Food Allergies
Alright how many of you have food allergies? In the last couple of years I've found out why I've been getting stomach pains, nausea, eczema and having my mouth and ears itch like crazy. Dang food allergies! Since high school I've had a hunch that I may be allergic to almonds and as time went on it seemed like more and more tree nuts seemed to cause my throat to itch. Until one time we were on vacation and I thought a chocolate turtle looked so good. I took a few bits and noticed my throat starting to itch, so I stopped eating it. A few minutes later I noticed that something didn't feel right with my tongue. So I asked Matt if my tongue had looked weird and he said, "Um, I think your tongue is swollen!" So there we were in our hotel bedroom, not every being tested for food allergies, which means no EpiPen. Luckily it wasn't too severe and I was still breathing ok and didn't feel like the E.R. was necessary (more the fact I couldn't bare getting a bill like that). So we went down to the gift shop and bought some Benadryl. Eventually that did the trick. Phew! You have no idea how relieved I was.
Since then I thought, ok no more tree nuts. I'll just stay away from them. So that is what I did, but the stomach pains, nausea and eczema weren't stopping. It had become such a normal part of eating and my day that I had forgotten that none of it is suppose to be normal. I remember one night for dinner we were eating potato bar and I love peas! So of course I put a few big spoonfuls of peas on my potato and I got this very familiar feeling in my mouth that I got as a kid. Whenever I ate raw broccoli or cauliflower my mouth would get a similar itchy feeling as it did with nuts. I had no idea what it meant when I was little but I knew I didn't like the feeling so I just never ate them raw after that. The weird thing was that when they were cooked it was no big deal. I could eat them as much as I liked. So doing some research I chalked that up to what is called, Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS) or Pollen-Food Syndrome. This can happen when you have seasonal allergies. Your immune system recognizes the pollen and similar proteins in the raw fruits or veggies and directs an allergic response.
I then noticed there were times I had a hard time swallowing things and got them stuck in my throat. I could still breath and everything but just had that hard lump in my throat/chest that hurt. After that happening a few times Matt and my mother finally talked me into seeing an allergist.
I finally went into get tested. I talked to my Dr. about my seasonal allergies, my issues with tree nut allergies, my experiences with raw veggies and some cook veggies, and avocados. The Dr. assumed the same thing about the veggies, that it was probably OAS. As I sat there as the nurse poked my back 26 times, I remember thinking, please oh please don't be allergic to all my favorite things. I had already been mentally struggling with the possibility that I might be allergic to all of it but figured if I didn't know for sure then I would be fine eating them. But almost the second after she poked me, my back started itching like crazy! Even more than normal. So just after five minutes of sitting there wanting to itch my back, the nurse said, "Oh my! Yes we for sure have some allergies here!" So as I already knew, I had season allergies, allergic to cats, dogs and horses. The thing that made my heart sink was finding out that I tested positive to being allergic to: all tree nuts, avocado, peas, broccoli and cauliflower. Just to make sure the Dr. ordered me blood tests on all these and those came back positive too.
There went all my favorite veggies for dinner. BOOOOO!!! Not only that but I had to learn how to start really reading labels not only on foods but lotions, soaps, face washes, make up, shampoos and conditioners. Although I was so overwhelmed, within a few weeks I started to notice some differences. I wasn't getting food stuck as much anymore. My throat was inflamed from everything that I was eating that I wasn't suppose to be eating. My stomach pains and nausea became less and less. It's been a bitter sweet thing.
So why am I telling you this long crazy story, because for over 15 years I thought everything was pretty normal, when in reality it wasn't. I was lucky to never have a real serious allergic reaction that I had to go to the E.R. I was honestly in denial about all of it. But now that we have finally figured things out and still trying to eat healthy, I've been on a search to find tree nut free (along with all my other food allergies) product and recipes. So I will be posting some products and recipes that I have come across that I feel like taste pretty good.
Since then I thought, ok no more tree nuts. I'll just stay away from them. So that is what I did, but the stomach pains, nausea and eczema weren't stopping. It had become such a normal part of eating and my day that I had forgotten that none of it is suppose to be normal. I remember one night for dinner we were eating potato bar and I love peas! So of course I put a few big spoonfuls of peas on my potato and I got this very familiar feeling in my mouth that I got as a kid. Whenever I ate raw broccoli or cauliflower my mouth would get a similar itchy feeling as it did with nuts. I had no idea what it meant when I was little but I knew I didn't like the feeling so I just never ate them raw after that. The weird thing was that when they were cooked it was no big deal. I could eat them as much as I liked. So doing some research I chalked that up to what is called, Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS) or Pollen-Food Syndrome. This can happen when you have seasonal allergies. Your immune system recognizes the pollen and similar proteins in the raw fruits or veggies and directs an allergic response.
I then noticed there were times I had a hard time swallowing things and got them stuck in my throat. I could still breath and everything but just had that hard lump in my throat/chest that hurt. After that happening a few times Matt and my mother finally talked me into seeing an allergist.
I finally went into get tested. I talked to my Dr. about my seasonal allergies, my issues with tree nut allergies, my experiences with raw veggies and some cook veggies, and avocados. The Dr. assumed the same thing about the veggies, that it was probably OAS. As I sat there as the nurse poked my back 26 times, I remember thinking, please oh please don't be allergic to all my favorite things. I had already been mentally struggling with the possibility that I might be allergic to all of it but figured if I didn't know for sure then I would be fine eating them. But almost the second after she poked me, my back started itching like crazy! Even more than normal. So just after five minutes of sitting there wanting to itch my back, the nurse said, "Oh my! Yes we for sure have some allergies here!" So as I already knew, I had season allergies, allergic to cats, dogs and horses. The thing that made my heart sink was finding out that I tested positive to being allergic to: all tree nuts, avocado, peas, broccoli and cauliflower. Just to make sure the Dr. ordered me blood tests on all these and those came back positive too.
There went all my favorite veggies for dinner. BOOOOO!!! Not only that but I had to learn how to start really reading labels not only on foods but lotions, soaps, face washes, make up, shampoos and conditioners. Although I was so overwhelmed, within a few weeks I started to notice some differences. I wasn't getting food stuck as much anymore. My throat was inflamed from everything that I was eating that I wasn't suppose to be eating. My stomach pains and nausea became less and less. It's been a bitter sweet thing.
So why am I telling you this long crazy story, because for over 15 years I thought everything was pretty normal, when in reality it wasn't. I was lucky to never have a real serious allergic reaction that I had to go to the E.R. I was honestly in denial about all of it. But now that we have finally figured things out and still trying to eat healthy, I've been on a search to find tree nut free (along with all my other food allergies) product and recipes. So I will be posting some products and recipes that I have come across that I feel like taste pretty good.
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