Severe egg white allergy found in 6mo - any guidance?

[Honeymoonmummy]

Hi all,

My DS is nearly 7 months and had a rash, cried and was scratching his neck until he grazed it after eating egg. He's had a similar reaction to other food but not as bad as the egg. He's had the skin prick test and it showed a strong allergic reaction to egg white; "potentially life-threatening" in the paed's words. He had a blood test (and a lesser reaction to cows milk) we get the results next Weds.

I just wondered where to start basically! Can anyone give me useful tips, good websites, good books, practical advice re how to deal with this? We also have a 3yo; is it best to keep eggs out of everyone's diet in case my DD leaves food lying around for DS to pinch?

Any advice would be welcome, thanks!

[eragon]

when our son was younger it was easy to keep whole eggs in the house. if others at the table had eaten eggs they learnt to wash their hands before and after eating, and not to touch allergic sibling.
he had birthday cakes and pancakes with egg replacer which can be found in health food shops, (thats all that we could buy safely from there, btw!)


i didnt buy anything with cooked egg as he got older, as i felt that he should be able to find a snack and not worry if it was safe.

now that all my kids are in teens they are still very messy when they cook, (and its important , esp for allergic kids to learn how to cook) so we have banned eggs from the house again.

our son has a mixed past with eggs,
he passed cooked egg allergy challenge at 7 yrs and was able to eat sponge cake or yorkshire pudding.

he passed raw egg challenge at 10.

at 12 , started to have problems with egg, when ill with viral infection.
severe rxn

at 14 egg again caused a severe rxn.

concluded with skin prick tests that indicate re-development of egg allergy in all forms.

however i think that this is still pretty rare to re-develop and there is still , esp with short allergen list, a hope or a more permanant outgrowing rate for yr child.

[Honeymoonmummy]

Thanks Eragon. I was wondering about whether he might grow out of it, with it being so extreme. Scary that it can come back though!

[Honeymoonmummy]

Bump

[Katisha]

My DCs don't have a reaction that extreme but they have been allergic to eggs since babies and haven't grown out of it. (Now 12 and 10)
To be honest it hasb't been too difficult to avoid egg but you do have to keep checking ingredients as egg crops up in all sorts of unexpected places, like sweets and some pastries for example, that you wouldn't have thought would have been made with egg.
We haven't really gone down the egg replacer route with baking as they grew up being suspicious of cake in general and just don't want to eat it generally. It's a pain when they are given birthday cake in party bags but no big deal.
We also had an incident when school thought making peppermint creams with icing sugar would be fine but hadn't thought that royal icing sugar may ot have been such a good idea.
And the posher the ice cream the more likely it is to be made with egg.

But on the whole, my point is to say don't panic - just make sure everyone understands - grandparents (who often try to push "treats"), siblings, school etc.

[Schulte]

I don't keep eggs in the house and find it's quite easy to avoid egg. I have learned to make cakes without egg even without egg replacer - there are a few fabulous recipes on the internet. Just read all the labels and be suspicious of baked goods with shiny glazing, things like sausages and burgers in restaurants etc. Cheap parmesan and manchego cheeses, some pestos and some stock cubes contain egg so be sure to read the ingredients lists. Take your own food when you are out and about/at parties. When we go out for meals, I myself don't have anything that might have egg in it so I can share with DD2 if she asks - don't want her to feel left out. Places like Mc Donald's and Pizza Hut are quite good at letting you know what allergens their food contains.

I do find that I crave egg and mayo sandwiches when I am out shopping without DD2 btw

[zdcgbjm]

My DS had an egg white allergy but was ok with well cooked eggs in cakes. He seems to have outgrown it now he's four but it's interesting to read upthread that it can come back again.

BTW my DS is also allergic to nuts, and I know someone else with a DS also allergic to egg white and nuts. I don't know how common it is to be allergic to both but if your DS wasn't already tested for nut allergy it may be something to be aware of.

[Schulte]

I read some stats saying 20% of egg allergic children go on to develop peanut allergy. My DD is one of them

[Honeymoonmummy]

Thanks all. God that's depressing re nut allergy. I went back only to be told the blood test results aren't back yet, so have to wait a bit longer. Thanks all for your advice x

[queenebay]

so is mine-egg and nuts

[Honeymoonmummy]

They tested one of the nut family in his skin prick test, don't know which one, it didn't come up with a big reaction.