The Best Food Allergy Diary

Keeping a diary of your food intake can be daunting. What can be worse is trying to go back through what you've entered to find answers.

For those of you highly experienced in Excel or computerized spreadsheets, this may be easier for you. For those of you who like to use pen and paper, this might be more challenging.

First, you'll want to have a small notebook that you can carry around with you 24/7. It's often hard to remember everything you ate, everywhere you went, and everything you did if you're just recording it at the end of the day.

For accurate results, you will need to be detailed.

I recommend that each new day start at the top of a new page. It may take you several pages to note everything for the day, depending on how big your notebook is and how small you write. You will want to be as detailed in your notes as possible as this is your original notes.

At the beginning of the notebook, inside the front cover (or if you have a way to mark the outside of the notebook) put the start date make sure to include the day, month, and year, and when you fill up the notebook mark on the front cover the end date of that notebook.

Each entry should start with the following:

• The Exact Date
• Time of waking and how many hours of sleep
• Mood upon waking
• Weight (try to take your weight measurement before eating or drinking anything for the day, even before water. If you go to the bathroom first, make sure you continue to do so with each weigh in.)

You may also want to include any extra notes about any of the above. Did the baby cry all night? Was there a big stressful meeting that morning? Was your sleep unusual in any way? And feel free to be as frank about your mood as you like, if you feel like roadkill, go ahead write it down.

Other things that you may also want to include are:

• Waking Temperature - Get a basal thermometer, and keep it right next to your bed with your notebook. When you just wake up, roll over, grab your thermometer, place it under your tongue while you lay there and wake up for a couple minutes. This will also help you (if you're a woman) know when your ovulating.
• Waking blood sugar - If you suspect any kind of blood sugar issues, head to your nearest pharmacy and buy the cheapest blood sugar testing kit - make sure the strips are also cheap as that is where most of the cost will come from. If you're doing this, you may want to also test your blood right before eating meals and 2 hours after eating. Eating allergens can affect your body's ability to utilize sugars, so I actually advise this for pretty much anyone who is suffering.)
• Daily Pollen Count - record the pollen concerns for your area.
• Exercise/Activity - What kind of exercise did you do and how much? Did you do something odd or unusual that you don't do every day, such as clean the toilet, mop floors, travel, etc.?
• Places - Did you go someplace outside of your normal? Grocery stores? Did you go clothes shopping? The air sometimes at certain places can cause reactions so keeping note of these things can help.
• Symptoms - Any symptoms that you experience, even if you don't think it's a symptom. If you notice it, write it down along with the time you noticed it. For example, if you notice that you're tapping your pencil on your desk. You may not always do it, but sometimes you do, write it down (it can be a sign of jitteriness). If you stumble into your coffee table, write it down. If you notice your mood changes, even if you think it might be due to a co-worker (unless it's real normal thing - like you're sad but you just heard your dog died. Being livid at your co-worker for pronouncing your name wrong, you should probably write that down.) At least at first, you never know what is going to be an actual symptom and what isn't. Allergic reactions do a wide range of things in the body, so something you may have attributed to something else may actually be an allergic reaction.
• Bodily Functions: While urinating is likely not to be a big deal, you should at the very least record your bowel movements. If you have any gastronomical reactions to your allergens, then this will help give you more information. You'll also want to record information about your stools such as the Bristol Stool Scale.
• Household Products: Did you change your laundry soap? Bath wash? Dish soap? Make sure to record those changes as well.

When recording your food, you'll want to note exactly what you ate and when. This includes brand names, ingredients, what recipe you used, etc. Anything that goes into your mouth should be recorded with a time stamp, including gum, candy, medications.

Once you've started recording this information, make an Excel document (or get a big sheet of paper, or write really small) with a row along the side for each symptom you want to monitor, mood, weight, blood sugar, reactions or no reactions, and so on. Along the top, you'll record each day. It is through this documentation that you'll see the patterns start to happen. It is also easier with this to see when the last day you experienced a particular symptom so you can go back to your food diary and compare or contrast the specifics of what went on, and start to trace it back to the cause.

