Allergies

Hello everyone,

I guess I should apologize for sending out mass emails all the time! My brain just gets clogged with all kinds of stuff, and since I don't journal anymore this is a good outlet. Dad pointed out the horoscope to me the day before my birthday, and said it fit me to a tee- it went something like this, "you are not always the last word. Other people do have opinions and you need to respect them". I had seen it and thought the same thing. So yes I know my point of view is a bit skewed sometimes, and I think I am right about everything. So just let me know every once in a while if I am being a PITA.

The last email I sent was in January... it's hard to know all that has gone on since then, but I will try to give you an update. Both Elle and Justin went for allergy testing to foods, and both were negative. The allergist said that it is highly suspicious though that Justin's symptoms go away when we remove gluten from his diet. She prescribed an antibiotic and a steroid to clear up the inflammation in his ears, even though he didn't have an ear infection. It worked for a while but then the ear pain came back when he started teething and cutting his bottom teeth.

So I got into a discussion with her when I was there with Justin about immunizations. She basically said that in this case the hygiene hypothesis applies, that our kids are too clean. They aren't exposed to endotoxins in the environment like children are who live in the country or on a farm, etc. So their immune systems are not stimulated the way other children's would be, and their immunities are down-regulated, while the part of the immune system that regulates allergies is up-regulated. So basically it is OK for your kid to play in the dirt and chew on shoelaces, it is good for their immune system.

Then we were talking about side effects from vaccines, autism, etc. She said everyone made a big deal about thimerosal (the mercury preservative in vaccines), so they removed it, but children are still suffering from autism spectrum disorders. I said that they had recently found that children with autism spectrum disorders also have sensitivities to gluten and casein (cow's milk protein), and their symptoms improve dramatically when they are taken off of foods that contain them. She had not heard of that.