Humous - allergic reaction - 8 month old

[hsanders]

Hi there,

Looking for advice really...gave 8 month old DS two pea-sized bits of humous last week - was violently sick, had allergic reaction but not bad enough that he could not breath and was taken to hospital, given oxygen and that was that...

Since then, DS will not eat..is fine with his bottle but does not eat well if at all and we're very worried about him.

A&E doc said that it will happen again because obviously you do not know what babies are allergic to until they have a reaction - told to give Piriton next time and then take to A&E - BUT said nothing about his eating habits...

Anyone else have this experience?

Anyone know how I can get DS to eat - he only weighs 21lbs anyway so needs to keep eating as he has little reserves on him as it is!

Help!

poor little mite - don't think I'd feel like eating either after all that - and what a horrible scare for you.

Is he a big baby ? neither of mine had reached 21lbs until well over a year ! Perhaps gentle bland foods such as pureed veg would be best in case his gullet is sore from being sick but guess you've probably tried that already.

Hi LizS,

Thanks for your message - and tried everything from pureed carrots (his favourite) to porridge, fruits like mashed banana, sweet potato, everything!!! He'll have a couple of ounces of water and his milk, but even his milk he's only having about one third of what he usually has...he's not a big baby at all and that's what's worrying as he has no reserves and you can already feel his ribs - how long does one leave it - it's been one week now!

Perhaps a trip to the GP is in order...but then I don't want the doctor to think we're over-reacting.

Think it may be worth a trip anyway if you are concerned. Hope he picks up soon.

I would definitely take him to see your GP - ime, with babies, doctors don't think you are 'over-reacting' - if you are at all concerned they want you to go. A week is a long time for him to refuse anything except milk and water. I'd ring tomorrow morning.

Humous traditionally has tahini in it which is ground up sesame seeds. I wonder if that's what caused the reaction.

Most likely culprit I would have thought, spidermama.

yes I agree, most likely culprit sesame seeds - ds has a little friend who found out he was allergic to them by eating a hummus dip.

People who are allergic to sesame seeds are often allergic to nuts, too. I would have a read on www.anaphylaxis.org.uk and try to get some expert advice. Not wanting to alarm you unnecessarily, but obviously allergies can be serious and life-threatening, and the more you can do to keep him away from another attack at this stage, the better his chances of growing out of it or suffering less severely as an adult.

Children with severe allergies often avoid eating as a way of protecting themselves. While they are still very young this shouldn't cause any harm as long as they are still having plenty of milk. Some children avoid solids altogether until they are nearly a year old, and this could help to have a beneficial effect, i.e. perhaps lessen the severity of allergies. We do wean quite young in this country and up till about 9 months foods should be more like 'tastes' anyway, not forming a major part of their nutrition. Please do seek medical advice, from a specialist if possible, as not many doctors know the full picture on allergies. You can have skin tests which will show what your son is allergic to - you don't need to test him out by giving various foods, whatever they said at A and E, and should avoid him having another reaction if at all possible as next time it could be more severe. Sorry this must be such a worrying time for you

To add, when my dd accidentally tasted egg from a banan cake she grabbed at 7 mths, she cam up in huge facial rash and welts and eye watering sneezes atc, she had to have anti hist and oxygen too as they were worried her airways were tightening as she wheezed. she too was off all food well she had only really started solids a month earlier but was not keen on that and took less in her breastfeeds too for about 10 days then she gradually worked her way back up again. my dd was and is very low weight and it had little impact to be honest on her weight.
We kept her off it entirely and she is now 3 and can eat baked goods and cooked eggs fine - I'm not sure if a nut/sesame allergy would work the same way but just to let you know that its not all doom and gloom

Hi Hsanders.... My DS is 21 lbs at the mo and is 75th %ile (a drop from the 98th %ile after becoming very active ) and he is 10 months. I'm assuming your DS is pretty tall like mine for you to think he has no reserves!

The majority of GPS are very understanding of mums bringing babies in, as they understand that babies can't talk so mum needs reassuring medically IYKWIM. If you are at all worried, I agree with the other posters that have said to pop him in for a check up - worrying is going to do you no good at all.

Finally, my DS has vomiting episodes - not allergies, but he just feels bleurghhh afterwards and turns from the spoon or whatever I put in his tray. He's just worried, I think, about being sick again (they won't associate it exactly at this age, but they have an inkling something went bad last time and remain wary). Give him a couple of days to allow him to forget and try again.

A friends dd is highly allergic to peas, chick peas, beans - all pulses except soya - so it may be worth avaoiding peas and beans until you get to the bottom of it.
Poor you - what a fright.

Oh, er yes - need to clarify really - try him again in a couple of days on some ultra safe food as Blu says

My DD has various allergies (started with dairy, has peanut allergy too but dairy is disappearing). Have found you have to push with all healthcare professionals to get help with this.

My DS is 20lb but he's 6 months

Thank you all so much for your posts - he's been crying basically all night, is not at all smiley or himself, and my husband and trying him on food right now and he won't have it. Clamps his mouth shut and turns his head away. Normally he's sitting with his mouth wide open waiting for the next bit. Plus have given him a mini rice cake and normally it's straight in his mouth but not this morning.

