Talking Allergies

Keep posting, people. This is so eggciting (couldn't help myself).
I am watching with hope.

I am interested to know, do any of your childrens parents have allergies to the allergic substance? It concerns me that DH use to be allergic to eggs when he was young but has "outgrew". I don't think (from stories) that his reactions were quite as serious as DD's but have always wondered if she didn't "inherit" her allergy. Wondering if this would make a difference. Any thoughts?

Michele

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Myself - Seasonal, cats
dd-asthma (trigger - flu) anaphylactic to eggs, severe allergies to bugspray and penicilin,pulmicort
ds-Seasonal, cats and OAS
dh-allergy cats, bugspray and guava, outgrew egg allergy

Funny update ... we're on the 5th day now, and I've been giving him about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the cake every day. Today after school he says "Mom, do I have to eat cake AGAIN?" Then he laughed and said that he can't believe he said that. 1st few days he complained of the painful heartburn, but last few days nothing at all. He's doing great!

No family history here. I actually grew up on a dairy farm (for real!), so milk flowed in my veins. I had daily chores, so my exposure was very high. My son is also severely allergic to cow dander, and although he tests positive to many animals, he only ever seems to react when he's around cows. It's strange to me, because I practically lived in the barn with the animals. I LOVED them. I do have allergies to some antibiotics, but that's it. Hubby has no allergies, although has recently been very ill after eating shrimp..

Hi - My son is 8 and has been allergic to the milk, egg, peanut since well, I don't even know to say since when, he was tested at 1 1/2 but showed clear allergic signs to milk since month 3. Sometimes, it takes a while for Dr. to believe an allergic child comes from non-allergic parents.
It wasn't until a severe asthma hospital episode that they considered testing him, so young as they called it.
So, he has grown up allergic to these items, and it was SO very very hard to place into his mouth a mouthful of what we have always described as allergic foods. I cannot even imagine our food relationship had it gone wrong. The fear in both of us that morning was clear, but way better than three months prior when we showed up for the test and clearly we weren't ready - my son was terrified, and we decided we'd educate ourselves, prep for it and come back.
The day before, he shook like a leaf all day, the nosebleeds started too. Terrified. In the end, all was well, but wow, what a rollercoaster. That was the baked egg challenge. The baked milk was a breeze, no shaking, no fear and no nosebleed, I think once he knew he was fine with the first one, he didn't even consider that the second would be any different (which made it so much easier to do). We are very blessed to have come out of both tests positive and no reaction.

I still feel it was very rogue and it is very challenging to decide at home these "new foods" he can have, we were always very very careful with "may contain" and celebrated when we could find a product in the store that was safe - sometimes, a little culinary break when life gets busy is just what an allergic family needs, so we again are very happy for the new items we can try and be safe with. Do we 100% jump in? Nope, but one day we will go further. Baby steps.

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Son - 8yrs old, eggs, milk, peanuts, passed baked egg and milk challenge
Rast still high for egg and milk so no raw forms
Asthma, Penicillan, Hot/Cold Urticaria (Son8)
Son - 6 yrs old - no allergies or asthma (Son6)

I'm so glad this is going well for you guys.

DD & I have daydreamed of something like this and said "wouldn't it be weird to have to take some egg every day?? ....but oh so great.
keep us in loop!
Michele

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Myself - Seasonal, cats
dd-asthma (trigger - flu) anaphylactic to eggs, severe allergies to bugspray and penicilin,pulmicort
ds-Seasonal, cats and OAS
dh-allergy cats, bugspray and guava, outgrew egg allergy

Momtobunches -- I have to laugh -- I, too, grew up on a dairy farm and was devastated when dd was diagnosed with dairy allergy. I even ate all kinds of dairy products while nursing her with no signs of her reacting.

I have no allergies, my husband is allergic to penicillin.

Just curious, anyone have a UTI while pregnant with allergic child?

