Don't Let Food Allergies Get You Down

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My name is Sarah and I am 16 years old. When I was a baby, I was told that I had an allergy to egg. Fortunately for me, I grew out of my allergy when I was about 2 years old.

Shortly after that, however, I began getting hives around my mouth that began spreading around my body. I was immediately taken to the doctor's office, where I was told that I had a peanut allergy that I would never be able to outgrow. Approximately 20% of those with peanut allergy outgrow it.

Living with a peanut allergy can be bothersome and is constantly a worry. From always having to read the fine print on packages to asking ingredient questions when eating away from home, I felt like my peanut allergy consumed not only my life, but my parents' lives. They had the worry of keeping me 100% peanut-free, which was difficult.

Dealing with my peanut allergy at school was a challenge within itself. At the time, I was the only one with a food allergy in my elementary school. I found that the hardest part of having my allergy at school was asking the other kids to not bring peanut to school or to keep it away from me. I never wanted to inconvenience other people or suffer because of my allergy.

Every year, I had to do a blood test to check my levels and had a yearly appointment with my allergist. He said that even though my levels were improving, I would never be able to get rid of my allergy. I just accepted the fact that this was something I would have to live with.

However, despite the odds against outgrowing my allergy, I was given the good news by my doctor at one of my appointments that my levels were low enough to do a peanut challenge. That was a year and a half ago and I have been free of peanut allergy since.

It was difficult at first to learn how to live as someone without a food allergy. That's who I was for 15 years, so to be able to eat anything I wanted was something that took getting used to. I want to let other people dealing with food allergies know that you should never let your allergy control your life. Never let it get you down and know that you are never alone, because there are a lot of people out there who are in your shoes.

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