FRUIT IS BAD

More dangerous information and I’m unable to contact the author. I think this might be a sponsored post by the manufacturers of the hydrogen breath test. 

In short, if you suspect you might have HFI, please do NOT take the hydrogen breath test. It is dangerous for people with HFI and you might end up hospitalized or worse.

Dr. Tolan is the only doctor I know that specializes in HFI. A few HFIers have reached out to him and have received a response, but I imagine he is very busy.  This is doctor Tolan’s website with Boston University: http://www.bu.edu/aldolase/HFI/hfitest/hfitest.html The best resource I have found for sugars found in various foods is the CSID website: https://www.csidcares.org/csidcares-sitemap/

A new pizza joint opened up in my neck of the Appalachian woods. Blaze Pizza appears to have locations all over the US, so if you haven’t visited the restaurant yet, I have good news!

They have HFI-safe pizza, you guys! So, the first couple times I ate there, I tried to pick things that looked safe. Of course, I got sick because I didn’t look up the ingredients.  Here’s what you have to order: - gluten-free dough - white cream sauce or garlic pesto sauce (both of these have garlic in some amount--white cream has less than garlic pesto)

The rest of the ingredients are up to you, but avoid the meats. A quick look through all the ingredients shows sugar in all the meats (yes, even the chicken and pepperoni).  My go-to is spinach, basil, feta, mozzarella, mushrooms and black olives. 

I decided to test out some very expensive lactose-free milk for my dairy-challenged HFIers out there. I really don’t know how you survive in this world without dairy, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and fruits--but my hat is off to you.  There are a few parents with HFI babies who are also lactose intolerant. A lot of milk substitutes out there (almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, etc) are not HFI safe at all. (I tried soy milk in my coffee once and was projectile vomiting for a couple days.) Being parents of an HFI-baby is a complicated challenge, though. You have to rely on the information on labels (always horrible), what your doctor has told you is safe (I had one tell me he had no idea what I should and shouldn’t eat), or schmucks like me who are willing to guinea pig new foods on the market and let you know my reaction.

Well, let me tell you something. I tried the skim version of FairLife lactose free ultrafiltered milk and it tasted like chalk. It was not something that I would consider to “taste good” but it did not cause me to have an HFI-like reaction. In fact, I think this might be a good “drink this on an upset stomach” peptobismal substitute--that’s how chalky it taste. Of course, the 2% or Whole milk might taste significantly better.  The good news is, I think it’s okay to see how your kid does on it for a small trial run. Always check the ingredients, of course.  The other good news, is that this stuff is full of potassium and magnesium--both things that are difficult for HFIers to get out of their diet. It also has a lot of protein, so it could be a decent energy drink for any extracurricular activities. 

I get car sick. I’ve had this since I can recall. My family was so used to me vomiting in the car that they’d make a joke of it and have supplies ready for me.  I have this theory that HFIers have excellent constitutions--particularly those of us who have gone decades without a diagnosis. However, tack on one extra nauseating thing in addition to our preexisting HFI-nausea, and you better have easy access to a trash can, toilet, or the great outdoors. Which is why I think HFIers might be more inclined to suffer from motion/car sickness than most--it’s just one more attack on our precarious constitution. Growing up in a rural community meant I had to ride the bus to and from school for hours every day. To while away the hours, I would read. I noticed this would occasionally make me feel sick to my stomach. That was when I came across an article about the probable cause of motion sickness: motion in your peripheral vision with a still image in front of you. Sitting in the back seat (staring at the seat in front of me, while things moved out the side window) or reading a book would cause nausea, but if I closed my eyes or put down the book, the nausea passed. I found that I could still read my book so long as I couldn’t see out any windows. 

On the HFI Forum, one parent was dealing with her own case of car sickness--sometimes even getting nauseated before the car trip began! The parent added curtains to the back passenger windows and removed the passenger headrest so the child could see outside from the back seat. The result was a three hour car ride without any emergency stops due to car sickness!