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Huh, interesting. I had a string of UTIs in 2003-2004, I can't tell you how many times I had to have antibiotics. Then, all of a sudden, I haven't had one since. At the time, though, I didn't notice any allergic reactions to anything.

I have read about probiotics after the use of antibiotics though, and plan to do that when we've got to deal with a virus. When LO had an eye infection requiring antibiotic drops at age 10 months I didn't know any better, so we didn't do it then.

That's a really fasinating idea. Also, might explan why so many kids "grow out of" allergies if it's caused or aggravated by antibiotic use from childhood infections.

This is a really interesting theory. The rise of allergies has been such a mystery and it will be great when they can authoritatively link it to something. Our pedi advises against antibiotics as often as possible because of these kinds of possible side effects, and I'm so glad for that.

That being said, I also developed food and environmental allergies in college (never allergic to a single thing my entire life, then all of a sudden I cannot eat most fresh fruits and about half of fresh veggies, and get awful hayfever every summer). My dad developed the same exact allergies when he was about 21, and he was in Korea at the time two generations ago, so the late blooming allergies could definitely be genetic. Oh and he still has the same allergies although they're not as bad (I cannot eat an apple, but he'll have a little and just deal with the itchiness) and he's over 60 now.

@Andrea: yup-- we suspect he had a few ear infections but they resolved themselves within a few days. He got a bad one that he ended up needing antibiotics for. His fever didn't go down for a couple of days so we took him in. Otherwise he hasn't had antibiotics since he was born, I think!

@Red: What all is your LO allergic to? Depending on your LO's allergies and how severe they are probiotics may aggravate them more due to the cultures and/or fillers (although your LO might be fine with any, just wanted to toss this out there)..the most hypoallergeic and filler free probiotic I've found is GUTPro.

http://organic3.com/gutpro/?utm_source=wisetraditions&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=gutpro

DS has FPIES and his food allergy list is currently 20+ foods and growing. I'm looking into probiotics for him, but a lot of them contain fillers or are cultured on his trigger foods, like pork, soy, but GUTPro is free from all those plus it contains nothing but the 8 strains and is gluten and casein free.

Are you familiar with the GAPS (Gut & Psychology Syndrome) diet at all? We don't follow it here as DS is reacts to all forms of meat so far and we are vegan right now, but the idea is by drinking broth rich in bone marrow, fats and fermented veggies that you can "heal" the gut. Once symptoms no longer occur you start to add regular foods back in. It has been linked to reducing food allergies and I know several families that follow GAPS or parts of GAPS and have seen improvements in their food allergic kids. That might be something else for you to take a look into along with the probiotics.

Here's a blurb about food allergies and the introduction diet from the GAPS site: http://gapsdiet.com/INTRODUCTION_DIET.html

@skibobrown: I think it is a combination of all the things you stated as well as possibly the rise in antibiotic use. Everything is a factor, IMO.

I also believe that allergies have ALWAYS been around and just seem more common today because we have the technology and are better equipped to recognize and diagnose them. Just like cancer. It's been around for decades but you hear of it more now. We are just at an age in technology where we can diagnose more accurately and sooner so it appears more common.

@Mrs. Jacks: I didn't know that! I thought she just had MSPI (nothing just about that one either)! No fun is right....Did you have to go on a TED? I'm down to 6 foods and DS finally has 2 safe foods and we are slowly adding new things back in and discovering new allergies along the way. I'm hoping he outgrows most, if not all of them, but I'm prepared to be left with a few severe allergies like you are...I'm glad to hear she is doing well regardless!!

Sorry to threadjack!

@Mrs. Jacks: Gotcha and that makes sense! I'm down to very few foods myself, but it has made a world of a difference in DS and I'm so glad I went with the TED.

@brownie: that is also a good point. DS has a rice allergy, which is typically uncommon in the US, buy when I was doing research discovered countries where they eat a lot of rice it is more common. He is also 1/4 Asian so I'm not surprised now.

@Red: Not a problem! I'm so glad you found it useful. It makes sense to me too, so I'm a little bummed we can't try it at this point. I'm thinking of going GAPS for myself when I'm done breastfeeding just to get a good gut healing in there before any future children. Let us know how things go for you!

That's an interesting theory. I was frequently on antibiotics as a child for ear infections and tonsilitis to the point that I'm fairly antibiotic resistant now. However, I was the last of my siblings to develop seasonal allergies (my parents both have them). I did develop an intolerance to fresh fruit that my brothers don't have, but I was able to get over it by slowly reintroducing fruits in smoothies (no research, just worked off my own idea based on what I was reacting to).