Author Topic: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!  (Read 5759 times)

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Offline pinkism

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #15 on: July 07, 2010, 19:55:08 pm »
Well we had our appt and I'm pretty disappointed.
He basically agreed that he is having allergic reactions to 'a variety of foods' and prescribed piriton for his reactions and hydrocortisone for his eczema. He advised to keep trying him with dairy and egg and keep a food diary, give piriton and carry on giving him all types of milk, yoghurt, cheese and egg until his next appt in 3 months. If he starts wheezing take him to hospital. If he is still getting reactions in 3 months he will have IgE bloods.
Hmph. He also said give him gluten as coeliac disease has no genetic link....he's obviously not reading the same stuff as me.
So basically I'm going to be dealing with a pukey, rashy boy for the next 3 months. Fab.

On the plus side, I DID give him a cheese spread sandwich and a little formula milk, so far no problem :)

Offline ireneee

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #16 on: July 07, 2010, 20:07:13 pm »
Hmmmm, that kinda goes against the advice I was given and all the other posts regarding food allergies...
Can you get a referral to an allergist? Or was this Paed the allergist?
I thought that you were going to get tested for allergic reactions for specific foods?

But then again, if you aren't seeing any reaction to the cheese spread sandwich and formula milk, maybe these aren't the triggers!

Offline pinkism

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #17 on: July 08, 2010, 11:08:51 am »
Tried whole milk in his cereal today. He was covered in hives, his whole body. It was obviously really irritating for him, he was so upset. Gave him piriton, water and had a cooling bath. Poor little boy. Can't beleive this is what I'm supposed to do for the next 3 months?!!
We don't have allergists really irenepcheung, it's just the paeds consultant. Apparently there are 6 allergists per million people in the Uk.

Offline ireneee

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #18 on: July 08, 2010, 20:40:25 pm »
Wow, I wasn't aware about the ratio of allergists!
Did you have any actual tests yet (skin prick tests) to find out what LO is allergic to or did your paed just say he's allergic in general?
My LO is allergic to diary, eggs and soy and it manifested itself as really bad eczema when she was a couple of months old. Now if she comes into contact with these, she gets hives. But we have been told to completely eliminate them from her diet for now (and we have to see a dietician who checks her diet to make sure she is getting enough calcium etc).
I think you've been told to carry on with all those foods as for LO's, it's important for them to have all the food groups etc.
Maybe now that you have tried him with some milk and have seen how he reacts, if you are unhappy to give it to him again, then don't. At least you have done it this once and you can document it for your next appt. And you have a substitute as he is ok with formula.
He may eventually grow out of this all anyway, but I don't think that it will happen in 3 months. Mine is now 18mo and still allergic - and I was hoping she would grow out of it at a year old!
Hugs to you and your wee boy!


Offline ~ Vik ~

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #19 on: July 09, 2010, 01:41:47 am »
He advised to keep trying him with dairy and egg and keep a food diary, give piriton and carry on giving him all types of milk, yoghurt, cheese and egg until his next appt in 3 months.
:o :o :o :o :o
I am so shocked by this advice that I hardly know what to say.  If his throat was closing up at every exposure would his advice be the same?  >:(  I'm stunned.
Dylan had his first reaction to dairy at 5.5mo old - to a "just add water" rice cereal.  The Ped in the emergency room advised us to avoid all dairy in his diet until he was at least 1 year, and even then to attempt reintroduction under the advice of our regular doctor.  We didn't see an allergist until relatively recently, when Dylan began reacting to other things that we knew didn't contain milk.  The allergist did both scratch and blood tests (he explained that scratch tests aren't always reliable in people with eczema as their skin is overly sensitive anyway) and confirmed allergies to dairy, egg white, mustard, and peanuts.  He also advised complete avoidance of all of these until at least 3 years old, when we could repeat blood tests and possibly do an in-office food challenge the results suggested that he'd grown out of any of them.  To me, that is normal advice when dealing with allergies.  Not to continue to offer the offending food, cause an immune reaction, and give medication to try and deal with it >:(  >:(

And, FWIW, everything that I have read and researched suggested that children are MORE likely to outgrow their allergies if the offending food is completely avoided.

On the plus side, I DID give him a cheese spread sandwich and a little formula milk, so far no problem
Tried whole milk in his cereal today. He was covered in hives, his whole body.
It is possible that he is allergic to milk but is ok with cheese, that's not unheard of.  For example, Dylan gets hives and swelling on contact with egg white, but can tolerate egg is processed food (like pasta) - something to do with the processing makes it not react with his immune system.  The allergist wasn't that surprised, and said that Dylan was allergic to eggs "in their natural state" :P

I hate going against doctors, but TBH I wouldn't even think about feeding Dylan items that I knew he was allergic too.  I agree with the idea of keeping a food journal.  Especially since you're not really getting any support from your doctor, that may be the only way to track reactions.  I would continue to avoid foods that you *know* cause a reaction, and offer questionable foods with care.  If you're going to offer a questionable food (like the cheese for example) I would ensure that it is the only food you're unsure of for the entire day, so that if a reaction occurs it is easy to pinpoint what the offender was.  Just MHO, I hope that I haven't offended :)

Huge (((hugs))) for you and little man :-* :-*

D ~ dairy, egg, peanut/nut and mustard allergies
Proud to have breastfed for over 24 months!


scarlettsmom

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #20 on: July 09, 2010, 12:41:08 pm »
Big big (((hugs))))

I completely echo what Vikki said.  There is no way I'd trial the dairy for several months, as a matter of fact we still haven't given DD2 a cup of milk yet and she will be 2 next month!  Do what you feel is right, but it does seem somewhat irresponsible that you were given that advice.

