It has taken 8 years for me to find out why certain foods made me so sick during my last pregnancy and still do! I had constantly complained to my GP that even the smell of cooking meat made me feel ill during pregnancy. If I touched anything with even a small amount of banana or avocado in it, I would be in bed for 24 hrs feeling like I was going to die. I also found chocolate, ice cream and coffee made me sick. My GP’s response: ‘that’s strange’! It wasn’t until last year when my 8 year old daughter became unwell, that it was all figured out. Initially she had a lymph node biopsy for lymphoma and then was tested for lupus and referred to a paediatric rheumatologist. It was through chance that my middle daughter who is lactose intolerant was referred to a dietician due to a flare up of her irritable bowel symptoms. I happened to discuss my eight year olds symptoms with the dietician as I was convinced there was something wrong with her gut that may have been causing all of her other symptoms and sure enough, after 4 weeks on an extremely restricted elimination diet, her symptoms disappeared. The dietician also informed me I have amine intolerance. I find it interesting that with my two other pregnancies I had no issues with foods at all and that the child I had after developing the symptoms myself ended up with such severe chemical intolerances that she was investigated for cancer and lupus. Sondra, by email