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dd -- allergic to dairy
ds -- no allergies
dh -- allergic to penicillin
me -- no allergies

I'm hoping to bring this up with the allergist at our appointment in december. I'd love to be able to use milk and egg in baking, but am doubtful they'd do a challenge because she's still not verbal yet. It can't hurt to ask, this is a advance. I doubt the baked milk would get an OK (since her first reaction was to highly processed milk) but maybe the baked egg.

At the same time, i'm also going to have to tackle the issue of introducing egg and dairy to our baby, because i've been avoiding these things so far, and the thought of feeding her a baby food that has "milk" "cream" or "cheese" in it makes me cringe even though she has shown NO signs af allergy.



Yes, actually, I had a HORRIBLE uti when I was pregnant with my first, it was in the ER for hours, in AGONY, I thought there was something going to happen with the baby (I was being paranoid - first pregnancy).

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Daughter 3.5 years) - Dairy, Eggs, Peanuts, Sesame, Beef; asthma and eczema
Daughter (2 years) - Peanuts Eczema
Son (7 months) - Contact allergy to something food undetermined

?The parent child link. My mother has no allergies my father became allergic to fish as an adult. I am allergic to enough stuff and have been since before I could talk. (out grew milk allergy at about ? ten).
My children have no food allergies.
Now my sister has no allergies but her child has nut,+... allergies.


Go figure, any rhyme or reason????

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

Just a quick update - he had a pretty bad reaction tonight. I baked a cake today - same one I used in our challenge, and he tolerated it just fine (a little tingly in the mouth). 1 1/2 hours later we went to the school Christmas dance - and he started running around alot with his friends and dancing. Suddenly he gets sneezy, and the next thing I know his lips / hands / eyelids are all swollen, and he gets a rash all over. We have NO Epipen with us cause there was no food allowed at the dance! School rooms are all locked - so we live 5 minutes away, I told my husband to take him home and get the Epi - give it to him if he thinks he needs it, otherwise give Benadryl. He had no airway involvement, and no loss of consciousness. The Benadryl kicked in quickly - and my son was back at the dance 45 minutes later. Hubby took pics of the rash, and it was pretty bad but now my son is perfectly fine. No tummy symptoms (he had pain, but no vomiting) - which is usually the 1st thing he gets.

Couple of thoughts .... I read last week in the Allergy Moms newsletter in an interview about the peanut immunotherapy (regular, minute amounts increasing slowly) and the allergist said that they do not recommend exercise within 2 hours of the "dose". This is the 2nd time now my son has had this type of rxn since he "passed" the oral challenge, and both times were during physical activity within 2 hours of eating the baked item! I'm thinking this is the problem!

Going to call the allergists office tomorrow to get some advice. Not sure if we are helping or hurting at this point..., ie do we keep going because the reactions are relatively minor, do we give antihistamine with each dose of baked milk, or do we stop altogether because he's reacting after exercise?

It's kind of exciting to be on the leading edge of all this, but not sure how much of a guinea pig we want to be either.

Oh my! That must have been scary! It's a good reminder to all of us...carry the Epipen everywhere! Reactions can be delayed.

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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

So glad he's ok. DD never has left the house without hers. That is one of my biggest fears. Now she packs 2 and I pack 1 and there is an extra at the school in the main office. I think it's a good idea to have one in every school main office to be accessible during these times of community gatherings. You know how Westjet is doing the epi in the plane thing. Wouldn't this be a good idea too? The first aid kit should be accessible as well just like the fire hose. It is a big expense for families... and then if the middle school move kids around the town, like they do here for options, parents wouldn't have to buy so many.
Oh gosh, I have to admit to watching "Big Brother" now. The kids and I watch it faithfully every year It reminds me of my "camp" days. Anyway, one year, a participant had an allergic reaction when she was running where the had previously had a game that involved peanuts. We only caught the tail end of the show that nite...they had 2 medical issues that program, can't remember the other. They were both ok. I remember wondering if she would have had that reaction had she not been exercising We were all wondering if she was aware of her allergy because it would be very hard to compete in that show what with the food challenges and games.

