An Update on the Allergies

In November, I talked about my husband's eating problems and his diagnosis. He finally got in to see the allergist today. I was very hopeful that the allergist would just say that he is allergic to animals and leave it at that. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. They started the procedure by marking up his back with a pen to show where they would be testing each allergen. If you would like to see what this would look like, you can search for allergy testing + back and you'll get an idea. I would prefer to keep that sight off of this post though. As the technician was writing on his back, it was already turning pink. His skin is so sensitive that it reacted to just the pressure or ink of the pen.

The technician then goes through their vials of allergens and pricks the skin next to each of the marks that she had already made with her pen. If one of the areas starts to get inflamed, they reduce it with an antibody (I think that's the right term). She went through his entire back and then the doctor came in. He first noticed Hops' back and mentioned his sensitive skin to him. Men love being told they have sensitive skin. Before he left the office, they doused his back in a coating of calamine lotion since the entire thing was red and itchy. He said he was light headed after they finished up, probably because of the stress on his skin/body. Poor guy!! Finally, he was given his diagnosis. My husband is allergic to the following:

Environmental: Trees, Grasses, Weeds, Dust Mites, Cats and Dogs.
Food: Peanuts, Almonds, Cashews and Tomatoes
Note: He was also told to eliminate Dairy for a month - it came up as a maybe.

Did you just read that list? I can understand the outdoor elements. We can dust and sweep and keep a tidier house overall. What I'm seeing a big problem with are the foods. For one month, we are going to cut nuts, tomatoes and dairy out of Hops' life. Unfortunately, I can't join him in this because I just can't cut that many things out during my pregnancy. Yeah, I know, I could but I don't want to and he told me on the phone, he doesn't want me to. I will work with him to help make him lunches and dinners that are free of those foods, though.

The dairy part is hard.

source

Add nuts to dairy and we're going to struggle. I really enjoy some of the recipes that Betty posts on her blog, Dairy Free Betty. I went through a bunch of those today only to find that a lot of the sauces are made to be dairy-like are made with nuts. I know this is definitely going to be a struggle from personal experience. I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy in January of this year. I went in because of some head congestion issues. I had a simple allergy test and the only thing that blew up on me was dairy. I was told to eliminate it from my diet to have my symptoms disappear. I did some research on dairy at that time and found it's in some really interesting places. I wrote a couple of blog posts about it when I was blogging on my old site but I find one to be especially interesting. Did you know there can be dairy in lunch meat and bread and breadcrumbs? (please don't dwell on that site...it's sad). :)

As my last comment of the day, I would like to introduce you to my husband's favorite foods:
Peanut Butter and Pizza = Nuts + Tomatoes + Dairy.
I think we're in trouble.