Living With Allergies – Review

Emma Amoscato is one of the countries leading Allergy Bloggers,  she runs a great  blog called Free From Farmhouse that talks about her life with her two allergic children.

Recently she decided to put all of the information she’s learnt into a book – Living with Allergies; Practical tips for all the family. Finding sensible information about allergies can be difficult. There is no cure for allergies. Symptoms vary over time, and people can be allergic to anything. That makes it difficult to know where to start if you or your child are constantly ill.  So in this grey area, there is a lot of unhelpful advice on the internet. That’s why Emma’s book is so important. It is recommended by AllergyUK and has been endorsed by Dr Adam Fox, Consultant Paediatric Allergist at Guys and St Thomas’. Dr Fox is a leading Paediatric Allergist, having his endorsement demonstrates that the book has valuable information and sound advice.

There is still so much we don’t understand about autoimmune disorders. Why do allergies suddenly become serious? Why do they develop later in life? It may be some time before we understand why the immune system overreacts. Treatments are often about avoidance, and reducing symptoms, certainly not cure. This is why a book like Emma’s is so valuable, she’s not providing a solution,but rather arming readers with knowledge. The book gives clear explanations about all types of allergies. I was delighted to see Fpies included, since Molly suffers from FPIES with egg.  Getting the less ‘classical’ allergies acknowledged is important, and Emma’s book covers them all.

I particularly like the ‘Expert Insight’ pieces, when Emma interviews doctors who specialise in each topic such as dermatology, asthma, Non-Ige Allergies.  The chapters that really caught my attention were the Non-Ige allergies, and the Fpies (for obvious reasons). These are conditions that need to be discussed and understood as they can cause a great deal of pain. Delayed reactions are always hard to figure out. It’s vital that they are treated as seriously as the more easily understood allergic reactions.  Parents need to be aware of these types of reactions so they can raise it with their GP. There is a long way to go with understanding Non-Ige allergies.  On the plus side, there is real excitement around the research being done around gut health and bacteria. This could be an exciting breakthrough for allergy sufferers.

Dr Adam Fox’s suggestion that parents get a copy of the Nice Food Allergy Guidance so that they can have informed discussions with GP’s is vital. Getting Molly diagnosed was a nightmare, it took years.  It wasn’t until a kind nurse recommended that I read the Nice Guidelines that we started to get some proper help. Since Molly was vomiting endlessly it was diagnosed as Reflux, not allergy.  I was even told by one allergist that I was ‘projecting’ my allergies onto Molly.  It was a dark time, and if we’d had access to Emma’s book we might have gotten our FPIES diagnosis sooner and saved Molly a great deal of pain.

So if you, or someone you know is an allergy suffer then Emma’s book is a great place to start. Packed with easy to understand explanations of allergies, allergic reactions, and treatments as well as discussing the impact of allergies on day to day life. One of the the areas that is just beginning to be discussed is the anxiety parents and children live with when dealing with allergies. Emma’s book has tips on how to deal with this, no hand wringing, no how awful it is – just straight forward advice on how to cope.

Even if you’ve lived with allergies all your life, this book is a great reference to read and review so you’re up to date on the latest allergy advice.  You can get it on Amazon here;

Living with Allergies