September 30, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode of Don’t Feed the Fear, the family behind the ADINA Act joins me to talk about the federal bill's recently reintroduction to Congress. The Act seeks to require clear labeling of the Top 9 food allergens and gluten in prescription and over-the-counter medications. It's a critical step toward safety and transparency for people living with food allergies and celiac disease.
We explore the story behind the bill, the urgent need for allergen labeling in medications, and how families, advocates, and clinicians can come together to push for this change.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- Why allergen labeling in medications matters for millions of families
- Common challenges faced by patients and providers without clear labeling
- How the Adina Act could change the future of allergy care and safety
- Practical ways you can support this legislation right now
Instagram: @the_adina_act_effort
Facebook: The ADINA Act
Find Your Representative | house.gov
U.S. Senate: Contacting U.S. Senators
Special thanks to Kyle Dine for permission to use his song The Doghouse for the podcast theme!
www.kyledine.com
Find Dr. Whitehouse:
-thefoodallergypsychologist.com
-Instagram: @thefoodallergypsychologist
-Facebook: Dr. Amanda Whitehouse, Food Allergy Anxiety Psychologist
-welcome@dramandawhitehouse.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jen and Adina Togal (00:00):
I think that the biggest piece is just.
getting the word out.
Beyond that, I think that by andlarge, when we communicate with
organizations and individuals,everyone is on board and really
this mindset of why is this notalready a thing?
I didn't realize it wasn'talready, and let's get this
passed.
And our issue is reallyspreading the word and having
(00:21):
people like, share, talk aboutit, engage with their doctors,
talk about it with, you know,their pharmacists, they have.
Friends that are in the industryhave conversations.
That's really kind of wherewe're at in making sure that
we're sharing it as much aspossible.
Speaker (00:38):
Welcome to the Don't Feed the Fear podcast, where we
dive into the complex world offood allergy anxiety.
I'm your host, Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse, food allergyanxiety psychologist and food
allergy mom.
Whether you're dealing withallergies yourself or supporting
someone who is, join us for anempathetic and informative
journey toward food allergy calmand confidence..
(00:59):
Today's conversation is such animportant one.
We are joined by the familybehind the Adina Act, a bill
that was recently reintroducedinto Congress, and that would
require labeling of the top nineallergens and gluten.
In all medications, This is Jenand her daughter, whom the bill
is named after Adina the titleof the bill Adina stands for
Allergen Disclosure in Non-FoodArticles Act.
(01:21):
This the Adina Act would requireall medications, prescription
and over the counter to clearlylabel any ingredients that are
major food allergens or that arederived from gluten containing
grains.
This legislation is crucial forenhancing transparency and
safety for individuals with foodallergies.
As many medications containallergens that aren't currently
disclosed on the labels, manypeople don't realize that the
(01:41):
laws for food allergy labelingdon't apply to medications, and
it's so important that we changethis, This is about safety and
transparency for the millions ofAmericans living with food
allergies and celiac disease.
And the story behind this act isdeeply personal.
It was inspired by a terrifyingexperience that Adina had, and
so I appreciate her and her momcoming on the show today to talk
(02:03):
to us about the power ofadvocacy, persistence, and
turning our unfortunate livedexperiences into change.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (02:13):
Thank you so much to Adina and to her
mom, Jennifer Adina is theinspiration for the Adina Act,
which we've all been followingand getting excited about, and
I'm really happy to have youhere today to teach me more
about it and spread the wordwith everybody
Jen and Adina Togal (02:25):
thanks so much.
It, it's really nice to be here.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (02:27):
I think a lot of people who are
listening already know who youare, but do you mind, telling us
a little bit about yourself
Jen and Adina Togal (02:32):
Hi everyone.
My name is Adina Togal.
Have celiac disease eoe, whichis eosinophilic esophagitis and
a dairy allergy and fructosemalabsorption., A couple years
ago, while I was at my summercamp, I was diagnosed with strep
(02:52):
while I was in the Recoveryarea.
were going to give me the strepmedicine when they didn't know
if the strep medicine wasgluten-free.
They contacted my parents and myparents did everything they
could, you know, like with thelittle time that they had to
find out.
(03:12):
It was a Sunday when theycalled, which means that all of
the pharmacies and manufacturerswere closed.
It was just really hard to findan answer.
with my parents, knowing thatall of the staff were gonna be
keeping a really good eye on melike they do all the time, but
me being a little bit more nowbecause we're taking a medicine
(03:33):
that we aren't A hundred percentsure on, I took the medicine and
I would say close to aftertaking the medicine, I started
having symptoms, like severestomach pain and dizziness.
And your heart was racing.
(03:55):
Yeah.
And then I threw up.
And it kind of went down fromthere.
It didn't get better for about,like, hours.
My blood pressure was severelylow.
Around somewhere in the, likevery early in the morning, like
three in the morning, my, thecamp called my parents.
(04:20):
And they said, Adina needs to goto the hospital, whether we call
an ambulance or we drive herourselves.
Would you like to meet us there?
So drove me there and once I wasthere, I got my vitals back and,
you know, recuperated fromeverything that that had
(04:42):
happened.
And then once I got home.
We were still trying to figureout what was in that medication
because we wanted an answer, themanufacturer just kept giving us
the same answer.
Like, it's classified, it's onlyfor pediatrician.
So we got my pediatrician toapprove, like get, try and get
(05:02):
an answer from them.
They didn't really give a clearanswer to her either.
And so we noticed that this wasa really big trend that had been
happening a lot, especially likein our, like in past years with
us and so many other families.
So we decided to take action andwe emailed representative Dean
(05:25):
Phillips's office to ask, toschedule a meeting to talk about
this, to find a solution so thatthis doesn't have to happen
anymore because it really addsso much stress.
Onto families and childrenthemselves, maybe taking a
medication they don't know issafe and not being able to find
an answer.
And just the manufacturers notbeing cooperative at all and not
(05:45):
being able to give a goodanswer.
So we finally got a meeting withDean Phillips office and they
helped us find a solution.
rough draft that they were gonnatry and fit my name into it.
And it ended up being the AdinaAct, the Allergen Disclosure and
Non-Food Articles Act.
(06:06):
It was really great.
Once we heard about that, wetook immediate action, we
started finding co-sponsors toadd, so we were reaching out on
all of the different groups onsocial media to have them talk
to their state representativesand have them jump aboard.
joined Faires Courage forCongress, and we went on the
(06:31):
Capitol with hundreds of otherpeople in the community and
lobbied for not only the DinaAct, but others too.
The ADINA Act was mentioned atEV almost every single meeting,
which is great we, and we got somany co-sponsors in just that
day, which was such an amazingleap.
(06:51):
And now that the newcongressional session is in.
Session.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (06:59):
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (07:00):
The ADINA Act has been reintroduced and is
now awaiting more co-sponsors.
Amanda Whitehouse, P (07:06):
Wonderful.
So it's a long road.
You can have your guesses, Iassume, but you never were able
to get a straight answer aboutwhat was in the medication that
you took that caused the obviousresponse that you had.
Jen and Adina Togal (07:18):
Yeah, so from the parent perspective of
that story is we did get a call.
It was the weekend, like Adinahad mentioned.
We had done everything we couldon our end to try and verify the
safety of the medication becausecamp does an incredible job at
making sure to ensure safety,making sure that they're working
with us diligently reviewing notonly what she does, but what she
(07:40):
eats, how she interacts withothers, what could have caused
issues because there have beencircumstances where she got
cross contaminated withoutingesting anything.
I mean.
There was some pretty uniqueexperiences that result in a
cross contact, but this one inparticular, we ran through every
single action item thing thatshe ate and nothing made sense,
(08:06):
but the symptoms were veryconsistent with a cross contact
response.
And as things progressed, it wasvery clear.
There was no other question thatthis was a cross contact
situation.
And, you know, when we got thatcall, we called every pharmacy
we could get ahold of.
We called all of our friends whowere physicians or in the
(08:26):
industry.
We tried to call themanufacturer themselves, and of
course, it was past businesshours, so they weren't open.
We, we made every single phonecall and effort we could.
We googled every singleingredient, but the answers
received were varying at best.
Never really identified what isthe source of this, you know, it
(08:47):
could be corn or it could bedairy, or it could be nothing.
We don't know.
So at that moment we kind of, wekind of had to make the choice
of do we let her take themedication and have them watch
her like a hawk.
Or do we risk not having herhave medication, her strep
throat advancing and being in aposition before knowing how long
(09:09):
it can take to get an answer.
The reality is, is even if wewaited until the next business
day to try and get information,it might be another.
Two to three business days atbest before we actually had an
answer, and we couldn't leaveher untreated for that long.
so we, we made the choice to lether have that and unfortunately,
(09:32):
the response was pretty clear.
What was disappointing was thatwhen we reached out to the
pharmaceutical manufacturer thatthe response we got was
essentially a non-response, thena refusal to include us in a
conversation of escalationwithout a licensed pediatrician
or pharmacist being involved.