Good Luck, and Happy Recording!

Top 10 Signs You Might Have a Corn Allergy

Top 10 Signs You Might Have a Corn Allergy: 

10. You have a non-life-threatening condition with no cure and no tests that prove the disease, but a long list of complicated symptoms, and a bunch of tests which say what it isn't. 

9. You find it nearly impossible to maintain/reach your ideal weight no matter what you do.

8. You look at people strange when they aren't sleepy or don't have heartburn, reflux, diarrhea, or digestive distress after eating.

7. You're completely addicted to sugar, especially at night.

6. You've heard more than once that it's just "stress".

5. You take allergy medication like candy.

4. You have eczema or other skin condition which never goes away nor improves.

3. You have a tendency for mood swings or impulsive behavior.

2. You routinely suffer from migraines or cluster headaches.

1. Your doctor (and possibly your friends/family) is pretty sure you're a hypochondriac.

What do you think? Did I miss anything? What were your top 10 signs looking back that should have clued you in that you had a corn allergy?

(also bonus points if the treatment for #10 includes steriods or corticosteriods.)

The Attack on Food Allergy Accomodations in Schools

I recieved this email today through one of my local food allergy groups and thought I'd share it with you all to join in the fight.

While this fight is about peanut allergies, it is not a stretch to see how the outcome of this will affect all of us with food allergies, especially corn which is just as hard if not harder to avoid.

"The mother of the allergic child at the center of a school controversy in Florida has asked for some help. The details of what you could do to help are here. If you haven't been following this story, click on the link below.

http://www.clickorlando.com/education/27139755/detail.html


http://allergickid.blogspot.com/2011/03/little-more-education.html?spref=tw

So very many of you have asked if there is absolutely anything that can be done to help the family being harassed and bullied about the food allergy accommodations their daughter receives at her elementary school here in Florida. I finally do have contact information for the school and district, as well as state level agencies, where you can let your opinions be heard, as well as a request from Tracey, the mom.

First, the bad news: there have been so many threats made against their child by parents in online comments, such as putting peanut oil on their own child's backpack, that the family has decided it is no longer safe to send their daughter to school. These protesters have successfully managed to bully a six year old out of school, because of her disability.

Before I set all of you loose, though, I want to give you a word of warning. I can tell you that personally, my blood is boiling. The temptation to just breathe fire through the phone line is awfully hard to resist.

Then I remember how the story has played out in the media. Exaggerations and outright lies have been presented as fact in a "controversy" about "extreme measures" that are "depriving other children of their right to an education."

As hateful as these parents are, they have presented themselves with enough media savvy to make it a story about wanting "compromise" about the accommodations, rather than about a pack of bullies endangering a child's life.

The narrative needs to be fixed.

If you are willing to take the time to send an email or pick up the phone to make a call, remember that the recipient is most likely an innocent school or state employee who has suddenly found him or herself in the middle of a hailstorm. Remember, you are contacting them as a Deeply Concerned Parent, not a Raving Freaking Lunatic.

Just because you know that you are the good guy, doesn't mean that anyone else does. So make sure that your words and tone demonstrate that.

These are a few suggestions:

Explain your concern for this child's safety and well being.
Respectfully ask that, although you understand privacy restrictions, that the school speak up to the media to accurately describe the accommodations this child has received.
Ask what anti-bullying measures are in place, and how they intend to protect children from this kind of hatred.

Spring break started yesterday in Volusia County, adding even more to the hit and run nature of this bullying campaign, but here is the contact information:

Edgewater Elementary School Principal Linda Moore: 386-426-7300.
Volusia County School Superintendent: 386-734-7190. (Follow prompts for operator and ask for Superintendents Office.)
The Florida Department of Education: 850-245-0438.
James Holland, Director of Professional Standards: 386-734-7190 ext. 20256. (This one is to report school misconduct, so make sure you have a Specific Complaint, not a Wild Accusation.)

