Talking Allergies

hi! my 5 yr old daughter seems to have some 'strange' allergies and i was wondering if i should be looking at the bigger picture. my 10 yr old son has some as well. so far it has only ever been skin contact with things like sweet and sour sauce (mcdonalds, kfc, etc), fabric bandages (not plastic), cheese whiz or other processed cheese like that, etc. but the most worrisome so far has been my daughters reaction to fabric bandages. i myself have had reactions (a rash in the shape of the bandage) to them so i dont buy them, but the school put a bandage on my daughters arm 3 weeks ago, my mother put another one on her leg 2 days later, and the marks are STILL there. the bumps were so raised and red and raw, it caused more troubles than the 'owies' the bandages were supposed to cover. extremely itchy and uncomfortable for her.... it ended up looking more like an eczema mark but only localized in the exact shape of the bandage.

should i be looking at what kind of adhesive is used and if it somehow differs from that used on plastic bandages? or the fibre content itself?? im unsure what to do. for now, the school knows not to use fabric on her again and i have sent a supply of plastic ones, but it can be difficult with substitute teachers, non-life threatening reaction, etc etc.

my son gets reactions from direct contact to sweet and sour sauce, cheeze whiz, etc when he spills some on his chin/cheek, etc. he will get a hive directly under the spill but not anywhere else and he hasnt had any other types of reactions but we do avoid those foods (he likes them tho lol)..... there is no real family history of major allergies other than my brother getting hives from strange things (particular caterpillars, etc), and penicillin... now my daughter has had a rash from Vicks baby lotion (not the gel for adults). i have used that on her many times for colds but the most recent application last week resulted in a raised red rash covering her entire chest and very itchy.

any insight? thanks!

kezt777 wrote-
Does she react to other bandages? You can be allergic to adhesive. I learned this weekend that sesame seed protein can be found in some adhesives.
If you are seeing a lot of strange reactions I would suggest you see the Dr. Do not try to diagnose from the armchair.

Your sons reactions could be due to acidity. From what I have seen many people have a natural aversion to what they are allergic to so the fact that he likes these foods is encouraging however, It wouldn;t hurt to get this checked out would it? You would be surprised at what is in some processed foods. There could very well be some common ingredient.

As for the Vicks lotion, itcould have been reformulated if the bottle is new or have become contaminated if the bottle was old or...it has been heard of to become allergic to a substance taht you were not previously allergic to, even in adulthood.

It must be terribly stressful to have these reactions and to not know if you should be concerned or even how to avoid them. I personally believe that reactions should be whated carefully and avoided as much as possible.

I hope that you will be able to get to the bottom of this.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

The other thing that comes to mind is latex allergy--have you looked into this at all? Some but not all plastic bandages are latex free.

thanks i will have to figure out how to narrow it down. if it was more than a skin contact reaction, i would have done so already, but so far its just the odd rash. but now it has been a month (or more??) and the one bandaid mark on her leg is STILL there! a lot fainter and not so rough but it looks more like eczema or something similar.

a friend of mine is a member here and she suggested checking into a latex allergy. ill have to look up what else has latex in it to see if it twigs my memory for any past weird reactions/rashes. but so far this is the only time a rash has lasted more than a day or two. it is an important one tho because it has to go in her medical file. if something were to happen where she went to hospital, they cant use the fabric bandages on her. she is a tomboy and has had umpteen zillion plastic bandages on her already, all different brands, and never had a reaction so it makes me think it must have something to do with the fabric ones only. i have had some fabric ones that didnt make a reaction on my own skin, but more often have gotten a rash. ive never had problems with latex and have worn latex gloves several times in the past. it must be something 'odd' that we are reacting to but still, i dont want her in hospital or at school getting a fabric one stuck on her when the rash from that is often worse than the owie its covering!

I've had a similar reaction. Recently (last week), I used a bandaid type bandage, and the area where the adhesive was became red and wrinkly. You can still see the marks where the adhesive was. The skin is wrinky, pink and dry. I'm hoping it heals.

i think my daughter got like an eczema reaction somehow. that happened in october and there was still a faint white mark on her arm and thigh in the shape of the bandage this month! now my son (10) has eczema on his hands (the top of his hands) so i guess we have some reactions to various things and never can quite narrow it down. but fabric bandages was pretty obvious for my daughter, as for me. i had to have cortisone injections in my breast once for a problem and they covered the area with a fabric bandage and i ended up with a worse sore there than what they were treating. but i do not have any allergic reactions to latex gloves, etc. so im not sure what it exactly is.

ive been told a few times that the adhesive may have some latex in it and i see you have a mild latex allergy so maybe that was the cause??

Personally, I woulldn't guess. Even with skin contact reactions, I'd be asking my GP for a referral to an allergist who can skin-test the kids. (They're given minor pricks with allergenic substances; they really don't hurt.)

Mild vs. serious reactions aren't predictable - and that goes for latex, too. Better to know what you're dealing with.

