It's been a while since I posted on this blog. Mostly I keep an eye on my Facebook page "Healing Food Allergies... Naturally" in between my study to be a Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition which is a year long online course. I love doing it.
Where are we at? We've started seeing Dr Leila Masson, a biomedical paediatrician who we saw for the first time a few months ago. According to her, we're doing okay but could be doing a bit better. When we saw her, S had a bit of eczema back due to being back on eggs, had some bags under her eyes and a pale tongue. But her total IgE figure was pretty low, as in within normal range, and although she'd acquiried a soy allergy on paper, she didn't appear to react to it, certainly not in the small amounts she has been exposed to thus far.
Our diet has come off gut healing protocols somewhat - bone broths are an occasional thing, we don't eat sauerkraut anymore, probiotics are most days but not all. Trying slowly to get back into good healing habits but I just don't want to spend all my time in the kitchen anymore, especially during this stunning summer. Her eczema disappeared as soon as we took eggs out of our diets again, and its looking good right now. Her next lot of blood tests are not due for another few months but we need to get back into things as she occasionally gets very small hives so we're not done just yet. We still not having excessive amounts of grains other than rice which we both adore, and stick to mostly meat, fruit, coconut milk and vegetables.
I left my allergy playgroup not so long ago, I definitely wasn't feeling any love! It takes guts to go out on a limb to do your own thing, and I've found support for this can sometimes be lacking. It was a fabulous place to start but as our results improved, I began to feel a certain chill and so I decided it was time to go. Knowing my daughter and I are so lucky to be part of another (non-allergy) playgroup which is full of fabulous and supportive mothers, we all do things differently but it doesn't matter, we don't judge for it. We encourage each other when things go well and when they don't. I've also started my study in Health Coaching and my knowledge is being broadened in ways I didn't actually think was possible, so I'm grateful for the whole experience thus far.
I do think its a good thing to start off each allergy journey being cautious and very responsible. Talk to as many people and professionals as possible to get an idea of where you sit. Somewhere along the way, you should start to swing back to the middle however slowly, especially if you begin to see the results of your efforts. And remember, different things work for different people. Don't take other people's advice as gospel no matter how convincing they appear to be. Research a number of different and contradictory theories, and then figure it out for yourself. And allergies are not a competitive sport. No-one wants to play it, but once you're on the team, come up with a game plan and remember to play nicely.