In the comments of the previous post, Kyra was kind enough to also share the district's email contact information:

Principal Lynda Moore: lmoore(at)volusia.k12.fl.us
Assistant Principal Stephanie Eafford: saeffor(at)volusia.k12.fl.us

Finally, here is the request from Tracey. It appears that in some of the comments by parents in the news stories online, there have been details of her daughter's medical plan, however distorted, that could have only been revealed by a member of the school's staff. If you are brave enough to go on troll patrol, see if you can find any of these comments. If you find them, please copy and paste the comment or take a screen shot if you can (in case it is deleted) and email it and the link to the page to me at allergiesmom[at]gmail[dot]com. I'll sift through the duplicates and make sure that they reach Tracey.

Thank you so much for your compassion and zeal in defense of her daughter." Email written by SunConnor of Austin Families with Food Allergies.

Please help if you can. The fight for our children's rights to an education is an important fight for us to band together.

Thank you!

Food Allergy Misdiagnosis and Misinformed Doctors

For most people who have suffered for years only to find out later that a food allergy or corn allergy is the culprit of nearly all their suffering, there is a always a combination of two things that keep them from the correct diagnosis.

Misdiagnosis and Ignorant Doctors.

For many of the allergy symptoms there are "diseases" that doctors can diagnose them as having, and medications to give to help alleviate those symptoms. Often in these diseases, the medications are variants of steroids or anti-histamines, which help the allergic reaction which further the likelihood of the misdiagnosis. Some medications in these diseases merely manage the appearance of symptoms, such as anti-diarrheal, anti-nausea, anti-reflux, mood stabilizers.

Because there are a multitude of symptoms that come with allergic reactions, you can have a food allergy and never have your throat close or get hives. Unfortunately, many doctors are still misinformed about this and think that unless you get a clear case of hives or your throat closes shut, you can't possibly have a food allergy.

We've talked on this blog before, several times, about how tests are not the end-all-be-all of food allergy diagnosis. The most accurate tests are not 100% accurate.

What is 100% accurate if you're paying attention and you know all the symptoms that can be linked to food allergy reactions and watch for them, is the double blind food allergy intake test.  Where the patient is given food with their allergen in it, and again food without their allergen in it, and the person giving it to them doesn't know which food contains their allergen and which doesn't, nor does the patient.

Unfortunately, even in these cases.. with some doctors.. not all symptoms of allergic reaction are included by the doctor for medical diagnosis. 

The most common symptoms that I run across that are almost always missed as a food allergy reaction, especially in infants and children:

Reflux
Nausea
Failure to Thrive
Fear of Food
Distended/Bloated Belly
Digestive problems
Ear Infections
Sinus Infections
Trouble Swallowing
Asthmatic issues
ADD/Austism behavioral or developmental problems
Eczema

Recently, on our favorite corn-free forum, Delphi Forums - Avoiding Corn, there was a posting by a woman whose child has suffered needlessly for which she has tried in desperation to find a solution. [Read her full story here]

Her son went through the first year of his life with severe reflux, and failure to thrive. He wouldn't eat and developed an oral aversion, so the doctors put in a feeding tube to force feed him to keep him alive. His parents worked to train him to eat, but being so happy that he was actually eating, they didn't notice that he would only eat because that was what he was trained to do. (Much like training a child to eat pennies or an abused child being trained to accept the abuse.)

Reading her story was heart-wrenching for me, as I completely understand her child's predicament, and how well-meaning efforts to make him live were in reality the equivalent of the most cruel torture. As an infant, he tried in every way at his disposal to tell them that it was the food that was the problem, but no one understood.

She later stumbled into the discovery that her child was allergic to corn, as her attempts to give the child actual corn resulted in hives.  So she decided to remove corn products from his diet to test it, and saw him vastly improve in days and actually seek out food on his own.

Yet despite the improvement from avoidance, and his health worsening upon reintroduction of the food, his current doctor refuses to believe that corn is the problem. Because the doctor was trained to believe the (not always accurate) allergy tests, instead of the improvement in the patient.

