Hi, my name is Julie McMullin. I was born March 6, 1974. I weighed 7 pounds and 12 ounces at birth. We did not know that I had PKU until I was nine months old. I am allergic to any foods that contain protein.

One of the hardest things that I had to do was tell my boyfriend that I had PKU. I did not know what his reaction was going to be. He accepted me with PKU. We got married four years ago.

The strict diet I am on controls my whole life. I cannot eat like everyone else. If I want to go to a party, I have to take my own food.

If I eat protein, I become very ill. I may start to vomit, my head aches, I have facial numbness, nightmares, and mood swings. When my levels are up I want to eat all the time.

When my levels (the amount of phenylalanine in my blood) are in the 30's, I have moody spells. I am hard to live with, and I cry over the least little thing. My levels are checked through a blood test. My levels are about 15.9 right now. That is good for me. The lowest I should be is 14.4.