Allergy Update

"I've never seen your mom order the pizza before. I even brought lemons for her salad dressing" a familiar waiter at one of my favorite restaurants said to my daughter the other day. I guess that means I am a regular: he is used to my order (appetizer-caprese salad hold the vinegar, fresh basil instead of basil sauce, dinner-Mediterranean salad add grilled chicken no feta no olives no dressing, olive oil and lemons instead). I love eating at this restaurant because they actually have a few items I can eat on my no wheat, corn, eggs, and sugar diet. The problem is they also have brick oven pizzas that are really hot, fresh, thin crusts, homemade sauce, and have delectable toppings. I know this because someone in my family always orders one, and I almost always sneak a bite or two. This time was different. This time I decided to get the 'Super Mario' the equivalent of a meat lover's pizza. I used to eschew such foods because of the belly ache and rash that ensued.

It's been a while since I've written about eczema, my nemesis. The first allergist I saw was on Virginia, and he explained that allergies show themselves three ways: hay fever, asthma, and eczema/hives. Our immune systems are like buckets, and allergens full up the bucket until it overflows, and we have symptoms.

Up until a few months ago I was getting allergy care from my ENT (shots and antihistamines) and dermatologist (ointments for rashes). I've been diagnosed with multiple allergies, to environmental stuff like dust, dust mites, mold, cats, trees and grasses. Shots and nasal sprays helped and continue to help with the hay fever, but I kept getting eczema and hives. I got patch tested and was diagnosed with allergies to nickel, fragrance, and several other chemicals omnipresent in our society. I gave my house a makeover for dust mites and chemicals. I got my eyes tattooed for eye liner and switched to chemical free makeup, shampoo and conditioner (which are all very hard to find). Still I got eczema and hives.

I was tested for food allergies then told the tests are not reliable, and that elimination diets are the only way to know for certain. So I went on a major elimination diet starting in 2009 and discovered reactions (both digestive and rashes) to wheat, corn, sugar, and eggs. My skin clears up when I eat clean, but boy is it hard to eat that clean!

In April I started seeing a new allergist. I told her I wanted a tenth opinion because it's so frustrating to be me. I explained my long history with allergies and treatments, and vented my frustrations about not being able to eat like a normal person. Her philosophy is to help people like me learn to live 'out of the bubble' by identifying intolerances vs allergies and by managing symptoms. Since I don't swell up and drop to the floor with anaphylaxis, I think mine are intolerances, not true allergies. This is a good thing. Although the fear of the face rash keeps me from eating whatever I want.

Friends who suffer from eczema-listen up, this is the best advice I've received so far. It's called the 'seal and heal' technique. Take several baths a day. She said her worst cases take three baths a day. She told me to take two a day (I had blisters and cracking skin). Then apply ointments while the skin is still wet. I use proactiv on my face and triamcinilone on my body. Bathing (vs showering) allows your body to absorb water at a deep level. Think about it, drowning victims are bloated when they are pulled from the water. Ourbbodies absorb water through our pores. Applying moisture and ointments with wet skin seals in the moisture from the bath. I only use a towel on my hair now, and the result is that my eczema has basically cleared up. The dishydrotic eczema on my hands and feet comes back periodically, and I revert to bathing and medicating.

While I've been able to eat 'out of the bubble' and not have any eczema erupt on my face, the digestive issues remain. Because of my intolerances, when I eat gluten and sugar I get really bloated. Since April, I've put on a solid ten pounds. It's bad news but I'm also happy to have enjoyed some normal food. Whenever I feel uncomfortable with the extra pounds, I remember how good those cheeseburgers tasted, how cheesy the pizza was, and how much I hated eating 'in a bubble.'

The jury is still out, but I think I might prefer the frustration of not eating like a normal person to the bloated heavy feeling I have after eating what everybody else eats. Let's face it, the American diet is terrible!

Daybook

FOR TODAY:  July 18, 2011

Outside my window...partly cloudy blue sky day. Not much going on in the neighborhood. I guess it's too hot!

I am thinking...about everyone I know who is struggling with the loss of a loved one today.  Sierra attended the funeral of a friend who died from mysterious causes this morning. Another friend lost his brother to a heart attack on Wednesday.  The mother of a friend is praying to bring his body home from S. America where he died in May.  Friends of a friend are grieving the loss of their two year old son from a recent drowning accident. My heart goes out to these people and everyone else I know who has lost a friend or family member.

I am thankful...for time off work.

