DisneyPhD said:Thanks for the article Luna. Some days I get pretty down about Lily's allergies. It just gets so old and I would love to take a break from it. Today I am feeling pretty good.
We head down to WDW in 3 days. We have the dinning plan. I would love to have more for dessert then soy ice cream. Last time she saw the Dr she said I could increase the amount of milk and eggs in my diet some since she nursed so rarely and some should get flitered out in my diet. She has been doing pretty well with minor amounts so far.
We are very luckey Lily's allergies are not life threating. Even though, it still gets old. Especailly when she is crying for food others can eat and she can't.
Sometiems "Constant Vigilance!" can sure wear you down. I guess we are rather like moody, bringing our own food and drinks everywhere.
Amen to that!
Bree used to wear a pack with acceptable snacks and her epi-pen and Benadryl in it when we would visit the theme parks, just in case. I'm thinking it would be a good idea to keep it with her anytime she is out of my sight. People sometimes look at me and think I am being domineering or a control freak about it, like "Why can't she have just a little piece of cake?" They still don't understand that even a little trace of allergen can be devastating for some children with allergies.
My mom, in fact, whom I lived with until she was 3 yrs old, and saw things firsthand, just yesterday says to me on the phone that I should have given Bryanna Benadryl to take beforehand.
I had to explain to her that you cannot medicate your child so that they can eat something they are allergic to; it's not like taking Claritin so that you don't react to the pollen. She will still have an allergic reaction to the cake. It just masks the symptoms... which depending upon the severity of your child's allergy, is a dangerous thing.
Example: peanut allergy is known to be life-threatening in most cases. Say that I gave a peanut-allergic child some Reese's Pieces, after having administered Benadryl. The Benadryl may alleviate some of the visible symptoms, but will it prevent the child's airway from closing up? If the adults around the child do not see that he/she is in distress, the results are disastrous. My child was only two feet away from me at the time, and I saw the redness around her lips. Benadryl is only meant to buy her some time to get to the epi-pen or a hospital if necessary. I gave her the Benadryl as soon as possible, but when we arrived home, we found out that her epi-pen had just expired.
It's simply not a good idea to pre-treat symptoms and knowingly give your child something they are allergic to and hope for the best. You just cannot take a chance that today might be the day when the medication doesn't work enough.