Over the years getting Jasmine the right diagnosis has been an uphill battle. More so because her GP was adamant that she was intolerant to milk rather than allergic to it, then said the two are the same, boy was he wrong!
What is the difference you may wonder?
Food allergies range from mild to life threatening (anaphylaxis). When a food is consumed the immune system reacts to it and starts to fight it off thinking it is harmful, resulting in symptoms such as: itchy throat, eyes, mouth or ears, swelling of lips, face or eyes and possible other parts of the body, hives, wheezing, rash, vomiting, diarrhoea and in some cases anaphylaxis.
A food intolerance causes symptoms such as: Abdominal pain, bloating, excess gas, diarrhoea and sometimes itching. This is because the body has difficulty digestion particular food resulting in adverse reactions. Whilst unpleasant an intolerance does not compromise the immune system therefore is never life threatening un like a food allergy.
There are some wonderful charities out there at the moment such as The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation who are campaigning to appoint an Allergy Tsar to protect the allergy community. There is also the Anaphylaxis Campaign who have been my support when times have gotten really hard and they have so much information available as well as a helpline. If you need further clarification on Food allergies Vs Food intolerances always seek medical advice and never be afraid to ask for a second opinion, throughout Jasmines journey we have had a lot of 'second opinions', if you feel something is not right then it most probably isn't.
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