And then from that point, ittook, in total about three and a
(09:53):
half weeks before we got ananswer of them refusing to
provide details of whether ornot any allergens or gluten were
in that medication.
And that was the moment of purefrustration and anger.
As a parent, when you think toyourself, my child was in a
rural place, that it was an houraway for her to get to a
(10:14):
hospital that was safe enoughfor her to be cared for, and
this should never be an issue.
Because medications areingested, inhaled and applied to
our bodies, and they elicit thesame type of potentially
life-threatening reactions or GIdistress or body responses as
food does.
(10:35):
one study recently found that upto 92% of oral medications
contain gluten food allergies ordyes and.
Commonly food allergens arefound in the inactive
ingredients.
Well, what people don't know isthat 72% of oral medication, on
average, a capsule or a pill, isin, in inactive ingredients.
And of the, upwards of athousand different inactive
(10:57):
ingredients used in medications.
Today, 38 of those ingredientsare documented to cause allergic
reactions in sensitiveindividual populations.
So the fact that this is a knownissue and.
There are very clearly real lifecases where this is a response,
not just to Adina, but wereceive multiple comments from
people who had similar crosscontact reactions or responses
(11:21):
from gluten or other allergensthat this information should be
readily accessible 24 7.
I shouldn't have to wait onhold, escalate to a manager,
include a pharmacist.
Include a pediatrician, you're,you know, a parent or a
caregiver trying to do thisround robin of medication or God
forbid, and in a lifesaving.
Emergency situation where youneed medication, it should be
(11:43):
available.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (11:44):
Mm-hmm.
Jen and Adina Togal (11:45):
if it's a QR code, a website, something
printed on the bottle.
It should be there just like itis on
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (11:52):
Mm-hmm.
Jen and Adina Togal (11:52):
can pick up a bag of chips and it says,
contains soy, contains wheat,contains milk, it should say the
same thing on medication.
We're not looking forproprietary information.
We just want access to thebasics.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (12:05):
Yeah.
Everyone did everything right toprotect Adina and keep her safe.
And yet You did not, not haveand could not get all the
information necessary.
Nobody should sit there with achild's health in their hands.
Weighing Well, what's worse?
You know, letting her be sickwith strep, which obviously can
lead to complications veryquickly, or risking a chance
(12:26):
this could be in here.
It's horrible and it shouldnever be a decision that anyone
has to make for a child or anadult for that matter.
Jen and Adina Togal (12:34):
Mm-hmm.
I mean, that was one of the mostterrifying phone calls I've ever
received in my life.
It was, I will, I will neverforget getting that 2:00 AM
call.
the person on the other endsimply saying heart rate has
dropped.
She's no longer medically stableenough to remain at camp.
The hospital I want her to go tois an hour away.
Do you want us to drive her orcall an ambulance?
(12:56):
It wasn't if she was going tothe emergency room.
It was, how was she gettingthere?
My poor husband.
I mean, I was, we joke about itnow, but.
I was halfway down the drivewaybefore I realized I didn't have
shoes on, and I hadn't even toldmy husband,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (13:09):
Oh no.
Jen and Adina Togal (13:10):
just grabbed the
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (13:11):
It's a mom in action.
Jen and Adina Togal (13:13):
the door.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (13:13):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (13:14):
back in, he was like, where are you going?
I'm like, camp, call me bye.
Don't have time to wait for you.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (13:19):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
Wow.
Wow.
Jen and Adina Togal (13:22):
it was a, it was a pretty scary situation
and you know, the onlyreinforced that it was.
That medication, not themedication, because Adina had
strep throat and the, you know,typical medication for that is
amoxicillin.
And amoxicillin is known tocause some tummy troubles and
adverse reactions in thoseresponses.
(13:43):
But this was far beyond what wasa traditional response from
that.
And once she stopped taking thatmedication and her body
recovered with all the thingsthat were needed we worked with
her.
Pediatrician to find amedication that was confirmed
safe of her allergens and sheimmediately went back on it
without any issues and that onlyfurther reinforced that it
(14:06):
wasn't the medication, it wasthat medication.
And
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:10):
Mm-hmm.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:10):
to send it every year.
Yeah, every
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:12):
I bet.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:13):
just in case.
And now camp won't give her anymedication.
Justifiably, they're like,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:17):
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:18):
to send all of her medication, including,
which is only fair.
Yes.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:22):
Well for your safety, for your sake.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:24):
I can see how they want that.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:26):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:26):
I don't blame them at all.
But,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:28):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:29):
you know, that experience really taught us
that it's not just about ourneed, that there are so many
other families and individualsout there struggling with the
same lack of access toinformation and beyond that.
Not having the labels onmedication impacts availability
of some medication or evencoverage of medication.
(14:51):
Things like I never even thoughtabout.
For example, if you're lookingfor a medication and you need it
to be dairy free, well, if thepharmacy doesn't carry that,
sometimes you're outta luck andyou can't get it.
Or you have to pay for it out ofpocket because the one you
picked up from the pharmacist,you call the manufacturer and
find out it didn't actually notcontain your allergens or, you
know, it wasn't.
(15:11):
It wasn't the best choice foryou and your, you know,
prescriber kind of says, well,that's what your insurance will
cover, and we can't do anythingelse beyond that.
There's the consideration of whoknows how many adverse reactions
have been reported, but we'reactually based in the foundation
of an allergic response ratherthan a medication response.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (15:33):
Right, and many parents, especially if
you're newer to allergy life,and it sounds like you've had
some very interestingexperiences we have in my house
too, but it takes some time tobuild that knowledge.
When I was a new allergy mom, Iwouldn't suspect that I would
never think my child'smedication.
Could be causing an allergicreaction.
So I see what you mean.
People might think it's anadverse reaction and never even
suspect
Jen and Adina Togal (15:54):
Yeah.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (15:54):
the medication was unsafe for the
allergies,
Jen and Adina Togal (15:57):
That, and prescribers can't even identify
it as a potential reason for anadverse reaction because they
don't know what's in it either.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (16:04):
Right, and they're not allowed to.
I specialize with this in myprivate practice, I never share
anything from my clients,obviously publicly, unless it's
happened to many people.
And I can tell you that many ofmy clients have had.
Especially with the dairy.
You mentioned, the stats, that'sone of the common ones that's
included.
People with dairy allergiesgetting a prescription,
including from their allergistthat has it in it.
(16:27):
How can they stop it if theydon't have the information?
Right?
Like.
If it's just a recipe for scarystuff to happen.
Jen and Adina Togal (16:35):
Yeah, and there are so many factors
included in that, even beyondjust simple allergens
themselves, for example.
75% of the world is lactoseintolerant, right?
nearly half of all medicationscontain a small, but you know,
cumulative amount of lactose.
And a patient, for example,suffering from hypertension and
(16:58):
high cholesterol may be on adaily regimen of, you know,
three pretty standardmedications that combine up to
one milligram of lactose, whichis the equivalent of a shot
glass of milk.
So those are things to beconsidered, and if properly
labeled.
They could be considered whenbeing prescribed, and not only
(17:18):
beyond just the medication, butthe intake of foods throughout
the day or at that time of thepatients, you know, taking their
medication.
There are so many differentlayered things to consider and
why the Adina Act is soimportant, not only just to the
food allergy community, but theCeliac community and EOE
community, the Alpha Galcommunity.
And the.
Foundation behind the Adina Actis, is that it's not solely
(17:40):
focused on one.
So it really pulls together theentire community as a whole and
together our voice is Muchlouder.
I.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (17:49):
Yeah.
Well thank you for startingthat.
And Adina, I'm sorry you had togo through something so scary
for that to be the inspiration.
I can't imagine what it was likefor you to be at camp so far
away from your parents and getso sick and have to be rushed to
the hospital.
Jen and Adina Togal (18:02):
Yeah, it was.
It was, it was really tough,especially when I was taking the
medication, knowing that therewasn't a firm answer on it, and
I just, I had a gut feeling thatI knew this was gonna happen.
It just.
It happen often that it justgoes by perfectly.
So it was really scary, justlike waiting for the response to
(18:26):
happen at any time, andespecially like going through
it, like it can be really hardas kid, especially going through
it because you could be reallyembarrassed of like some of the
symptoms that you're having.
When you are around medicalprofessionals, even though
they've dealt with a lot of thisstuff, can just be really hard,
(18:49):
like not being around yourfamily when it's happening, or
even your friends that you feelcomforted by.
Especially since I go to asummer camp, my friends are my
family, so I go to them forliterally anything that I might
need help with.
And so not even being able tohave them.
It kind of hard and I just feltlike a little bit alone, even
(19:09):
though I was friendly with themedical staff and they knew me
and we had history.
It was just hard.
And then once I had woken up,because I had been going in from
consciousness once I woke up onetime, they were like, we're
going to the hospital.
I'm like.
(19:31):
What, who died?
I'm like, why?
Why are we going?
It was really hard.
And also one of the symptomsthat I get is I lose some of my
memory, like for the meantime,not just like entirely.
So I just like sometimes don'tquite remember what's happening
or like what has happened.
