Diagnosis: Food Allergies

We began to suspect food allergies when Aidan was just four weeks old.  He was very refluxy and covered in eczema all the time.  As he got older, we realized he was sensitive to certain things in my diet (soy was the big culprit that we knew of) and would react after nursing when I had eaten problem foods.  We were finally referred to Dr. Fogg to be evaluated for allergies.

Aidan liked him immediately.  Who wouldn't?  His office was full of fun toys like tongue depressors, giant q-tips, tissues, and the awe-inspiring stethoscope.

We spoke at length with Dr. Fogg about his symptoms, his reactions, and the foods that I was concerned about.  We decided to test for milk, soy, a few grains, a few fruits, and something else (I'm a terrible mom, I absolutely cannot remember what.)

The tests weren't overwhelmingly positive, although he DID have a delayed reaction to something on his grain grid.  It didn't show up until hours later, but it took two doses of benadryl and copious amounts of hydrocortisone to get rid of that sucker.  I suspect barley, but I digress...  We were sent home with "no allergies" and a mandate to "add everything back in!"

It didn't feel right to me, but what do I know?  Milk (cheese) went back into his diet.  Soy (traces) went back in.  Bananas went back in.  And he was a mess.  Hives, eczema, vomiting, exacerbated reflux.  Clearly, this wasn't working out.



This merited a call to the CPED clinic downtown.  They agreed to have one of their allergists evaluate him. 

 This time, he was immediately very positive for peanuts, soy, and peas.  We received the obligatory epi pen training, and we were on our way - the proud new owners of some bona-fide food allergies.


We are very, very careful with these foods, but we still feel that we don't know the whole story.  We'll do more testing (and different testing) as we prepare to reintroduce food into his diet.  Not soon, just eventually.

Stay tuned...  This story's a work in progress.