About a year ago 16-year-old Makayla Mason couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.
“I was getting violently sick all the time and I was sick for weeks and weeks and weeks,” she said.
Doctors told her she was healthy, but her mom suspected a food allergy. The current Southeast High junior spent weeks trying to figure out which foods triggered the sickness. She would cut a food from her diet and see how her stomach felt.
It turns out she is allergic to gluten, found in wheat and certain grains. She also learned she’s allergic to peanuts, tomatoes, seafood and garlic. Makayla already knew she had dairy and soy allergies.
Like many other teens, she has learned to live with her allergies, researching which foods she can eat and which foods she should avoid.
“Once it (wheat) all got out of my system, I felt so much better than I had in a long time,” Makayla said.
The dairy allergy is a blood allergy, which means it makes Makayla really sick. She found out what happens the hard way: she once accidentally drank 2 percent milk.
“It’s an almost instant reaction. It gives you violent stomach aches,” Makayla explained. “It’s not fun.”
But the gluten allergy is considered a skin allergy. It takes several hours after eating something for Makayla to find herself with extreme abdominal pain.
Determining the cause
Doctors find out what foods or products a person is allergic to by pricking the patient’s arm with small amounts of the potential allergen. Makayla’s allergies are pretty potent.
She became depressed for the first few months after cutting gluten out of her diet.
“I really loved Italian foods so it was really hard,” Makayla said. “When you get cut off from something you really like, it’s just hard at first.”
Before the diagnosis, she wanted to go into baking. Her stepdad was teaching her to make and decorate cakes. They also made Christmas cookies together each year.
“(Now) I’m allergic to it, so I can’t, which is no fun,” she said. “We all love cooking in this house because making food is fun.”
Makayla’s mom, Tricia Byrd, and stepdad, Richard Byrd, helped her find out what she could eat to replace other meals. Her mom looks for magazines and cookbooks with gluten-free recipes. They’re learning to make new meals together.
When it comes to school lunches, Makayla always brings her own lunch to avoid wheat and the school’s dairy milk.
She’s taken to apple sandwiches, an apple cut into discs with almond butter, jelly and gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chips. She combines that with fruits and vegetables.
There are costs associated with buying different foods.
“My food is extremely expensive,” Makayla said.
One of the most important steps for Makayla is informing people about her allergy. When she goes out to eat, she has to make sure the staff cleans the stove and utensils to prevent cross-contamination.
Changing allergies
Joel Knox, 17, has known about his allergies since he was about 3. His mom came home and found him with a blank look on his face after he got sick. Joel has milk, wheat and gluten allergies.
As the home-schooled senior grew up, he started to read labels and figure out which products may have gluten in them. His mother, Lisa Knox, also investigated options for him.
“Bless that woman. I have no idea how much time … she has just spent looking into recipes,” he said. “She’s always coming up with something new.”
In addition, his friends are respectful of his allergies.
“Usually, they’ll have something set aside for me,” Joel said.
When he goes out to eat, Joel looks for gluten-free options. Bob Evans has a particular menu he enjoys.
It’s helped to have the allergy in the spotlight.
“A lot of things that you would find normally in supermarkets nowadays actually do come gluten free,” Joel said. “I’m actually glad that there are a lot more options now that don’t taste like cardboard.”
Having allergies proves tough on occasion. When Joel attended Glenwood Middle School he earned an ice cream party for his class through a reading program.
“But, of course … I really didn’t take part,” he said. “It’s very disappointing in many aspects.”
As happens in some cases, Joel has started to grow out of his gluten sensitivities. He even managed to digest pancakes at Ruby Tuesday. He still limits his intake to prevent getting sick, but he’s having some luck testing out foods that had previously been off-limits.
He’s now cheating every few days, hoping to completely outgrow the gluten allergy in a few years.
“I’m definitely glad that I’ve been able to make a lot of progress,” Joel said.
Some allergies are confusing
Tri-City High grad Kaitlyn Sommer found out as a young child that she’s allergic to blue dye. She drank blue Kool-Aid around age 5 and broke out into hives. She’s tried to avoid blue foods and products ever since to avoid anaphylactic shock, a life-threatening allergic reaction.
So the Purdue University freshman avoids blue Gatorade, blue candy, Tide laundry detergent and other blue detergents, and blue mouthwash.
Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to tell which products have a lot of blue dye. Kaitlyn found the hard way that, though red, Cherry Bombs have a high amount of blue dye.
To avoid such confusion, she reads bottles to see how much blue dye products have.
“I’m kind of cautious around red things,” Kaitlyn explained. “(But) I don’t want to completely cut out all colors of my life.”