From the learning rooms...Zoe is learning about exponents and metric measurement.  Thomas is practicing handwriting and addition/subtraction. Sierra is reading and preparing for moving to college next month.

In the kitchen...turkey stock is simmering.  Yesterday, I made homemade chicken veggie noodle soup for the kids (including chicken stock from scratch).

I am wearing...gray shorts and a white short sleeved hoodie.

I am creating...a nicer space in my bonus room. It's a guest room/office.

I am going...out to get more ink for my printer.

I am wondering...how next school year will go. I'm moving from 7th grade to 6th grade math and looking forward to the change.

I am reading...The Art of Racing in the Rain.  The father's name in the book is Denny, and that's Thomas's middle name (after my mom's middle name and her mom's last name).  The daughter in the book is Zoe, and my daughter is Zoe. Small world.

I am hoping...to get to the bottom of my eczema problem. 

I am looking forward to...Joe getting home from work! The weekend went by too fast.

I am hearing...birds singing outside.

Around the house...lots of work happening today. Teaching the kids how to keep their rooms clean and to keep clothes folded.  It's easier said than done :)  Decluttering and designating lots of things for giveaway/garage sale.   Bonus room is taking shape slowly but surely!

I am pondering...whether the hand eczema I'm experiencing is due to my nickel allergy more than it is due to foods.  I have a documented nickel allergy, and that is the one of the main associations with dyshidrotic eczema.  I am connecting the dots and wondering whether the gold filling in my tooth needs to be replaced!  I already don't wear any jewelry with nickel and know better than to wear gold jewelry but haven't thought about the gold filling in my mouth before. That is a constant source of exposure that I have overlooked. Additionally, I have overlooked the details of a nickel allergy like anything metal like doorknobs, watches, coins, zippers, and even tap water!  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nickel-allergy/DS00826

One of my favorite things...lazy summer days.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  visiting the allergist and guitar lesson tomorrow, taxiing kids to and from classes (taekwondo, tumbling), being productive at home.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Dyshidrotic Eczema

Dyshodrotic Eczema:
     After taking a round of prednisone while on our beach vacation, all my eczema patches healed up. My hands were completely normal and the skin on my fingers was soft again. All the swelling went down. We stayed at a condo for a week in Destin, so we could cook most meals. In Pensacola we stayed at a hotel for three additional nights, meaning eating out for every meal. I ate lots of foods that I typically avoid due to my allergies (wheat, corn, sugar, yeast and eggs) like pizza, fried chicken, steak/cheese sub, sandwiches etc. I hoped for a miracle, that since ny skin had a chance to clear up, maybe this time I wouldn't react. I knew I was taking risks and would probably pay the price for it later. We had a couple of stressful days when we got home, and I continued eating processed foods out of convenience. Only a few days later, I saw the telltale signs of an impending flare up...
         My reactions to foods vary. Most of the time, I get what I call my 'red mustache' or my 'eczema goatee.' My lips, cheeks, chin, neck and ears start itching and burning. Other common eczema spots are in the creases of my elbows, backs of my knees, and occasionally a splattering of hives all up and down both arms and legs. I hate the facial symptoms the most, but coming in a close second is this awful curse of having dyshidrotic hand and foot eczema. Clear bubbles erupt in patches from deep under my skin and itch intensely. When I scratch, the sores break open, and the bubbles ooze clear fluid. They dry up and split, called fissures, and are incredibly painful. For a while I had a fissure on the bottom of my foot and it hurt just to walk! As I type, my feet are fine, but seven of my fingers are afflicted by this heinous disease. If I eat 'clean' these eruptions will subside, dry up, the skin becomes rough and scarred and takes extensive time to heal.
      I did some reading about it, and it says it's associated with food allergies some of the time but is more commonly triggered by allergies to nickel (yes I'm also allergic to nickel too).  It often appears during times of stress, and they suggest not getting your hands and feet wet too often because of the overal drying effect.  However, there is no cure. Antihistamines and steroid creams treat the symptoms, but I think in my case my only saving grace is to stop eating processed foods and get back to an allergy free diet. It much easier said than done!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001835/
http://www.dyshidroticeczema.net/
http://www.internationaleczema-psoriasisfoundation.org/dyshidrotic_eczema.php4

June has arrived

If it seems that my blog is monopolized by the subject of ALLERGIES, well that is because I suffer from a zillion allergies and they monopolize my world. Besides being a mom and tutor, I am pretty much the queen of allergies. It seems like I am always one step behind them too, trying to figure out what is it that is causing my symptoms now?? The past few nights have been awful, waking up with that roof of the mouth/sinus/deep inside my ears/head itching that won't go away. My eyes are crusty in the corners. I have hives on my arms and legs. My lips itch. I can't stop sneezing lately.