We've become a nation more afraid that children won't get proper nutrition than we are for the child's actual health. Vegans remove foods successfully. Vegetarians do it successfully. People with peanut, seafood, milk, egg, wheat. and other allergies do it successfully. Yet there is this fear.

Luckily, with the advances in diagnosing Celiac and gluten-intolerance, doctors are more ready and able to look to foods as the culprit. Unfortunately, unless the tests back up the food challenge results, many doctors still consider removing any one food from a child's diet as bad parenting.

The problem is that there is really no one person to blame. It's how our doctors are being taught. The information or lack of it that they get about food allergies, often sponsored by the food companies themselves. Parents rely on their doctors to be experts, and want to believe that they can trust them to find the correct solution.

It's really a little known perfect storm.

Allergies and Immunizations - Is it worth the risk?

(updated 8/2011)

Many immunization drugs are made with allergens. Whether it be corn, soy, beef, egg, milk, lactose, MSG, or yeast, the risks of getting the shots may or may not be worth it.

First, let me address why to immunize..

Immunizations started as a way to fight diseases before they could become epidemics. Most immunizations are for diseases known to kill, or severely maim humans. Many are for diseases which are highly communicable. Thus all states require immunizations in order for a child to attend school. You can get exemptions, but I'll address that hassle later.

It is important to consider the risks of not immunizing as well the risks of immunization. There is a good informative article on immunizations at Quackwatch.org, which talks about the importance of immunizing which the writers at Quackwatch will probably think the rest of my article here to be "quackery"..

For recommended list of vaccinations/immunizations go to the CDC:
Child Immunization Scheduler
Child/Adolescent Immunizations
Adult Schedule

Also at the CDC, make sure to check out the VIS or vaccine information statements which answer many questions about what the disease is that the vaccine will try to prevent, when to get it, what to expect, etc.

Now onto the really scary stuff.

Many vaccines/immunizations use fillers, carriers, etc to get the actual vaccine/immunization into the body in a viable way. Which means, you may have to decide whether to take the chance of getting a disease which might kill you or getting the vaccine which might kill you.

That is why I'm writing this.. Its better to be educated ahead of time, and know your risks, so you're prepared.

Getting ahold of the ingredients of an injection ahead of time, may be impossible as most health care providers who perform these injections are not well versed in allergies and probably won't have what you need to know. So the more you know before you go in, the better off you'll be. If you have a reliable cooperative doctor, you may be able to get this information (vaccine insert) ahead of time to check with the manufacturer about possible allergens.

Check this PDF (you'll need Adobe Reader - a free software) for a list of ingredients in immunizations, to see if your child may be at risk for a severe allergic reaction. Vaccine Excipient & Media Summary  see also this PDF.

You'll also want to check the CDC's contraindications chart.

In case of a severe reaction, contact the your doctor and CDC. A Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System form needs to be filed. You can contact the CDC about this at 1-800-822-7967.

There is also a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program ( 1-800-338-2382 ) which is to help provide assistance for those having adverse reactions. More information about filing a claim can be found at their site: http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/

If you read through the Vaccine Excipient & Media Summary  (also PDF) or the CDC's contraindications chart and you want to get out of having a vaccine, you're going to want to get the ball rolling and be prepared ahead of time.

You will want to call your local or state health department's immunization program. They should be able to provide you with forms you'll need to have filled out. There are usually two reasons for exemptions on this: Religious reasons, Health Reasons. Health reasons usually require a doctors signature or statement.

Your child's school will also need to be notified and proper forms filled out.

More Information links about Vaccines and Immunizations:

Mercury Vaccines? (also contains manufacturer names for possible contact)

Australian Site: Ingredients & Purpose in Immunizations. Vaccine Components & Constituents

Anti-vaccine information with a Christian oriented religious vaccine waiver

More information about getting a waiver to avoid a vaccination:

How to legally avoid unwanted immunizations


More Reading:


Immunizations and Gut Disorders - possible connections