Allergists go a lot by history as well as the tests. So keep a diary of when you see these reactions. If you're seeing a reaction to CheesWhiz, but not other cheeses, have a read of the label. Are there other potentially troublesome allergens in it - e.g. soy or egg? Try to watch for ingredients that are common to the foods touched when reactions occur - any such info might help the allergist. Good luck, and I hope it turns out to be nothing serious.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

thanks gwen. its strange how these things can crop up sporadically for some people and more often for others. my son had a very bad hive-reaction when he was about 18 months old, where his entire body from the chin to his knees, front and back, merged into one giant itchy hive. it was awful and he could hardly walk. but it hasnt happened since (other than the odd skin-contact patch from cheese whiz, sweet and sour sauce, etc). i was more wary of what could happen with my daughter because her dad was allergic to something like 65 things when he was a small child, including his own hair, dust, etc. his house was virtually stripped of materials - special bedding, no curtains, no carpets, etc, until he seemed to grow out of it (other than he does get eczmea a lot and is still allergic to horses and some pets). but she has just had strange reactions from time to time like the Avon SSS bath oil, these bandages, etc. around here it seems difficult to get someone in for allergy testing. it even took almost a year for my mom to get tested (she made the appt last year and had it this summer) and her doc didnt want to refer her to the allergist because he considered her reactions (sinus problems) to be pretty minor. it woudl be interesting to see what my doc thinks of getting the kids tested. some have to go 3 hours away for testing, but some can be done here in my city. ill check into it. thanks again!

Hi,

My daughter has an obvious reaction to the adhesive on almost all bandaids - she's 7 and just developed it in May after having to have her finger wrapped for a month due to a crush injury (that's another story!) - she also developed an allergy to cephasplorins (a family of antibiotics) plus should avoid the penicillin group as well now- wherever the adhesive touches her skin leaves hives/rash-and when we first figured it out, the rash didn't develop till 4 days after the bandage was removed and it lasted for at least two weeks - lots of itchiness. We thought we had found one brand that was okay (Nexcare Foam) and they were for a bit but then one time she developed blisters under it which filled with pus and then burst open. Tonight we tried a 3M brand tattoo ones and it didn't seem to leave a mark after an hour so that's what I'll be sending to school with her along with gauze - she also gets marks/redness for days with hypoallergenic medical paper tape. Very frustrating.

Our dr is referring to an allergist to try and confirm the antibiotic allergy (though she didn't have hives from head to toe till 4 days after she finished them) and then I can discuss with him the adhesive issue.

My internet search points to trying a brand called Curad - they make bandaids for senstive skin (though no other brand has been successful with us yet) but they don't seem to be sold here in Canada.

Any ideas? I can't constantly wrap her in gauze and tape that only sticks to herself especially for minor cuts and scrapes. I have told her if she needs a bandaid at school, to try and take it off after an hour.

_________________
mom to 3
son, 10: anaphylactic to tree nuts, asthma
daughter, 7 : skin reaction to all adhesives on bandages, even paper tape, asthma
daughter, 3: no known allergies but haven't tried the tree
nuts yet.

Just a thought for minor scrapes and cuts you can buy sprays that are for minor issues. I think we had some called New Skin I know this will not help if it is more serious. I would also think at the pharmacy they may have some ideas for you.

good luck

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Me-Allergic to Peanut, Tree Nut, Coconut, Shellfish, ASA and Asthma
My Husband and Children No Allergies

Hey guys....I don't have any kids or anything, seeing as I'm only seventeen, but I was online looking for similar types of mosquito allergies and found out that I really am allergic to mosquitoes. I have these huge bumps on my leg and I was freaked out but I guess it can happen.

Anyway, I'm also allegic to bandaids, the the adhesive I think, and three weeks ago I got a mosquito bite under my armpit (yay me!). Well, my shirt and my bra rubbed it and it turned into a mess. I made the mistake of putting a band aid on it and i ended up getting the worst rash. I had color guard practice and it turned worse because I had nothing to cover it. Then my mom (she's a GENIUS AND I LOVE HER!) bought some gauze and paper tape (hypoallergenic) and that didn't hurt me at all !!! Also...while I was at home I left it uncovered to air it out and just wore a sports bra.

SO FOR ALL OF YOU OUT THERE!!! : get some gauze and paper tape(hypoallergenic) and air it out whenever possible. After it has scabbed, put some cortisone cream on it for dryness.

Hope you guys don't have to deal with this again...I know I don't

Thanks for the input, colombiale91!

Glad you found us.

_________________
Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Thanks for your suggestions.

Unfortunately the hypoallergenic paper tape gives her a rash for days as well. We will work on using the gauze if need be with a small amount of paper tape when needed. She knows that the best would be no bandaid at all but that is not always possible when you're an active 7 year old and I will not discourage her from jumping and running. It's just all bugging me now since school starts tomorrow. If they make a mistake and need to put a regular bandaid on her, she knows it's okay - she will live. Plus the 3M tattoo bandaids seem to be a possibility. The harder scrapes will be the big ones on the knees at school. I'll keep you updated. I'm sure the school will think I'm a bit nuts and/or paranoid about this though they do know me well from all the work I've done with the administration regarding anaphylaxis.

We did try a small dot of a liquid bandaid (New Skin, I think) last night on her arm and it may have been okay.

Although it's not life-threatening like her brother's tree nut allergy, it is very, very frustrating. I honestly thought she'd be the one with no allergies - you never do know.

Thanks again,

Mel

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mom to 3
son, 10: anaphylactic to tree nuts, asthma
daughter, 7 : skin reaction to all adhesives on bandages, even paper tape, asthma
daughter, 3: no known allergies but haven't tried the tree
nuts yet.

I would suggest you tell them not to give her any bandaides but I realize that 1. you've most likely done this and 2. I couldn't get my daughters schoolto stop feeding her-they'd never have understood the no bandaide rule.

_________________
Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Well I'm glad I could somewhat help...and I completely understand. As a teenager I barely listen to my mom when she tells me to sit still, Melanie, and it is incredibly uncomfortable. I hope everything turns out okay.

-Alejandra

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Allergic to bandaids and mosquitos.