With all of the reactions that Iprobably happened over the
(19:53):
years, I could probably onlyname four.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (19:56):
It's okay if you don't wanna talk
about it, but I felt like youwould be a good person to try to
explain to people what is itlike to have, not just this, but
a handful, unfortunately, ofscary things like this happen.
And then just marching on, goback to camp the next year and
take medicine when you get strepagain, and just keep going
forward after you've had theseawful things happen to you.
Jen and Adina Togal (20:16):
Yeah, I'd love to.
So I like to think of myself asjust a really happy person all
the time because when I know somany things have happened to me.
How my brain works is I kind ofjust push it to the side and
think about it later, which Iknow is not very healthy, but
(20:38):
it's a way
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (20:39):
It can be helpful.
Jen and Adina Togal (20:41):
everything that's happened.
And I just think that having apositive mindset is the biggest
thing because if you go inknowing that like, like.
I am never gonna be able torecover from this, or I'm always
gonna be worried that this orthis or that.
(21:03):
Like it's gonna take a big toll.
And while I do have those, thatanxiety, like all the time, I
try to think of the positivesides.
Like, okay, I have my family andfriends near me that I can go
to.
I have, I'm not alone.
So I'm not going through thisalone if I need someone to talk
(21:24):
to, I have my doctors with anyconcerns.
I always have my medicine nearme in case I need anything.
and even in like publicsituations, like when I go
somewhere, I always locate thebathroom and the trash cans, you
know, if anything were tohappen.
So just like knowing that youhave a, a place to go or a
(21:47):
person to go to is really nice,especially as a kid like.
I have so much family andcommunity around me, like after
going to some of the FARESummits, I have met so many
friends that go through the samething I do, and it's just so
great to know that there aremore people out there like me,
(22:08):
and I don't feel alone like Idid a couple of years ago.
I did a school project and mytopic was, people ignoring
their, allergies, celiac.
how it affects children's mentalhealth.
And it was a large majority ofpeople.
And I think that if you justignore it, it'll only make it
(22:33):
worse.
And if you think that ignoringit is going to make like your
life better because you don't.
You just don't wanna be thinkingabout your allergies.
You wanna blend in with everyoneelse.
And especially being a teenagerwhen you're older and not
younger, you have to think aboutit on your own personal level
because you don't always haveyour parents near you.
If you're going out with yourfriends or just out and about,
(22:57):
it's, it can be a lot.
And so just like, you know,having your resources, making
sure everything around you stilllike having that anxiety, but
not.
Ignoring it is really goodbecause you don't want to ignore
it if you wanna still be safe,and especially if you have
(23:17):
dietary restrictions that impactyour life so much when you get
sick.
also having a willingness totalk to your yeah.
Therapist.
So is it okay if I share?
Sure.
Yeah.
So Adina does have a therapistthat she sees regularly, and
part of that is managing hermental health in regards to her
(23:41):
food anxiety and things relatedto her responses and reactions
and.
You know, the very real traumathat's caused from having
responses from her celiac andfood allergies.
And I think that largely inpart, helps her manage the
mindset in knowing, you know, Ican go into it with a positive
mindset, but also I havesomeone.
(24:04):
talk to about those feelingsthat is not just mom and dad or
my friends, like a neutral thirdparty person.
And we take mental health veryseriously in our house.
And the recognition of the mindto body and gut is so critical.
And you know, her therapist doesa lot of work with like nervous
system resets and making sure toprovide resources on how to calm
(24:28):
those or redirect your thoughtsso that you can pause yourself.
In those instances.
And I think that has beensomething that we started really
early on in her diagnosis.
And has since progressed, sincethings have gotten a little bit
more advanced in her awarenessof the world and the experiences
that she has to manage as wellas the things that have occurred
(24:49):
to her in her life.
But the project that she didjust speaks volumes to the
mindset that she has and how.
Celiac and food allergies andher, EOE is not just a, a part
of her life.
It's a part of so many people'slives and how they manage it is
not just with the things thatthey ingest or put on their
(25:10):
bodies.
It's mental health is criticalin,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (25:13):
Yes.
Jen and Adina Togal (25:13):
to.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (25:14):
Yes, and I think you said it really well,
Adina, thank you for pointingout.
Being positive doesn't meanjust.
Thinking everything's gonnamagically work out and nothing's
wrong, and not focusing on itit's a very real danger.
It's a real risk with all of themedical stuff that you manage.
So you're absolutely right.
It's about being positive, aboutthe fact that you have supports,
you know what to do.
(25:35):
I have the resources at hand.
That's the positivity, not justthe like, you know, we call it
toxic positivity.
Like everything will just befine.
I don't have to do anything.
It'll work out magically byitself.
Jen and Adina Togal (25:44):
Yeah,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (25:45):
Thank you.
Jen and Adina Togal (25:46):
really feel like it's more relevant in
teenagers lives.
wasn't diagnosed as a teenager,so I heavily relied on my
parents, but as I grew up.
Having my allergies and likeknowing how to take care of
them.
It really, it was hard to changethat mindset of, oh, my parents
(26:08):
will just take care of it too.
Now I have to be taking care ofit and I have to be ordering for
myself and I have to be makingsure I don't touch this surface
or I wash my hands or I talk tomy friends about this so that
they're understanding and it canjust be a really big change in
your life.
But.
I really implored myself to goout of my bubble and to really
(26:32):
like, try to not be embarrassedabout my allergies, but to more
speak out about them and likemake sure everyone knows so that
I don't get sick, because I'mreally not looking forward to
getting sick any other time.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (26:49):
That's a really hard thing especially in
the teenage years to do.
Can you talk about how you gotyourself to that point?
And maybe your therapist helpedwith that too, but you know, for
us as parents, we're like, ofcourse, tell everyone, there's
nothing embarrassing about it,but it doesn't always feel that
way, even though it's true.
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (27:04):
My parents helped me a lot to be this
outgoing with my allergies.
When I was younger, like nine or10 or eight, they had me order
for myself, or they had me atleast start with sharing my
allergies to the like point thatI knew how to, and then they
(27:27):
would sub in or then after wouldgive me tips.
I'm like, next time make sureyou say you have a dairy
allergy, and make sure you saycross-contamination matters,
because every little thing yousay.
Plays into how the chefs makeyour food, how your friends act
around you.
Like it really makes a bigger D,it really does a lot more than
(27:52):
one may think it does.
And so I was just reallygrateful to have them to guide
me in this.
also when I was out, I reallychallenged myself to be nervous
around my friends because.
When I was like, would say 10, Iwas really nervous to be out to
(28:17):
lunch with my friends and likehave to say to the waiter like,
I have all of these allergies.
Please make sure you don't killme like say all of these
different requirements.
And it, I was just reallyworried that my friends would
think I was different.
But obviously my experienceisn't going to be the same than
(28:40):
everyone else's.
I have a really strong communitythat is there for me all the
time and they understand, and itwas even better when another
classmate in my class wasdiagnosed with Celiac.
So it was really great to beable to guide him on how to do
this, especially since he wasdiagnosed in his teenage years.
It can be really hard to be soold.
(29:03):
Well, not so old, but like.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:04):
Right that far into life.
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (29:06):
like with your brain management and like
how you act rather than you didwhen you were like five or six,
like going into this lifestyleof being able to eat all the
foods you like to now, none ofthem probably, and like you have
to change your diet.
You have to eat more.
Make sure staying healthy, butalso like all this stuff plays
(29:27):
into it.
Like when you're a little, it'sa lot easier to just say, oh,
we're eating new chicken nuggets
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:33):
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (29:34):
of,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:34):
You might not remember what the old
chicken nuggets tasted like
Jen and Adina Togal (29:37):
So being able to guide him on that was a
really big step in my process ofstill figuring out my own.
So I think being able to teachhim more than I had actually
thought about in my life wasgreat because I saw way more in
the world I saw how other peopletake care of their allergies
(30:02):
rather than how I do, and itreally just gave me a great
sense of direction andunderstanding of how to live
this way.
Hmm.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (30:12):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (30:13):
never forget getting that first phone
call of her with her friends,and she was so excited.
I remember she called me fromthe bathroom at Starbucks and
was like, oh my gosh, mom, Ijust made an order for myself
and I'm so excited.
And I watched them do it, and itwas so safe, and she was just so
empowered with her own abilityto have that conversation
(30:33):
without a parent present,without like.
She just did it on her own andthe excitement in her voice and
being able to have that likeautonomy and ability with
comfort level says so much as afood allergy parent where you're
like, okay, that's great.
I'm so thankful that we'vereached that point.
This is one little baby step inthe big world we have to live
(30:55):
in.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (30:55):
Yeah.
And that's how you have to do itis little steps at a time.
Like you said earlier, Adina,like I ordered, but then they
said, oh, you forgot to say thispart, but you still were
starting to take the reins andtake responsibility and now it
sounds like you've realized howmuch you have to teach other
people And you're doing that inso many ways.
Jen and Adina Togal (31:12):
Yeah, I also went on a school trip and
being away from my parents forso long.
