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  1. #21
    icunurse is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    I think that they are, but I also think that they are over reported. Too many people call a sensitivity an allergy. My Dd gets an upset stomach with too much dairy and had to be on special formula as an infant....that's a sensitivity. Ibuprofen causes you to have an upset stomach? Sensitivity. If I place an adhesive bandaid on myself, I get a rash in that area....sensitivity. I see so many people insisting they have allergies to everyday things (potassium, iron, etc) when, in fact, it is a side-effect or just a sensitivity.

    My brother is highly asthmatic and allergic to peanuts, pet dander, and a million other things (stuff that showed up on his allergy tests, but really don't affect him much - eggs used to make him vomit, but he outgrew it). We grew up in a household with peanuts, peanut butter, pets; we read labels before it was cool; school had zero food restrictions and no epi pens at that time. He isn't the most responsible person, but after a horrible reaction to peanuts, he learned enough to know not to eat certain things, wash his hands, etc. A huge portion of allergy safety is personal education and prevention.

  2. #22
    infocrazy is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by MSWR0319 View Post
    If you don't have an allergy educated doctor reading the results, I can see how you easily could be told you have an "allergy" when you don't. Again, it's the thought that reaction trumps results.
    DS1 ate a granola bar at ~3 and told me his throat was itchy. He had had the brand but not the flavor. I compared the ingredients and only almonds were different. I couldn't remember if he had almonds before. I had him tested and was shocked that he tested positive for allergy to almonds, coconut, brazil nuts, and hazel nuts. It was a very odd testing that I doubted from the day of, but when someone hands you an epi-pen, you pay attention! In any case, we kept him nut free for a year until a soccer snack of chex mix. I told him no because it has almond flour, and he told me he ate a whole bowl at his cousin's party...which he did! So I took him somewhere else and he tested negative for everything. He LOVES nuts now! Hates peanut butter though.

    DH has oral allergy syndrome. If he eats some melons, and a few other things I can't remember, his mouth/throat itches.
    I'm allergic to sulfas, and can't use adhesive band-aids or especially that horrible medical tape with lines!!! The recovery from that when they used it for my first epidural was worse than my C/S recovery!!!
    Last edited by infocrazy; 02-21-2013 at 12:12 PM.
    Jen

    DS in X-Small 7/12, Medium 5/07, and Large 7/05, one DD 3/10, and our DS 4/09 watching over us.

  3. #23
    dhano923 is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    I had food allergies as a kid - I was allergic to chocolate and peanuts. That included peanut oil. I was the only kid in my elementary school who had a food allergy. I outgrew it in junior high but I don't remember any of my friends having any kind of allergies to food items.
    Mom to:
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    DD 11/05

  4. #24
    dogmom is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    I think it's at least three things, maybe four.

    1) Like ICU nurse said, I think people mix up sensitivities with true allergies. I know I get this whole list of "allergies" for medications, like sleepiness to morphine. NOT AN ALLERGY! That's a side effect. I have know parents who have branded their kid allergic to something with pretty thin evidence and no allergy testing. If I had a kid that had a severe FA that would piss me off to no end. Comparing a kid who has diagnosed celiac disease with a biopsy, will have lifetime complications, and the whole work up to someone who read an article about gluten and decided to make her family gluten free is not the same evidenced based approach. Of course the last time I suggested this issue years ago on the board I got blasted, so blast away.

    2) I think the medical profession gave out bad advice about food and kids based on no evidence. There was the whole "Don't feed you kids peanut butter until they are 3!" Well, research now suggest that might cause allergies.

    3) Yes, microbes. I do think if you immune system is busy with stuff it will attacks something else. The IgE antibody that is involved in many allergic reactions probably has a role to play in fighting gut parasites, guess what we don't have a lot of right now. For example, many vets feel that since dogs don't have as many parasites now they are more prone to autoimmune systems. There are many cases of parasites keeping other autoimmune diseases in check because the body is busy fighting something else. Here's a great article about this emerging area of medicine. I found the part about H.pylori fascinating.

    http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...a_fact_specter

    4) There is a lot of theories about food additives, GMO, etc. I'm not blowing it all off, but I find some of the claims a little hyperbole based on some thin evidence. So it is hard to tell how this contributes.

  5. #25
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    I think at least part of it is increased diagnosis.

    Ds had eczema and GI distress. He tested positive for a milk allergy. We did a trial of no milk at all and both symptoms improved. We reintroduced milk and both symptoms worsened. Our allergist said that GI distress could be either an allergy symptom or an intolerance symptom, but coupled with the eczema and the positive test, it meant allergy.

    I don't think anyone would have even considered an "allergy" as a possibility two decades ago with ds' symptoms. I suspect people in his situation would have just eventually avoided milk as they go old enough to recognize that milk made them feel bad.

