Allgergy question (mostly wheat, peanuts, eggs)

[Annie]

Food allergies are a whole new world to me, and I need a little bit of guidance. Last summer when my little guy was about 15 months he got hives on his chin and neck after eating scrambled eggs. He had been eating eggs for 4 months or so without any issue. I cut eggs out of his diet for about a week and then tested the scrambled eggs (plain) one more time. He got the hives again. Both he and I (he nurses) have been egg free since then.

 

Since then he's gotten hives around his mouth a few more times, and I was having a very hard time figuring out what was causing them. For example, he had been eating probably four clementines a week for a month or so. One day I fed him a clementine and a few minutes later I noticed three hives around his mouth. I stopped feeding him clementines for a couple of weeks. I tried a clementine again and nothing. I continued with three or four clementines a week, and then, seemingly randomly, the hives appeared again after eating a clementine. This also happened with apples.

 

There were other times when he had eaten five or six foods at one sitting and ended up with a few hives around his mouth, and I've never been able to figure out the cause.

 

So, I talked to our pediatrician about it, and we ran some blood allergy panels. I have zero experience with food allergies, and the results leave me scratching my head a bit. I won't be able to talk to the pediatrician about the results for two weeks or so, so I'm just trying to research on my own at this point.

 

He came back class 0 for eggs. They don't give a number if it's under 0.35 kU/L. Could this be because he hasn't been exposed to them in a few months? He was clearly allergic to them this summer.

 

Peanuts are listed as class 1 at .35 kU/L. The class 1 range is .35-.69, so he's barely out of class zero. He has had very little exposure to peanuts. I haven't given him peanut butter. He's had a few veggies stir fried in peanut oil in the spring and a couple of french fries fried in peanut oil a couple months ago. Any idea what this number means for day to day reality?

 

Wheat was listed as class 1 at .57 kU/L. This is the highest allergen that came back on the panels that were run. I'm assuming this means we should cut wheat out of his diet. Is the allergy mild enough that he can eat things that were made on machinery that also processes wheat and things like that? What about me eating wheat? Does it pass through breastmilk like proteins from egg would? What about oatmeal? I know it's usually cross contaminated, but honestly, he's a picky eater, and it's one of the few foods I can get him to eat on a semi regular basis.

 

The only citrus that came back positive was lemon at .46. I'm a little surprised about that since he had gotten those hives in the past from the clementines. Apples also came back at zero.

 

Coconut also came back at zero when I thought it would be positive. I had fed him coconut water one time, and his face got red (no hives) really quickly. I avoided coconut since then. Do you think he might be allergic and came back negative since he hasn't been exposed to it lately?

 

 

I'm in confused research mode right now, so any advice or reassurance you can give would be appreciated. It's hard to figure things out when he pecks at so many different things and can't tell me when something's wrong.

 

Thank you for reading all of this!

[Ellesmere]

Food allergies are a whole new world to me, and I need a little bit of guidance. Last summer when my little guy was about 15 months he got hives on his chin and neck after eating scrambled eggs. He had been eating eggs for 4 months or so without any issue. I cut eggs out of his diet for about a week and then tested the scrambled eggs (plain) one more time. He got the hives again. Both he and I (he nurses) have been egg free since then.

 

Since then he's gotten hives around his mouth a few more times, and I was having a very hard time figuring out what was causing them. For example, he had been eating probably four clementines a week for a month or so. One day I fed him a clementine and a few minutes later I noticed three hives around his mouth. I stopped feeding him clementines for a couple of weeks. I tried a clementine again and nothing. I continued with three or four clementines a week, and then, seemingly randomly, the hives appeared again after eating a clementine. This also happened with apples.

 

There were other times when he had eaten five or six foods at one sitting and ended up with a few hives around his mouth, and I've never been able to figure out the cause.

 

So, I talked to our pediatrician about it, and we ran some blood allergy panels. I have zero experience with food allergies, and the results leave me scratching my head a bit. I won't be able to talk to the pediatrician about the results for two weeks or so, so I'm just trying to research on my own at this point.

 

He came back class 0 for eggs. They don't give a number if it's under 0.35 kU/L. Could this be because he hasn't been exposed to them in a few months? He was clearly allergic to them this summer.

 

Peanuts are listed as class 1 at .35 kU/L. The class 1 range is .35-.69, so he's barely out of class zero. He has had very little exposure to peanuts. I haven't given him peanut butter. He's had a few veggies stir fried in peanut oil in the spring and a couple of french fries fried in peanut oil a couple months ago. Any idea what this number means for day to day reality?

 

Wheat was listed as class 1 at .57 kU/L. This is the highest allergen that came back on the panels that were run. I'm assuming this means we should cut wheat out of his diet. Is the allergy mild enough that he can eat things that were made on machinery that also processes wheat and things like that? What about me eating wheat? Does it pass through breastmilk like proteins from egg would? What about oatmeal? I know it's usually cross contaminated, but honestly, he's a picky eater, and it's one of the few foods I can get him to eat on a semi regular basis.