Was one a gigantic leap myallergen life because I now had
to, when I was ordering out, hadto make sure I watched them so
(31:35):
precisely.
I had, I was like, oh, whatquestions do mom and dad ask?
What things do they look out forbefore I eat my food and like
make sure I see all these thingslike, oh, does this look like
dairy?
Does this look like a little bitof onion on there that I can't
have like.
It was just really, while it wasoverwhelming, it was so amazing
(31:56):
and just genuinely so excitingto be able to order out for
myself like that.
It was of the same of how it islike at home, but this was like
more often, more frequently, andwe didn't have our phones, so I
couldn't just like.
(32:16):
my mom, be like, what am Ichecking out for at this place?
This kind of food?
Like what am I looking for?
Like I had to rely on what?
She had told me before what Iknew, what my, she had told my
teachers what they were gonnahelp me with.
'cause my teachers were reallysupportive in the endeavors that
we went through.
While they also really made surethat I had all the food I need,
(32:36):
if there wasn't a place that wewere going to that was safe,
they made sure I had food.
So it was just really, reallyexciting to, or be able to order
like that for myself and it justreally, that I feel like was the
most breaching point that mademe not anxious to.
Order in front of my friendsbecause we would be going in
(32:58):
groups so I would have to orderon my friends and it was just
so, I just, I loved it.
It really made me not nervousand I was so excited when I
called my parents af, like whenwe were allowed to have our
phones at the end of the day.
It was great to be able to havethat.
Kind of free, like be that freein that kind of circumstance,
(33:21):
because I got to like take thereins and
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:25):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (33:26):
gave you, I kept myself safe.
It
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:27):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (33:28):
you time to settle into it.
'cause it was a, it was like atwo week long trip.
So like, it was, it was a, avery long trip that required a
lot of traveling.
It was international, there wasforeign language involved.
It was.
It was a large endeavor thattook a lot of planning and prep,
but the empowerment that it gaveher was beyond words.
(33:50):
And she came back such a muchmore confident person.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:53):
Yeah.
I love the confidence for you.
I hope will seep into all of theparents.
It's mostly moms that listen tomy podcast and we all need the
reminder it's so scary for us,but it's so good for you and it
makes you feel so good.
It makes you feel so strong.
And like you said, it went frombeing this thing that's like
uncomfortable in front of yourfriends to.
I'm so mature and responsibleand independent.
(34:14):
I've got this.
You said earlier, you'recomplex.
Everyone has something complexabout them and this is yours.
And look how you just takecharge of it.
I love how you're able to talkabout how good it makes you
feel.
Jen and Adina Togal (34:25):
Yeah.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (34:26):
This is making me curious you may not
know yet, and you may be sick ofpeople asking you this, but what
do you think lies ahead?
You did the school project, doyou wanna contribute to allergy
research and knowledge?
What do you wanna do?
Jen and Adina Togal (34:39):
So I've really been thinking about this
a lot lately and talking aboutit with my friends and mentors,
and I really want to specializein like psychology with
pediatric patients, specificallywith dietary restrictions.
Because I, I, because I'm soactive in the allergy community,
(35:00):
it just plays such a big part inmy life.
Then it may some, then it maysomeone else's life.
Letting other kids know that itis okay.
And like they can talk about itlike, I think.
Personally, when I was younger Ididn't wanna talk about it with
anyone.
Like I kind of kept it tomyself.
It was like a me thing, but Iwant kids to be able to talk
(35:24):
about it and like verbalizetheir feelings and how while it
may be hurting them physically,how it's making them feel
mentally, because it takes sucha toll while also on parents, it
takes such a toll on kids havingthese allergies and.
It can just be so hard.
(35:45):
So I know what it feels like,and I think that me having that
experience and growing up inthis kind of community and
knowing other people'sexperiences, I think it would be
a great way for me to keepcontributing to the allergy
community, but helping in a way.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (36:01):
Yes, you'll be so good at it too.
'cause you're right, when peoplecome to me.
The feeling of like, oh, you getit.
There's a different level ofrelaxation and trust.
So for kids to talk to you andyou to 100% understand all of
those emotions will be sopowerful for them.
I, I am here for you forever asa resource, as you venture into
that career.
(36:22):
I'm sure you've made a lot ofother good connections too along
the way that, that will help youwith that.
But that's amazing.
It makes me really excited thatyou'll be doing that.
Jen and Adina Togal (36:30):
Thank you.
Our biggest piece is just makingsure that.
First and foremost that peopleunderstand the legislative
process when it comes to federalbills.
So while our bill was initiallyintroduced in the hundred and
18th Congress in January of2025, when the administration
changed over all bills that hadnot passed to that point were
(36:50):
wiped off the slate and had tobe reintroduced.
So if your rep House, US HealthHouse of Representative was
previously a co-sponsor on theAdina Act in last Congress, you
need to call them again and askthem to ign on as a co-sponsor.
Now from our, our internaltally.
Within our family and runningour numbers, it looks like of
(37:12):
the 54 co-sponsors, I believeoffhand that were our bill the
last session, 41 of them arestill in congress.
Which is incredible.
And if we can reach out to allof those and get them to sign
back on, we would be in anincredible position considering
when we ended the hundred 18thCongress we were in the top 5%
(37:36):
of legislation.
And in December we were actuallyofficially endorsed by the
Problem Solvers Caucus, which isa huge deal as well as being
largely bipartisan.
So if we are able leverage theprevious co-sponsors to get them
back on board by having ourconstituents in their own areas
call and request them to rerejoin.
(37:57):
We should be in a really goodposition, even though we're
already starting off reallywell.
We have our initiatingco-sponsor list, and I think
currently there's.
Six on the bill, including USrep Kelly Morrison, which is
incredible.
But we have a lot of headway togo, and I know that the biggest
hurdle that we need to cross ismaking sure that we get the word
out to everyone to call, write,Email.
(38:19):
And persistence with kindness isthe key.
So don't just call once, feelfree to call twice, maybe three
times, say hello.
Get to know your reps.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (38:28):
Right.
Make yourself remembered andmake the the cause stick out in
their minds.
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (38:32):
Exactly.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (38:33):
Are there places you want to point
people to, follow you?
Jen and Adina Togal (38:36):
You can follow us on the Adina Act
effort on Instagram.
There's also a Facebook groupthat you can follow us for the
Adina Act effort as well.
And we share tidbits, statusupdates, information throughout
all the platforms that we can.
Feel free to tag us as much aspossible.
If there are any collaboratorsout there that wanna help spread
(38:57):
the word, we're always open toit.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (38:59):
Awesome.
I will share all that witheverybody and I'm sure that
they'll be excited to, supportyou with this next loop.
Do you have a timeline of whatwe can expect to be the next
step or what we're waiting for?
Next.
Jen and Adina Togal (39:11):
Really waiting for some more
co-sponsors, federal bills likethis typically take between five
to seven years to pass.
We are taking a really strategicand intentional path in that
Considering the fact we'realready two years in, we've got
some really great headway.
Additionally this time aroundwe're looping in, other big
players to be part of theconversation, to be positive and
(39:33):
making sure that we're, youknow, playing nice within all
the realms possible.
Because our entire goal is toget this passed.
So you know, we wanna have thoseconversations with pharma.
We wanna have thoseconversations with medical
teams.
We wanna talk to, not just theparents and people who are
impacted by this, but the peoplein industries that are affected
by it.
So really.
(39:54):
In that regard, that's kind ofthe backend that we're working
on.
And that the more co-sponsorsthat we can get on board, from
my understanding, once we hitabout the 70 mark, is when we
really make some heavy progress.
So you know, we hit our firstmilestone by hitting 54 at the
end of last Congress, which isphenomenal given the length of
(40:16):
time from the point in which itwas introduced to the end of the
hundred 18th Congress and we'restarting strong with a really
large number of pre-existing,past co-sponsors still in the US
House of Representatives, sowe're feeling really hopeful.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (40:32):
Great.
Thank you so much for sharingall of this with us and for
doing this on behalf ofeverybody that it will benefit.
This would affect a lot ofpeople
Jen and Adina Togal (40:39):
yeah.
Well, we're so thankful for youhaving us on and sharing and
letting us just spreadinformation and learn from your
experiences and.
Amanda Whitehouse, (40:48):
Absolutely.
We'll have you back, we'll shareupdates and hopefully we'll
have, you know, we'll have asuccess update party, so you can
tell everybody when, when thingsare done.
Jen and Adina Togal (40:59):
thank you.
It was really great being ableto talk to you.
Thank you.
After hearing all this today, Iknow that you wanna get
involved, so here are threesteps you can take action on and
be part of this movement.
Number one, follow the Adina Actto stay updated on their
progress.
On social media, you can findthem at the Adina Act effort,
(41:20):
And their website is adinaact.com.
You will find a sample letterthat you can use to take step
number two and reach out to yourmembers of Congress i'll put
those links in the show notes.
A quick email or a phone callcan really make an impact.
And number three, share theinformation with other people
that you know care aboutindividuals living with food
(41:40):
allergies and with celiacdisease.
