll at a steak restaurant one time, and went into cardiac arrest. The shock paddles brought him back to life.

Anyway, it was a constant grind to put up with the normal stuff that 84 year olds have, plus we had to constantly watch what he ate. I know what you are about to go through, and I have empathy for you.
 
OK-update.

We saw the doctor, a pulminologist seeing her because of Whooping Cough yesterday.

Relevant to this conversation, she tested positive for the following foods and the corresponding levels, I is lowest and VI is the highest:

Corn I
Wheat II
Peanuts VI
Eggs III

along with other things not real important. One thing I did not know is that wheat is a grass. Who knew?

He asks if she eats eggs, and we tell him not really by themselves, scrambled etc. but certainly in other things, like baked goods.

He says she should be fine there. I am very exctied about this and see donuts and birthday cake in her future.

He feels ok w/the eggs to give her the flumist which apparently has eggs in it. We leave and my wife says that she is still not comfortable w/giving her wheat and we robably still should limit it. She wants to talk to our friend w/the Specialty Foods store.

More to come...
 
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