For the environmental stuff (dust, dust mites, trees/grasses, molds, cats, mildew etc.) I give myself two shots in the legs just about every week. I take allegra and use nasonex. For the chemical allergies (fragrances and 4 pages of chemicals) I try avoiding everything although that's pretty hard with people spraying sunscreen and perfume and don't get me started on guys who wear too much cologne. Foods? Well I know I'm allergic to corn and wheat and sugar since corn is related to cane sugar. I think I'm allergic to yeast but I don't want to admit it because I love wine and yeast is used in wine making. I think that's my next step - eliminate wine for two weeks. That should make life more interesting right?

It sure must be nice to be a normal person who doesn't have to worry about any of these things...

Today is June 1. The kids get out of school at lunch time on June 3. Time flies. Ready for summer!

Helpful Links for Corn Allergies

http://www.cornallergens.com/list/corn-allergen-list.php

http://www.cookingallergyfree.com/allergens/allergen_listing/corn_allergy

Food Allergy Meal Plans

To follow up on my last post about my experience with food allergies, I wanted to share some information about my diet and how I choose foods to eat. Instead of exhausting a long list of what you can NOT eat, I will stick to the things you CAN eat. There are a couple tricky things I've learned along the way in terms of what you can NOT eat and will share them first briefly to help you save time in learning them for yourself! For example, I never knew vinegar was distilled from wheat, but it is. So, vinegar is a no-no, along with all its products like pickles and vinagraittes and mayonnaise. I've also learned that cane sugar and fake sugars are off limits as well. Cane sugar is in the corn family, and I react every time I have it. I also learned that grapes have yeast naturally occurring under the skin, and that wine has yeast in it. I am a big fan of wine and have yet to fully give it up, and yes I do stay somewhat rashy all the time because I choose to keep my vice. But I do avoid grapes and other forms of yeast in general. There are lots of gluten-free items on the market these days, but if you are also allergic to corn, like me, gluten free does not mean corn-free. In fact I've found most gluten free products contain corn under another name like xanthan gum etc.

So, when it's time to eat, how do I choose? Fruits (except grapes) and veggies are always ok, and thank goodness I like them all. We've made the switch to grass-fed, free range beef and chicken, and we also buy the wild caught salmon (instead of farm raised) and natural pork. You have to be careful because lots of meats have starches or sugars in them and unless you read the package you wouldn't think of that. For example, rotisserie chickens have corn starch and are rubbed with spices that include wheat and corn starch (maltodextrin etc). Lunchmeats also contain sugars and spices so steer clear. Block cheeses work the best for me. Shredded cheeses frequently have corn starch added to prevent caking. This is true of all shredded cheeses including parmesan. Since I can't have bread or tortillas, I wrap things in lettuce and seaweed or just stick with salad or dinner entree style. I have found one brand of salsa (Herdez) that only contains veggies and nothing else. I cook with butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. My salad dressing is olive oil and lemon.

Breakfast: coffee (with cream and honey), fruit, yogurt (I've found one brand that is only sweetened with fruit and doesn't have starch), rice cereal with lactaid, whey protein/lactaid smoothie (frozen fruit optional), gluten/corn/sugar free waffles w/ real butter

Lunch: veggie salads, cottage cheese, boiled eggs, chicken, shrimp, avocado, cheese, nuts, beans, tofu, any combo of lean meats, veggies, fruits, (block) cheeses, etc.

Dinner: meats, rice, potatoes, rice noodles w/ cheese or olive oil/garlic sauce, quinoa, veggies, salads, beans, tofu, lettuce wraps, home made soup or chili, home made spaghetti sauce

Dessert: fruit

Eating out is pretty much impossible since they always seem to have something starchy or sugary! I always talk to the chef about my allergies and ask for things as plain as possible, but some places can't accomodate my requests and I just have to do the best I can based on common sense. I pretty much know I will end up with a rash and belly ache after eating out, but sometimes it's worth it just for the experience. Food is such an enjoyable party of life, so it's hard to give up absolutely everything including dining out with friends and family. But I do my best to keep it to a minimum and cook at home as much as possible.

Food Allergies

A few of my friends have asked me for information regarding food allergies. So, I wanted to blog about it to let everybody know everything that I know. I have spent years figuring out what I'm allergic to and how to avoid the allergens.

