Lots of people are allergic to wheat gluten… milk products… corn. I have a friend who gets leg cramps whenever she eats anything that has potato starch or flour in it.

I know I’m allergic to everything. My body is all round and puffed out. bwaa ha ha ha ha. (oops, I guess that is caused by eating tooooooooooo much.)

I sure hope you find an answer.

Maybe we can swing by this office on our trip to CO. haha

And the corn, wheat, milk part is what I was really interested in.

I have a cousin and an aunt who are both highly allergic to corn. The cousin also is highly allergic to red dyes. Guess how the allergy manifests itself? Extreme hyperactivity and downright bizarre behavior. Sometimes they will get red splotches (though not exactly hives) too, but not always. Cutting the corn and red dye out of their diets helped dramatically. I think my cousin also has a problem with cow’s milk.

There’s a place in Wichita that does this type of testing. Here’s the link:
http://www.brightspot.org/
They are the ones who did my aunt’s and cousin’s allergy testing. They came up from Texas just to go to this place.

And HELL YEAH $550 should get you the whole set of tests!

Have you read Is This Your Child by Dolores Rapp? That book may be helpful.

I’m really blown away that your allergist said that because I have met quite a few families who have their children on special diets because of ADD/ADHD. They have discovered that their children have certain foods which trigger the behavior. I figured this was getting to be pretty widely accepted. Unfortunately it isn’t as easy as keeping them away from artificial colors and sweetners or too much sugar. Some of these kids are allergic to common foods like corn, wheat, and milk.

Knitting:

So, I started off by watching someone else and getting shown how. Didn’t take the first time or 2nd or 3rd… Finally, I tried again last year and it stuck. I watched videos online from Knitting Help dot com (fabulous!). I chatted with friends online when I got stuck.

I started with something smaller and rectangular. I would recommend getting some easy yarn to work with and trying something like a dishcloth. Small and doable. For needles, I got some at Wal-Mart and Jo-Anns to start with. Now that I love it, I am springing for the better needles like the Addi Turbos.

For a size to start with, kind of depends on the yarn that you get. If you want to email me, I can hook you up with a lot of links and stuff. I’d be happy to help.

Sorry it took so long. Mini-self-crises and illness here derailed me. I am coming back though.

And like asbestos, one day I imagine it will be common knowledge that formaldehyde in carpets was a bad idea. We are slowly, ever so slowly, working our way into a safe home “environment,” replacing pillows and carpets with safer alternatives. Mattresses are the next step. It’s just all so expensive, and unfair that choosing the healthier (meaning not poisonous, imagine that!) alternative should cost more.

ANYWAY.

Hub and I used to joke out of her hearing that the makers of the cereal must add a good portion of a$$hole powder, because within half an hour of consuming a bowl, she was a raving a$$hole.

I have a friend or three who have not had kids tested, but have removed foods with dyes (particularly red dyes) from their children’s diet and found a huge difference.