I have a daughter who is severely allergic to milk and has several other environmental allergies. First, I would recommend you join the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) www.foodallergy.net. This organization has a lot of helpful information, including a monthly newsletter. There are a number of things you will need to do for school. You will need signed medication orders for the Epipen and Benadryl. It is also helpful to have a signed action plan. (what should the school do if such and such happens). You'll need to talk to the school nurse, your daughter's teacher and aide and preferably anyone else who will be teaching her during the day. Try to mentally go through the day, including everything from the bus to afterschool if either would be used. In kindergarten, it's likely that your daughter will have at least one snack time, so ask about that. If you can, provide safe treats at the beginning of the year to the teacher so that the teacher has a stash of safe treats for your daughter if a special occasion arrives. Also ask the teacher about food manipulatives if you think that may be an issue. I had a hard time with teachers wanting to use MM's for counting and math. You said your daughter is highly allergic to several things, but you did not indicate what they all are, so that information will also affect how you proceed. For example, my daughter is allergic to animals with fur, so she cannot be in a classroom with a class pet. My daughter has gotten by without special tables though because her allergy is not air borne, and though she has reaction on contact, it doesn't happen too often and Benadryl stops that reaction. The most important thing is to stop ingestion, which involves mainly making the appropriate people aware and to start teaching your daughter about safe and not safe foods. In the end she will be her own biggest advocate. It also is helpful to provide more than one Epipen shot to the school so that there is easy access in more than one location. In the end though, don't expect the school and the parents to alter everything for your daughter, only what is medically necessary. Some parents do resent accommodations, and I try to limit them so my daughter does not feel different and embarrassed. On an aside note, remember to carry an Epipen everywhere with you as well. The Epipen is your lifeline. Good luck! It does get easier with time!

Thanks MSMomm...I did join both the groups you suggested, though I haven't had time yet to look through all the posts.

Thanks Rogomom2!

I don't know if you know about this but the normal range for IGE is between 0-192, my daughter's level is 3343 which the doctor said is the highest she has ever seen in a child.

She is allergic to all trees and grass in the area. Foods are nuts (all kinds) then there is milk, eggs, wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, white fish, cod and oranges. These are what they tested for...I also know she is allergic to cats and dogs.

I have joined the foodallergy.net group per my doctor. We will contacting the allergist Wednesday, once the referral goes through. I am just hoping to meet with him before she starts school. I have 2 epi-pens and will be filling the script for the next 2 next week.

I will be asking the school for the appropriate paperwork for the allergies and the medications she needs to be filled out by the doctor.

She will be in all day kindergarten so I have to worry about lunches also.

The hardest thing right now is trying to keep her from eating the things she loves, peanut butter, milk in her cereal or chocolate milk, wheat bread. She doesn't understand yet that these things are affecting her, mainly because she has had them but has not reacted in the traditional anaphalaxis or hives or coughing or sneezing. I am hoping the allergist can help me through this and give me some advice.

It sounds like your doctor did a combined test for IGE. I'm not sure how helpful that is since my understanding is that this test would not give an indication about which substances she is most allergic too. RAST blood tests can be used to target particular substances. Our allergist did the skin test, followed by a RAST test for milk. My daughter's RAST test for milk was off the charts, so she could not be given a number. Her skin test indicated a possible allergy to chicken and eggs and picked up many environmental allergies. However the allergist said the skin test can have false positives for food in particular and that if she was not reacting to chicken and eggs, she could keep eating them. She's been eating both for 6 years since that initial test and never has had a problem. For her environmental allergens, it did appear that the larger the skin reaction during the test the more allergic she is. The ones for dogs and cats and mold were quite large and she is very allergic to them. Other ones for dust, grass and ragweed were smaller and while they cause some problems, they are not severe. Hopefully the allergist can provide more help!

