Intolerance vs Allergy

An intolerance is completely different to an allergy (as far as I'm aware). I know with the milk one that if you are lactose intolerant it is a deficiency in the enzyme needed to break down lactose so you get stomach problems, vomiting/running bum etc. Whereas if you are allergic then the immune system actually attacks the protein, which causes skin problems like rashes and ezcema, constipation, reflux and in severe cases breathing problems.

Spencer is allergic to diary egg and peanuts but none of his allergies are life threatening (well he's never had an egg or peanut but the paed says they were small reactions so shouldn't be that bad if he did eat them). He was actually on cows milk formula for a few weeks before the allergy was diagnosed and although he wasn't happy, he was severely constipated, had bad reflux and his skin was awful, he didn't need hospitilisation or anything like that.

Spencer also had a reaction to strawberries, his face broke out in massive red blotches after eating them and it was a couple of days before they went away (he had two strawberries, a day apart and had the reaction the second time). He was skin prick tested but was negative, which means he's not allergic to them, but the doc said he had had a chemical reaction. I'm not entirely sure what that means but we were told to keep him off them until 2 and then try them again and see what happens.

The other thing with allergies is that it can be a cumulative affect, so eating a little bit might be ok (as the body can deal with it), but eating loads causing a reaction. So that could be loads in one hit, or over a number of days/weeks/months.

Hope the allergy testing gives you some answers when you are back home. And I hope my post hasn't confused you too much.

It sounds like she could be salicylate sensitive, as both pineapple and passion fruit are really high in salicylates.

My daughter is allergic to dairy, soy and nuts. However we noticed that she was still coming out in a facial rash even though we were avoiding these foods. The specialist then identified that she was also salicylate sensitive. We tried her on a low salicylate diet and her face cleared up. It helps if you use overly ripe food and peel skin thickly. It's also cumulative up to 72 hrs.

I've got some lists of foods that are low and high in them, which I can email you if interested. There's also quite alot of info on the internet.

Info

Edited by kabe