I know several people with food allergies, but no one handles it as carefully as I do. They all eat risky things and don't worry about it much, so I suppose we still seem crazy! Except that I did just find out that someone in our neighborhood has PA, TNA and soy allergy, and his mother reads labels and is careful. Most of the people I know because I have an allergic kid in school, so you find out about who else has the same thing. But I know a few adults, too. I think they told me about theirs because I mentioned my DD's while checking out the food being served.
How many people do you know with PA or other Food Allergies?
Posted on: Wed, 09/19/2007 - 1:00am
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Over the years, at different times in my everyday life (i.e. not through a formal support group or organization) I've known probably more than two dozen adults with FA (some of whom are also parents of children with FA) as well as some spouses or adult children of adults with food allergies-- just found out today that yet another of my coworkers falls in the latter category. Not all of these people are currently in my life, and we didn't discuss FA much prior to my own onset, but I still have contact with many, and a few close friends/coworkers I see several times a week. I feel extremely fortunate to have them, and don't think I would have survived emotionally through the first several months without their collective advice, support and kindness.
Because of them, immediately, I was able to see concretely in front of me that there *are* adults with FA, both childhood and adult onset, ANA and non-ANA, who have, for the most part, been healthy, active and thriving for decades. I was able to ask a *lot* of them how they managed medical testing, restaurants and social occasions, travel, etc, and get advice based not only on their own actual experiences, but on their direct knowledge of my personality, needs and lifestyle and their interest in my well-being, rather than some one-size-fits-all website writeup or medical article with generally alarming statistics. I "reality checked" my doctor's advice with many of them and another physician, and modeled my own management and comfort zone on that and the strategies used by TNA and/or PA people with reaction history closest to my current one. (non-ANA, no contact or inhalation sensitivity) Now, almost a year past onset, I'm adjusting and lean on them much less, but some of them are still there when I need them. That's where I get emotional support.
I don't use PA.com for emotional support, but as an occasional information source for things most of the FA people in my life don't feel the need to keep up on, like new products, clinical research and public policy.
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(relatively recent adult onset non-ANA TNA/inconclusive PA)
I know quite a few people with food allergies. A couple of them outgrew them. And one of those people had an adult allergy to latex and then it went away (it was due to stress). After the stress was gone, so was his allergy thankfully. But I know at least 19 people I can think of right away, children and grownups. The allergies include peanuts, treenuts, shellfish, fish, sesame, mustard milk, soy, peppers, curry, plastic & latex.
Make that 21 and add blue cheese and fig to the list.
I am personally acquainted with just two people with food allergies:
my daughter (TNA)
my aunt (shellfish)
That I can recall? 0. 0. Yes, 0. Maybe that's why I don't quite feel safe eating anything, because it's just ME, and *I* have to make all the calls.
I know quite a few people with FAs, including my son but I still feel alone sometimes, especially because I've got quite a long list of MFAs and I don't see all these people all the time or at a time when I'm at a restaurant or party and other people are trying to feed me and I don't feel comfortable and have to strongly keep telling people I don't want to eat whatever it is.
My younger brother seems to have an allergy to cherries, but being that those are easy to avoid he doesn't face the day to day thoughts that pa does, so no we don't really know anyone with FA that has to deal with this on a day to day basis. This is why I use pa.com as information and emotional support. Nobody else really "gets it" which is so lonely at times.
I am in my early 20s (but an adult nonetheless :) and I know quite a few people with FA.
I know at least 4-5 people between 20-30 with PA, and plenty of younger people (children of friends/aquaintances/former coworkers, and a cousin of mine). While working, I have on multiple occassions encountered PA adults (several in their 40s).
I also know adults (19 to their 50s) with allergies to about every food under the sun.
I think that off the top of my head, I can NAME about 18 people and picture the faces of about 10 other adults. LOL.