Question for those whos child is anaphylactic to milk and/or egg.

[WhiteTrash]

I wish I knew this was here 3 months ago!

My baby has several food allergies. Some anaphylactic.

If your child is anaphylactic to milk or eggs does it happen if even a small amount touches them? Or do they have to ingest it before they suffee anaphylaxis?

I think a reaction can occur if it touches a soft membrane eg child rubs eyes with egg on them. Hopefully unlikely though! I hope you getting advice from a specialist

Right. My 8 month old had anaphylaxis to yoghurt. He'd eaten that.

Im so paranoid about him getting some on his skin when we're out and about. Im trying to figure out if a mere touch will cause anaphylaxis. (we have an epipen thank God.)

Also hes allergic to egg yolk. It caused hives when it touched his leg, we srent sure if that would cause anaphylaxis if ingested.

I thought Id see what the deal was for others.

In my experience (and this is ONLY my experience, NOT a medical opinion!) ...

DS reacts with hives and swelling if any touches his skin. Sometimes it can look quite dramatic, but is easily treated with antihistamine.

Rubbing traces of milk into an eye is a different matter: when DS rubbed traces of milk from an empty coffee cup into his eye, he did have a more severe reaction resulting in ambulance and epipen. (It started with just having touched his face, his face swelled up with hives and got itchy and then he rubbed his eye IYSWIM)

It's easy to be completely paranoid... and generally I AM quite paranoid about DS touching traces of stuff, just in case he then touches his mouth or rubs it into his eye again. However, most contact reactions are just scary, scary hives and swelling.

Acgtually, I should have said: a very few allergic people do have reactions when allergens are in the room, even though this is not very common with egg and dairy allergies.

Since posting, I have remembered reading on these allergy boards about a mum whose DD had a severe reaction from sitting in a coffee shop where there was lots of milk 'in the atmosphere'. I have also remembered an ex-teacher telling me about a pupil who would get up and run out of the classroom if somebody had peanuts in the room (he could tell if they were there, even if he couldn't see them).

However, these cases are rare. Be cautious, but try not to stress too much.

Wow!! I knew that about peanuts. A good friend of mine would literally sit on the otherside of the pub if one of us opened a bag of peanuts. But I had no idea about milk!

hives, swelling and needing hosp treatment with steroids ime

Exactly the same as greenbananas first post.

On ingesting either, he is anaphylactic to tiny traces.

Our experience is also very similar to greenbananas, ie hives/itching on skin contact which is easily remedied with Piriton but full anaphylaxis on accidental consumption so we carry epi-pens. Haven't had any experience of getting allergens in the eyes so can't comment on that one but makes sense to me that this would be more likely to cause a severe reaction as it allows the allergen to pass into the body via mucous membrane. We all know how scary it is but you will get used to living with the fear and learn to manage it sufficiently so that you can all get on with your lives.

as others have said our experience is contact with skin = itching/hives goes down with antihistamine. Needs to be ingested to have a full blown reaction. raw egg infinitely worse than cooked egg

Just to reiterate what others have said.

My DD is allergic to milk, eggs and nuts. Severe reactions have been through ingestion only as far as we are aware.

My DD has touched milk traces in coffee shops, floors etc (for example, at a breatfeeding group) and has had mild "hives" on her hands and head, which have been treated with piriton.

My DD was accidently given a milk and rice ruit pot last year and she was immediatly sick then was fine afterwards - we didnt know until the next day what had been in the fruit pot (we had picked up the wrong ones although the packaging was sooo similar to our usual ones).

It is stressful having an allergic child - I have come on here after reactions so anxious and afrai, but you do learn to live with the allergies. You quickly find foods that suit your DC and your family and it becomes a way of life.

So many typos sorry. Its too late!