Hi M.,
It is so hard to realize you're the parent of a kid with food allergies, especially to all the things your daughter is already showing sensitivity to at such a young age. We've done two things with my son: given up on the pediatrician for specialized medical issues, which food allergies are - (we use him for the general things, however, and are very pleased); and given up on the medical allergist whose only answer is to wait and see if our son grows out of the allergies. There are very few kids who will outgrow all of the things your daughter is already allergic to, especially egg and peanuts. Milk, if she hasn't outgrown it by one, her chances decrease significantly of outgrowing it each year thereafter. Therefore, we have gone the alternative route, using an acupuncturist who performs NAET (www.naet.com) using acupressure, not acupuncture, on our son. We have see GREAT improvement very quickly with this. The need for inhalers or benedryl on a regular basis has decreased to less than one time per week, if any times per week when out and about and exposed accidentally to something; hives, wheezing, and vomiting in response to allergens is decreased (thus the less need for medical intervention). My son recently accidentally had scone with dairy and egg, with ZERO reaction. He's not "cured" yet, as he still got two hives when we challeged it on his skin a week later, but we're getting there. I've had friends who have taken their kids in and the blood in the stools was resolved with two treatments, the horrendous diaper rash with four treatments. Our son, however, has very severe allergies, which the allergists who skin tested him at 4 and 6 months said they'd not seen adults with his level of reactivity, so while we have seen improvement, it has been six months of treatments. Therefore, we have just this past week met with a naturopathic medical doctor (been to medical school with residency) in Salt Lake City who is curing kids of autism, food allergies, asthma, and exzcema. He is looking for deficiencies in our son's digestive tract; we'll have the results Tuesday, but our son is probably deficient in zinc and magnesium, which helps to control the food allergy response. I personally think that NAET works by itself for most people, but in our son's case, I think he's got biological stuff in the way, too, which is why we need to use a two pronged approach. Our allergist is here in Denver and we use him only to get the epi-pen prescription from for possible anaphylactic reactions. If your pediatrician did not talk with you about this, definitely call the pediatrician back and say you'd like one. The ped may not want to, as they aren't recommended under age one, which is why we kept our allergist, because the allergist realizes that the kid could have an anaphylactic response and that the epinepherine will save your kid's life. With your daughter's level of sensitivity this young, there's a high probability you may need the epi-pen at some point. Another thing the doctor may not have explained: food allergies don't usually come on their own; usually there is excema and asthma, too. Our son's asthma didn't start until 13 months old. The excema started around 3 months, we had confirmation of the food allergies at 4 months. If you'd like the name of any of the practitioners (NAET, allergist, naturopathic dr.) we are using, please let me know. As much as I HATE my son's food allergies and asthma, I sincerely feel like we've been given him and his issues, because we are open (reluctantly at first) to alternative medicine and its explanations and CURE for things western medical doctors say we have no control over, and I feel that my responsibility is to empower other parents to seek beyond their comfort zone in order to help their kids. Good luck in your journey. Email me if you want more information.
Smiles,
H.
