my history with allergies

As some long time readers may know I grew up with multiple food allergies and food intolerances. I was lucky enough to out grow most of them. Now one of my children as a severe milk protein allergy.

I used to be allergic to cashews, I only had one childhood reaction, and that was enough, tingly tongue, at first I thought my tongue was asleep then I felt my breathing "going funny". I didn't go near a cashew again for years.

I am not allergic to cashews now, but I have steered the grocery cart meters out of the way of cashews, without realizing that avoiding cashews was what I was actually doing. I am convinced that cashews are a creepy looking, though logically I know this is an emotional response to an outgrown allergy.

I used to be very allergic to pork, I even had a cross contamination reaction, hours in the bathroom in severe pain. Today I'm not allergic, but my body tells me not to eat too much, or too often, at most I'll have minor stomach pain type reaction. I'll sometimes cook pork for the family, then change my mind and not eat any.

In my adulthood I formed an allergy to jojoba, I would have instant itchy skin then break out into a rash. After my first child, I lost this allergy, but I still tend to avoid jojoba. It is in about one in twenty shampoos, massage oils and other cosmetics, so it is not a hard thing to avoid, especially when I didn't have any cross contamination reactions.

I was milk allergic but could tolerate small amounts, my child however, has had cross contamination reactions. I was also intolerant of wheat gluten but could tolerate small amounts or non wheat gluten, that most gluten intolerant people can not tolerate such as barley.

I am allergic to dandelions, itchy irritated eyes, fatigue irritability during the dandelion season. I don't eat dandelion salads more on point, than fear of a dandelion pollen reaction.

My Father had an allergic reaction to a mysterious insect sting under his eye around the age of five. I had an allergic reaction to a unknown sting under my eye before I turned five. Our eldest daughter had an allergic reaction to an unknown sting under her eye the summer she turned five. In all three cases our eyes swelled shut. I gave my daughter benadryl, with the intention of bringing her to hospital if the benadryl didn't start working. Within ten minutes the swelling went down, but remained puffy for days from the sting.