Allergies and Eating Out

My sister is a chef; her husband is also a chef and general manager of a Marriott hotel.  They are fabulous when it comes to making allergy friendly meals.  They do have some advise for anyone that has dietary restrictions and eating out.  

Most restaurants are more than happy to accommodate any restrictions you have.  It is recommended that you call ahead! Remember that these places have a set menu, with set recipes.  It takes time to deviate from these recipes and get a good result.  Chef's are artists at heart, and do not want to serve you sub par food.  If you call and let them know a general time that you plan on eating at their restaurant, they will ensure that the food you need is available to you in a timely manner.  This also ensures that you will not get food that will cause you physical harm.

Are all restaurants willing to do this? Sadly, no.  But it never hurts to call and ask.  This will make things much more pleasant for you.  A simple phone call can increase the quality of your food and your time.

Cryptic Symptoms

Lil' bit has had a lot of bladder problems this year.  Every time, it looked like another UTI had surfaced and I would flush her system with cranberry juice and a ton of fluids in general. She also has extremely sensitive skin so I also leave off anything touching her skin 'down there' as much as possible.

She recently got another infection.  This time, nothing was working.  So, off to the doctor we went.  Antibiotics were ordered, but they didn't work.  Thankfully, I have a pediatrician who doesn't believe that a prescription is the only answer and ordered allergy testing.    The testing showed that she very allergic to whey protein.   She also has allergies to casein (another milk protein), eggs and wheat.

These allergies cause her bladder to spasm after they are digested and mimics a urinary tract infection.  Lil' Bit has now been off of all milk proteins for a week now.  She hasn't had any more potty accidents and she's woken up dry 2 nights this last week, but is still complaining that her bottom hurts.

Our next step is to eliminate wheat.  It's amazing how much she has improved, and while it may be difficult to cut out wheat, I know that it will all be worth it.