Share this episode.
Share all of the content thatthe Adina Act family is posting
online.
Share the website, get the wordout.
We'll all keep supporting Adinaand her family to make big
changes that will makemedication labeling safer for
everyone.
the content of this podcast isfor informational and
(42:00):
educational purposes only, andis not a substitute for
professional medical or mentalhealth advice, diagnosis, or
treatment.
If you have any questions aboutyour own medical experience or
mental health needs, pleaseconsult a professional.
I'm Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse.
Thanks for joining me.
And until we chat again,remember don't feed the fear.
I think that the biggest piece is just.
getting the word out.
Beyond that, I think that by andlarge, when we communicate with
organizations and individuals,everyone is on board and really
this mindset of why is this notalready a thing?
I didn't realize it wasn'talready, and let's get this
passed.
And our issue is reallyspreading the word and having
(00:21):
people like, share, talk aboutit, engage with their doctors,
talk about it with, you know,their pharmacists, they have.
Friends that are in the industryhave conversations.
That's really kind of wherewe're at in making sure that
we're sharing it as much aspossible.
Speaker (00:38):
Welcome to the Don't Feed the Fear podcast, where we
dive into the complex world offood allergy anxiety.
I'm your host, Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse, food allergyanxiety psychologist and food
allergy mom.
Whether you're dealing withallergies yourself or supporting
someone who is, join us for anempathetic and informative
journey toward food allergy calmand confidence..
(00:59):
Today's conversation is such animportant one.
We are joined by the familybehind the Adina Act, a bill
that was recently reintroducedinto Congress, and that would
require labeling of the top nineallergens and gluten.
In all medications, This is Jenand her daughter, whom the bill
is named after Adina the titleof the bill Adina stands for
Allergen Disclosure in Non-FoodArticles Act.
(01:21):
This the Adina Act would requireall medications, prescription
and over the counter to clearlylabel any ingredients that are
major food allergens or that arederived from gluten containing
grains.
This legislation is crucial forenhancing transparency and
safety for individuals with foodallergies.
As many medications containallergens that aren't currently
disclosed on the labels, manypeople don't realize that the
(01:41):
laws for food allergy labelingdon't apply to medications, and
it's so important that we changethis, This is about safety and
transparency for the millions ofAmericans living with food
allergies and celiac disease.
And the story behind this act isdeeply personal.
It was inspired by a terrifyingexperience that Adina had, and
so I appreciate her and her momcoming on the show today to talk
(02:03):
to us about the power ofadvocacy, persistence, and
turning our unfortunate livedexperiences into change.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (02:13):
Thank you so much to Adina and to her
mom, Jennifer Adina is theinspiration for the Adina Act,
which we've all been followingand getting excited about, and
I'm really happy to have youhere today to teach me more
about it and spread the wordwith everybody
Jen and Adina Togal (02:25):
thanks so much.
It, it's really nice to be here.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (02:27):
I think a lot of people who are
listening already know who youare, but do you mind, telling us
a little bit about yourself
Jen and Adina Togal (02:32):
Hi everyone.
My name is Adina Togal.
Have celiac disease eoe, whichis eosinophilic esophagitis and
a dairy allergy and fructosemalabsorption., A couple years
ago, while I was at my summercamp, I was diagnosed with strep
(02:52):
while I was in the Recoveryarea.
were going to give me the strepmedicine when they didn't know
if the strep medicine wasgluten-free.
They contacted my parents and myparents did everything they
could, you know, like with thelittle time that they had to
find out.
(03:12):
It was a Sunday when theycalled, which means that all of
the pharmacies and manufacturerswere closed.
It was just really hard to findan answer.
with my parents, knowing thatall of the staff were gonna be
keeping a really good eye on melike they do all the time, but
me being a little bit more nowbecause we're taking a medicine
(03:33):
that we aren't A hundred percentsure on, I took the medicine and
I would say close to aftertaking the medicine, I started
having symptoms, like severestomach pain and dizziness.
And your heart was racing.
(03:55):
Yeah.
And then I threw up.
And it kind of went down fromthere.
It didn't get better for about,like, hours.
My blood pressure was severelylow.
Around somewhere in the, likevery early in the morning, like
three in the morning, my, thecamp called my parents.
(04:20):
And they said, Adina needs to goto the hospital, whether we call
an ambulance or we drive herourselves.
Would you like to meet us there?
So drove me there and once I wasthere, I got my vitals back and,
you know, recuperated fromeverything that that had
(04:42):
happened.
And then once I got home.
We were still trying to figureout what was in that medication
because we wanted an answer, themanufacturer just kept giving us
the same answer.
Like, it's classified, it's onlyfor pediatrician.
So we got my pediatrician toapprove, like get, try and get
(05:02):
an answer from them.
They didn't really give a clearanswer to her either.
And so we noticed that this wasa really big trend that had been
happening a lot, especially likein our, like in past years with
us and so many other families.
So we decided to take action andwe emailed representative Dean
(05:25):
Phillips's office to ask, toschedule a meeting to talk about
this, to find a solution so thatthis doesn't have to happen
anymore because it really addsso much stress.
Onto families and childrenthemselves, maybe taking a
medication they don't know issafe and not being able to find
an answer.
And just the manufacturers notbeing cooperative at all and not
(05:45):
being able to give a goodanswer.
So we finally got a meeting withDean Phillips office and they
helped us find a solution.
rough draft that they were gonnatry and fit my name into it.
And it ended up being the AdinaAct, the Allergen Disclosure and
Non-Food Articles Act.
(06:06):
It was really great.
Once we heard about that, wetook immediate action, we
started finding co-sponsors toadd, so we were reaching out on
all of the different groups onsocial media to have them talk
to their state representativesand have them jump aboard.
joined Faires Courage forCongress, and we went on the
(06:31):
Capitol with hundreds of otherpeople in the community and
lobbied for not only the DinaAct, but others too.
The ADINA Act was mentioned atEV almost every single meeting,
which is great we, and we got somany co-sponsors in just that
day, which was such an amazingleap.
(06:51):
And now that the newcongressional session is in.
Session.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (06:59):
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (07:00):
The ADINA Act has been reintroduced and is
now awaiting more co-sponsors.
Amanda Whitehouse, P (07:06):
Wonderful.
So it's a long road.
You can have your guesses, Iassume, but you never were able
to get a straight answer aboutwhat was in the medication that
you took that caused the obviousresponse that you had.
Jen and Adina Togal (07:18):
Yeah, so from the parent perspective of
that story is we did get a call.
It was the weekend, like Adinahad mentioned.
We had done everything we couldon our end to try and verify the
safety of the medication becausecamp does an incredible job at
making sure to ensure safety,making sure that they're working
with us diligently reviewing notonly what she does, but what she
(07:40):
eats, how she interacts withothers, what could have caused
issues because there have beencircumstances where she got
cross contaminated withoutingesting anything.
I mean.
There was some pretty uniqueexperiences that result in a
cross contact, but this one inparticular, we ran through every
single action item thing thatshe ate and nothing made sense,
(08:06):
but the symptoms were veryconsistent with a cross contact
response.
And as things progressed, it wasvery clear.
There was no other question thatthis was a cross contact
situation.
And, you know, when we got thatcall, we called every pharmacy
we could get ahold of.
We called all of our friends whowere physicians or in the
(08:26):
industry.
We tried to call themanufacturer themselves, and of
course, it was past businesshours, so they weren't open.
We, we made every single phonecall and effort we could.
We googled every singleingredient, but the answers
received were varying at best.
Never really identified what isthe source of this, you know, it
(08:47):
could be corn or it could bedairy, or it could be nothing.
We don't know.
So at that moment we kind of, wekind of had to make the choice
of do we let her take themedication and have them watch
her like a hawk.
Or do we risk not having herhave medication, her strep
throat advancing and being in aposition before knowing how long
(09:09):
it can take to get an answer.
The reality is, is even if wewaited until the next business
day to try and get information,it might be another.
Two to three business days atbest before we actually had an
answer, and we couldn't leaveher untreated for that long.
so we, we made the choice to lether have that and unfortunately,
(09:32):
the response was pretty clear.
What was disappointing was thatwhen we reached out to the
pharmaceutical manufacturer thatthe response we got was
essentially a non-response, thena refusal to include us in a
conversation of escalationwithout a licensed pediatrician
or pharmacist being involved.
And then from that point, ittook, in total about three and a
(09:53):
half weeks before we got ananswer of them refusing to
provide details of whether ornot any allergens or gluten were
in that medication.
And that was the moment of purefrustration and anger.
As a parent, when you think toyourself, my child was in a
rural place, that it was an houraway for her to get to a
(10:14):
hospital that was safe enoughfor her to be cared for, and
this should never be an issue.
Because medications areingested, inhaled and applied to
our bodies, and they elicit thesame type of potentially
life-threatening reactions or GIdistress or body responses as
food does.
(10:35):
one study recently found that upto 92% of oral medications
contain gluten food allergies ordyes and.
Commonly food allergens arefound in the inactive
ingredients.
