thanks, angel.....

....one thing i really wish i understood better is how allergies worsen. on one hand, i hear stories like yours, which makes sense; i've heard that each exposure can/will incr severity of reaction bc ea exposure leads to production of more antibodies. and when our last allergist thought my daughter'd outgrown her dairy allergy, she began reacting more & more violently to increasingly small amounts of dairy. then, on the other hand, i talk to folks like another mom at daycare whose son is allergic to peanuts. he can eat foods w/ peanut oils, & foods that have touched peanuts, but just not peanuts themselves or peanut butter; so why doesn't his allergy worsen? my daughter's allergic to sesame too, not just milk...people think i'm a little paranoid when i get edgy about a bagel that has had a sesame seed on it, but i just don't know how much she can tolerate, and the idea of trial/error makes me really nervous.... and besides; just bc she can tolerate "X" amount of sesame one day, how do i know whether or not she'll get a reaction to the same amount the next day? 
make sense? ...anybody have any insights for me??
thanks
marla

Marla Shapiro, Ph.D.
MSC 5A0622
Regents Center for Learning Disorders
Georgia State University
33 Gilmer Street SE, Unit 5
Atlanta, GA 30303-3085


>>> [log in to unmask] 03/07/03 03:45PM >>>
Hi Marla,
 Actually, it has gotten worse with time. ....