living with food allergies- my story

every morning. the same routine. workout and reward myself with a delicious smoothie! every day they were a little different. sometimes i would use strawberry, sometimes dragon fruit, sometimes blueberries, but one thing was the same every day: i would always use a banana and vanilla almond milk- yum!

one morning, it all changed. i was having unexplainable medical problems and had decided to try out an immunologist. he also happened to be an allergist, and that is how i ended up being tested for over 100 allergies. the first time i was tested, i found out i was positive to every pollen and mold you could imagine, most animals, and that my worst allergy was latex. during my testing, i began to enter anaphylaxis when my tongue swelled, so we had to stop testing 4 minutes in. i also found out i had asthma. it was a shock. i started carrying an epipen and inhalers with me everywhere i went, which was a huge change for me. before, i had no idea i had any allergies at all and i did not think i had asthma.

the next week, i went in for food testing. the most severe allergies i tested positive to were peanuts, tree nuts, all fish and seafood, and sesame. some of my lesser allergies were milk, eggs, corn, all fruits minus citruses, black and green pepper, and a couple of veggies. again, i began to go into anaphylaxis with my tongue swelling, so we had to stop. i talked with my parents and decided to cut out all my allergens for a week then eat them one at a time to see how they made me feel. the next day, i headed to the store. i tried out whole foods and target and only found a few things i could eat such as pea crisps(by harvest snaps) and veggie sticks (by the daily crave).

my new allergies caused a lot of worries and one evening, i was so worried that i decided to go see what the bible said about worry. i just happened to open up to matthew 6 in which jesus says, “this is why I tell you: don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?" and later on he adds, "so don’t worry, saying, ‘what will we eat?’ or ‘what will we drink?’ or ‘what will we wear?' for the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. each day has enough trouble of its own." what a reminder that God knows just what we need and that worrying about the future cannot do anything! when i was worrying, i was stopping myself from actually learning more about my allergies in real life and just living life. instead of hanging out with friends, i was searching my allergies online and worrying about how i was going to manage. that verse also inspired the idea behind my blog. if i can point others to jesus though my struggle with allergies and help others know what i did not at first, i can help people not to worry as much and be more prepared for real life with allergies.

all that being said, i still have much to learn and plenty more questions, but i felt the Lord calling me to be real and open through my struggles. my advice to someone newly diagnosed with food allergies severe or mild is: instead of "over worrying" where it affects your joy (it's okay to worry a little), go out and find out how to live with your allergies (go out to eat and see what you can get, go to the store, etc.) and reach out to other people who have food allergies and ask for their tips and advice! thanks for reading and don't be afraid to reach out if you have any questions!