Background

A bit of our journey:  C developed hives that no one could explain at around 6 months old.  We had two allergists do two sets of skin testing (SPT) on him, as well as a RAST on him, and neither showed allergies properly.  Fast forward to 18 months when he was diagnosed with autism.  I had been considering whether C's allergies were actually IgG allergies (I will get into this in a minute).  We sought out a Defeat Autism Now (DAN) dr, who did IgG/ELISA testing for C.  He tested very high to some new things, but the biggest shock for us was dairy.  He had been drinking whole milk bottles, then 2% milk, per pedi's orders, for at least 7 months.  When we cut out all that milk and cheese as well as all the other allergies, his hives disappeared.  If he gets something now, his belly will hurt, and sometimes he breaks out in hives.  C's skin is VERY sensitive to any additives, so I have to be careful with soaps and laundry detergent.

For those that don't know much about allergies, there is a difference between the normal IgE allergies and the "intolerance" IgG allergies.  Skin testing and RAST mostly test for the IgE allergies, which are the ones we normally think of: itchy eyes, runny nose, throat closing, trouble breathing, etc.  IgG allergies are also autoimmune over-reactions, but they seem to mostly affect the digestive system.  So C gets a bad stomach ache, sometimes horrible reflux, and can vomit, depending on how much of an allergen he has ingested.  He also has "other end" issues, and that resulted in problems with potty-training, but we are now past that (thank goodness!!).

Some of C's allergies are becoming IgE allergies, including eggs and peanuts.  We really have to watch him around these foods, because we don't know what reaction he could have.  Since the numbers are getting worse, we are watching very carefully.

IgG testing is very controversial, somewhat unreliable, and more likely to give a false positive.  As a result of this, some of the things C has tested positive for we don't restrict too much (tomatoes, for instance).  Some things that didn't not come up we try to avoid to a certain extent because we know that he has reactions to these things.  Now that he is testing negative to some foods, we are introducing them back, but taking it very slowly, since we are also removing some foods at the same time.

Now for the list, in order of severity:

• asparagus
• pineapple
• amaranth
• turkey
• celery
• mustard
• pepper, black
• vanilla bean
• chickpea
• beet, red
• lemon
• hazelnut (filbert)
• milk, goat's
• pepper, red
• milk, cow's
• orange
• cashew
• cherry
• casein
• trout
• oyster
• bean, red
• tomato
• watermelon
• sunflower
• soy
• flaxseed
• banana
• egg
• peanut
• garlic
• yeast, baker's

C can have some of these, but we really need to limit some of it, so he doesn't develop an allergy to it:

• brazil nut
• spinach
• herring
• pecan
• potato, white
• radish
• cantaloupe
• mango
• peppermint
• papaya
• coconut
• lentil
• pea, green
• walnut, black

So what I often tell people is that we are Top 8 free, but not including tree nuts, fish, or shellfish.  The Top 8 allergens are (not in this order) dairy, gluten, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish.  Most of the time this is enough, but I typically have to read every ingredient label to make sure it is safe, even when we go out to restaurants (especially then!).

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