Question about Chocolate sensitivity

[We Three]

Just wondering.....

  DD had chocolate for the first time about a year ago, she was almost 3.   It was a chocolate chop cookie...home made at a bake sale.  About an hour later she broke out in a rash over her entire body...even the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet.       It was crazy.   The chocolate was the only thing that was different.  Our holistic doc said she has an intolerance to it.  Whatever...fine...it isn't hard to avoid, and he suggested giving her a tiny taste when I feel ok doing so, to "awaken" her body's defenses to it.  She did have a little marble cake twice since then (vanilla and chocolate mixed) with no issue...but holistic doc said that isn't surprising, as the chips that are in cookies are a more pure and concentrated chocolate than you would find in cake. 

  Today is Halloween. I don't want her to feel left out when other kids eat candy in front of her. I won't offer her candy with dye in it, so that's about all the candy there is! Chocolate, or something that isn't chocolate, but is colored!

  A local candy shoppe has white chocolate.  I was going to go get her a little something from there. Do any of you know if a lo is sensitive to chocolate, is it the cocoa? Would white maybe be ok? 

  I told her that maybe we'd try some chocolate today, and she got upset...poor little nugget.  She said she doesn't want to have a rash.

Anyway...do you think white is ok?   I

[Lolly]

It would depend on what she reacted to I would think. The connection with white chocolate and the real stuff is cocoa butter - although I think there is a lot less in it than chocolate itself. If it's the cocoa bean she reacted too then it may be ok - just a shame you can't tell without trying really

Laura

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

It was a chocolate chop cookie...home made at a bake sale.

If it was home made, what if there was something else in it she reacted too? (I'm thinking nuts or cross contamination from something else.)  Does she eat nuts/peanuts at all?  If it is the chocolate, the only way you'll know if the white is okay is by trying it.  I hear you about not wanting them to be left out...I purposely bought candy Spencer can have and plan to hand out the stuff she gets but can't have and give her what I bought!

[*Amy*]

When I was younger I was asked to stay off dairy and red meat for 3 months, but I was allowed to eat the odd piece of dark chocolate...perhaps you could try her on this?

[deb]

Pretzels. Cookies or muffins you make at home and trade for whatever Halloween loot she brings home. Even apple slices and carrot sticks. Punpkin pie?

And agree, if you're not the one who baked the bake sale cookie, there's no way to know if some other ingredient, either alone or in combination with the chocolate, was behind the reaction. Also depends on the actual chocolate: was it milk chocolate, semi-sweet, bitter? Sweetened with sugar or HFCS? Contain any soy (like soy lecithin)? The variations out there surprise me.....

[newmummy82]

As pp said, it may not have been the chocolate she reacted to anyway. It could have been another food or it's quite common for viral rashes to look dramatic and come up suddenly and parents look to a new food source when it was coincindental- just a thought.
My instinct would be, if you want to retry her, to try in the morning so you can observe her (chocolate for brekfast lol!). I wouldn't risk spoiling your evening by giving tonight- especially if Amelia is aware of it as she may worry as well IYKWIM?

x

[Mashi]

I'm pretty sure white chocolate is not chocolate - it's just white sweet confectionary made with cocoa butter, that resembles chocolate in consistency, hence the name....but there are no cocoa solids in it.

I did read that what people react to in chocolate is theobromine, which is only in cocoa solid - so people who can not have theobromine can safely eat white chocolate...but there is no way to know for sure until you try it!

[We Three]

Thanks everyone.  Well, she eats nuts and peanuts butter every day...so that's not it.  She has eaten homemade cookies before...prior to the chocolate and since then too.  Other than chocolate and obvious dyes, we don't avoid anything.

Our holistic doctor used kinesiology (muscle testing) to determine that she does have a sensitivity to chocolate.  He said he could do allergy elimination, (which I have seen work) or we could just wait. Since I didn't see a huge need for a not-quite-3 year old to be eating chocolate anyway, I figured we'd just wait.

 And here we are.  Thing is, we're not "trick-or-treating" per se, going to Grandmas and Uncles and such. But she would like to join her cousins later when they go....and they will be at thier other Grandmothers' when we see them.  Obviously, there will be treats there.  I just don't want o deal with any of this, really. I know this is the last year that we will be able to just knock on a few doors and she won't really get that other kids go to ALOT of houses!  We live on a private road and don't get any kids here.

I think I will go get some white chocolate...maybe just a teeny little piece. I'll stop at a bakery and get her a sugar cookie or something too.  

I don't know how my sister survived this...her son has a LETHAL allergy to nuts....lethal.  I don't know how she ever let him out of her sight.  

[We Three]

Posted at same time as Mashi and new Mummy.  Thanks.      Great advice.   Think I'll go get some cookies from the bakery...save the white choco for another time.   Maybe I can find something that looks like "candy" that will make her feel like she is having something new and special. 

