Should I have called an ambulance? What do I do now - bad(?) reaction to dairy challenge.BTW LONG potentially.

[stottiecake]

Background
Ds has a number of allergies/ intollerances. His main ones are CMP, egg, peanuts but he also came up as positive in a skin prick test to soya, wheat, cod (so advised no fish)almonds.
He has had some other quite bad reactions to CMP - when he was a couple of weeks old we gave him a bottle of formula (Cluster feeding, tongue-tie sore boob desparation) and that night he went bright red and whimpery. We took him to the drs the next day and she couldn't say what was wrong with him (it seems so obvious now)
Anyway when he was about 5 and a half months I let him lick a bit of icecream off my finger and within minutes he developed hives all over his face, his lips swelled up as did his eyelids. I didn't phone an ambulance. I suppose I worried about wasting peoples time - it was just a very nasty (terrifying for us) rash.
I think he had at least one more reaction like that while we lived in London but I didn't get him checked out as I figured it was an allergy and decided to avoid all the commonly known allergy foods whilst weaning until we moved back to Yorkshire. (We moved back to Yorks when he was 6 mo) (I knew we were moving and our Drs in London had been useless in helping me with bf-ing problems, his tongue-tie so I thought I'd wait to get him looked about potential allergies at back north)
So in Yorkshire we were referred to an allergy specialist and they did a skin prick when he was about 7mo and discovered he reacted to the above. We have been seeing a dietician also.
We have done (I have!! Me!!) really well with his meals (I worked out that in the first 6 months of weaning I had cooked the equivalent of 6 years worth of roast dinners for the average family - basically I was making a roast dinner every day -what a massive faff!) He has grown, is bright and intelligent and am dead chuffed with how we have coped.
He has had a couple of overnight hospital stays due to asthma (not yet diagnosed but he has a steroid inhaler every day)

Our last apt with the allergy consultant was fine but I was expecting him to be retested as it had been well over a year since he had last been tested. anyway they didn't and we are going back in Jan. However in the meantime we have had an apt with the dietician and she advised doing some challenges - starting with a biscuit with some milk within the ingredients. WE did that and he was absolutely fine. The next day I tried him with a different brand of biscuit and he was absolutely fine - no reaction.

Today:

Argh. I stupidly thought it would be an idea to give him a quarter of a small square of chocolate. Absolutely no reaction. That was about 10am. I went in the shower about 11am and during my shower I heard him coughing so I jumped out and gave him a puff of ventolin as he seemed to need it. I got ready and he sat on my lap for a bf and started to scratch his legs. Anyway basically within 10 mins his whole body was covered in hives, his ears swelled up (bizarre) and he seemed to be having difficulty breathing through his nose. I realised he was having an allergic reaction so gave him 2.5mls of piriton. It took 2 hours for all the hives to disapear and he fell asleep during that time. Now his legs look like he has been sitting too close to a fire - red and blotchy - what's all that about??

So here's the question (finally) Should I have called an ambulance? WWYD? He didn't have any breathing difficulties just his nasal tubes may ahve swelled. He was fine but was I taking too much of a chance (worried about wasting peoples time) If he was going to have an anaphylactic episode would it have been apparent from the outset?

Would shouild I do now? I feel I need to discuss this with a medical person. I phoned the dietician for advice but she hasn't called back. Do I go to the GP or contact his allergy consultant? Do I just leave it?

They have been reluctant to give me an epipen so far (I feel like I have been a bit fobbed off tbh)

What an awful day.

Anyone give me any advise?

Advice!
And TIA

ah god poor Ds and you, i probably would have called at least nhs direct and think you should probably take him to gp first thing. if i where you i would not take any chances again as if you have one allergic reaction you are more likely to (but not always) experience an anaphalactic episode at some point. im surprised your dietition has not adviced you not to introduce anything at the moment. my dd had a mild intolerence they where very reluctant for me to introduce anything untill 18months after she presented symptoms.

