My series of interviews with Football great Jerome Bettis and food allergy advocate, lawyer, author and 504 expert Laurel Francouer continues! This particular segment has made a great impact and inspired me to speak to my allergist about Adult Onset Food Allergies. After Laurel explained that she ended up sensitizing herself to peanuts in her quest to keep her own peanut allergic child safe, she was diagnosed with a peanut allergy. That is just wrong on so many levels. I then realized that I had two other adult friends who also developed Adult Onset Food Allergies. If you recall, I mentioned yesterday, in my post Need to Eat Peanut Products? Let’s Chat that I eat peanuts and tree nuts when I travel. I updated that protocol after my allergist suggested that both my hubby and myself eat our children’s allergens on date night. He explained that we could indeed sensitize ourselves to peanut, tree nut, sesame and poppy seeds.
Check out what Laurel shared…
We keep cheap tooth brushes and tooth paste in our cars and have a quick scrub down if we are going directly home and might lay a big smootch on our kids. I struggled for years to bring myself to eat nuts and then I re-discovered See’s Candy Rum Nougats and that changed everything. Too much information: I used to barf from eating too many nuts since they were so rich and I think I had subconscious fear issues taking place. Needless to say, I am now adding sesame seed to my diet and yesterday when I ordered an almond and coconut scone with friends, they did a double take and made sure I understood what I was doing. Now, those are good friends! I keep wipes in the front seat of my car to wipe down the area and I hit the bathroom to use soap and water on my hands. It feels odd I must say, but I shiver at the thought of having to add my name to the list of food allergic folk in my family. I still go for it when I travel, but when I am home, I only eat the allergens in a restaurant and usually with a fork.
Note: do not change your diet or your personal health care plan without first speaking to your physician.
One of the hardest things I find about managing both life threatening food allergies and asthma is talking to others. I hate to be the one that might be perceived as demanding, pushing or for asking too much. What I now know, fourteen years later, is that honest, clear information presented with kindness works!..
Caroline you rock, thank you for all you do.
You know, I think about that, sometimes…Every once in a while, I will eat a peanut and feel a moment’s panic worrying that it has been too long and that I will have developed an allergy. I guess I need to start putting several foods back into the rotation on a more regular basis!