I hear you. No more leaving the house without the meds.

Michele

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Myself - Seasonal, cats
dd-asthma (trigger - flu) anaphylactic to eggs, severe allergies to bugspray and penicilin,pulmicort
ds-Seasonal, cats and OAS
dh-allergy cats, bugspray and guava, outgrew egg allergy

I am looking for some advice. We saw the allergist about a month ago and had skin tests done and the usual all turned up positive (milk, egg and peanut) and we had blood tests done the same day. When I asked the doctor about the possibility of a baked challenge he was very hesitant. He thought that the blood results would have to be quite low to try challenges. I am not sure if he is familiar with some of the latest articles about the success with baked challenges. My daughter's milk results have been in the 20's but 2 years ago they were down to 13. Her egg Rast scores have always been low (3 and below) but her skin test to egg has been very large.

We meet again with the doctor next week to receive the results of her latest Rast scores. The peanut component testing was also done. The doctor said we could discuss options then. I really want to explore the possibility of baked challenges especially since there seems to be some evidence that it can increase tolerance of the allergen. My daughter will be 10 this year and it would be a good age to start this type of process.

If our doctor is not familiar with baked challenges, what can we do? We like him and he is knowledgeable. What source of information can I pass onto him? I know that passing along anecdotal evidence from an on line forum like ours will not be credible for him. Perhaps I should pass along names of allergists who have patients taking baked challenges. He could speak with them or refer us. We are east of Toronto. Does anyone see an allergist conducting baked challenges in our area?

Thanks for you help,
Kate

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11 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
9 year old son - no allergies

DD had her challenge last week. She ate less than an 1/8 pf a tsp of the cupcake I baked her with 1 cup of milk at 350 for 30 minutes. 5 minutes and she said her throat felt scratchy. Needless to say the allergist didn't try anything further. He looked at her throat and didn't see anything. That was the only reaction she had. No hives, no swelling hips or itchy lips.
We go back in another 18 months for another challenge. Can't tell you how disappointed I was!

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dd -- allergic to dairy
ds -- no allergies
dh -- allergic to penicillin
me -- no allergies

Sorry to hear that. Did they start with any of it being rubbed on the cheek / tongue? My ds had reactions all the way through - mild itching and hives on the area of contact, but because it didn't go any further than that they continued. His #'s are still so high though, they knew he would have some degree of reaction. I was shocked they continued, but he still can eat the cake no problem to this day. He no longer gets any of the "itchiness" in his throat or tongue when he eats it. Strange how every allergist is so different with this - our office said that 99% of the patients they put into a challenge pass it. My ds latest RAST was 58. Still too high to even be considered for any of the regular milk challenge trials.

Hopefully everyone gets on the same page soon, because it sounds like lots of kids are possibly able to tolerate baked but are falling through cracks in non-existent protocols.

I so want to know more about this....except egg not milk....and I wonder about dd and her age now...would that make a difference if we wait longer or maybe we should jump on. She is so very allergic though...very scary. I wish we all knew more.

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Myself - Seasonal, cats
dd-asthma (trigger - flu) anaphylactic to eggs, severe allergies to bugspray and penicilin,pulmicort
ds-Seasonal, cats and OAS
dh-allergy cats, bugspray and guava, outgrew egg allergy

Amy's Mom, sorry to hear it. Maybe yet ...

KateC, you might want to print out this article from Allergic Living for your allergist. http://allergicliving.com/index.php/201 ... through-1/
It cites Dr. Wesley Burks and Dr. Hugh Sampon on the subject.

If your doctor wishes to correspond with someone in the Cdn. community, AL has reported that Dr. Stuart Carr and Dr. Timothy Vander Leek are both doing baked milk (right up to real milk) challenges in their Calgary clinic. Dr. Carr is currently the pres of the CSACI, so should be reachable.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin