Hives with various foods- need some advice please!

[pinkism]

My son is 6mo, EBF apart from 2 bottles on day1 (with no problems noticed). Started weaning at 4mo with baby rice and mummy milk just before bed and this got him sleeping through again.
First proper food was one of my gluten free rusks (Im coeliac) and he got hives all round his face- possibly egg? so then just stuck to 'safe' fruits and veggies but now trying to extend his tastes a bit.
So far he's had hives with:
the rusk- ?egg
licking an almost clean spoon I has eaten roulade with - possibly egg/cream
GF pitta- ?egg
organix cheese&herb puffs- ?cheese
icecream (tiny bit on holiday)

and then a few days ago we had all eaten and he was covered in all kinds of food (baby-led weaning) so I took his t-shirt off and stuck another one on just to keep him warm for 20mins while we finished our meal before his bath was due. Got to the bathroom and he had almost perfect hand prints on his torso where I had held him for those moments between t-shirts. We had had eaten all kind of stuff, ham, olives, salad etc but I had been wiping up houmous with lettuce(lovely image I know!) and was covered in it. Checked the label, no egg or diary but sesame.  His mouth had a slight rash but nowhere near like normal.

He has pretty dry cheeks and started with excema on his knees and elbows and then up his back but that's all much better with various creams and bath emollient, just the cheeks are still rough but not broken or anything, just looks wind blown iykwim.
Um he was really refluxy as a baby and had colic. His nappies are variable but never proper diarrohea. He has frequent colds. He's often a whine but he IS spirited and gets bored easily, he expects to be entertained all the time. plus now he's teething.
My brother and my brother-in-law both have excema/asthma, my bro is allergic to lots (cats dust mites etc) but no foods. I have coeliac disease.

Went to see our GP at 4 months after the first reaction and he tried to say it was drool until I let him know I'm a neonatal nurse and know what hives looks like! He said he couldnt do anything til 6 months. So he turned 6 months last week and I took him again and he's referred me to the paediatrician outpatients at hospital.

Although I'm paeds trained, I specialised in neonates straight away so I know everything you could ever want about really sick and/or extremely premature babies, but I have no clue about weaning and solid food allergies.

So, what do you think....what will the doc do....what shall I do next.....I would like to pre-empt the doc as much as poss to get things moving so will she ask for a food diary or to totally restrict him and start again or what? I remembered to take pics of him last time so we have proof!


Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, it's really helped me to get everything down anyway if you can't help. At least I have a record of things up til now!

Debs and Sid x

[scarlettsmom]

Hi Pinkism,

Drool -  , so glad you could put that to an end. 

Ok, so, you've done a really great job documenting the reactions, what they looked like, and what he ate right before that happened.  I would take that in.  It seems that egg and milk are an issue, possibly sesame.  Typically what they do is a history (any other symptoms, severity, etc), then maybe a blood test, scratch and/or patch testing.  while waiting for those results (days/weeks), it might be recommended that you stick to only very minimal, safe foods.  After the results come back they should identify the allergens (but know that there can be false positives/negatives, although w/hives as a symptom it's usually much easier to be accurate), and then put a plan in place for introducing foods.  They will probably want you to introduce one new food every week.  Also, milk and eggs most likely won't be challenged again until at least 12 months, probably closer to 18-24 months.

This is just based on my experience what I've gotten from other parents.  It of course can vary.  Be as specific as possible (as you are already doing) and have a list of questions with you.

Hope this helps a little.  When is his appointment? 

 

[~ Vik ~]

Just wanted to drop off some (((hugs))) as we've been through it too - hives with milk, eggs, mustard (that was interesting to figure out), and a peanut allergy discovered when we did our scratch and blood tests. It can be so nerve racking to try and figure everything out, but I agree with Tari and it sounds like you've done a fantastic job pinpointing what your problem foods might be!

Eczema/asthma/allergies all seem to be generically linked - and children don't inherit specific allergies, but rather they inherit the tendancy to be allergic. Dylan's allergist explained that even though dh and I don't have any food allergies, our environmental allergies made it more likely that Dylan would be allergic to *something* (and helped to explain his eczema). Sorry if you already knew that, I just found it very helpful when the allergist explained that to me

definitely here for support and to hold your hand of needed

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Eczema/asthma/allergies all seem to be generically linked - and children don't inherit specific allergies, but rather they inherit the tendancy to be allergic.

Because of this I fully expected that both of my kids would end up with at least one of these...so far both have had eczema, one has allergies. (DH suffers from asthma & allergies, I have a family history of alleriges & asthma)

We have had reactions to egg & milk so far and finally got a local Dr. to refer us to an allergist, but both scratch and blood tests were negative. We will be doing food challenges in office this summer and until then we are presuming allergic and avoiding milk, eggs, nuts and seafood (the latter just to be safe)

Your appointment is with a ped? will they then have to refer you to an allergist for the tests? 

{{{hugs}}} sounds like you are on the right track and I hope the appt goes well!

[pinkism]

Thank so much for your replies, just good to have people that know what it's like!
his appt is 7th July and it's a general peads appt cos this particular GP is nice (and trusts me to know what hives are!) and said the allergy waiting list is 2 months so he's put me with the peadiatrician who he knows happens to takes the allergy clinic. From there I will see that same paed Doc and the dietician.
I put some cows milk on the inside of his elbow this morning and the reaction was within 30secs. did the same with houmous on the other side and there was no sign even after 15 mins but later in the day I noticed it was spotty rather than hives on that side.

[~ Vik ~]

Dylan reacts like that too - if I so much as have a sip of milk and then give him a kiss without washing my face he breaks out into hives almost instantly.  Which is quite the nightmare in a daycare situation, with 9 other babies drinking their bottles and eating their yogourts, as you can imagine   Same with his other allergies:  they just touch his skin and he welts up immediately.

Re: the waiting list for the allergist, are you able to get yourself on a cancellation list?  Our initial appointment was a couple of months away, but we got on the cancellation list and were able to see him within a week   Might be worth it if you have a flexible schedule and can get in quickly.  Glad that you have a quick appointment with the ped though, hopefully you'll be able to get some answers soon!

[pinkism]

Thanks Vikki, hadn't thought of that! x

[pinkism]

Updating for my own records!

Goats milk in elbow - hives few mins.
Soy milk/yoghurt/spread from 22nd July ?eczema worse on back

[scarlettsmom]

Goats milk in elbow - hives few mins.

Yeah - cow's milk and goat's milk proteins are very similar and most people who have cm allergy can't do gm either.

[pinkism]

Thankyou, saw both in the shop and was worth a try! He was covered again with lunch today, only thing I can think of is celery in the 'dairy free cheese sauce'.

[scarlettsmom]

Oh no.

So interesting you mentioned celery - that is becoming one of the quicker growing allergens!

How is he handling all the rashes?? 

[pinkism]

Sorry for not replying sooner SM, can check this on my phone but not log in.
He's doing ok, it's itchy and he gets quite upset by it but can be distracted most of the time, unless he's already tired too. A dip in the bath helps and I make sure he has loose cotton clothes so it's not making it worse. On the countdown for his appt and trying not to get my hopes up that we will get stuck into tests straight away.
Re the celery thing, wondering now if it was related to tomatoes, he's always been fine with them but is now getting a red 'drool rash', no clear hives as such, just red.

[ireneee]

Hi there,
Re. the tomatoes thing, my dp used to get really red cheeks when eating tomatoes as a child, and our dd reacts to raw tomatoes but is ok with cooked. She also reacts like that with some veg (wierd Chinese ones that I don't know what they are called!). It's almost as if something in them irritates her where they touch her mouth / chin area. But the redness goes away after we wash that area clean.
Bless him, he looks so cute!
:-)

[pinkism]

Thanks Irene, isn't it strange how it seems anything can create a reaction!

Tested egg on elbow- reaction
Tested cows milk - NO REACTION!! Trying not to get all my hopes up at once.... got to wait and see. Paeds appt is wed morning.

[ireneee]

Ohhh, good luck!
When we were tested for egg, they tested the yolk and the white separately (altho she reacted to both!)