Help! Daughter had bad allergic reaction!

[Tao]

Hello,

My 5 month 4 week old daughter just had a bad allergic reaction to the peanuts I had this morning. It was in my breast milk, and she turned bright red with hives all over her face and swollen eyes. She also has allergy to cow's milk protein but I wasn't aware of the nuts. They gave her a shot of steroids to calm the inflammation down but the difficult thing is that she has been exclusively breastfed her entire life and has never had formula but everytime I nurse her, the reaction comes back.

Does anyone know how long foods remain in our system/breast milk? Has anyone ever continued nursing even though your child was allergic?

I'm scared to put her on formula since she has never had it and is so sensitive already. I'm thinking of riding this out until the nuts are out of my system...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Tao]

Does anyone know how long it takes for peanuts to leave my breast milk?

[Shiv52]

Hi there

Sorry your LO had such a bad reaction.  I have read it takes between 4-8 hours for food/drink to be out of your system, longer for the foods. 

Did the doctor suggest pumping any of the milk away as the milk your breasts are storing at the minute will have more of the peanuts in it and the next milk will have less?  Don't know if that works but have heard of doing that if you've had alcohol? 

On the allergy side of things, I think it is easier for you to try and work out what is causing the allergies and cut them from your diet (although I don't know how restricting that will be for you) than change to formula as it can be very difficult to find the correct formula but am sure some of the experts will be a long soon and will know the specifics.

{{{hugs}}}  Hope LO is better soon x

[LizzieN]

Hey sweetie one other point to make, if your LO is that allergic to peanuts after only one exposure I would be speaking to your doctor about precautions you need to take in case of inadvertant exposures.  I don't know if they make infant epipens (they do have children and adult ones) but I would be looking into it and getting as much advice as I could.  The problem is that the reaction could be even more serious next time (or maybe not) and cause swelling of the mouth and tongue, throat etc..she may have an anaphylactic event. 

I'm not trying to scare you at all, but I think that you should get some doctor advice (about how long it will take to clear the allergen from your milk and what precautions you can take) so that you are prepared....

Sorry if this has upset you in any way and I really hope your LO is all better really soon, many hugs to you both
xxLizzie

[Tao]

Hi...

Thank you to both of you. You are so right. I am going to bring her into our pediatrician on Monday and I have been reading quite a bit online and they do mention that the next time around can be so dangerous. Shiv, I think you were right because I just nursed her again for dinner and she didn't have the reaction which means I think the allergens are out of my system already for the most part. This is all so scary. I read about infant mortality from babies not being able to breathe...Does this mean she will have peanut allergies for the rest of her life?

Thanks again for your insight. I love that I can get support from others =)

[We Three]

I have next to no knowledge about this, but couldn't read and not post....my sisters dd is allergic to peanuts, and as I understand it, it is not something he willl ever outgrow...he is 9 now.  Sorry you're feeling scared....good luck...your baby is beautiful.

[LizzieN]

Hey there sweetie,
My understanding is that you don't outgrow allergies, your body creates an inappropriate immune reaction to non-toxic allergens.  There are ways to try and de-sensitize allergies, but I have never heard of anyone doing this with nut allergies, only dander, grasses things like that, I assume they will only attempt to desensitize allergies that aren't too serious....like hayfever symptoms that kind of thing.

I so so hope I didn't scare you, I can only imagine how it must have felt to see your LO go through that, but I am so glad that the allergens have cleared out of your system now   The general rule with a peanut allergy is remove ALL nuts and nut products from your house, and be aware that a lot of products are made on production lines that process nuts...check the labels.  A lot of health food shops stock lines of chocolate and things like that where the factories are completely nut free (and dairy and soy free if you require) so you can still eat "normal" things for the most part.

Glad that you will be able to see your paediatrician soon sweetheart, big hugs to you all and agree with pp, your LO is gorgeous
xxxxLizzie

[Mashi]

Wow. Soooo sorry to hear that happened, must have been very scary.  As Lizzie says, take some precautions to get all nuts out of the house and read all labels carefully!  I have heard that some doctors are starting to do desensitization with nut allegies but it is very controversial and most doctors won't even attempt it.  Maybe over the next decade research and science will make more advancements on it.  Yes, you can outgrow allergies, your body cells and chemistry change continuously and about every 7 years or so, people who are allergenic often go through phases of growing into new allergies and out of old ones.  However, nuts are such a highly allergenic substance that I would not attempt it or think about it that way - I would plan for her to be 100% NUT FREE for life, unless advised by an allergy specialist when she gets older.

If you should choose the formula route, you would have to make sure to get her a hypoallergenic formula (Alimentum, Nutramigen, Neocate, PeptiJunior, Althera...depending which are available where you live) as she won't be able to have regular formula.  To be honest, I would suggest even having a tin of one of them available, just in case something happens again and you realise that you have consumed a nut product by accident and you do NOT want to take the risk in BFing her if her reaction was so severe this time. Again, maybe something to discuss with your doctor.

HTH

[Spectra]

I too have read, and talked to many as my son just had a terrible peanut reaction a couple of weeks ago, that you can grow out of some food allergies.  However, as Machimaro stated, in the case of peanuts it's extremely rare.  Someone I know told me that if they don't grow out of it by the age of 6 or 7 they'll have it for life, though not sure how accurate that statement is.

