Coping with DD's allergies

[marie]

or "How will i ever get through the holidays without dairy?"

i have been dairy- and soy-free for over five weeks now (since DD was 10 days old) and last night i lost it. it's so frustrating to remove some of my favorite foods from my diet and tiring to prepare most meals from scratch - take out and dining out are too risky. i can barely step foot into a grocery store right now because of the temptations and frustration that soy is in literally everything. i have not cheated at all and she still gets an allegy rash on her bum so there's something else out there that bothers her.

I know that some of you have had to take out wheat, eggs, etc. too. How do you cope? i never realized how emotionally attached i am to food. as i was crying to DH about it last night, all i wanted was a pint of B&J's to make me feel better. . . *sigh*

i'll stop whining now. i would appreciate any advice/suggestions for coping.

TIA.

[Karenn]

I can't imagine how hard it must be for you to give up soy and dairy! Colin has allergies too (wheat and dairy), but fortunately they didn't show up until he started solid foods so I never had to do any sort of elimination diet.

The part about having to make everything from scratch really hit home with me though! I would so much like to just make something that comes in a box or from the freezer once in a while! If it helps any, the cooking from scratch thing has gotten easier. I think my brain is just learning not to consider food options that come pre-packaged.

I know there are others who have done a full fledged elimination diet. Hopefully they'll have better adivce on how to cope!

[mom2kandj]

DD has moderate allergies(dairy, eggs, oranges, cats, dogs, and horses) in addition to her severe eczema and mild asthma. There are quite a few good Yahoo groups that deal with food allergies. I'm a member of POFAK(parents of food allergy kids) and they have wonderful links and recipes for allergen free living! HTH!

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/POFAK/

Edited to add:
Have you tried rice milk as an alternative to dairy? It can be used in recipes like soy or regular cow's milk! HTH!

Rose
mom 2 Katie (almost 3!)
& Jack (19 months)

[jennifer13]

Oh my goodness, that sounds awful! I went dairy free but used soy instead. I would be going crazy if I were in your shoes. My only relief was when DD started sleeping longer at night- after her nightime feed I would have a little ice cream (and a few sips of wine)knowing that I wouldn't feed her for 5 hours or so. But her problem wasn't allergies as severe as yours. In fact, it makes me wonder...not second guessing you AT ALL, but is the ped sure that this rash is due to something in your diet? Maybe there's something else?

Good luck! I hope "whining" helped because otherwise I have no suggestions, except to cry when you have to! Hopefully someone else more useful advice.

Jennifer
Mom to Norah 5/23/03

[Rachels]

Ugh, I've been there! I didn't cut out soy, but did cut out dairy, wheat, eggs, nuts, beans, tomatoes, garlic, and a whole slew of fruits, meats, and veggies. It was awful. Last Christmas, I ate a lot of rice. I learned to like Rice Dream bars and ate them when I had a sweet tooth. But I dropped a ton of weight and was generally sad and frustrated. It does help to get food allergy cookbooks! Once you start finding some things you can eat, you feel less singled out, and less deprived. The other thing is that it turns out to be totally worth it. I've been able to add back in most foods now, and I have a healthy and happy little girl who is still nursing and doing just fine. I'm so glad that I honored her, and that I put nursing her ahead of my own desire for cheese (although it was sometimes REALLY hard). In retrospect, it was such a short time in my life to really go without, and it was for my daughter's health and well-being. Remembering that helped me get through it and is of enormous import for me now.

Hang in there! Next Christmas, I'd bet it won't be like this.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[marie]

we are using rice and oat milk. (DH is being reallly good about this - no milk in the house, finding recipes, etc. - luckily we both love to cook and DH loves the challenge.)

i think that the rice dream bars have soy (must soy lecithin be in everything!?) - though the rice dream in pints does not. i also have some good recipes for dairy-free (and egg-free) cakes so i allow myself to indulge in those.

thanks for the support and just "listening"!

[zannasmom]

I'm in the same boat almost dd is allergic to eggs and dairy. I'm still nursing also. and now with the holidays here oh man i love to cook and bake all sorts of things. we just found out like 2 weeks ago. so im still trying to figure this whole thing out myslef. I thought I would come get some ideas also. so thanks every one. its helped me out too.

[Rachels]

Have you tried soy lecithin? Soy-allergic babies quite often are able to tolerate it, even when other soy products aren't possible. It might be worth a try. If it bothers her, it will also be out of her system quickly, but if it doesn't, it will considerably expand your diet.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[SarahF]

Whine away, sister!

I've had to cut out dairy (but not soy, thank goodness), tomatoes, lots of fruits, chocolate, spicy foods... it's been really tough. I know a fraction of what you're going through and it ain't easy.

I don't have any great suggestions, but I'll share an amusing little story with you. Today I went with coworkers for lunch to a new burrito bar nearby (Chipolte's). As the food prep folks asked me what I wanted, I quickly chose the ingredients..."Meat?" "yes, Pork please" "salsa?" "yes, corn please" "cheese and sourcream?" "yes, that sounds really good. sounds great. yes, both please." The woman had a spoonful of glorious sourcream suspended over my burrito when I suddenly realized "ACK! I can't have dairy!" My poor little tastebuds had answered for me... thank goodness the brain caught them in the act.

It's tough... I keep telling myself that the diet change is just one more reminder that my life is no longer about me... I'm a mom through and through.

Good luck. And may many pizzas await you on the other side of breastfeeding...

[marie]

Sarah-
it's funny you mention pizza because the night i lost it, DH was verrrry late getting done with work (like 10pm late) and i thought, "if only i could order a pizza for dinner!" i certainly can't imagine cutting out chocolate-i have some good dairy-free, egg-free chocolate cake recipes that are tiding me over! (oh - we think we've isolated eggs as the final culprit.)

i specifically asked the ped. about soy lecithin and soybean oil (both are often tolerable so i've read). he said no to both. we go back to the ped. on dec. 1 and if there is still blood in her stool, he's sending us to a gastroenterologist to check her for colitis. if there isn't blood, then i'm taking things into my own hands and trying out soy lecithin. since the ped. took me off dairy and soy from the get go, i don't really know if it's both or not. from what i've read, the statistics vary greatly - something like 5% to 20% of babies allergic to cow's millk are allergic to soy. i kind of feel like a bad mommy for treating DD like a guinea pig, but i like our odds and at least soy clears the system quicker than cow's milk.

i also talked to my OB at my 6 week check up and she is hooking me up with another one of her patients who's been through this.

thanks again for your encouragement and good thoughts!