 

The only citrus that came back positive was lemon at .46. I'm a little surprised about that since he had gotten those hives in the past from the clementines. Apples also came back at zero.

 

Coconut also came back at zero when I thought it would be positive. I had fed him coconut water one time, and his face got red (no hives) really quickly. I avoided coconut since then. Do you think he might be allergic and came back negative since he hasn't been exposed to it lately?

 

 

I'm in confused research mode right now, so any advice or reassurance you can give would be appreciated. It's hard to figure things out when he pecks at so many different things and can't tell me when something's wrong.

 

Thank you for reading all of this!

Just a question ... will you be able to see an allergist? Our allergist has been invaluable as she is the one who interprets the test results based on food reaction history -- to help cope with false positive/negative results. Don't quote me on this but I believe scratch tests are more likely to be falsely positive, and RAST falsely negative, but I'm fuzzy on that. Did you do any scratch tests or just the blood testing?

 

Once you sort out what the allergies are, FAAN is a good resource.

[Annie]

We only did blood tests. I plan to ask for an allergist referral when I talk to the pediatrician in a couple of weeks, but my guess is that we won't be able to get in to see them until January because we will be out of town for nearly a month around Christmas.

[Murmer]

Regarding the clementines and apples...your son could be reacting to a pollen allergy and getting oral allergy syndrome. I would check his environmental allergens with an allergist.

[Annie]

Regarding the clementines and apples...your son could be reacting to a pollen allergy and getting oral allergy syndrome. I would check his environmental allergens with an allergist.

 

That's an excellent suggestion, thank you. That would be consistent with the apparent random nature of the reaction.

[Hunter's Moon]

AFAIK (and please, someone correct me if I'm wrong), the class of the allergy does not determine the "strength" of the reaction. Also, there can be false negatives (like the eggs) and false positives.

 

My allergy test says I'm allergic to strawberries, wheat, and gluten. I've never had an allergic reaction from any of these foods so I continue to eat them.

 

Your son not eating eggs wouldn't effect the test because they take a sample of his blood and mix it with the protein (or something, I'm pretty sure it is attached to a protein) and then they look at it under a microscope. If he's allergic, the fact that he hasn't been exposed to it for awhile won't matter; the histamines will notice it as an "invader".

 

I've also heard that allergy testing below age 3 is pretty unreliable unless an obvious allergy is present (peanuts, eggs, etc.). A food challenge (eating the food) is the only way to know 100% there is an allergy. If eating eggs multiple times has given him hives, he is allergic and you probably got a false negative.

 

Also, when you fed him the clementines and he didn't get hives around his mouth, did you check the inside of his mouth? He might still be having a reaction of some sort and only sometimes will the hives appear on the outside. Idk, just a thought.

Edited November 15, 2011 by BeatleMania

[abbeyej]

Blood tests on toddlers are *notoriously* unreliable. Go by your observations for now and find a way to get in to see a pediatric allergist.

 

As to reacting sometimes and not others... It could well be that he reacts when there are other things in his system already pushing him toward overload -- other foods, environmental factors -- and when he hasn't been exposed to those, he's less likely to react to something to which he has only a mild allergy. For instance many people have more severe food allergies in spring and fall, when their bodies are already coping with environmental allergens -- they might eat those same foods with little problem in summer and winter (depending on which environmental allergens are problematic for them)...

[The Girls' Mom]

My dd has had extensive allergy tests, both RAST and skin. She doesn't test allergic to any fruits, but has had reactions to them consistantly for years. Hers is oral allergy syndrome (as mentioned earlier) Our allergist said that it generally isn't a life threatening reaction, just uncomfortable. She still avoids them though.

 

I would definitely see an allergist. My dd also tested allergic to about 8 different foods on the RAST test, but only 3 on the skin. She has consistantly tested allergic to peanuts for 10 years, without any reactions. We avoid them now though, just don't want to chance it.

 

Anyway, the blood test can give you a good heads up, but isn't always indicative of your actual reactive allergies.

[LittleIzumi]

Regarding the clementines and apples...your son could be reacting to a pollen allergy and getting oral allergy syndrome. I would check his environmental allergens with an allergist.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree: Also, reactions trump results. If he gets hives from eggs, avoid eggs just as if the numbers said it was a severe allergy.

[LittleIzumi]

Blood tests on toddlers are *notoriously* unreliable. Go by your observations for now and find a way to get in to see a pediatric allergist.

 

As to reacting sometimes and not others... It could well be that he reacts when there are other things in his system already pushing him toward overload -- other foods, environmental factors -- and when he hasn't been exposed to those, he's less likely to react to something to which he has only a mild allergy. For instance many people have more severe food allergies in spring and fall, when their bodies are already coping with environmental allergens -- they might eat those same foods with little problem in summer and winter (depending on which environmental allergens are problematic for them)...

 

That too. Dd has MANY more reactions to things like soy and corn when she's had dairy (her true allergy), when normally she can eat those without serious problems.

