Eggs, Peanuts & Treenuts

My Food Allergy Story

My name is Gigi, and here is my food allergy story. Food allergies have affected me in so many ways I can remember. I was 9 months old when I was diagnosed with food allergies.

I remember when I was a kid, I would get invited to multiple birthday parties. I wasn’t able to eat cake or cupcakes there, because they had eggs. I used to be allergic to eggs, peanuts, and treenuts to the point where I would break out in hives if I even ate a tiny piece of it. Every time I would have a birthday party, my family would make multiple modifications for the food. The food was still good, but it would’ve tasted much better with eggs and nutella. Nutella has hazelnut, which I was also allergic to.

My mom saw how upset I was about this, and she did some research. She found a food allergy program all the way in Southern California! I was so excited when I found out that there could be a way to get rid of these allergies. I had to fly out all the way to California and I was also really excited. I had wanted to try mayochup (mayonnaise mixed with ketchup) so bad.

After some time, this program became exhausting and long. I was on the verge of giving up. However, I didn’t. I was determined to get rid of these allergies, no matter how long it took. It took me 6 years to finally get rid of all of these allergies. At the end, it was all totally worth it. I remember one time I failed a peanut challenge, and I felt like giving up. I broke out in hives and felt horrible. It was all worth it in the end, because now I can eat all of the things that I missed out on and I can finally do it guilt-free.

Some tips if you have allergies, are to first, figure out what else you can eat as a substitute. You should see if there are any treatment options available for you. These days there are different treatment opportunities throughout the US. Another thing to remember is to always have your emergency medication in reach.