[Mashi]

Could you make some candy with her - still full of sugar and unhealthy but you are totally in control of what goes in it.  And then get some little cellophane wrappers to wrap them up in?  We made candy with my mom all the time as kids -- some of my favourites, my dad found an older lady in our small town that will make my mom's recipes for him and at Christmas I get a little packet of homemade memories   We made cinnamon "jawbreakers" - basically little hard cinnamon candies but you can use the same recipe to flavour them with whatever oils you would like, we would make fudge, and divinity, and caramels....they are all so easy to make as really, making candy just involves getting the proper type of sugar, heating it to a specific point, and cooling it in a certain way.   

Though, I have just realise that you are meaning for tonight, so I guess not! But perhaps something to keep in mind for future Hallowe'ens!

[scarlettsmom]

Hi Amelia,

How did everything end up going?

Great info about the white chocolate!  That was a pretty intense reaction she got to the first dose.....just curious if she had any wheezing/coughing with it?  The reason I ask is because Scarlett (who has no food allergies) has a severe allergy to penicillin.  She too was covered head to toe, palms of hands, soles of feet....everywhere, it was crazy.  However, she also had wheezing/respiratory issues....and that points to a very serious allergy (we have an epi-pen, she was given an adrenalin shot at the ER, kept over night, put on steroids.....it was a nightmare).  The only reason I mention this is if there were respiratory symptoms as well, I would encourage you trialing the real chocolate with your dr., or at least have benadryl on hand  .

Hope Halloween went well!!  Did you guys dress up?  (((((hugs)))))

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Our holistic doctor used kinesiology (muscle testing) to determine that she does have a sensitivity to chocolate.

Hope the evening worked out ok, Anne.  Let us know how she did for sure.  Just from a (western, I know) medical perspective in terms of the above, you might think about getting her some skin testing for allergies before you worry too much about this.  It might actually put your mind at ease if you find she's not even allergic.  There are so many wacky viruses (as someone said above) that cause rashes, it may not have been the chocolate at all.

Just my 2 cents.  Hope you guys had fun!

[We Three]

Thanks everyone.      

We had a nice time, Amelia was "James" the red engine from Thomas the Train...she is obsessed with James...I have no idea why!  

I did a bit of googling with regard to the white chocolate, and found that white chocolate isn't chocolate at all...but rather "a white confection" I think as one of you said.  So...last night she had a white-chocolate covered pretzel....no rash, no issues, and she loved it.  I didn't use the word chocolate, I said it was vanilla fudge so she wouldn't feel nervous.   "What is fudge Mama?  

Scarletts Mom...the night of the rash there were no respiratory issues at all. I did call her ped, who said that it *could* be a viral rash, but that she doubted it....there had been no recent fever, not so much as a runny nose.  I was asking her to show me her tounge, and asking her questions when the rash first showed up...to make sure she didn't feel funny in her throat and things like that.  If she had had any signes of coughing, wheezing, I know I would have had her at the ER in a hurry.  

kmk, I don't think I would put her through any allergy testing...tbh, it hasn't been hard at all to avoid chocolate...and I do think I'll give her a taste soon just to see. If she were to get the rash again, it would be less than ideal, but it didn't bother her, and wasn't itchy at all.   I just didn't want her covered in a rash on Halloween!    Perhaps we'll try it on a day where we're just hanging out at home.  

"One for you....two for Mommy..."   

Thanks everyone!  

[deb]

Re: the allergy testing, I was in tears when Josie refused after the first scratch to go thru the scratch test battery, really wasn't that many things we wanted her checked for but with her sensory issues she was screaming and sobbing, haven't seen her like that since kindergarten. Came here and cried about it and was reassured that the skin tests aren't completely accurate anyway so could have gotten false info anyway. One wonders then why the heck my HMO would push me that direction in the first place knowing J has sensory issues..... but that's another story. Then there's stuff that nobody would really think to test for - took us a few meals to sort that Natalie has a reaction to rosemary, of all things. Definitely impacts what we prepare, and want to guess what a lot of commercial turkey is prepared with, whether it's cutlets or ground turkey?

Back when Josie had her neuro exam just before her 4th bday we were supposed to have food sensitivities tested but the dietitian didn't have her stuff that day to do it. 

Sounds like you worked out a great compromise with the white chocolate tho.

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

I did a bit of googling with regard to the white chocolate, and found that white chocolate isn't chocolate at all...but rather "a white confection" I think as one of you said.  So...last night she had a white-chocolate covered pretzel....no rash, no issues, and she loved it.  I didn't use the word chocolate, I said it was vanilla fudge so she wouldn't feel nervous.   "What is fudge Mama?  Smiley

Glad it worked out and that she liked it!

[~ Vik ~]

Then there's stuff that nobody would really think to test for - took us a few meals to sort that Natalie has a reaction to rosemary, of all things.

That was what happened with Dylan and his mustard allergy.  By process of elimination we suspected that mustard was a problem, but when we went to the allergist they didn't even have anything to do a test with   The scratch test ended up being accurate for Dylan (though a horrible ordeal ) but even still we had to get blood tests done to confirm.  (Apparently kids with eczema have such sensitive skin that scratch tests can give false positive results).  The blood test was quicker, easier, and gave us clear results.  If I knew then what I know now I would have skipped the scratch test and gone right to blood work.

So happy that the white chocolate worked out!