I think you probably should have called an ambulance to be honest. I think giving piriton is the right thing to do but that sounds like it was v nasty and it could be worse next time - if you wait thinking the piriton will work and it doesn't - that's when ds will run in to trouble. Far better to have it resolve on the way to hospital than be sat at home with a child who stops breathing.
I would discuss this latest thing with the GP in the first instance - and also with the dietician. There is a bug difference between the amount of milk in a biscuit and the amount in milk chocolate. Maybe she could give you more ideas of what to challenge with next?

Thanks for the sympathy Allhallows
Ds is nearly 2 (next month) so I think she was suggesting starting to challenge him as we had not tried him with any dairy since he was tested around 6 mo.
She suggested the biscuit (he was fine) I was dumb enough to try chocolate.(Albeit a small bit) Am not going to do any more challenges until he has been tested again in Jan.
Will try get him an apt at GPs tomorrow. Thanks

Yes completely idiotic of me Nothere. What was I thinking? Hopefully we will avoid this happening again. Thanks for your advice

Why on earth haven't you been given an epipen? Very seriously, it sounds like you should have one in the house just in case. I understand the being fobbed off thing but you really need to consult with an allergist and make sure they understand what has happened and prescribe you an epipen. Exaggerate if necessary to get one (although from what you have posted here, an allergist would be mad not to prescribe one).

I live in France, so maybe things are different here but I would not do challenges with a dietician, only with an allergist.

It really sounds like you DS has serious allergies and you need to be very very careful with any challenges.

Sorry you are going through this - it is such a worry, I know. Allergies suck.

Oh, sounds awful for you and him.

No real advice on the allergy front but wanted to say that if you are in doubt, call an ambulance. This kind of reaction, no ambulance man in the world would blame you. You were lucky that the piriton worked and he was ok, am very glad it did.

And don't beat yourself up about it, it must be exhausting having to deal with a child with such allergies, constantly having to make decisions and worry about him.

ok fair enough hope you did think i was being critical of you in any way. I would def push for more of an investigation or insight into his allergy. I found dietition service great so hope that is the same for you in the future.

Oh no - I didn't mean to make you feel dim. You aren't at all - I just think that you need some clear advice on what the middle ground is between say biscuit and chocolate. I have a friend whose child has an egg allergy and she found the challenging thing a bit scary - you know what you think will be ok in theory but it's always a bit of a leap in the unknown.

Thanks Beachcomber.
2 reasons I have been given for no epipen;
-you need to be properly trained, they are a bit tricky (I have had training on at least 3 occasions working in an educational environment)

• As he is so young and you are a sahm you will be in control of his diet therefore he is unlikely to have anything to cause a reaction (unless I take it upon myself to challenge him with something I shouldn't have )

Thanks for your reply and sympathy.

I am in total that the dietician is suggesting doing food challenges at home. These should be done in hospital under controlled conditions.

I would probably have called an ambulance or at the very least have gone to a &e with a reaction like that.

Must have been very frightening for you.

Sorry to go on about this but before you do any more challenges (no matter who advises you to do them) please consult and have an epipen ready just in case.

It sounds like you have been doing a great job with your DS's meals - I know it is frustrating to be limited in the foods you can give but there is no hurry to do challenges.

no no no - I didn't mean for you to think that I thought that you thought that I am dim

Although I am!

Appreciate you saying so though

No you're not !

Dietician only suggested biscuit - I got ahead of myself with corner of chocolate.
After the first challenge (last thurs I think) I phoned her but she didn't call back. I phoned again today but she didn't call back.

It is my fault and responsibility totally. Am just so eager, I suppose, for him to have a 'normal' diet i just got ahead of myself. (fool).

Will not be doing any more challenges.

Will be insisting on epipen.

As I say, I live in France so things obviously different.

Here, the whole point of an epipen is that any old numpty can give one - the dosage is preloaded so you can't give too much for the child's weight and you just have to aim and inject.

No matter what we do (I was a SAHM for 3 years in order to control my child's allergen exposure as much as possible), allergic children are vulnerable to unexpected and escalating reactions. Something they ate happily one day can make them very ill the next week - such is the frustrating and dangerous nature of allergies.

I feel quite cross for you - it doesn't sound to me as though your son's situation is being taken seriously enough.

i think the problem here as is so offten from the medical proffession things like this are played down way to much and maybe sounds like you are getting a very relaxed attitude from the medical profession which is fine with mild intollerences, which my dd had and i had to fight tooth and nail to get a dietition apt and so after a period of 72 hours where she was dehidtrated and clear fluid was passing from her bowels almost constantly that she had nappy burns down to her ankles and her face was a mix of broken blisters yellow sores and red hives I presented her to the dr after the rourth time in 72 hours and refused to feed her anything untill I witnessed him contact the dietition and make me an appointment he did so ver very quickly. the dietion was great and this was a mild intolerance!! seems they need to step it up for you and treat his alergies a little more seriously under hospital suppervision.

sorry typos fourth time should have read

I understand eagerness for normal diet. My DD was down to about 12 different foods only at her worst - I hated it and found it so frustrating and worrying.

I'm of the school of thought that thinks that it is best to leave a child alone with their 'safe' foods as long as possible and only challenge and introduce new things as they get older (around 3 or 4 years old). Everything I have read points to this being the best way to give them a chance to redress their immune system and grow out of any allergies.

Am going to introduce a controversial subject into the mix and suggest that you look into being very careful with childhood vaccinations. There is an increasing body of evidence which suggests that atopic children do not cope well with them at all.

No I agree Beachcomber. I have felt so alone through a lot of our problems with allergies and ds' early life - no help or support.
At our last apppointment (in september) the consultant basically gave us a pat on the back and said 'well done chaps' off you go. I guess I need to be more insistant about what I need but am generally a bit disillusioned with the help we have had.
Ds is allergic to egg too and I had to insist that he had his mmr in hospital even though the consultant said he would be fine in a drs surgery as 'he is not anaphylactic to egg.' My argument was that we don't know if he is or isn't so lets err on the side of caution!! I felt I was causing a fuss and one of the nurses was particularly curt with me (as I mentioned the epipen to her also)

Thanks again. It's helping to write this stuff down!

x-posts! But interesting you mention vaccinations argh ds woken will be back!

Off to bed now (an hour later in France). Will look in tomorrow. I know what it is like to feel on your own with coping with allergies and never feel you are getting solid info or being treated seriously. Much sympathy.

Hope your DS goes back off to sleep ok. Night.

Allhallows - sounds completely awful and must have been extremely worrying for you. What was your daughter reacting to? How are things now?

Sorry also about your dd Beachcomber. May I ask about your daughters allergies? How do you cope? My PILs live in France and are disgusted with the way we have been treated here.

Re: vaccinations ds has ben fine with all of his so far but again I was afraid to ask about the mmr with all the hoohaa with links to autism I thought everyone would tell me to get a grip. But I was quite anxious about it. I need to grow a spine don't I? (tsk) He has been offered a flu vaccine but am stalling. I can't say why. I suppose it's to do with an unknown substance entering his body when I'm (usually tsk tsk) so cautious about anything going in.

I do not agree with the advice to carry out the challenge by your dietician.
As has been mentioned you should have had an epipen, especially as your son has asthma the risk of developing anaphylaxis is higher.
They should really be doing the challenge under medical supervision. dd and I have just been to her allergy appointment today and we talked about food challenges; they test annually and would only consider doing it if the skin prick test was negative. They then do an IgE blood test to make sure and the challenges are carried out at hospital in case they reacted so they are prepared for all outcomes.
I am a bit confused as to why it was the dietician who suggested the challenge in the first place, she is not in a position to suggest it and I think it was totally irresponsible - in fact I'm getting quite about it.

Thanks again Beachcomber - have really appreciated your thoughts