What is FPIES?

FPIES is a severe delayed food allergy of the gut, it is understood to be a T-cell mediated response, a Non-IgE Food Allergy in which food is considered a foreign invader and the body fights, or attacks it, until it can violently expel it; although the exact mechanisms are still not well understood.

Symptoms include: profound vomiting (often to bile), diarrhea and/or constipation. These symptoms can quickly lead to: lethargy, low body temperature, low blood pressure and in severe cases, sepsis-like shock. And still yet, many parents report children also experiencing many discomforting symptoms while the body fights this reaction and these can include: extreme stomach pains, excessive gas, runny stools with or without mucus/blood, acid reflux, rashes/eczema, sleep disturbance, and agitation/inconsolable crying.

FPIES is a clinical diagnosis (based on symptoms and history) there is currently no test for it.

This is my definition of FPIES, defined by my own research in: medical journal articles, other families living through FPIES I 'meet' on the support groups and, of course, my own son. You can learn more about my research in FPIES here on this blog, and at The FPIES Foundation website.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

"In truth, question everything"....

This blog post on an allergy blog I follow: Grading the Severity of your Allergy: Sensitivity vs. Reaction Level, gives good advice on how to decipher your reaction levels, your severity.  What do you (or your child) react to?   Everything in the air?  Cross contamination?  Trace proteins?  Food families? Through breastmilk?  Through feed from the animal contaminating the meat?  Through formula?  On the skin?

With Non-IgE allergy, just as with an IgE Allergy, even the blood and skin tests will not tell the severity of an allergy; it will only tell the positive antibody production and the probability of reaction.   The only tried and true way to tell a person's reaction level is by testing it with elimination and challenge.  Eliminate the food from the diet, if symptoms subside, there are good chances you are allergic and need to eliminate that food, and all derivatives of it from the diet.  Some reaction symptoms are obvious enough you don't have to, nor would you want to, challenge the food.   A challenge would consist of a re-introduction of the food once suspected symptoms have resolved.  This challenge can also help determine severity of the allergy; as addressed in the above blog article.   Some people react to any and all minute derivatives or cross contamination of the allergen, some can handle derivatives or oils, etc.  The only true way to know is to challenge, and in the meantime- question everything.

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