When I was first diagnosed with allergies, the doctors told my parents I would most likely outgrow them by the time I got to kindergarten. Once I was in kindergarten, and my allergies were still there, the doctors told my parents that the science behind allergies is still changing, and now its looking like I will most likely outgrow my allergies around 5th grade. When I got to 5th grade and still had allergies, the doctors said I would probably outgrow my allergies anytime now. Between then and now, I did outgrow my peanut and milk allergy. I am still allergic to eggs, and it is likely that I will never outgrow that allergy.
The process of actually outgrowing an allergy is a crazy one. It starts with a blood test, which gives you a number. That number is the amount of IgE antibodies in your blood. When that number is high, it means you have a lot of antibodies to that allergen and most likely have an allergy to it. If your numbers are high, there is a chance that they can decrease. This happens over time, and you have a much higher chance of outgrowing an allergy before the age of 16. If you are tested and the number is low enough, your doctor might feel comfortable doing what they call a “challenge.”
For this challenge, they bring you into the office and orally give you an extremely small dose of an allergen. Then you wait 20 minutes, they come back, and if you haven’t had a reaction they give you a little bigger dose. This goes on and on and if you don’t have a reaction after a set amount of the allergen is consumed, then you are declared allergy free.
When I did this with both milk and peanuts, it was really scary. Its almost like your just waiting for a reaction to happen. Of course you are surrounded by doctors, but its still pretty nerve racking.
Also, allergens like milk and eggs take the challenge one step further. When I had my challenge for milk, about three years ago, we started with baked milk (something like a muffin). When you bake an allergen it looses some of its properties and you are actually less likely to have a reaction. Once I passed this challenge, we waited about six months. During that time I was eating baked milk regularly in order to keep up my tolerance. Then it was time to test real, raw milk.
Even though that was the third time I did this challenge, as I had already passed the peanut and baked milk ones, It was still just as scary. Not only was I scared of having a reaction, I was really hoping I would be able to finally have ice cream!
I was so excited when I finally passed. My mom and I went straight to the grocery store right after the appointment. We bought ice cream, yogurt, chocolate, and basically everything you can imagine with milk in it. I didn’t end up actually eating a lot of that though because after the test, and for a few days, I felt extremely sick. My stomach had never dealt with milk before, and it did not like it!
Once my stomach settled down, I was able to tolerate a little milk at a time. I would have a small amount of milk products throughout the day. After awhile though, I was able to eat milk products pretty normally. Now I can enjoy a big bowl of ice cream anytime!
Its been a crazy experience but I am so thankful that I was able to outgrow my milk and peanut allergies.
Food Allergy Eats 