((hugs))






Offline pinkism

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #21 on: July 09, 2010, 16:15:41 pm »
Oh my goodness thanks so much for all your replies!
I have been feeling so conflicted. I asked him over and over to clarify that is what he meant because it seemed like the opposite of what I've read everywhere else.
He hasn't had any tests, just what I see when he gets hives, plus the eczema and that he was really refluxy and colicky. The paed said he will do tests in 3 months.
I haven't given Sid anything else that I consider 'suspect' for him, although today he did taste a slice of lemon and got a small amount of hives around his mouth but they only lasted 10mins max.
Have written everything in his food diary to prove to myself- and others- that he does react to the same things.

Feel a bit lost really. Bought some baby rice pudding with milk in it and some fromage frais to give him a taste of sometime over the next week or so. Going to make sure it's when my husband is off work so it's not just me seeing it like normal.

Offline ireneee

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #22 on: July 09, 2010, 19:31:26 pm »
Is there anyone else that you can speak to about this?

I remember when dds eczema was really bad and I was asking all the drs if I should stop eating diary (I was bf-ing) but they all said no, I needed to eat all the food groups then along came the home visit nurse and she took one look at dd and said, cut dairy out, even trace elements.

Do you think you can try to see the paed again before 3 months to try to get the tests sooner?

I was given a list of foods ranked in order of potentially causing reactions which you may already have but if not, I hope it's useful;

Least likely to cause a problem: baby rice
potato, carrot
swedes, turnip, green beans
parsnips, cabbage, broccoli
cauliflower
apple, pear, banana
oats, wheat
chicken, turkey
beef, lamb, pork
fish

From here on, the reaction potentially worsens and the last items are potentially capable of causing a severe reaction;
tomatoes, citrus fruit
strawberries, raspberries
marmite, honey
cows milk, goats milk, cheese, yoghurt, eggs, shellfish, kiwi fruit, peanuts, tree nuts.



Offline pinkism

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #23 on: July 09, 2010, 21:09:22 pm »
Hmm thanks for that, had come across a similar list in the past but didn't have it for reference.
He loves strawberries and has them quite often with no problems thankfully and I was really careful testing those on him because I remembered people are often allergic to them.
Raspberries ok too but he's not that keen and has only had a little taste twice.
He gets a red rash with tomatoes but not hives, and today hives with a taste of lemon but wasn't planning on giving him citrus really anyway.
Not tried marmite- too salty and honey isn't til <12m I think so not had that either.
So that leaves:
cows milk- reacts
goats milk- reacts
cheese- nothing so far but he's only had quite mild almost fakey cheese
yoghurt - not tried apart from soya version
eggs- reacted to egg ingredient in pitta bread and raw egg on inner elbow
shellfish, kiwi fruit, peanuts, tree nuts all avoided so far. I get tingly lips with kiwi though.

Thanks for the list, is useful to go through for meal ideas too!!

Am now thinking I will discuss with the health visitor next week and see what she thinks (have discussed with her before and she seems sensible!) and speak to the gp again if she thinks it worth follwing up. Maybe the GP can push things along quicker.
Thanks again xxx

Offline ireneee

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #24 on: July 09, 2010, 21:28:35 pm »
Good luck!!!
I hope you get the results you want and soon :-)

And yes, speak to Health visitor too. You never know who will be able to point you to someone who will be able to give you the advice you need - it's all a bit hit and miss!

Offline pinkism

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #25 on: July 14, 2010, 20:01:06 pm »
I spoke to the HV today and showed her a pic of him after giving him milk. She was really annoyed at the advice I had been given and got me an appt with the GP and got her to refer me to a specialist :)
No appointments available at present but will hopefully hear soon and I can keep logging on to see if there are any cancellations. Thanks all, I would probably have just followed his advise and still be in the same situation (or God forbid worse) in 3 months time xxx

Offline ireneee

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #26 on: July 14, 2010, 21:49:44 pm »
Hurray! So glad for you :-)

scarlettsmom

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #27 on: July 16, 2010, 12:51:51 pm »
That's GREAT news!!!  ;D

Offline ~ Vik ~

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #28 on: July 16, 2010, 16:43:04 pm »
Fantastic!! So pleased for you and your little guy ;D
D ~ dairy, egg, peanut/nut and mustard allergies
Proud to have breastfed for over 24 months!


Offline Tao

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Re: Hives with various foods- need some advice please!
« Reply #29 on: July 18, 2010, 01:51:06 am »
Hi,

MY DD is allergic to so many foods as well and we had her skin tested. Have you had him tested? It makes a world of difference knowing what to look for; otherwise it is SO difficult trying to figure out what makes their hives/eczema worse. Eggs is a pretty common offender as far as allergies go...
Christine