First of all, I discovered my food allergies because of my eczema. I get really bad eczema on my lips, cheeks, eyes, forehead, neck, elbows, and knees. I have been through all the testing available to humankind and found out that food allergy testing is unreliable. There are false positives and false negatives all the time. So why bother with testing? That is the topic of another blog post. Today's post will focus on what to do next. So the testing says you aren't allergic to foods, but you still get eczema. Itching, painful eczema is nobody's friend, and it's time you do something about it!

The top five allergens are wheat, corn, soy, eggs, and yeast (in no particular order). To determine if you are allergic to one of these foods, you have to take one at a time and eliminate it from your diet for two weeks. See if there are any changes in your symptoms. I get eczema and I also get a belly ache. I started with wheat and then went to corn and then to yeast. I am allergic to all three. When I have any, I get a bad belly ache and a bad rash that lasts for a few days. When I leave them alone, my rashes subside.

OK, so I've found the culprits, now what? I have to eliminate these things from my diet completely. That is easier said than done in today's food market. So many things are pre processed. If they are pre processed you can pretty much cross them off your list. Corn and wheat hide under other synonyms like maltodextrin, modified food starch, xanthan gum, dextrose etc. You have to eat whole, real foods. I will follow up with a list of whole foods and meal plans you can follow.

my kids and my food allergy update

I woke up late this morning (love sleeping in on the weekends) and cutie pie Thomas announced to me that today he has a date. When I asked with whom, he informed me his pillow (my king sized pillow that he always steals and he decided to draw a happy face on)...and not only is it a date..they are also getting married! As a consolation, he told me I could be his second wife. Nice of him to include me.

Zoe helped Joe with the dishes this morning. She is pretty good at emptying the dishwasher (Sierra's job) but doesn't like to load it. With Sierra being gone all week, we've needed some extra help getting all the chores done. I took Zoe to get a haircut yesterday to get it out of the way before my surgery (I found out from the dr. he doesn't want me to drive for six weeks - ugh) and before school starts in a few weeks.

Sierra comes home in two days...I miss her tons but I get it that she needs to spend time w/ her dad and grandparents. I have to share.

OK, now for my food allergy updates. The blood tests all came back negative, just like the skin tests a few years ago. It just goes to show they are not reliable (which the food allergist explained to me after charging me $350 for the skin testing). I don't know about the gluten intolerance but I do know that I get a rash whenever I mess up and have any wheat or corn products. So I will stick with eliminating them from my diet despite the test results. Just the other night, Joe was trying to be helpful and picked up a yummy rotisserie chicken for dinner. He put it in a brown rice tortilla w/ some lettuce and tomato and cheese and he forgot about mayo having corn syrup and put mayo on it too! I just can't seem to escape it. It seems like I am always messing up and having a little somehow. It takes a few days for the rashes to go down.

Food Allergies

Can I say I am amazed at how many things I can no longer eat without the risk of being rashy? I'm not talking just any rash. I get rashy (eczema) on my lips, cheeks, eyes, forehead (basically my whole face) and neck. Upon the advice of my allergy shot nurse I started an elimination diet and took wheat and then corn out of my diet for two weeks at a time only to discover that the rashes magically went away. This is after an entire lifetime of symptoms. When I was growing up, my friends called me "Susie Chap Stick" because I always used chap stick on my itchy rashy lips. Only now do I also know that I was also allergic to the chemicals in the chap stick I was using. From several chemical patch tests it became apparent I am allergic to fragrances as well as several pages worth of chemicals that are found in fragrance free products.



So far here is a list of things I can't eat anymore:



Wheat Products:

bread

tortillas

pasta

crackers

soy sauce

beef jerky (wheat starch)

beer

whiskey (not that I was a big fan or anything)

anything with Modified Food Starch, which is wheat based (like alot of lunchmeats)

most gravies

MorningStar Farm Products (which I love) like soy sausages, blackbean/veggie burgers, and taco salad crumbles (fake ground beef)...I have been eating these products all the time for years thinking they are a healthy cholesterol alternative to meat.

vinegar





Corn Products:

Corn (duh)

corn tortillas

corn chips

anything w/ corn syrup (like sodas, gatorade, salad dressings, condiments like ketchup and mayo)

anything w/ corn starch (including some lunchmeats, enchilada sauce, hot dogs, canned chili)

popcorn





So far I have found some good alternatives thank God. If I eat at home, I can cook things like pizza with rice crust, rice noodles, potatoes, and just today I baked my first successful loaf of ric bread. It doesn't taste exactly the same but it's not bad, much better than the store bought stuff.