Monday, April 13, 2009

"Free Falling"

OH NO!
Flickr photo by jddunn

"And I'm freeeeeeeeee......Free fallin'!"

That's been my theme song around here after (finally) doing the Alletess IgG food sensitivity test on my son and learning that he has issues with several things.

I admit I walked around in a daze for about a week, and, yes, I did cry throughout an entire afternoon.

It seems silly now, a few weeks into it, but at first I just couldn't wrap my head around it. I had been doing so well with gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free, and I felt like I had my sh*t together. Heck, I even had a blog! hahaha :)

But then this news came and....how would I do it? I looked at all of the great products I had found (scrolling at the top of this blog in the Amazon widget) and found that practically EVERYTHING was no longer allowed! What?!?! You mean we can't have "crackle crackle" anymore? (that's what my kids call Erewhon Crispy Rice cereal). You mean we can't have the awesome Orgran Animal Crackers (that I had just received a new bulk order of). Rice milk? Pancake mix? Veggie chips? Chocolate cake mix?

I couldn't even bring myself to blog about it because I felt so ... overwhelmed and un-qualified to even discuss it.

But here I am now. Ready to blog about our new "free" list and start sharing with you some of our new recipes...

Allergies (meaning totally out of the diet)
Egg white

High Sensitivities (2 and 3 on Alletess test; meaning totally out of the diet)
Gluten
Coffee
Rye
Wheat
Cashew
Coconut
Oats
Peas
Peanut
Rice
Sesame
Safflower
Soy
Sunflower seed
Tomato
Walnut
Yogurt
Milk

Low Sensitivities (1 on Alletess list; meaning rotating every 4 days)
Almond
Asparagus
Pinto Bean
Cantaloupe
Corn
Garlic
Grapefruit
Lemon
Lettuce
Mustard
Chili Pepper
Green Pepper
Watermelon
Banana
Chicken
Crab
Egg Yolk
Oranges


Granted, some of these are for my son and some are for my daughter; many of them overlap. I'm using my son's results as our family's results, since his were the most extreme. This means that when I prepare breakfast for the kids, I use my son's results. When I prepare dinner for the entire family, I use my son's results. For lunchboxes, I will sometimes throw in some cookies or something into my daughter's lunchbox that my son can't have. And if my daughter needs oranges rotated, it means my son only gets orange juice every 4 days too.

I think I would go nuts (no pun intended) if I made separate meals for the two kids, so they get the same thing, and I use the lunchbox as the place where things can diverge a bit (but not much).

So welcome to the new blog. I won't change the name to GFCFSFEFPFTFSFRFCF etc because, well, nobody would find it in a Google search. :)

Note: You will find many recipes on this blog that contain one of "no no's" in the list above. This just means that I posted it before we developed the new list.

6 comments:

Michelle said...

oh my first of all (((((HUGS)))))
I can't even imagine how overwhelming that must have felt...I mean GF/CF itself is very overwhelming at first, and then when you try and remove the soy EEEK, that's a challenge...anything over and above that, I can't even imagine myself! One of my biggest fears is that they are going to tell me corn or rice is out, I'd be lost!!!

Tori said...

haha, that's ok. thanks! :) thank god corn was only a 1 because it's in everything. Rice was a biggie - all the packaged GFCF stuff has rice flour. But don't fret. If you ever have to take this stuff out, just come back here and I'll have all our stuff posted.

Did you see I'm posting our meal plan too? Look in upper right hand corner for link.

Tori :)

Julee Huy said...

Hi Tori,

I was wondering if you knew if the Great Plains test is the same number wise as the Alletess test? I just got a back a test for my son and my DAN never really pays all that much attention to diet things unless they are super high. I talked to a DAN in Canada and he takes out all 2's and 3's also.

I'm just wondering what I should be taking out and I wish my test matched yours so I could tell.

It has High, Medium and Low besides the numbers. Maybe take out Highs and Mediums and rotate the lows? I think that's what Christel says to do. But on my test a low is a 2-3.49 so I don't know!!

Tori said...

Hey Julee! I don't know how Great Plains does theirs. I'm guessing maybe take out medium and high? Or at least start with high and see what happens? And then start paying attention to the others and use them less or rotate every 4 days or something like that. What's on your list of 2's and 3's?

Tori

Ange said...

Tori,

If your son is reacting to that many foods something maybe going on with his gut, as in really leaky. Are you going to a DAN doctor? My son is GFCFSF as well as egg white, peanuts (he was a 9 on the IgG test), yeast, tomatoes. He was clear for rice but he will NOT eat it at all (rice, rice crackers, rice paper wraps) but I can use rice flour. I only removed up to moderate. Low level stuff I try and rotate. He also reacted to lemons (which he is happy to suck raw!! yuck!!). So rotation is what I would suggest with the lower ones and finding some way to heal his leaky gut. Tori my son has SPD and he is 6. We also have had great gains with dietary changes. We have done it under a biomedical (known as DAN) doctor here in Australia. Your blog is great and you have been doing so well. I know how hard it is to change things when you think you are on the right path. My son is constantly constipated at the moment and I can't work out why. I am working on it too. Don't give up.
Ange

Heather S. said...

Tori,
I am so glad I found your blog!
I am in that overwhelmed daze after finding out the IgG and IgE results of my 6.5 yr old's son. He has ADHD & SPD issues and we could tell dairy had a negative effect on him, so we decided to get the test. We are working w/ a DAN Dr. to do this. He has to be Gluten, Casein, Soy, Corn & Yeast free (among other "smaller" foods).

I can't even think straight right now & am just in the beginning stages of finding things I can feed him.

Thank you for your blog & all your recipes!

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DISCLAIMER. I am not a doctor. I am not a nutritionist. I'm just a mom who has been implementing the GFCF diet since October 2007 (and soy-free about 5 weeks thereafter). Please do not rely upon my blog as your sole source of information or advice. I only offer my personal experiences for your consideration and can not be held responsible for any adverse reaction or experience you or your child may have should you choose to try something I have tried. Remember that every child is unique, and what works for mine may not work for yours.