CarrieLiz:

I have 4 kids and one of them has life threatening allergies to seafood, cashews and a particular type of dog dander. He is now in High School and I have gone through everything imaginable with him over the years. My advice to you is to determine which allergies require an epipen to allow your daughter to breathe. Nothing is scarier than seeing your child break out in a rash, face swell twice its size, eyes swell shut and attack the airways next. This takes about 10 minutes to manifest from start to finish. ALOT of liquid benadryl and a ride to the ER if you do not have epipen handy will also save your child's life.
The other allergies are minor and although may affect how your child feels on a daily basis - if it is not a life threatening allergy - I would list it with the child's teacher as something to stay away from, but not request special attention for. Milk, wheat, egg allergies are especially popular with the Doctors and will help your Child's overall health to avoid, but they are NOT usually allergies that require life-saving practices.
Your School will most likely require a 504 form along with a signed authorization to treat from your physician. This will outline the steps needed to take in case of anphylaxic shock from an item your child is allergic to. In my experience, only the items that require this level of care are the ones the schools (and other parents) will pay attention to. ANY parent who knows they could potentially cause a reaction like this will not mind staying away from those items when your child is visiting.
Good Luck and get into see the allergist as soon as you can!

I wanted to write a quick note to followup on the last post. The first time our daughter went into anaphylactic shock, we did not recognize it because her reaction was not what I thought it would be. Unfortunately, there is more than one way of dying from an allergic reaction. A closed off throat with an inability to breathe is the better known one and is indeed quick scary. Another one though is cardiac arrest. Our daughter turned beet red (the opposite of the pale reaction some sites talk about) because a dramatic change in blood pressure caused her blood to rush from her heart and pool in other parts of her body. She did not get the facial swelling she had gotten in the past during that reaction and so I was confused and delayed giving the Epipen. Fortunately I did give her an Epipen in time to save her life, but it was a scary experience and my daughter had to be kept in the hospital overnight because of the severity of the reaction. Every kid is different, so don't assume it will be an obvious reaction. Also, milk, wheat etc. can cause life threatening reactions. My daughter's allergy to milk is unfortunately life threatening, and the food allergy network had a story recently about an adult who needed multiple back to back epipen shots to stop a dangerous allergic reaction to wheat. I agree with the other poster that the important thing is to determine what can cause a severe allergic reaction, which could be a number of things.

To Kaspart...

I have all the necessary paperwork for the allergist to fill out. I will also be requesting what kind of information to put on a medic alert bracelet.

I was able to change her allergist appointment from September 9 to August 26. So I am happy about that!

Wow I didn't know about the cardiac arrest, though I am sure that anaphalaxis either way would lead to cardiac arrest. I have reacted and turned very pale and felt very pale. Thanks for the warning rogomom2!

Here is the list of all Libby's allergies that they tested for.

The normal range for all these is between 0-0.35.

Pecan 2.27
Cashew 1.92
Bermuda Grass 2.55
Timothy Grass 2.53
Johnson Grass 2.22
Perennial Rye 2.66
Oak 2.19
Olive 25
Sycamore 2.69
Cottonwood 2.99
Mesquite 2.77
Mulberry 1.88
Western Ragweed 22.10
False Ragweed 48.70
Sagebrush 2.24
Pigweed 2.46
Codfish 2.37
Egg White 4.71
Oats 2.65
Potato 3
Shrimp .99
Tomato 2.88
Wheat 4.27
Corn 3.27
Cow's Milk 10.70
Orange 3.21
White Pine 3.74

Chocoate was 0...yay!

So as you can see all they tested for, except the chocolate, she is allergic to and more moderate to high levels. It is crazy!

Hi,
I too am a mother of children with severe food allergies. My 9 year old was tested at 9 months after projectile vomiting when given his first taste of formula. My 7 year old was tested when he was a year old but I kept him on an allergy free diet until he was tested.
Just want to share an experience I had with my now 7 year old when he was in pre-school. Snack time & lunch time are really the most dangerous times for children with food allergies. Many kids have yogurt in tubes that are very hard for them to open. They tend to make a big mess & spill. My son who is allergic to diary had milk splashed in his face from a toddler sitting next to him. Luckily I was there & washed his face immediately. But in a matter of minutes his eye started swelling shut & he had red hives on his face. I gave him liquid Benadryl & waited with epi-pen in hand. Abount 10 minutes later his eye began to look better. But I felt terrible. I had thought I was so good with thinking everything through with my kids safety. I didn't realize that just a tiny drop of milk in his eye would cause a reaction.
I'm not trying to worry you. Simply want you to be aware of this. That is why in kindergarten the school had a milk free table and a peanut free table. Kinders are messy eaters. I always supply wipes for each of my kids classrooms.
Hope this is helpful. And like another mom said, it does get a little easier. As you get educated & as others are educated. Never be afraid to speak up. Just don't isolate your child. Hang in there!

