Be careful what you wish for ...

My wish is for answers to this food allergy puzzle that we are currently experiencing. The answers are not easy to find, and the answers found are not easy. I asked our gastroenterologist if there was any mainstream medical expert interested in exploring these IgG allergies/food sensitivities and reactions, and the answer was, approximately, "not really." By the way, an interesting article that explains the difference between IgE and IgG food allergies can be found here.

And so we research, we explore alternative medical options, we pay for IgG testing that is of questionable repute in the medical community - all in the hopes of gaining more insight into our son's, and my own, health.

My test results are back, and they aren’t pretty. My most highly reactive foods are: all cow dairy, almonds, cashews, flaxseed, quinoa, and asparagus. These are the foods that I am to completely avoid. Almonds, flax and quinoa are all foods that I had added into my diet in the past few years to, ahem, improve my diet. Ha ha ha. My moderately reactive foods are: goat dairy, all glutens (wheat, spelt, kamut, rye), egg white and yolk, banana, peanut, chilli pepper, lima bean and navy bean. These are the foods that I am to include in a 4 day rotation diet. I eat bananas every day. I am addicted to bread and cereal. I love chilli. This is going to be a challenge, indeed. I am proceeding as though my results also reflect Lovey’s intolerances, so these are the foods that he will be avoiding/rotating, as well.

Tonight I feel frustrated. One of the hardest parts of this journey has been, in some but not all cases, the lack of support and understanding from loved ones and friends - some so well-meaning but having never experienced the allergy-free lifestyle (as we had not, not so long ago) and being unable to empathize, and others clearly and outright doubting there even is a problem - easy to do when Lovey is otherwise so healthy and developing well. It’s hard enough when you already feel crazy because of food allergies, never mind when other people start to suspect you’ve lost your mind, as well. No one makes this stuff up. It’s very real. No, neither I nor Lovey will have a life-threatening reaction to any of our unsafe foods, but what mother wouldn’t want to keep their child away from foods that interfere with his or her optimal health? If you knew what those foods were, wouldn’t you do the same? Even if it meant that, sometimes, you would feel left out, alienated, misunderstood, frustrated, angry, crazy, or alone?