I’m a peanut junkie. I love PB&Js, peanut butter pies, peanuts in Coca Cola bottles (a Southern treat that is just what it sounds like), and peanut brittle. I’ve been seen eating peanut butter straight out of the jar—with a spoon when handy and with fingers when not. When I introduced my wife, Patti, to the 105-year-old woman who helped raise me as my nanny, she offered only one piece of advice to her: “Don’t you run out of peanut butter.”
Well, the days of the endless supply are over. My one food peccadillo can kill my son. We just learned that Graeme is deathly allergic to peanuts.
Our 18-month-old began having problems the minute he was exposed to people food. Baby food was fine, milk was fine, but certain highly processed foods would make him react. At first it was minor: A few red splotches around his neck or flushed cheeks.
But in March after finishing a Grandma-made meal, Graeme turned dark red. This, combined with his asthma and never-ending eczema, sent us to an allergy specialist. The physician performed a scratch test. Using tiny needles, she abraded the skin on Graeme’s back and exposed it to the extract of common allergens, such as cat dander.
The results were bad. Graeme is very allergic to peanuts and cats. Exposure can kill him. For the foreseeable future we will always have to have an EpiPen (an autoinjector of epinephrine) on hand to treat anaphylaxis.
But that’s not all. Graeme is also allergic to corn, soy, wheat, egg whites, chicken, and dust mites—which means he is allergic to everything.
Grab almost any processed food product in your house and you will find one of those ingredients (OK, maybe not the dust mites). Corn and soy, in particular, are present in most of the food products that come in a box or out of the freezer section—they are present in foods have been reformed in any way by machine or man. You can find corn-free products, but sadly most have soy. You can find wheat-free products, but they contain corn. You see our predicament.
Even foods you wouldn’t expect to have one of these ingredients invariably do. Consider some of Graeme’s pre-diagnosis toddler favorites.
• Cheese pizza (wheat, egg whites, high-fructose corn syrup)
• Vegetarian corn dogs (corn, soy)
• Poppy-seed chicken (cornstarch, chicken)
• Quesadillas (corn, wheat)
• Ravioli (egg whites, wheat)
While finding foods that he can eat without exacerbating his allergies is difficult, finding allergen-free food that he wants to eat is impossible. Heavily processed food (which was never a staple in our house) is out. Some mildly processed foods (who knew some ham steaks are injected with high-fructose corn syrup?) are out. Even seemingly raw baking ingredients can contain hidden allergens. Did you know baking powder and vanilla extract have corn-derived products as a main ingredient? I didn’t.
So Graeme (and the rest of the family) are on a diet free of corn, soy, wheat, egg whites, and chicken for a few weeks. His allergy tests, which were thorough but did not include shellfish (there was nowhere left to scratch on his tiny back), could not tell us how severe his reactions will be to those. Though peanuts and cats are strictly off limits, we’ll add the others back individually to see what he can tolerate.
This process of experimenting is the most unnerving part for me. Sure my wife and I are both worried about his caregivers giving him something that’s off-limits, and we’re now petrified of sending him to day school even though we’re months away from that. In the meantime our family mealtimes have turned my cheerful, 18-month-old son into a guinea pig. Here Graeme, have a bite of this; I’ve got an EpiPen at the ready.
Comments (12)
When we were little, my brother and I both had those scratch tests done, he reacted to EVERYTHING, and I reacted to none of them, not even the histamine control. After trying to eliminate corn, wheat, milk, eggs, and all other basic ingredients from the house, it turned out that he just had sensitive skin, and we are both allergic to cats. A scratch test is not the most accurate medical test, take the results with a grain of salt, and in the mean time Amy’s brand frozen foods makes a mac and cheese that is rice based.
Scratch tests do have limitations. Fantastic recommendation on the Mac and Cheese. It doesn’t have anything he’s allergic too. Now, we’ll see if a grocery store around us actually carries, and if Graeme will actually eat it!
When I was fifteen I began having terrible migraines, stomach aches, and the occasional bout of hives. My parents took me to several doctors, all who prescribed medications, herbal remedies, supplements, you name it I probably tried it. However no one could figure out the cause of my problems and nothing worked to make it go away. About two years later, when I was seventeen and the migraines and stomach aches were just getting worse, a doctor suggested I get a scratch test. So I went to take the scratch test and the majority of my back reacted. I found out that I was, allergic to Almond, Clam, Coconut, Goat’s Milk, Hazelnut, Macadamia, Mustard, Peanut, Pine Nut, Pistachio Nut, Pork, Rice, Rye, Shellfish, and Sunflower Seed. Ever since I learned about my allergies I have been able to make my migraines, stomach aches and hives disappear. Although I am not deathly allergic to the majority of these food, (except Macadamia Nuts) they just make me very sick, and I do not have to carry an EpiPen, I is still hard to live life avoiding eliminating foods form you diet.
I was wondering, if a scratch test is not the most accurate, what is a good alternative? Is there another test for allergies?
My wife has many food-related issues. After a while, it became easier to just name the foods we could feed her, than the ones that made her unwell. You have to wonder if there is the increase in food allergies is related to the modifications of foods, the diets of our parents and ourselves, an increase in pollutants, or just better recognition and determination of the problem that may have previously be determined to just be a “sickly child”.
-Eric
My husband is one of the peanut allergy pioneers from 40 years ago when no one had heard of such a thing. Our home has been peanut free for 15 years now since I also have 3 daughters who are anaphylactic to peanuts. I was a die hard peanut butter lover, but now I have now grown to love sunbutter. It’s made from sunflower seeds and I think it tastes a lot more like peanut butter than soybutter. Best of luck to you and your family!
Thanks! We’re starting to adapt. I’ve been traveling a lot lately and sneaking nibbles of peanut butter when I’m on the road. Cravings satisfied!
i am ilergic to cats and when i moved in with my boyfreind he hadtoget rid ofhis cats,i feel so sorry
my child is almost 2. hes allergic 2 soy,milk,wheat,eggs,corn,rice,tomatos,cats,dogs.and other foods!!!!i need help 2 find foods he can eat i feel like i am lost i need help if anyone can help please do so and may god bless u. thank you
Definitely get the Sunbutter!!!!! It’s the best thing ever!!! Also, Oatios are good substitute for cheerios. Rice based of course
My three year old son has the same problem. He is allergic to cats, soy, wheat, milk, corn, peanuts, and egg whites. He goes to a preschool where he gets to watch all the other kids eat the lunch that was prepared by the school and he gets whatever poor excuse of lunch I make. The nutritionist said that, because he isn’t deathly allergic to anything something like Rice Krispies with corn syrup is okay. Just as long as any of the allergy food aren’t the main ingredient, he should be okay. The most difficult one for him is the wheat. I’ve tried making fruit breads with rice flour, egg yolks, and rice milk. He likes them.
In addition to the skin tests always have a blood test! The blood test can be more accurate. I just had my grandson blood tested and it revealed that he is allergic to 3 different nuts. The reaction to the nuts did not show with the skin tests. God Bless