My mother, and both of my teenaged brothers have severe allergies to food. Many people in our family like to make fun of them and say that its all in their heads. I wish people took them more seriously. They cannot eat out nor do they go to anyone else's house to eat because the can never be too careful about what has been used in the food. My mother is allergic to gluten and dairy among other things, my oldest brother is the same, and my youngest brother is milk and peanuts (again, among many other things.) My son started Kindergarden last week (thank god I have a wonderful school and teacher that listen to me!) My son has a hard time with milk. I talked to his pediatrician about it and she said that she doesn't think that he is allergic (she didnt refer him for allergy testing though) to milk but that some children have an inability to digest the sugar in milk but most outgrow that in time. My ex-husband thinks I have lost my mind and refuses to quit giving out son milk! As a matter of fact he gives him twice as much because he knows I dont let him have it. I do buy him soy milk that has all the vitamins in it that cows milk has but a lot less fat and best of all HE DOESN'T HAVE TROUBLE KEEPING IT IN HIS TUMMY! Does anyone have any ideas on how to make a stubborn ex listen so that we dont have a sick baby?? I pray that the allergies my mother and brothers have somehow skip my child. I haven't ever had any problems but I try to be careful with him just in case the signs start to show up.

Wow! I'm sorry your husband is so insensitive. Hopefully your child is lactose intolerant rather than allergic. I gave all three of my kids fortified soy milk since my oldest is allergic to milk, and all of them did fine with the soy. They are quite healthy. My younger two do have some trouble handling cow's milk, probably since their systems are not accustomed to it. They are not allergic, but the intolerance did send us to the doctor's once when my middle child had chronic stomach pains after having milk several days in a row at preschool. If you think it is an allergy or lactose intolerance, then try educating your husband. I would hope he would be more helpful if he understood the potential weight of what you are talking about--maybe have him look at some of the scary stories:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/beds/bucks/herts/3135949.stm
www.allergizer.com/50226711/death_due_to_peanut_allergies_emilys_story.php
www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/03/26/food.allergies/index.html

Thanks! He is my EX husband but still no compassion. I have thought about getting my son allergy tested just because of what my family has been through. Thanks for the links! I will have to check them out. I am so very lucky to have a teacher that respects and understands my concerns this year. Last year our teachers mother was the head of the cafeteria and I had to jump through hoops to get them to stop giving my child milk. And even after the letter my pediatrician sent, I still had to be aware of snack time.

What I did was get a copy of all the allergies get a copy given to all front office,teachers, nurses and daycares. This way they all are aware of what both my children are allergic to. It's interesting but it does explain a lot.

Pamela Duke

since im only 16 almost 17 and i dont have kids, i wont of had any expieriances, sorry carrieliz

well do not let her eat the school lunch pack it and just ask her teacher to let her eat in the class room all the time.

Thanks everyone for all you input and suggestions! We saw the allergist on Wednesday. He said to completely stay away from ALL nuts. But everything else she can have and will most likely grow out of. He is hoping that she will grow out of the nut allergy in time by not having it at all. He said she may need allergy shots in 3 or 4 years, but then again she may not.


Elizabeth, my 5 year old with the allergies, is pretty upset about the peanut butter thing. She loves it. It has been suggested to me about soy butter and sun butter. I will be talking to the doctor before trying either of these.

We have also gotten the paperwork in order and the meds dropped off at the school. I only have to get her the medic alert bracelet now.

Thanks again everyone!