Allergic reaction of the eyes - no idea what the trigger is

[NightFury]

DD has just had a bad allergic reaction and we have no idea why. All around her eyes swelled up to about the size of tennis balls, it's red, itching, light senstive etc etc. Poor girl looked like an alien. I took her to the clinic last night and she's had eye drops and is on antihistamine to calm everything down but we have no idea of the trigger.

So, my question, if your child had a severe allergic reaction of the eyes and you had no idea why would you have tests done to try to identify the trigger? Or would you just treat it as a one off and hope it does not happen again?

I'm thinking about taking her to our usual doctor just as a follow up as she does have some history of allergies.

TIA.

This happened to my dd when she was at a dance class at a church hall. They were doing excercises on the floor and she got some dust/fluff on her hands. When she sneezed and rubbed her nose and eyes she reacted almost immediately. We did already know that she was allergic to dust mites. This also happens when she is near horses!
Do you not have any idea what it might have been? What was she doing, where was she, what was present in the room eg. dust, animals, cleaning items, food, air fresheners etc.
If you want her tested it does help to narrow it down a little because it could be quite an ordeal to test for everything.

This has happened to my dd1 (4) several times. It has happened 3 times during visits to my sister.

DD is allergic to egg and her eyes have swelled like you describe during a reaction but at my sisters she hadn't eaten or touched anything with egg.

I suspect it could be because sister's family are egg-mad and she cooks them nearly every day so maybe something air borne.

Can you describe the circumstances when the reaction occured?

Was she at home? What had she just eaten/touched/inhaled?

Have you used new cleaning products/air freshner/perfume?

You might be able to find the source yourself.

Thanks for your comments. I think it's going to be difficult to find the trigger as she was on a school trip when it happened. The teachers have told me that they spent a lot of the day in a room that is often used for archery practise and so frequently has hay bales in it. I am doubtful that this is the trigger since we keep horses and DD is exposed to hay, straw, silage etcetera on a regular basis and has never reacted before.

I will ask if there were any wall mounted air fresheners around in the centre as the trigger for DDs exczema is something in soap powders and shampoos. Maybe a scenting agent? .

She stopped the antihistamine yesterday and I think her eyes are getting a bit red again and she is complaining of itching. I hope that I don't get another call from the school telling me to come and get her today!

Thanks again all.

Its funny you should mention hay bales as i used to get the same as a child with hayfever. I must admit that i used to go down to the sports field at lunchtime and get my eyes all swollen up so i had to be sent home so i didn't get triple latin. Then the teacher got wise to it and kept me in! It does sound very similar to a hayfever - airborne allergy.

Well, we're having blood tests done - should get the results in 2 weeks.

This happened to my lo at nursery. THey said it was when they were planting cress (in cotton wool). I wondered if it was actually cress and mustard, which can be an allergen... but then he brought home the growing cress and it was in a yoghurt pot - so I'm thinking maybe it wasn't washed out well and he got some yog on his hands and rubbed eyes (has milk allergy!)
It is difficult to ever be sure isn't it.