During the beginning of January my daughter had a very bad allergic reaction, which caused both of her eyelids to swell shut. We took her to the ER, and she was given some medicine. A few days later her eyes went back to normal; however, neither my wife nor myself could figure out why she had a reaction. About 2 weeks later we took my daughter to have a blood test. The results came back and indicated she is allergic to peanuts, strawberries, chocolate, eggs, and milk. I had a hard time accepting this for two reasons. For one my daughter eats these types of foods regularly with no reaction. Also there is no family history of allergies to these foods.......or so I thought.

Last night my mother called me and said that my niece (my brother's daughter) also had an allergy test. According to her test, my niece is allergic to milk, peanuts, strawberries, and soy!! :jawdrop: This is crazy, the poor girl can't have milk or soy? What is she suppose to eat? What is my daughter suppose to eat for that matter? Besides my daughter & my niece....I don't know anyone else in the family with these types of allergies. I wonder are all allergies genetic or are some environmental? There are too many food allergy today!!!

Wow! That's some scarey stuff! I wish I could add some input on the matter but I never experienced anything like that before. I guess some allergies are environmental because when I moved from NYC to further upstate, I began to have severe allergy headaches. I had no idea nor did many of the docter's I saw, as to what was going on. When I was pregnant will my last child, thats when they discovered that my headaches was due from enviromental allergies.
I really wish your family the best when dealing with your precious ones allergies. If you every decide to leave your child in someone else's care, Please be sure to supply them with a list of the things she can't eat. Also when trying new foods with her, dont forget to date and record that also.
Don't be discouraged brotha Pan! I know people are dealing with this issues everyday. Hopefully someone who has been througth this will come along and educate us a little further

Thanks for the reply PurpleMoons. It has to be environmental....as again there is really no family history of this to my knowledge. I know peanuts is a very serious allergy........but my daughter eats peanut sauce with no problems!! She also eats eggs. The doctor said she was "slightly" allergic to these foods, and her allergy could get better or worse with time. I'll have to wait and see.

My son and I are alergic to seafood. Funny thing is, I use to be able to eat seafood. Now we can't eat shrimp, lobster, crab legs or anything like that. Sometimes if I just smell it, my throat starts itching. If we touch it, or accidently get some of the juice on our hands, we both end up lQQking like Rocky...lol. People think we have beat the stew out of eachother..lol. I have a sister who has the same reaction to sea food, but my mother, father, and other brothers and sister can all eat seafood..go figure??? Personally,I think it's both genetic and enviornmental.

This is something I have wondered about. My parents found out I had an allergy to peanuts (not serious) one day when I was about 4 and ate a peanut my dad gave me. I walked three steps and threw up everything I ate that day. Now I knew someone back in the day that really had it bad, if he ate something that rubbed agianst something with peanut oil, he was hospitalized. He would have died from eating the peanut I ate. My brother has a seafood allergy and has a needle to inject if eat injests any accidentally.

How does one figure out these allergies once a child is born without the child having to suffer, get sick and possibly die in some cases?

How does one figure out these allergies once a child is born without the child having to suffer, get sick and possibly die in some cases?

You have to get the child a blood test, which should figure out what they might be allergic to. However, in general no one has an idea until the child eats something and has a reaction to it.

Panafrica,
Purplemoons,
have you ever read the book "African Holistic Health"? ...I'm pretty sure in it contains many foods that we eat, and as black people, we can not consume the same foods as whites. Both me and my husband had this book and "bamb"...they're both gone. but I do have the book comming to me again and I will be sure to post the things that may be helpful for little Panafrica and any one else that have allergys. One things for sure...when it comes to what's being put into our bodies, we need to seek further than doctors. I will get back to you on this very soon.

Please do Queentswana....this is something I'd definately be interested in. My wife is African, so my daughter actually eats a lot of African food: Okra Soup, Cod Fish, Plaintains, Rice, and Peanut Soup. Peanut Soup is a major African dish (indeed Africans were using Peanut Butter before George Washington Carver)...so not being able to eat that would be a serious problem. Maybe it is the processed peanut butter we use?

Thank you so much Queentswana! I will be humbly waiting for your post. :help:

Hey Nita! I can't eat shelled fish either. It does the same thing to me.

I knew somebody would pass through with some info! :jumping: :jumping:

Please do Queentswana....this is something I'd definately be interested in. My wife is African, so my daughter actually eats a lot of African food: Okra Soup, Cod Fish, Plaintains, Rice, and Peanut Soup. Peanut Soup is a major African dish (indeed Africans were using Peanut Butter before George Washington Carver)...so not being able to eat that would be a serious problem. Maybe it is the processed peanut butter we use?


keyword: "PROCESSED" ...(major problem) In the long run, it breaks down the Imune System.
It's funny that you mentioned 'processed peanut butter because that's one of the things I remember reading in this book. (the ingretients will turn your stomach)
Here's what I'll do, I'll have my husband post some things on his site that will (I'm sure) will be helpful to you until we can get the book. We have so, so many african tapes, but it's one that speaks about some of the foods that go into our bodies and all that good stuff. I will find that tape and have my husband set up a time to play it in class. Just let me know if you want to hear it...and he will set it up.
p.s. do you give "little panafrica cow milk?

I would love to here it Queen! You can count me in.