“I was getting violently sick all the time and I was sick for weeks and weeks and weeks,” she said.
Doctors told her she was healthy, but her mom suspected a food allergy. The current Southeast High junior spent weeks trying to figure out which foods triggered the sickness. She would cut a food from her diet and see how her stomach felt.
It turns out she is allergic to gluten, found in wheat and certain grains. She also learned she’s allergic to peanuts, tomatoes, seafood and garlic. Makayla already knew she had dairy and soy allergies.
Like many other teens, she has learned to live with her allergies, researching which foods she can eat and which foods she should avoid.
“Once it (wheat) all got out of my system, I felt so much better than I had in a long time,” Makayla said.
The dairy allergy is a blood allergy, which means it makes Makayla really sick. She found out what happens the hard way: she once accidentally drank 2 percent milk.
“It’s an almost instant reaction. It gives you violent stomach aches,” Makayla explained. “It’s not fun.”
But the gluten allergy is considered a skin allergy. It takes several hours after eating something for Makayla to find herself with extreme abdominal pain.
Determining the cause
Doctors find out what foods or products a person is allergic to by pricking the patient’s arm with small amounts of the potential allergen. Makayla’s allergies are pretty potent.
She became depressed for the first few months after cutting gluten out of her diet.
“I really loved Italian foods so it was really hard,” Makayla said. “When you get cut off from something you really like, it’s just hard at first.”
Before the diagnosis, she wanted to go into baking. Her stepdad was teaching her to make and decorate cakes. They also made Christmas cookies together each year.
“(Now) I’m allergic to it, so I can’t, which is no fun,” she said. “We all love cooking in this house because making food is fun.”
Makayla’s mom, Tricia Byrd, and stepdad, Richard Byrd, helped her find out what she could eat to replace other meals. Her mom looks for magazines and cookbooks with gluten-free recipes. They’re learning to make new meals together.
When it comes to school lunches, Makayla always brings her own lunch to avoid wheat and the school’s dairy milk.
She’s taken to apple sandwiches, an apple cut into discs with almond butter, jelly and gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chips. She combines that with fruits and vegetables.
There are costs associated with buying different foods.
“My food is extremely expensive,” Makayla said.
One of the most important steps for Makayla is informing people about her allergy. When she goes out to eat, she has to make sure the staff cleans the stove and utensils to prevent cross-contamination.
Changing allergies
Joel Knox, 17, has known about his allergies since he was about 3. His mom came home and found him with a blank look on his face after he got sick. Joel has milk, wheat and gluten allergies.
As the home-schooled senior grew up, he started to read labels and figure out which products may have gluten in them. His mother, Lisa Knox, also investigated options for him.
“Bless that woman. I have no idea how much time … she has just spent looking into recipes,” he said. “She’s always coming up with something new.”
In addition, his friends are respectful of his allergies.
“Usually, they’ll have something set aside for me,” Joel said.
When he goes out to eat, Joel looks for gluten-free options. Bob Evans has a particular menu he enjoys.
It’s helped to have the allergy in the spotlight.
“A lot of things that you would find normally in supermarkets nowadays actually do come gluten free,” Joel said. “I’m actually glad that there are a lot more options now that don’t taste like cardboard.”
Having allergies proves tough on occasion. When Joel attended Glenwood Middle School he earned an ice cream party for his class through a reading program.
“But, of course … I really didn’t take part,” he said. “It’s very disappointing in many aspects.”
As happens in some cases, Joel has started to grow out of his gluten sensitivities. He even managed to digest pancakes at Ruby Tuesday. He still limits his intake to prevent getting sick, but he’s having some luck testing out foods that had previously been off-limits.
He’s now cheating every few days, hoping to completely outgrow the gluten allergy in a few years.
“I’m definitely glad that I’ve been able to make a lot of progress,” Joel said.
Some allergies are confusing
Tri-City High grad Kaitlyn Sommer found out as a young child that she’s allergic to blue dye. She drank blue Kool-Aid around age 5 and broke out into hives. She’s tried to avoid blue foods and products ever since to avoid anaphylactic shock, a life-threatening allergic reaction.
So the Purdue University freshman avoids blue Gatorade, blue candy, Tide laundry detergent and other blue detergents, and blue mouthwash.
Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to tell which products have a lot of blue dye. Kaitlyn found the hard way that, though red, Cherry Bombs have a high amount of blue dye.
To avoid such confusion, she reads bottles to see how much blue dye products have.
“I’m kind of cautious around red things,” Kaitlyn explained. “(But) I don’t want to completely cut out all colors of my life.”