Soy Allergy

So now that I have a better understanding of what may be going on with Siena, I can finally put together a post about the past week or so. So you may remember about 2 weeks ago Siena's visit to the doc for acid reflux and a possible dairy allergy. Well after being on the Zantac for a week I switched her to the hypo allergenic formula (super expensive and smells horrible). So after 5 days of being on this formula I decided to add in 2 oz of soy formula to her bottle and see if I could get her on soy formula with the hopes of not having to pay for the super expensive formula. With in about 6 hours of giving her the soy she broke out in a huge firey red rash on her behind. She has had this rash many times before but we have never connected it to any thing other than possibly it being the really acidic poop since the rash only occurs when poop is stuck to her for more than 10 minutes or so.

After seeing that reaction it occurred to me that this may not be a dairy allergy at all but possibly a soy allergy. The one time we switched her to soy as an experiment to help with gassiness, the gas got worse so we switched back to dairy. Again, we never connected the rashes with the soy or dairy. After this accidental discovery I looked at the can of dairy formula and found out that it contains SOY! Infact I could not find one brand of formula that did not contain soy. Even the hypo allergenic formula has soy in it. After freaking out over that I found out yesterday that the soy in this particular formula is so broken down that it is impossible to be allergic to it. (yay!) By the way, we are still paying for the soy experiment. She is not sleeping at night and acts like she is super uncomfortable. However since being on the hypoallergenic formula she is no longer a farting machine for 5am to 7am every morning.

So for now we have to assume (due to the rash which started bleeding tuesday night and her improvement with her poops) that she is allergic to soy. Until proven otherwise we must not allow Siena to have soy. You'd think that may be easy but you are wrong. Below is a collective list of things I found for people with soy allergies.

Avoid foods that contain any of the following ingredients:

miso
shoyu sauce
soy (flour, grits, nuts, milk, tofu soy bean sprouts)
soybean (granules, curd)
soy sauce
Edamame
Kinako
Kouridofu
Mono-diglyceride
Natto
Nimame
Okara
Soya, soja, soybean, soyabeans
Soy protein (isolate/concentrate), vegetable protein
Tempeh
Textured soy flour (TSF), textured soy protein (TSP), textured vegetable protein (TVP)
Tofu (soybean curds)
Yuba

Ingredients that MAY indicate the presence of soy protein:
flavorings
hydrolyzed plant protein
hydrolyzed soy protein
hydrolyzed vegetable protein
natural flavoring
vegetable broth
vegetable gum
vegetable starch
Hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP), hydrolyzed soy protein (HSP), hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
Lecithin
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) (may contain hydrolyzed protein)

Studies show that most soy allergic individuals may safely eat products containing soy lecithin and soy oil.

Soy is present is the following:

Baby formulas
Baked goods and baking mixes, e.g., breads, cookies, cake mixes, doughnuts, pancakes
Bean sprouts
Beverage mixes, e.g., hot chocolate, lemonade
Bread crumbs, cereals, crackers
Breaded foods, chili, pastas, stews, taco filling, tamales
Canned tuna/minced hams
Chewing gum
Cooking spray, margarine, vegetable shortening, vegetable oil
Diet drinks, imitation milk
Dressings, gravies, marinades
Frozen desserts

Processed and prepared meats, e.g., beef, deli, pork, poultry
Sauces, e.g., soy, shoyu, tamari, teriyaki, Worcestershire
Seafood-based products, fish
Seasoning, spices
Simulated fish and meat products, e.g., surimi (imitation crab/lobster meat), simulated bacon bits
Snack foods, e.g., candy, chocolate, energy bars, fudge, popcorn, potato chips
Soups, broths, soup mixes/stock
Spreads, dips, mayonnaise, peanut butter
Thickening agents
Vegetarian dishes

Cosmetics, soaps
Craft materials
Glycerine
Milk substitutes for young animals
Pet food
Vitamins

I've decided that Siena (not by choice) will have a very healthy, mostly raw diet which in turn will keep her physique fit and trim. :-) Most children out grow soy allergies by age two, but not all. Soy is one of the rarer allergies. Also babies allergic to soy commonly are allergic to dairy.