Help...

[Little Lamb]

Hi!
My dd is 18 months old and had an allergic reaction this morning.  The first one ever.  The whole left side of her face swelled and turned dark pink, fever and then she got some spots.  She was at the sitter's at the time, thankfully I had some Benadryl (anti-histamine) in her diaper bag (for just in case) and the sitter gave her that.  Dh ran to check on her and within 10 minutes everything had cleared. 

But now what!?!  We can't figure out what caused it.  She hasn't had any new foods, no new soaps or new environments that I can think of.  How do I figure out what caused it and therefore how to prevent it? 

Just prior to that she had some strawberry yogurt.  But she's had strawberries and yogurt and that brand of yogurt often without any reaction. 

Am home with her this afternoon to keep an eye on things and to see if we should get her into the doctor.  Any advice is appreciated!
TIA

[Jimbob]

It could be a contact reaction. It is possible that there was residue of a food that she has reacted to on the sofa, table, floor ect. I would certainly contact the doctor if only to request allergy tests to see if you can identify the culprit. I am glad that the reaction was controlled by the benadryl. It is unusual for somebody to carry benadryl just in case. Do you have a history of allergies in your family?

I hope your dd is still ok and that she does not have any further reactions.

Kelly

[Little Lamb]

Is it unusual???  Our baby group had a public health nurse come to speak and she suggested getting it for the medicine cabinet as kids trying new foods might have reactions and it was a good thing to have on hand.  I just chucked ours in the diaper bag for some reason.   And it's been in there since dd was 6 months old.

Actually I do have food allergies, but nothing severe.  Hmm, that's a good thought about the contact part.  She was playing with a blanket and a stuffed toy at the time.  I'll have to get the sitter to check those items.  I have a doc apt for her next week that was already booked so I'll request allergy tests at that time.  But will they give them to such a young child?

I was also wondering about a bug bite, but it's the middle of winter and we don't really have any bugs around right now!

So far no more reactions and the benadryl would have worn off by now, what a puzzle!

Thanks for your help though!

[Jimbob]

It is unusual in the UK but obviously not in Canada. It is a good idea actually and probably would be a good idea if everybody did. My ds had allergy testing at 11 months, he had the RAST test (blood test). So your dd should not be too young at 18 months, although it just depends if the guidelines are different in Canada. We have people that look at this board that are from canada so they may be able to advise you best on that.

Kelly