The newest news!

No, we are not pregnant!!

The news to be shared is not that joyous - while it is not the opposite, it is not joyous either...

I have been officially diagnosed with food allergies. After years of daily headaches and unexplained stomach pains, our questions have been answered!! I am so thankful to have answers! I am so thankful my symptoms were nothing worse than pains in my head and in my abdomen. And I am so thankful that Daniel is the sweet man that he is and takes care of me when I'm in pain! There are individuals that suffer from far worse symptoms from their allergies than I, so I am thankful it is only mild food allergies and nothing more severe.

I am not one to write medical posts, especially on a public blog. But this one is not too personal and will hopefully give you an understanding of what we have been dealing with recently. Literally, dealing with, as this has been a life changing event for me! As dramatic as that may sound, it really has been a daily struggle and change! For the both of us!

Really, it all started when I had visited a neurologist to see why I was having daily headaches and all they could tell me was, "Here, take this medicine! Come back in three months and I will up your dosage." No thanks! I wanted more answers than that. I, then, went back to my PCM and shared my concerns of the pains and headaches, and I told him I have the markers of arthritis, to which he referred me to a Rheumatologist. Seventeen viles of blood later, they sent them off to the lab and that is when they discovered the allergies in the blood work.

As soon as I got the call from the doctor of the official test results, we decided, together, that I would not eat anything on the list!

Shrimp

Peanuts

Wheat

Cow's milk

Egg whites

Walnuts

Soybean

Codfish

So with our new plan in action, we set out to brave our local grocery store. Our normal 30-minute grocery shopping trip turned into a two-hour shopping experience! If you've ever shopped while looking at every items nutrition label, you know it adds some time to picking out food. Never have we ever noticed how much food has almost everything I'm allergic to! If it doesn't have one thing, it has another! If it's gluten free, it has milk. If it doesn't have milk, it has soy! Oh soy; there are a lot of food items that contain soy! I had no idea!!...

With my new "diet", I did not want Daniel to feel burdened just because my body was rejecting certain foods, so I told him to eat as normal. At first, he felt bad for eating yummy, creamy food infront of me, but, again, I did not want it to effect him! It was weird at first, not to be able to eat "normal" things...like cheese...or sandwiches, but it got easier the more I didn't eat it. I craved a few things and wanted a lot of food! I was hungry a lot and felt lost in my own kitchen. But after the shock my body went through, it got a lot easier to find other foods that I really did enjoy and it opened my eyes to understand what was "wrong" with me. Hah!

[[*UPDATE*:]] After 3 weeks eating allergen-free foods, I lost weight (unintentionally) and the pains subsided. It was three days until Thanksgiving and I was dreading facing the holidays with the food restrictions. We knew, at some point, we were going to "test" my sensitivity levels to the foods I'm allergic to... and so, the journey of reintroducing began... I drank a half a cup of cows milk. It was so good!! I had missed it dearly. No headache occurred!

Turns out, I CAN eat these items, I just have to be prepared for the potential pain to come. Thankfully, pain does not always occur. I can have flare ups some days but it's not everyday... Therefore, I am eating allergy free food but I also eat what I want occasionally :) and it's pretty nice! My levels are so low and we are very grateful for that. We have not reintroduced shrimp or peanuts yet but I have eaten foods that have been "cross contaminated" and it does not effect me! (Low allergen levels! Yay!)

That being said, I cannot drink a big glass of cows milk, nor eat an entire pizza! I have to limit what I eat, if it contains anything I'm allergic to.

Disclaimer: I am very empathetic to those who suffer worse side effects than I. And those who have higher allergy levels to foods. I am truly sorry and I do not mean to offend anyone with my comments on how "tough" it is for me. You probably have it worse and think I'm just a whiny Army wife. Again, I'm sorry! This is my story and my feelings.


This was something Daniel made me about a week after finding out the diagnosis. It is a rice cake, with turkey, mustard, and lettuce :) It was actually good! He was so creative with trying to find things that I could eat for lunch! :)

We found a great substitute for butter! Ghee!! Tastes a little funny at first, but it is better than dairy butter - especially for me.

I had run out to do errands and I came home to made-from-scratch hot chocolate that was allergy free! :) Daniel is so sweet to me!! I do not know what I have done to deserve this man <3