[Tao]

Thanks for everyone's input. It's so nice to get support and ideas from others. I went through the house yesterday and threw away all our nut items. I am thinking of bringing her to an allergist to have her tested to see what other allergies she may have. I've also noticed that she is always congested and read somewhere that that can also be an indication of hay fever type allergies as well =(.

My poor baby, between her eczema, dairy allergy and now peanut allergy, I think she's been miserable most of her life...As a mommy, I wish I could take it all away from her. We are going to start solids in a few days and to be honest I'm a bit worried. What if I give her some new food that she's allergic to as well.

Does anyone know what are some good foods to start with with very allergic babies? I know most people here start with Rice Cereal but I also heard that that can constipate them.

Thanks guys!

P.S. I must say that I am biased. I think she is beautiful too =).

[Shiv52]

{{{hugs}}}

Glad she's feeling better.  To be honest I would probably speak the doctor about introducing solids given the intolerances she already has and given that she had such a bad reaction to the peanuts.  I would definately get her tested first and see what other allergies come up (if any) and start from there.  Although I'd probably start with something very plain like sweet potato or carrot as they would be less likely to cause a reaction that other foods but I would check to be sure first.  Not sure about rice cereal if there is anything else in it that would be likely to cause a reaction.

Let us know how doctor appt goes.

And yes she is beautiful!  xx

[Tao]

Hello All,

We just got back from the allergist and I found out that my daughter is allergic to peanuts, almonds, eggs, milk and wheat!! No wonder she has been fussy forever! The doctor gave her an epipen because of her bad peanut reaction last time. The only problem is that she has been exclusively breast fed up until now and I don't know what I can eat because wheat and eggs are in everything!

Has anyone else ever experienced this? If so, did you still breastfeed? I have always been happy that I have been able to nurse my daughter because I know it's healthy for her; however, I'm concerned for my own nutrition. Does eliminating so many food groups affect mom's health as well?

I apprecaite anyone sharing their insight with me =)

[Peek-a-boo]

I think you could eliminate all those food groups and still be very healthy yourself.  You'll definitely have to be resourceful and it will mean making most things from scratch.  I would say, look at it this way--once she starts solids, you'll have to figure out how to make and serve wholesome food without all those allergens--may as well get a jump on it now and continue to give her the benefits of breastmilk.

I eliminated milk, soy, and eggs from my diet.  I did not have to eliminate wheat, but was trying to keep DD gluten-free just because and so have some experience with that as well. 

Personally, I think when one member of the family has allergies, it's best for everyone in the family to give up those food items (at least for the most part) so that you can share most of your meals together. 

{{{Hugs}}}  I'm sure this must be really overwhelming right now. 

[Shiv52]

Huge {{{hugs}}}

I think it is possible for you to eat a balanced, healthy diet while eliminating those things which your LO is allergic too.  Like pp says you are going to have to create that  diet for her anyways so it will give you a head start.  But its a personal choice.  Could your doctor refer you to a dietician to maybe help you out with some meal planning etc? 

By the way, my best friend is allergic to all nuts, wheat and eggs and doesn't seem to find it a struggle.  I lived with her for 5 years through uni and never really noticed it being an issue.  She ate lots of fruit and veg, rice etc.

[LizzieN]

Hey sweetie on the food intolerance board there are some great recipes to get you started   I recently gave up dairy and soy because LO had suspected MSPI and I was still breastfeeding....I have to admit sometimes I found it harder than others, but it does get easier I think once you have the ingredients and some staple meals that you know are safe
I got a book called "cookies for everyone" which has none of the most common allergens, perhaps you could look it up?  (not trying to promote products, but you still have to be able to have nice things for both you and your LO as she gets older).  Good luck sweetie, I think it is a HUGE learning curve and a difficult road at the beginning, but get lots of help and advice, go to your health food shop and ask questions and DEFINATELY get a dietician/nutritionist appointment, they can do wonders to help xx

Big hugs
xxLizzie

[Tao]

Thank you everyone for your great advice! I went to see my doctor today and she said that my dizziness and headaches are probably lack of nutrition because I haven't been eating the greatest since weaning the major allergy offenders from my diet but luckily I have an appointment with a nutritionist soon so I know they can help me =). I hope DD grows out of it! I am starting her on yams tomorrow. Hopefully she will tolerate it well, but you are right. Now is the time to learn how to cook so that she will be able to still eat the yummy things. The good news is I have been egg, wheat, milk, nut free for a week now and her congestion has already gone away! She used to be so congested she had to breathe through her mouth all the time but now she can breathe through her nose! Hoooray! Eliminating foods is so worth it when you know that it makes your baby happier..

[Peek-a-boo]

So glad to hear you sounding positive!  I know it's really tough when you first eliminate foods because everything you think of to eat has something in it that's off limits, but I bet pretty soon you'll build up a mental list of yummy things that you can eat and it will start to feel easier.  Glad to hear you are meeting with a nutritionist.  Hope they are able to be very helpful to you.

[Shiv52]

So happy to read your update!  So glad that your LO is less congested already!  Hope meeting with nutritionist goes well and you get lots of help for planning yummy meals for you!

[Spectra]

Thanks for the update!  Glad to see things going in the right direction for you!