[MrsJewelsRae]

It can all be quite confusing, can't it!? My ds is allergic to peanuts, milk, soy and eggs. Our pediatrician was quite helpful, but our allergist was excellent. My ds has had skin and blood tests. The skin and blood tests were conflicting on a couple things. Peanuts were off the charts on his skin test, and his highest on the blood test. Eggs were bad for both. Milk and soy had no skin reaction at all, yet his blood test showed a very high # for milk. Ultimately it comes down to the food reactions itself, which for us, thankfully has been pretty clear. His first time tasting peanuts (he got into Daddy's peanut M&Ms and chewed about 3, which I scooped out once I found out what he was into) he reacted with hives and swelling within 5 minutes- his eyes got really puffy, tongue swelled slightly and he got hives all over his face. I hardly ever consumed peanuts during pg and nursing, btw. He only eats foods that are peanut free, cannot take a chance on items that are made on the same equipment or bakeries that sell peanut butter cookies are no good. Even though the chance is small, it could be sensitizing him in tiny little doses that we aren't even aware of, so that if he does come into contact with peanuts again his reaction could be very severe, more so than might be expected, if that makes sense. Eggs caused him to vomit profusely along with severe diarrhea and some hives- but only in raw or lightly cooked forms (scrambled, fried, etc), he handles them baked into cookies and muffins, etc just fine. Milk was one of his worst allergies according to the blood test, yet he handles cheese without any problems at all, but if he drank straight milk his skin goes grayish, with that horrible look of dread, and vomits to the point of dehydration. It's taken lots of figuring, but after a year we're mostly in a place where we know what we can feed him and do so mostly comfortably. We do however carry 2 epi pens with him at all times and don't trust but a few people to watch him.

[Annie]

Thanks everyone. I'm starting to get my head wrapped around it a little bit. I'm going to call the pediatrician's office and see if we can get a referral to an allergist so I can get the ball moving now instead of in two weeks when our appointment is scheduled.

 

The going wheat free part is seeming overwhelming at the moment. We're going to be spending a month visiting various family members over Christmas, and the thought of trying to make sure he's getting safe foods is daunting. One of set of grandparents only eats premade or restaurant food. I can't think of a time I've ever seen them make something out of "real" ingredients, unless you count grilling a steak. I don't think they even have basic pantry staples which would allow me to cook... :sigh:

 

He doesn't show any outward reaction to the wheat, but he's always been a somewhat ornery little fellow, so he could be having digestive pain, and I just don't know. I suppose it's also possible that the test is off, and he really doesn't have an issue with it. It's so hard when they're not verbal enough to tell you what's going on!

[sbgrace]

I wouldn't go wheat free. Allergy tests have a significant false positive rate (false negative for foods less likely over age two). In other words, there may not be a wheat issue at all. You look for reactions and test to verify. Random testing of things causes issues because of false positives.

 

OAS can indeed be responsible for the weird fruit on/off thing. My son has some fruits he can't eat in certain seasons. His only true fruit allergies are mango and oranges.

 

I'd assume you've got an egg allergy. I'm glad you're seeing an allergist.

[Annie]

I wouldn't go wheat free. Allergy tests have a significant false positive rate (false negative for foods less likely over age two). In other words, there may not be a wheat issue at all. You look for reactions and test to verify. Random testing of things causes issues because of false positives.

 

 

What type of reactions should I be looking for after he eats wheat? Honestly, he seems perfectly happy after he eats it, and I don't see any signs of reaction, but I've never really been around anyone with food allergies so I could be missing something. Like I mentioned, he has always been a somewhat fussy little guy, so I'm afraid of tummy issues that he can't express yet.

[abbeyej]

...The going wheat free part is seeming overwhelming at the moment. We're going to be spending a month visiting ...

He doesn't show any outward reaction to the wheat...

 

In that case, I would *wait* on going wheat free. It may indeed be necessary, and it's well worth trying. Right now though, spend your time and energy on getting an appointment with a pediatric allergist (not just "any old allergist" -- go to someone who specializes in *kids*) and planning how you'll go about feeding the family during this experiment. But wait 'til you get home from all the travel. Obviously the answer would be different if he were clearly reacting right now. If there were imminent danger. But when it comes to wheat, that doesn't appear to be the case, and you'll do a more complete job of eliminating it at home -- and you'll be better able to judge whether or not it impacts his disposition as well, since you won't have as many variables as you will while traveling.

 

Later, after the holidays, you can plan a solid three months of *zero* wheat.

 

And yes, it seems overwhelming at first, but it *is* doable. ... When my oldest was small and we were dealing with lots of allergies and a hugely limited diet, I always found the first three weeks of "losing" a food the hardest. At first, it was completely overwhelming. Once I was three weeks in, it sort of became automatic. Just to give you some reassurance that it won't always seem as hard as it does at first...

 

(BTW, he outgrew most of his early allergies. Some of them took a long time, but the few he still has are so easy to deal with now, by comparison...)