Well, what people don't know isthat 72% of oral medication, on
average, a capsule or a pill, isin, in inactive ingredients.
And of the, upwards of athousand different inactive
(10:57):
ingredients used in medications.
Today, 38 of those ingredientsare documented to cause allergic
reactions in sensitiveindividual populations.
So the fact that this is a knownissue and.
There are very clearly real lifecases where this is a response,
not just to Adina, but wereceive multiple comments from
people who had similar crosscontact reactions or responses
(11:21):
from gluten or other allergensthat this information should be
readily accessible 24 7.
I shouldn't have to wait onhold, escalate to a manager,
include a pharmacist.
Include a pediatrician, you're,you know, a parent or a
caregiver trying to do thisround robin of medication or God
forbid, and in a lifesaving.
Emergency situation where youneed medication, it should be
(11:43):
available.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (11:44):
Mm-hmm.
Jen and Adina Togal (11:45):
if it's a QR code, a website, something
printed on the bottle.
It should be there just like itis on
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (11:52):
Mm-hmm.
Jen and Adina Togal (11:52):
can pick up a bag of chips and it says,
contains soy, contains wheat,contains milk, it should say the
same thing on medication.
We're not looking forproprietary information.
We just want access to thebasics.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (12:05):
Yeah.
Everyone did everything right toprotect Adina and keep her safe.
And yet You did not, not haveand could not get all the
information necessary.
Nobody should sit there with achild's health in their hands.
Weighing Well, what's worse?
You know, letting her be sickwith strep, which obviously can
lead to complications veryquickly, or risking a chance
(12:26):
this could be in here.
It's horrible and it shouldnever be a decision that anyone
has to make for a child or anadult for that matter.
Jen and Adina Togal (12:34):
Mm-hmm.
I mean, that was one of the mostterrifying phone calls I've ever
received in my life.
It was, I will, I will neverforget getting that 2:00 AM
call.
the person on the other endsimply saying heart rate has
dropped.
She's no longer medically stableenough to remain at camp.
The hospital I want her to go tois an hour away.
Do you want us to drive her orcall an ambulance?
(12:56):
It wasn't if she was going tothe emergency room.
It was, how was she gettingthere?
My poor husband.
I mean, I was, we joke about itnow, but.
I was halfway down the drivewaybefore I realized I didn't have
shoes on, and I hadn't even toldmy husband,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (13:09):
Oh no.
Jen and Adina Togal (13:10):
just grabbed the
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (13:11):
It's a mom in action.
Jen and Adina Togal (13:13):
the door.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (13:13):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (13:14):
back in, he was like, where are you going?
I'm like, camp, call me bye.
Don't have time to wait for you.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (13:19):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
Wow.
Wow.
Jen and Adina Togal (13:22):
it was a, it was a pretty scary situation
and you know, the onlyreinforced that it was.
That medication, not themedication, because Adina had
strep throat and the, you know,typical medication for that is
amoxicillin.
And amoxicillin is known tocause some tummy troubles and
adverse reactions in thoseresponses.
(13:43):
But this was far beyond what wasa traditional response from
that.
And once she stopped taking thatmedication and her body
recovered with all the thingsthat were needed we worked with
her.
Pediatrician to find amedication that was confirmed
safe of her allergens and sheimmediately went back on it
without any issues and that onlyfurther reinforced that it
(14:06):
wasn't the medication, it wasthat medication.
And
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:10):
Mm-hmm.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:10):
to send it every year.
Yeah, every
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:12):
I bet.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:13):
just in case.
And now camp won't give her anymedication.
Justifiably, they're like,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:17):
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:18):
to send all of her medication, including,
which is only fair.
Yes.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:22):
Well for your safety, for your sake.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:24):
I can see how they want that.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:26):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:26):
I don't blame them at all.
But,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (14:28):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (14:29):
you know, that experience really taught us
that it's not just about ourneed, that there are so many
other families and individualsout there struggling with the
same lack of access toinformation and beyond that.
Not having the labels onmedication impacts availability
of some medication or evencoverage of medication.
(14:51):
Things like I never even thoughtabout.
For example, if you're lookingfor a medication and you need it
to be dairy free, well, if thepharmacy doesn't carry that,
sometimes you're outta luck andyou can't get it.
Or you have to pay for it out ofpocket because the one you
picked up from the pharmacist,you call the manufacturer and
find out it didn't actually notcontain your allergens or, you
know, it wasn't.
(15:11):
It wasn't the best choice foryou and your, you know,
prescriber kind of says, well,that's what your insurance will
cover, and we can't do anythingelse beyond that.
There's the consideration of whoknows how many adverse reactions
have been reported, but we'reactually based in the foundation
of an allergic response ratherthan a medication response.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (15:33):
Right, and many parents, especially if
you're newer to allergy life,and it sounds like you've had
some very interestingexperiences we have in my house
too, but it takes some time tobuild that knowledge.
When I was a new allergy mom, Iwouldn't suspect that I would
never think my child'smedication.
Could be causing an allergicreaction.
So I see what you mean.
People might think it's anadverse reaction and never even
suspect
Jen and Adina Togal (15:54):
Yeah.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (15:54):
the medication was unsafe for the
allergies,
Jen and Adina Togal (15:57):
That, and prescribers can't even identify
it as a potential reason for anadverse reaction because they
don't know what's in it either.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (16:04):
Right, and they're not allowed to.
I specialize with this in myprivate practice, I never share
anything from my clients,obviously publicly, unless it's
happened to many people.
And I can tell you that many ofmy clients have had.
Especially with the dairy.
You mentioned, the stats, that'sone of the common ones that's
included.
People with dairy allergiesgetting a prescription,
including from their allergistthat has it in it.
(16:27):
How can they stop it if theydon't have the information?
Right?
Like.
If it's just a recipe for scarystuff to happen.
Jen and Adina Togal (16:35):
Yeah, and there are so many factors
included in that, even beyondjust simple allergens
themselves, for example.
75% of the world is lactoseintolerant, right?
nearly half of all medicationscontain a small, but you know,
cumulative amount of lactose.
And a patient, for example,suffering from hypertension and
(16:58):
high cholesterol may be on adaily regimen of, you know,
three pretty standardmedications that combine up to
one milligram of lactose, whichis the equivalent of a shot
glass of milk.
So those are things to beconsidered, and if properly
labeled.
They could be considered whenbeing prescribed, and not only
(17:18):
beyond just the medication, butthe intake of foods throughout
the day or at that time of thepatients, you know, taking their
medication.
There are so many differentlayered things to consider and
why the Adina Act is soimportant, not only just to the
food allergy community, but theCeliac community and EOE
community, the Alpha Galcommunity.
And the.
Foundation behind the Adina Actis, is that it's not solely
(17:40):
focused on one.
So it really pulls together theentire community as a whole and
together our voice is Muchlouder.
I.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (17:49):
Yeah.
Well thank you for startingthat.
And Adina, I'm sorry you had togo through something so scary
for that to be the inspiration.
I can't imagine what it was likefor you to be at camp so far
away from your parents and getso sick and have to be rushed to
the hospital.
Jen and Adina Togal (18:02):
Yeah, it was.
It was, it was really tough,especially when I was taking the
medication, knowing that therewasn't a firm answer on it, and
I just, I had a gut feeling thatI knew this was gonna happen.
It just.
It happen often that it justgoes by perfectly.
So it was really scary, justlike waiting for the response to
(18:26):
happen at any time, andespecially like going through
it, like it can be really hardas kid, especially going through
it because you could be reallyembarrassed of like some of the
symptoms that you're having.
When you are around medicalprofessionals, even though
they've dealt with a lot of thisstuff, can just be really hard,
(18:49):
like not being around yourfamily when it's happening, or
even your friends that you feelcomforted by.
Especially since I go to asummer camp, my friends are my
family, so I go to them forliterally anything that I might
need help with.
And so not even being able tohave them.
It kind of hard and I just feltlike a little bit alone, even
(19:09):
though I was friendly with themedical staff and they knew me
and we had history.
It was just hard.
And then once I had woken up,because I had been going in from
consciousness once I woke up onetime, they were like, we're
going to the hospital.
I'm like.
(19:31):
What, who died?
I'm like, why?
Why are we going?
It was really hard.
And also one of the symptomsthat I get is I lose some of my
memory, like for the meantime,not just like entirely.
So I just like sometimes don'tquite remember what's happening
or like what has happened.
With all of the reactions that Iprobably happened over the
(19:53):
years, I could probably onlyname four.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (19:56):
It's okay if you don't wanna talk
about it, but I felt like youwould be a good person to try to
explain to people what is itlike to have, not just this, but
a handful, unfortunately, ofscary things like this happen.
And then just marching on, goback to camp the next year and
take medicine when you get strepagain, and just keep going
forward after you've had theseawful things happen to you.
Jen and Adina Togal (20:16):
Yeah, I'd love to.
So I like to think of myself asjust a really happy person all
the time because when I know somany things have happened to me.
