I am a mom on a mission. Has anyone ever heard of someone having a blue dye allergy? Well, we are pretty sure my sweet Emma has one. It all started about 3 1/2 years ago at her 4th birthday party. She was in the process of getting her face painted and passed out. It took a while for her to come back to but it was obvious that she lost oxygen during the "episode" because her lips turned blue. We immediately called the doctor and he just assumed that she had gotten overheated during her party and told us not to worry about it. So, life went on as usual. A year later, we take a trip to Disney. Emma decides she wants to get her face painted. Needless to say, I was a little worried due to our last experience with face painting but we let her do it. Well, it happens again. She starts passing out and losing oxygen. At this point, I am panicing because I know something is wrong. She is having some sort of reaction to something in the paint. We get back to our hometown and tell the doctor what happened. We get sent to an allergist who states he cannot test for allergies in paint. So, we get sent to a Cardiologist. He ran an EKG which was normal and said it just sounded like she has Vaso Vagal syndrome. Our pediatrician concurs and we go about life as usual. However, the mom in me knows that she does not have Vaso Vagal but how can I prove it? What is it that she is allergic to? Let's go down the road a few months. She is getting a princess tattoo after her dentist appointment and passes out after gets it. Hmmm.... I still can't figure this out. Well, this has been 3 years going on and I have just not allowed her to get her face painted or tattoos in case it is in deed an allergy. The other day, I got another piece to the puzzle. Emma came downstairs with an upset stomach. I gave her some Immodium (the mint green kind) and she starts having one of her episodes. I look on the back of the bottle and what is in the ingredient list?? Blue Dye! I feel like I am so much closer to an answer now. I have been doing some research and Blue dye is in a ton of foods that are processed and can be the cause of ADHD and many other conditions. I am fixing to switch our family and go "all natural" for the health of my children. I will let you know the progress in my conquest. If any of you have any suggestions or you or your child suffer from this, I welcome and encourage you to give me any feedback on your experience.
A good article to read:
http://home.allergicchild.com/less-common-allergies-food-dye/