    I imagine the exposure thing could be true statistically, but it's not anecdotally in our case. Ds was adopted at 13.5 months from an orphanage in China and he had already been exposed to nuts, shellfish and milk as far as we could tell. (Definitely to milk as he was on milk based formula.).

    I also wonder a bit if as medical treatment has improved more people have survived allergies and then they reproduce and pass the genes along so that over time more people have the genetic susceptibility to allergies?

    I also agree that some people mix up sensitivity/intolerance/side effect with allergy. Sometimes deliberately to make sure people take them seriously. When I give my medical history, I always distinguish between allergy (allergic to tetracycline-rash) and side effect (can't tolerate e-Mycin or NSAIDs--severe stomach distress and at least one NSAID has caused mouth ulcers for me). But I have had care providers act very surprised that I distinguish this way so I gather many people do not.

    Catherine

  6. #26
    vonfirmath is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by crl View Post
    I also agree that some people mix up sensitivity/intolerance/side effect with allergy. Sometimes deliberately to make sure people take them seriously. When I give my medical history, I always distinguish between allergy (allergic to tetracycline-rash) and side effect (can't tolerate e-Mycin or NSAIDs--severe stomach distress and at least one NSAID has caused mouth ulcers for me). But I have had care providers act very surprised that I distinguish this way so I gather many people do not.

    Catherine
    It doesn't help when the DOCTOR tells you you have an allergy even when you are still thinking "Intolerance? Side effect?" I emphasize at daycare that, so far, my girl does not have a life threatening reaction to dairy but I still need it avoided because the reaction she DOES have is quite unpleasant.
    Married 3/04
    DS 8/07
    DD born 8/11

  7. #27
    o_mom is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by vonfirmath View Post
    It doesn't help when the DOCTOR tells you you have an allergy even when you are still thinking "Intolerance? Side effect?" I emphasize at daycare that, so far, my girl does not have a life threatening reaction to dairy but I still need it avoided because the reaction she DOES have is quite unpleasant.
    No kidding. I tell HCPs I will puke with relatively low doses of narcotics and they try to stick allergy labels all over my chart... I'm like, no, I'm not allergic, just don't give them to me unless necessary and preferably along with something for the puking.
    Mama to three boys ('03, '05, '07)

  8. #28
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    queenmama is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    This has been super fascinating to read! I appreciate all of your responses!

    Yes, I was born in 1977. So strange that, for whatever reason, we just didn't hear of many food allergies or sensitivities.

    We will proceed slowly and cautiously with new foods and have her tested if we see any kind of reaction. It just scares me when they're so little... They can't exactly tell you that their throats are itchy or whatever. Yikes.

    Thanks again for your replies!

    Lara
    Mama to Henry (6/2000) and Agnes (4/2012)
    old school member of the BBB

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by sste View Post
    I do think they are increasing and don't know why.

    I think *part* of the increase is lots more testing and that the tests can be oversensitive, have false positives etc. We asked our pedi if we should have DS allergy tested preventively (he hadn't had any allergic rx or indicators or family history). He was adamant that in our case we should not -- he said all kind of things could light up positive on the test that might never give DS an issue or that he might outgrow. But once they are positive on the test of course a responsible parent has to make sure there is no exposure or limit it depending on the allergen.
    I've tested positive (a 4) 2x to strawberries and cantaloupe yet I've never had any sort of allergic reaction to either one. And a 4 is pretty darned high. Being anaphylactic to other things I'm fairly familiar with different levels of reactions, so I'm guessing it's a false positive.

    On a completely different subject, does anyone here remember the article/study that was published a few years back regarding the differences in how peanut butter was processed in the US vs. (IIRC) Israel? For some reason I think I heard about that here - like with most of the news I get And I think that the upshot was that they think there are fewer peanut allergies in Israel because of the different way in which the peanuts are processed. It stuck in my mind because I was surprised that there was much call for any peanut butter in Israel at all. Having lived in Europe for a time I had always thought of peanut butter as a very North American food.
    DS, Summer '07

    "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." ~Jack Layton

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by queenmama View Post
    I can't imagine how you FA parents deal. Worrying every second -- namely when your kids are out of your sight -- that they might eat or come into contact with something that could harm them, or worse.
    Yes, it certainly seems that food allergies are more common these days. Or they are diagnosed more often.

    I quoted what you said above because not all FA parents worry every second. DD1 is allergic to peanuts. We have an epi-pen, she sits at the peanut-free table at school, she knows to not eat anything without checking labels, etc. I very rarely even think about her allergy to be perfectly honest. But, this may have come with time...perhaps I was more worried when she was younger. I can't remember!

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