For several months she often complained that her tummy hurt and we struggled to determine if she ate too much, was hungry, or just needed to go to the bathroom. We visited the doctor several times and each time we came away with things to try and nothing seemed to work. Finally the doctor suggested we test for this virus that lives in the gut (h. palori or something like that). However, to test for this, they would need to draw blood from her arm instead of a finger prick. Since this is also how they test for food allergies, I asked that potential food allergens be checked as well, especially since Hayden was allergic to a ton of things and I had a few food allergies as a kid. Luckily the virus came back negative (a positive would have meant a month of a few strong antibiotics, yuck!) but the allergens were a different story.
She was allergic to milk and sesame seeds. She was also allergic to about 6 or 7 other things but were pretty minor and only enough to register as an allergen. The milk and sesame seeds were the ones in a higher classification. Since she only experienced tummy pain, we were not prescribed an epi-pen, but if we ever needed one, we have one with Hayden's.
Luckily, we are pretty much dairy-free in our house with the exception of cheese for those not allergic to milk, so the transition was an easy one. Taryne did better than I expected since she loves cheese. It took her about a week to realize she could no longer have some of the things she enjoyed that was a no-no for Hayden.
The sesame seed allergen is a little different than other nuts/seeds when it comes to the oil. For peanuts and soybeans, the oil is fine for nearly all with an allergen to peanuts or soybeans. A quick search on the internet told me that sesame oil is different in the way it is made and the allergen is still in the oil. Apparently a lot of commercial baked goods have sesame oil in them so we needed to stay away from those...but they usually also contain milk, eggs and soy so we avoid them anyway. The only thing we have come across that she would occasionally eat that has sesame oil is candy corn. I am not sure if it is all brands or the Brach's one, but some other brands contain egg whites so now we have to be extra careful.
As for Hayden, he was retested in August for milk, egg whites and egg yolks and while he is still pretty allergic to all parts of the egg, he is no longer allergic to milk. At the allergy doctor, they did a skin test and it was negative, so we had to schedule a food challenge. This past week, Hayden completed the food challenge and has been cleared to have milk. However, he hates it. He is very specific now when he wants milk: he lets us know that he wants rice milk, in the blue box. He seems hesitant to try some things, but he did eat a little cheese and loved it. At least he can eat it in cooked or baked items provided there is no eggs, soy or nuts.
I think we will continue our limited dairy/dairy-free diet for everyone. We have found that rice milk works as a near perfect substitute for everything we have cooked/baked so far.
