Food Allergy financial help?

tinandsue

My child has been diagnosed with a milk allergy and I am wondering if there are any grants/benefits available to help with the extra costs of food?

Also, heard someone mention on a different site that for their child who also had a food allergy, they were able to claim Disability Living Allowance. Reading through the requirements for DLA, it seemed that you could do this if you had to spend extra time preparing separate food. As my child is 14, would they not be deemed old enough to be able to do it themselves?

Any available help much appreciated.

dmg24

You are correct, your child would be expected to avoid the relevant foods without you watching over him, so will not qualify for DLA. Unless you are able to get any of the items on prescription, there is no financial assistance available.

Oldernotwiser

What extra costs were you thinking of?

viktory

Good grief. This place never ceases to amaze me.

I am allergic to work - is there any extra help available for me?

Kimitatsu

Can I remind all of you to please be nice to all moneysavers

OP - no there is no help and to be honest if DLA were available for food allergies then the benefits bill would probably double! At 14 if she has only just been diagnosed with a food allergy then she is perfectly capable of avoiding those foods. The only foods available on prescription I am aware of are some gluten free foods and to qualify for those you need to have had a stomach biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.

If you daughter is allergic (dont mean to be patronising, but are you sure she is alergic i.e she goes into anaphylatic shock rather than intolerant where she just is in discomfort and pain if she eats milk products) do you know which parts of the milk she is allergic to? The milk proteins or the lactose? There are several threads on the food and shopping boards and the OS boards which can help.

viktory

Kimitatsu wrote: »

Can I remind all of you to please be nice to all moneysavers

Of course you can. Doesn't mean I'll take any notice though

Actually, I wasn't even nasty. Just incredulous. Surely that is still allowed on MSE?

SingleSue

Rice milk is a decent alternative and around the same price as a carton of normal milk....this can also be used in all cooking for cakes, breads etc.

Soya milk (often cited as a good replacement), does not always taste very nice.

Kimitatsu

viktory wrote: »

Of course you can. Doesn't mean I'll take any notice though

Actually, I wasn't even nasty. Just incredulous. Surely that is still allowed on MSE?

Oh Viktory I know that soooo well :rotfl::rotfl:

No you were not nasty, and to be fair you rarely are! I was just warning everyone before it went beyond incredulity and into slanging!

cifpower

I am lactose intolerant and can actually save money because I no longer buy crisps, chocolate, biscuits, cheese, yoghurts. I eat Tesco Value bourbon creams (45p a packet) and buy Lactofree milk (£1.20 a litre) and use Tesco Olive spread (£2 for a 1kg packet)

nannytone_2

we found out that my daughter was lactose intolerant when she went onto cow's milk as a baby (she's 28 now) i got soya milk on prescription for her at the time..............and it produced the most vile nappies you can imagine!
luckily she seemed to grow out of it by the time she was 10.

viktory

Kimitatsu wrote: »

No you were not nasty, and to be fair you rarely are! I was just warning everyone before it went beyond incredulity and into slanging!

Thank you, I appreciate that