anxiety related to food anaphylactic child

[purple_dog]

Hello to everyone out there who has an anaphylactic child...

Apparently there is a high incidence of anxiety among these parents, particularly the mothers as they are responsible for food preparation and management of these children. There is growing number of anaphylactic children in our society today,  and unfortunately experts at this point in time do not have the answers as to why this is happening, and no real treatment only management.

I myself have an anaphylactic child, and believe this is when my anxiety started and skyrocketed to ridiculous proportions. The stress of trying to feed and manage my child was overwhelming, as my son was diagnosed many years ago and there was very little awareness or acknowledgement in society and schools as there is today. My husband took a back seat and let me deal with it all, this just escalated my anxiety further.

Yes I was introduced to other parents who had similar children, and yes they were just as anxious as I was, some better, and some were even worse. I had mixed experiences in these interactions. Some mothers were great and if our childs allergy was the same, we discussed food options and meal preparation ideas which was helpful. However there were some negative experiences, with some mothers trying to "win" whose child had the most life threatening allergies/medical conditions. I found this very draining as I felt that we should have all been supporting each other.

So...I have survived almost 17 years of anaphylaxis, and hopefully have educated my son enough for him to make safe choices and manage his anaphylaxis as he now becomes an adult. I will still constantly worry about him, and that unexpected  phone call I may receive informing me that he is in hospital due to a reaction. Experts are working on food anaphylaxis and I am waiting for that breakthrough to help improve the lives of those affected.

I would love to hear from others who can relate

[Sophie_M]

Hi purple dog,

As you say it has not been easy, and there have been many hurdles along the way, but you have provided your son with the knowledge he needs to manage his own health and wellbeing. It obviously has been an anxious journey but hopefully now, as he has turned 17, you can take a small step back in overseeing his food choices.

You also wrote about the impact of socialising with other people in the same situation and you make a good point, sometimes this helped, sometimes it did not. To me this reflects something really important about the relationships we share with others. It can be really helpful to share the load; to share your concerns or listen to ideas from others, but you still need to reflect on this and decide what works best for you and your family. And, like in any relationship, you connect with some people and not with others; this may be because of differences in your personality, values and life experiences.

It is certainly important to seek out support from those around you but it needs to be from people that you relate to and connect with. This provides you with people to bounce ideas off, who you can call on when you need more help, and of course, people that you can enjoy life experiences with. When you have children it is not uncommon to put your own needs to the side.

So when it comes to your own anxiety we hope that it has begun to settle but if not please spend some time working through what supports or help you would benefit from. Your GP or a local health professional could support you and help you with this.