How my brain works is I kind ofjust push it to the side and
think about it later, which Iknow is not very healthy, but
(20:38):
it's a way
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (20:39):
It can be helpful.
Jen and Adina Togal (20:41):
everything that's happened.
And I just think that having apositive mindset is the biggest
thing because if you go inknowing that like, like.
I am never gonna be able torecover from this, or I'm always
gonna be worried that this orthis or that.
(21:03):
Like it's gonna take a big toll.
And while I do have those, thatanxiety, like all the time, I
try to think of the positivesides.
Like, okay, I have my family andfriends near me that I can go
to.
I have, I'm not alone.
So I'm not going through thisalone if I need someone to talk
(21:24):
to, I have my doctors with anyconcerns.
I always have my medicine nearme in case I need anything.
and even in like publicsituations, like when I go
somewhere, I always locate thebathroom and the trash cans, you
know, if anything were tohappen.
So just like knowing that youhave a, a place to go or a
(21:47):
person to go to is really nice,especially as a kid like.
I have so much family andcommunity around me, like after
going to some of the FARESummits, I have met so many
friends that go through the samething I do, and it's just so
great to know that there aremore people out there like me,
(22:08):
and I don't feel alone like Idid a couple of years ago.
I did a school project and mytopic was, people ignoring
their, allergies, celiac.
how it affects children's mentalhealth.
And it was a large majority ofpeople.
And I think that if you justignore it, it'll only make it
(22:33):
worse.
And if you think that ignoringit is going to make like your
life better because you don't.
You just don't wanna be thinkingabout your allergies.
You wanna blend in with everyoneelse.
And especially being a teenagerwhen you're older and not
younger, you have to think aboutit on your own personal level
because you don't always haveyour parents near you.
If you're going out with yourfriends or just out and about,
(22:57):
it's, it can be a lot.
And so just like, you know,having your resources, making
sure everything around you stilllike having that anxiety, but
not.
Ignoring it is really goodbecause you don't want to ignore
it if you wanna still be safe,and especially if you have
(23:17):
dietary restrictions that impactyour life so much when you get
sick.
also having a willingness totalk to your yeah.
Therapist.
So is it okay if I share?
Sure.
Yeah.
So Adina does have a therapistthat she sees regularly, and
part of that is managing hermental health in regards to her
(23:41):
food anxiety and things relatedto her responses and reactions
and.
You know, the very real traumathat's caused from having
responses from her celiac andfood allergies.
And I think that largely inpart, helps her manage the
mindset in knowing, you know, Ican go into it with a positive
mindset, but also I havesomeone.
(24:04):
talk to about those feelingsthat is not just mom and dad or
my friends, like a neutral thirdparty person.
And we take mental health veryseriously in our house.
And the recognition of the mindto body and gut is so critical.
And you know, her therapist doesa lot of work with like nervous
system resets and making sure toprovide resources on how to calm
(24:28):
those or redirect your thoughtsso that you can pause yourself.
In those instances.
And I think that has beensomething that we started really
early on in her diagnosis.
And has since progressed, sincethings have gotten a little bit
more advanced in her awarenessof the world and the experiences
that she has to manage as wellas the things that have occurred
(24:49):
to her in her life.
But the project that she didjust speaks volumes to the
mindset that she has and how.
Celiac and food allergies andher, EOE is not just a, a part
of her life.
It's a part of so many people'slives and how they manage it is
not just with the things thatthey ingest or put on their
(25:10):
bodies.
It's mental health is criticalin,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (25:13):
Yes.
Jen and Adina Togal (25:13):
to.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (25:14):
Yes, and I think you said it really well,
Adina, thank you for pointingout.
Being positive doesn't meanjust.
Thinking everything's gonnamagically work out and nothing's
wrong, and not focusing on itit's a very real danger.
It's a real risk with all of themedical stuff that you manage.
So you're absolutely right.
It's about being positive, aboutthe fact that you have supports,
you know what to do.
(25:35):
I have the resources at hand.
That's the positivity, not justthe like, you know, we call it
toxic positivity.
Like everything will just befine.
I don't have to do anything.
It'll work out magically byitself.
Jen and Adina Togal (25:44):
Yeah,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (25:45):
Thank you.
Jen and Adina Togal (25:46):
really feel like it's more relevant in
teenagers lives.
wasn't diagnosed as a teenager,so I heavily relied on my
parents, but as I grew up.
Having my allergies and likeknowing how to take care of
them.
It really, it was hard to changethat mindset of, oh, my parents
(26:08):
will just take care of it too.
Now I have to be taking care ofit and I have to be ordering for
myself and I have to be makingsure I don't touch this surface
or I wash my hands or I talk tomy friends about this so that
they're understanding and it canjust be a really big change in
your life.
But.
I really implored myself to goout of my bubble and to really
(26:32):
like, try to not be embarrassedabout my allergies, but to more
speak out about them and likemake sure everyone knows so that
I don't get sick, because I'mreally not looking forward to
getting sick any other time.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (26:49):
That's a really hard thing especially in
the teenage years to do.
Can you talk about how you gotyourself to that point?
And maybe your therapist helpedwith that too, but you know, for
us as parents, we're like, ofcourse, tell everyone, there's
nothing embarrassing about it,but it doesn't always feel that
way, even though it's true.
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (27:04):
My parents helped me a lot to be this
outgoing with my allergies.
When I was younger, like nine or10 or eight, they had me order
for myself, or they had me atleast start with sharing my
allergies to the like point thatI knew how to, and then they
(27:27):
would sub in or then after wouldgive me tips.
I'm like, next time make sureyou say you have a dairy
allergy, and make sure you saycross-contamination matters,
because every little thing yousay.
Plays into how the chefs makeyour food, how your friends act
around you.
Like it really makes a bigger D,it really does a lot more than
(27:52):
one may think it does.
And so I was just reallygrateful to have them to guide
me in this.
also when I was out, I reallychallenged myself to be nervous
around my friends because.
When I was like, would say 10, Iwas really nervous to be out to
(28:17):
lunch with my friends and likehave to say to the waiter like,
I have all of these allergies.
Please make sure you don't killme like say all of these
different requirements.
And it, I was just reallyworried that my friends would
think I was different.
But obviously my experienceisn't going to be the same than
(28:40):
everyone else's.
I have a really strong communitythat is there for me all the
time and they understand, and itwas even better when another
classmate in my class wasdiagnosed with Celiac.
So it was really great to beable to guide him on how to do
this, especially since he wasdiagnosed in his teenage years.
It can be really hard to be soold.
(29:03):
Well, not so old, but like.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:04):
Right that far into life.
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (29:06):
like with your brain management and like
how you act rather than you didwhen you were like five or six,
like going into this lifestyleof being able to eat all the
foods you like to now, none ofthem probably, and like you have
to change your diet.
You have to eat more.
Make sure staying healthy, butalso like all this stuff plays
(29:27):
into it.
Like when you're a little, it'sa lot easier to just say, oh,
we're eating new chicken nuggets
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:33):
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (29:34):
of,
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:34):
You might not remember what the old
chicken nuggets tasted like
Jen and Adina Togal (29:37):
So being able to guide him on that was a
really big step in my process ofstill figuring out my own.
So I think being able to teachhim more than I had actually
thought about in my life wasgreat because I saw way more in
the world I saw how other peopletake care of their allergies
(30:02):
rather than how I do, and itreally just gave me a great
sense of direction andunderstanding of how to live
this way.
Hmm.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (30:12):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (30:13):
never forget getting that first phone
call of her with her friends,and she was so excited.
I remember she called me fromthe bathroom at Starbucks and
was like, oh my gosh, mom, Ijust made an order for myself
and I'm so excited.
And I watched them do it, and itwas so safe, and she was just so
empowered with her own abilityto have that conversation
(30:33):
without a parent present,without like.
She just did it on her own andthe excitement in her voice and
being able to have that likeautonomy and ability with
comfort level says so much as afood allergy parent where you're
like, okay, that's great.
I'm so thankful that we'vereached that point.
This is one little baby step inthe big world we have to live
(30:55):
in.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (30:55):
Yeah.
And that's how you have to do itis little steps at a time.
Like you said earlier, Adina,like I ordered, but then they
said, oh, you forgot to say thispart, but you still were
starting to take the reins andtake responsibility and now it
sounds like you've realized howmuch you have to teach other
people And you're doing that inso many ways.
Jen and Adina Togal (31:12):
Yeah, I also went on a school trip and
being away from my parents forso long.
Was one a gigantic leap myallergen life because I now had
to, when I was ordering out, hadto make sure I watched them so
(31:35):
precisely.
I had, I was like, oh, whatquestions do mom and dad ask?
What things do they look out forbefore I eat my food and like
make sure I see all these thingslike, oh, does this look like
dairy?
Does this look like a little bitof onion on there that I can't
have like.
It was just really, while it wasoverwhelming, it was so amazing
(31:56):
and just genuinely so excitingto be able to order out for
myself like that.
It was of the same of how it islike at home, but this was like
more often, more frequently, andwe didn't have our phones, so I
couldn't just like.
