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Immediate Allergies and Contact Hives/Urticaria

10 replies

whoamitoblowagainstthewind · 22/08/2023 19:49

Hello. Posting here for hopefully more views.

I know no one can tell me the answer for my situation, I’m just looking for some personal experiences or insight.

Ultimately, I'm wondering if it is possible to experience immediate contact reactions to food only in the area it touches but have no problems eating it - and how likely this is to be the case.

My son gets a nettle like rash, white spots surrounded by red, when milk or eggs come into contact with his skin (peanut butter and hummus too). I have always assumed these were hives. They can look quite dramatic, but don’t seem to massively bother him and they usually disappear within an hour or so. He has eczema, which is moderately under control.

He also had tummy troubles from not long after birth and we were dairy and egg free breastfeeding. He has never really liked peanut butter and was sick once when eating hummus, though he had eaten it before.

Skin prick testing came up positive for milk, egg, sesame, peanut, and a couple of tree nuts. Apart from the tree nuts, this was not really a surprise based on the skin contact symptoms. He was prescribed epi-pens as a precaution.

I asked about food challenges but they said his numbers (wheal size I think) were too high at this point.

I’m new to this and it’s the constant wondering! We’ve not had any scary reactions since he has started eating solids and I’m not sure if it’s because we’ve just been really careful (we have but we still have these foods in the house) or it’s possible he wouldn’t have a reaction when eating these foods.

Do all people with immediate allergies get local hives after skin contact with the food they are allergic to?

Are people who get local hives on contact with food more likely to suffer a reaction on consumption or is this not an indicator?

Could it just be sensitive skin?

Does anyone get hives where a food has touched them but can eat the food with no problem?

Thank you if you got this far. Appreciate any and all experiences.

OP posts:
whoamitoblowagainstthewind · 26/08/2023 14:32

Hopeful bump.

OP posts:
YukoandHiro · 26/08/2023 14:36

If it came up as positive on the skin prick testing i'm afraid it's not just a skin reaction.

Sorry OP, I know it's overwhelming.

If the prick tests are so high that they're refusing hospital challenges it's really important that you carry on being careful. Allergies can go from hives/swelling to anaphylaxis suddenly.

We've had hospital challenges that we passed (where my DD has outgrown immediate reactions eg to baked egg) but followed by awful skin reactions the following week. So it's often a complicated picture even as things improve as they age.

I have 2 epi pen carrying DDs with allergies to milk, egg and peanut between them (plus suspected FPIes to avocado). Please ask any questions xx

YukoandHiro · 26/08/2023 14:38

For reference my DD had widespread hives to peanut on skin contact and was immediately given an epi pen by the allergy team who said that she was at high risk of anaphylaxis because the skin contact was so bad

But also she used to have skin contact as well as food consumption reactions to milk but totally outgrew cmpa by age 14 months (this is my younger DD; my eldest still has cmpa at age 6)

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whoamitoblowagainstthewind · 29/08/2023 12:25

@YukoandHiro, thank you so much for your response.

You are right, it is overwhelming and also a bit confusing.

The reason I’m asking about this is because I’ve seen him occasionally come up with small hives here and there in areas of contact with other food that he eats with no problem… and I’m sure I recall being told not to eliminate food he was already eating.

I don’t think he’s ever experienced widespread hives or swelling - is this likely to only occur on consumption?

Were the skin contact reactions your DD had just in the areas of contact or did you see a reaction in other places on the body too?

OP posts:
Goslowglowworm · 29/08/2023 13:30

Did your DS react to everything? Sounds stupid but years ago I had skin prick tests and showed up positive for EVERYTHING. I was given an EpiPen because of nut and wasp allergies showing positive but I have continued to eat nuts and also been stung and no reaction. We later realised I have something called dermographia (I think) which means I'm allergic to the skin pressure rather than the allergens. Could it be similar? I also am allergic to exercise which sounds absolutely crazy but as long as I take an antihistamine beforehand it's fine. Otherwise I come up in hives all over about 10 minutes into a session.

whoamitoblowagainstthewind · 31/08/2023 19:48

Hi @Goslowgloworm, thank you so much for your reply. Wow, allergic to exercise, that sounds stressful. How long have you had dermographia? Is it itchy? Does it come and go? I must admit I did wonder about that in the early days, but he doesn’t always come up with hives on pressure and he didn’t react to everything on the skin prick test. He was negative for a couple of things including a few tree nuts, which he is eating now. The positive prick came up but the control didn’t. Not sure if that completely rules it out though!

OP posts:
Goslowglowworm · 31/08/2023 20:32

Ha! Allergic to exercise actually sounds like a joke 😂 but it's honestly true! I think it's something to do with the sudden change in body temp along with the friction of clothes as I move? It's bloody strange anyway. I'm not sure how long I've had dermographia tbh because we only really figured it out after the skin prick tests but maybe it was always there. Yes it's super itchy and comes up in sort of welts. Yuck.
I would be very careful with nuts though because I have heard it can suddenly get a lot worse. I have a cousin with the type of allergy where even eating nuts near her is dangerous.
Having said that I can eat peaches with absolutely no reaction but if peach skin touches me I get hives in the area it touched. I think I'm basically a bit of a weirdo.
If you can afford it or if you have medical insurance I'd try and get him to see a specialist. They can do the de-sensitisation for some allergies which although a commitment might help put your mind at rest.

whoamitoblowagainstthewind · 07/09/2023 19:32

Interesting about the peaches! I wonder why that is. It's funny, he came up in hives after being out in some grass last weekend. They didn't last too long. Not sure if that means another allergy or it is just his skin! Ah, it's all so confusing!

OP posts:
whoamitoblowagainstthewind · 07/09/2023 19:34

No option to go private just now, my plan is to continue to avoid and see if anything has changed at the next appointment and take it from there. I'll have to keep note of all of these questions!

OP posts:
Notsureiknow · 05/12/2025 13:46

Is there any update on this? I’d be super interested if it turned out to be an allergy to milk or not

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