He is already allergic to cow's milk (has had ezcema since 6 weeks) so is on Soya Formula. I understand sesame seeds are in humous but thought that it would be okay as it makes up less than 10% - although of course, you never know what they're allergic to until they have a reaction.

Perhaps it was my fault for giving him humous - maybe he's too young - but by last week, everything we ate, he wanted some and stuck his hand out - so was a great eater - not lots of food at a time but bits and pieces of things.

I think a call into the GP would be a good thing.

Thanks again.

Does anyone happen to know an allergy specialist in/near Bristol who specialises in babies?

I get soooo cross about things like this. You should at least be in the queue to see an allergy consultant and a dietician. Allergy tests on babies aren't always that reliable and getting blood from them is a pain. You should still have referral to someone who knows what they are talking about! I've posted a clinic on the other thread. See your gp, he may want to give you nutramigen, neocate or Pepti Junior instead of soya milk. Soya is quite a common allergen and those are low allergy milks. Also check out your local library as there are some good books about allergies.

Obviously you need to keep him away from hummous but avoiding sesame and nuts would be wise. I'd avoid cheap ice cream too as that often has nut warnings.

To try and get him to eat maybe smear a little soft food on his lip so he realises its OK? Its the only thing I can think of and I don't know if it will work.

in case it wasn't obvious - its the NHS not you I'm cross with. Doctors ought to have better allergy training.

hsanders, I'm sorry you are going through this, I really do. I can only echo Tatt's words.

Unfortunately allergy specialists in this country are almost as scarce as flying cows. Try your GP, if he doesn't seem sympathetic, try another and another one until you get refered, try also to get him to prescribe a formula that doesn't have soya in it, it's a big time allergen.

If you have the means to go private, try it, though I have to say that sometimes (as in our case) going private was not enough to get an appointment in less than long to midterm time. At the end we took him abroad for testing, as we are still waiting for the famous appointment (no date yet) that I was promised back in february after he had his first allergic reaction to nuts. Though, I have to say that I'm in the north of England which is a recognised area where people with allergies are likely not to get an appointment ever. But I believe that if you are near to London your chances are definitively much much better.

Best of luck, if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask for it, there are a lot of us here in the same boat. Hugs

My daughter is allergic to nuts and tree nuts which we discovered at 18 months. She is now 8 and had hummus in the spring and had a severe reaction (vomiting, stomach cramps, breathing difficulties scratchy throat) and I had to use the epi-pen. It was the sesame seeds. My other daughter is allergic to milk is tough to feed too. I would take him back to the doctor.

Thank you all for your messages and advice.

Am seeing the GP tomorrow who hopefully will be sympathetic as she's the one I saw with my PND! Fingers crossed.

Confused slightly though, as did not know until now and further investigation that Soya is a major allergen too - so whilst it's cleared his horrendous ezcema up, it may contribute to other allergic reactions!

Will get there eventually.

And tatt - I am angry and cross also as the doctor at A&E, after we arrived by ambulance and with DS being given oxygen, she just gave me a prescription for Piriton and advised to give him that 'next time, and then bring in to A&E'. his implies it will happen again which means how do you know what to feed them and what not, until they have a reaction!!! Prevention is surely better than cure and the NHS would save themselves a fortune if this was followed. I guess I should have said something at the time, but my husband and I were so pleased to see DS okay and able to breathe properly, that we nodded and said our thank yous!

my ds had a reaction to cows milk formula around 6 months (only given twice). Although I bf he had soya yoghurts etc from around 10 months. We have not had a problem with it. My ds is also allergic to wheat, egg, fish and nuts. Negative to peas, sesame, beans etc. I see lots of warnings about soya on this site but if your ds is okay with it and is helping eczema I would go with it. My ds is outgrowing his wheat and dairy very fast and now rotates every 2nd day. I think every child is individual.

its tough when your child has a bad reaction. I'm wary of soya because a milk allergic relative who had been on soya ended up in hospital with a serious allergic reaction to it. Also it has been linked to nut allergy. That may be because children who have milk allergy take it and if you have one allergy you are more likely to get another. It may be because soya is in the same family (legumes) as nut. Kids usually outgrow milk allergy but are less likely to outgrow nut allergy, its a pain to live with and my nut allergic child also had soya as a baby before I learnt about the risks. Probiotics and flaxseed oil have a good record in clearing up eczema too, so there may be an alternative. But its something to ask your doctor about and see what they say, just wanted to warn you they may want you to try something else. Most gps don't know that much about allergy, though, so they may be quite happy for you to do what you want.

Thanks for your messages.
Saw GP on Monday who was very sympathetic (probably because I have seen her each time something has happened and she helped me with my PND).
She is going to see if there is a paed allergy clinic in Bristol, where we live, but thinks it unlikely - as she said that doctors do not like taking blood from babies as it's so hard and not very nice - and that's the way they check for allergens in babies.
Have also been given advice that once DS is twelve months old, to try and alternate between Soya and Rice milk - so as to move away slightly from Soya.
Homeopathic Doctor [at Bristol's NHS funded Homeopathic Hospital] also recommended, as Tatt has on this site, that we add Linseed/Flaxseed oil to his food for his ezcema and it seems to have helped him, and my husband who also suffers with it.
Thanks again.