(32:16):
my mom, be like, what am Ichecking out for at this place?
This kind of food?
Like what am I looking for?
Like I had to rely on what?
She had told me before what Iknew, what my, she had told my
teachers what they were gonnahelp me with.
'cause my teachers were reallysupportive in the endeavors that
we went through.
While they also really made surethat I had all the food I need,
(32:36):
if there wasn't a place that wewere going to that was safe,
they made sure I had food.
So it was just really, reallyexciting to, or be able to order
like that for myself and it justreally, that I feel like was the
most breaching point that mademe not anxious to.
Order in front of my friendsbecause we would be going in
(32:58):
groups so I would have to orderon my friends and it was just
so, I just, I loved it.
It really made me not nervousand I was so excited when I
called my parents af, like whenwe were allowed to have our
phones at the end of the day.
It was great to be able to havethat.
Kind of free, like be that freein that kind of circumstance,
(33:21):
because I got to like take thereins and
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:25):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (33:26):
gave you, I kept myself safe.
It
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:27):
Yeah.
Jen and Adina Togal (33:28):
you time to settle into it.
'cause it was a, it was like atwo week long trip.
So like, it was, it was a, avery long trip that required a
lot of traveling.
It was international, there wasforeign language involved.
It was.
It was a large endeavor thattook a lot of planning and prep,
but the empowerment that it gaveher was beyond words.
(33:50):
And she came back such a muchmore confident person.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:53):
Yeah.
I love the confidence for you.
I hope will seep into all of theparents.
It's mostly moms that listen tomy podcast and we all need the
reminder it's so scary for us,but it's so good for you and it
makes you feel so good.
It makes you feel so strong.
And like you said, it went frombeing this thing that's like
uncomfortable in front of yourfriends to.
I'm so mature and responsibleand independent.
(34:14):
I've got this.
You said earlier, you'recomplex.
Everyone has something complexabout them and this is yours.
And look how you just takecharge of it.
I love how you're able to talkabout how good it makes you
feel.
Jen and Adina Togal (34:25):
Yeah.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (34:26):
This is making me curious you may not
know yet, and you may be sick ofpeople asking you this, but what
do you think lies ahead?
You did the school project, doyou wanna contribute to allergy
research and knowledge?
What do you wanna do?
Jen and Adina Togal (34:39):
So I've really been thinking about this
a lot lately and talking aboutit with my friends and mentors,
and I really want to specializein like psychology with
pediatric patients, specificallywith dietary restrictions.
Because I, I, because I'm soactive in the allergy community,
(35:00):
it just plays such a big part inmy life.
Then it may some, then it maysomeone else's life.
Letting other kids know that itis okay.
And like they can talk about itlike, I think.
Personally, when I was younger Ididn't wanna talk about it with
anyone.
Like I kind of kept it tomyself.
It was like a me thing, but Iwant kids to be able to talk
(35:24):
about it and like verbalizetheir feelings and how while it
may be hurting them physically,how it's making them feel
mentally, because it takes sucha toll while also on parents, it
takes such a toll on kids havingthese allergies and.
It can just be so hard.
(35:45):
So I know what it feels like,and I think that me having that
experience and growing up inthis kind of community and
knowing other people'sexperiences, I think it would be
a great way for me to keepcontributing to the allergy
community, but helping in a way.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (36:01):
Yes, you'll be so good at it too.
'cause you're right, when peoplecome to me.
The feeling of like, oh, you getit.
There's a different level ofrelaxation and trust.
So for kids to talk to you andyou to 100% understand all of
those emotions will be sopowerful for them.
I, I am here for you forever asa resource, as you venture into
that career.
(36:22):
I'm sure you've made a lot ofother good connections too along
the way that, that will help youwith that.
But that's amazing.
It makes me really excited thatyou'll be doing that.
Jen and Adina Togal (36:30):
Thank you.
Our biggest piece is just makingsure that.
First and foremost that peopleunderstand the legislative
process when it comes to federalbills.
So while our bill was initiallyintroduced in the hundred and
18th Congress in January of2025, when the administration
changed over all bills that hadnot passed to that point were
(36:50):
wiped off the slate and had tobe reintroduced.
So if your rep House, US HealthHouse of Representative was
previously a co-sponsor on theAdina Act in last Congress, you
need to call them again and askthem to ign on as a co-sponsor.
Now from our, our internaltally.
Within our family and runningour numbers, it looks like of
(37:12):
the 54 co-sponsors, I believeoffhand that were our bill the
last session, 41 of them arestill in congress.
Which is incredible.
And if we can reach out to allof those and get them to sign
back on, we would be in anincredible position considering
when we ended the hundred 18thCongress we were in the top 5%
(37:36):
of legislation.
And in December we were actuallyofficially endorsed by the
Problem Solvers Caucus, which isa huge deal as well as being
largely bipartisan.
So if we are able leverage theprevious co-sponsors to get them
back on board by having ourconstituents in their own areas
call and request them to rerejoin.
(37:57):
We should be in a really goodposition, even though we're
already starting off reallywell.
We have our initiatingco-sponsor list, and I think
currently there's.
Six on the bill, including USrep Kelly Morrison, which is
incredible.
But we have a lot of headway togo, and I know that the biggest
hurdle that we need to cross ismaking sure that we get the word
out to everyone to call, write,Email.
(38:19):
And persistence with kindness isthe key.
So don't just call once, feelfree to call twice, maybe three
times, say hello.
Get to know your reps.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (38:28):
Right.
Make yourself remembered andmake the the cause stick out in
their minds.
Right.
Jen and Adina Togal (38:32):
Exactly.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (38:33):
Are there places you want to point
people to, follow you?
Jen and Adina Togal (38:36):
You can follow us on the Adina Act
effort on Instagram.
There's also a Facebook groupthat you can follow us for the
Adina Act effort as well.
And we share tidbits, statusupdates, information throughout
all the platforms that we can.
Feel free to tag us as much aspossible.
If there are any collaboratorsout there that wanna help spread
(38:57):
the word, we're always open toit.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (38:59):
Awesome.
I will share all that witheverybody and I'm sure that
they'll be excited to, supportyou with this next loop.
Do you have a timeline of whatwe can expect to be the next
step or what we're waiting for?
Next.
Jen and Adina Togal (39:11):
Really waiting for some more
co-sponsors, federal bills likethis typically take between five
to seven years to pass.
We are taking a really strategicand intentional path in that
Considering the fact we'realready two years in, we've got
some really great headway.
Additionally this time aroundwe're looping in, other big
players to be part of theconversation, to be positive and
(39:33):
making sure that we're, youknow, playing nice within all
the realms possible.
Because our entire goal is toget this passed.
So you know, we wanna have thoseconversations with pharma.
We wanna have thoseconversations with medical
teams.
We wanna talk to, not just theparents and people who are
impacted by this, but the peoplein industries that are affected
by it.
So really.
(39:54):
In that regard, that's kind ofthe backend that we're working
on.
And that the more co-sponsorsthat we can get on board, from
my understanding, once we hitabout the 70 mark, is when we
really make some heavy progress.
So you know, we hit our firstmilestone by hitting 54 at the
end of last Congress, which isphenomenal given the length of
(40:16):
time from the point in which itwas introduced to the end of the
hundred 18th Congress and we'restarting strong with a really
large number of pre-existing,past co-sponsors still in the US
House of Representatives, sowe're feeling really hopeful.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (40:32):
Great.
Thank you so much for sharingall of this with us and for
doing this on behalf ofeverybody that it will benefit.
This would affect a lot ofpeople
Jen and Adina Togal (40:39):
yeah.
Well, we're so thankful for youhaving us on and sharing and
letting us just spreadinformation and learn from your
experiences and.
Amanda Whitehouse, (40:48):
Absolutely.
We'll have you back, we'll shareupdates and hopefully we'll
have, you know, we'll have asuccess update party, so you can
tell everybody when, when thingsare done.
Jen and Adina Togal (40:59):
thank you.
It was really great being ableto talk to you.
Thank you.
After hearing all this today, Iknow that you wanna get
involved, so here are threesteps you can take action on and
be part of this movement.
Number one, follow the Adina Actto stay updated on their
progress.
On social media, you can findthem at the Adina Act effort,
(41:20):
And their website is adinaact.com.
You will find a sample letterthat you can use to take step
number two and reach out to yourmembers of Congress i'll put
those links in the show notes.
A quick email or a phone callcan really make an impact.
And number three, share theinformation with other people
that you know care aboutindividuals living with food
(41:40):
allergies and with celiacdisease.
Share this episode.
Share all of the content thatthe Adina Act family is posting
online.
Share the website, get the wordout.
We'll all keep supporting Adinaand her family to make big
changes that will makemedication labeling safer for
everyone.
the content of this podcast isfor informational and
(42:00):
educational purposes only, andis not a substitute for
professional medical or mentalhealth advice, diagnosis, or
treatment.
If you have any questions aboutyour own medical experience or
mental health needs, pleaseconsult a professional.
I'm Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse.
Thanks for joining me.
And until we chat again,remember don't feed the fear.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.