1 year and 3 months. The only way to keep a strict gluten free diet that long is to see improvement. Thank God she is leaps and bounds healthier than she was, than she has ever been!
In August '13, at 8 months gluten free, Em started getting blisters inside her mouth. Now typically, when she's accidentally exposed to gluten, there is gastrointestinal consequences as well as blisters around her mouth. They usually do not appear on her lips, just her face and chin surrounding her mouth. So when she was getting blisters inside the mouth, our (myself and the doctor) first assumption was hand-foot-mouth. The only problem was, she would seem to get better only to develop more blisters. I was watching her foods and couldn't seem to find a correlation. Around November '13, she developed a persistent cough that just wouldn't go away. In January, her doctor referred us to an allergist for some extended food allergy testing.
She had been tested for basic allergies in the past and only showed a minor dust allergy and no foods out of the "Big 8." This time, in March, they tested her with 58 different foods. Poked her up and down her poor little back, she was such a trooper, didn't even flinch.
Three foods showed up. Wheat, no surprise that she'd react there, but a double whammy with celiac disease AND an allergy. Then carrots, which was a bit of a shock...I've never heard of a carrot allergy before. Turns out that it's a very popular allergy in Europe. Then soy. Soy was the devastating, how can I handle this, what on earth is she going to eat type allergy I was dreading. I actually had anxiety the few days leading up to this, worrying that it was going to be something big. I can't say I was particularly surprised though. It was obvious that whatever was causing her symptoms came from something she ate regularly, pretty much daily.
The first day I went grocery shopping, I spent over an hour in the store and only walked out with about $40 worth of food. Reading ingredients takes time! The next day, I cleaned out her "gluten free shelf" in the cabinet to make sure the foods in there were also soy free. I ended up taking about half the foods off the shelf. I was shocked by how many products contained soy. Then I learned more...products containing vegetable oil had to go if they didn't specify exactly what kind of oil they used. It's not so simple as reading an "allergen" warning on a product, but you have to dig for the hidden allergens also! Her gluten-free salad dressings were all made with soybean oil, poor bug, salad was the one thing she loved and would eat regularly. Then cooking spray, yes, it says 100% canola oil...one minor detail though, it contains soy lecithin and therefore is NOT 100% canola oil. No matter how trivial the amount, it is still there!
I have always carried a dislike for GMO soy, and thought I had done a decent job of avoiding it. I couldn't have been more wrong. It is in an incredible amount of stuff.
So now we have a list of foods she can't eat...wheat, due to both celiac disease and an allergy, oats due to intolerance, carrots, and soy due to allergies.
She is going to be healthier than us all though. She is eating mostly whole foods, meats, fruits, vegetables etc. Although we've found a few treats that are safe, such as marshmallows. Once again, in just over a month since cutting out soy and carrots, her health has improved considerably. No more blisters in the mouth. Less exhausted. No more coughing. She is also on zyrtec and flonase for airborne allergens (dust mites lvl 4, dogs 3, and cats 2) and has a purifier running in her room. They started her on singulair originally, because of mild asthma, and she turned into a BEAR. Crying, hitting, yelling, tantrum throwing craziness. Changing to zyrtec was much better.
Now, off to do a search for soy-free chocolate chips...
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