Anxious about allergies-where do I go from here?

[missdeelite]

I'm feeling pretty anxious about my 6mo, we have started weaning and decided to try baby led with finger foods. However several times he has broken out in hives, usually in patches around face and neck- it seems to be from contact with the food and yesterday his eyes were quite swollen. It makes him cry and sometimes almost his whole face is covered, but thankfully settled down after about 15minutes. As tet ive not given any medication. I know as yet this is quite mild compared to severe reactions but I'm not sure how to progress. Different foods have triggered it but they all seem to contain dairy. However sometimes the same foods have been fine-eg cheddar caused a reaction at first bit not the 2nd and 3rd time I offered it. Yoghurt and fromage frais seem ok, even when he's covered on it. At first I hoped it was a few isolated incidences but I think now I need some help and testing, but having read some other posts this seems quite hard to access. My older son is severely coeliac and getting diagnosed was a real fight. I have private healthcare and regretted not using it last time, I know some people aren't fans of it but I wonders if it woul fast track me to getting to a knowledgable specialist. He had had exzcema (spelling!) from a few weeks old around his face mainly, and this also flares up around eating sometimes.

For now we are avoiding dairy until I see GP and he only has breastmilk. I'm also starting a detailed diary of his food and reactions. Any advice would be really appreciated! I'm feeling a bit daunted as catering to a strict gluten free diet in the last year is already quite a challenge.

Thanks Babybarrister I'm in SE London. I know there are great Drs at local NHS hospitals, but my last experience of diagnosing my son was seriously slow and had impact on his health whilst we were waiting for a referral. With it being early stages of weaning I'm keen to get good advise asap so that I don't make anything worse!

Oh thanks that's helpful, our local ones are guy's or King's have been looking at their drs. My GP was great but whilst she was happy to refer said waiting can be few weeks so think will plunge for private referral. :feeling little calmer about what might follow now :)

If you get referred to a specialist, they will want to see lists of what he had and when he reacted. my son was extremely allergic to some foods, and I really had to fight to be believed. When you see a specialist, ask for a RAST test, but you will need to tell them what to test for, it's not a general one, it's very specific. For example, like nuts, they could tell me which nuts my son was allergic to, and to what degree. And also which were safe, and which he could have a small amount of and be okay. It's a detailed test, and a very good one for concrete answers, do try and get it done.

Hi missdeelite, I would second babybarristers recommendation. We saw Adam Fox privately at first, as we were told it would be at least six months wait for an nhs appointment. We were then referred to the care of his team at Guys and St Thomas's. You may have to wait less time, as I believe children who are allergic to dairy are prioritised - at least that's what we were told at the time...

Ref the cheese and fromage frais being okay, I think that because the milk protein in those products is quite highly denatured (ie cooked milk is less allergenic than 'raw' dairy) that some people can tolerate these products. I'm not sure what advice they would give you though - on the one hand if they are tolerated it might be wise to keep them in your ds's diet to ensure that he maintains tolerance. On the other, he could become sensitive if he keeps eating them .

To expand on what TodaysAGoodDay said, (and sorry to contradict you, TAGD) but they will either rast (blood) test or skin prick test your ds, or maybe both. Neither test can predict how severe a reaction will be as it depends on many other outside factors. What it does do is tell you the likelihood that you are allergic, so the higher the score, the more likely the chance of an allergic reaction to the food being tested. They should also give you access to a dietician, who will be able to advise you on how to introduce new foods, as well as how to cook without those you have to avoid.

Good luck, I hope you get the help you need

Sorry, just seen that you said you will probably go private. We saw Dr Fox here if that's any help. We were given a 45 minute appt which included discussion of ds's history, skin prick testing and time to talk over the results. I think in the end we were there about an hour and a half, and Dr Fox was really helpful - happy to answer any questions on the day as well as some by email once I started to take it all on board. As he knew that we were waiting for an appt under the nhs, he asked his nhs dietician to contact us in the meantime so that we could have a decent chat about ds's allergies etc before the next appointment. It was as calm and relaxing an experience as it is possible to have in the context of finding out that your child has a nut allergy, iyswim?!

HTH

My DS was allergic to cow's milk protein (now outgrown it) and we have just had my DD diagnosed with an egg allergy at nine months after a tortuous journey through the NHS. I am a big believer in the NHS, but if you can access a private appointment more quickly I wouldn't hesitate. Not knowing is pretty stressful. I can add my appreciation of Dr Fox and the team at St Thomas' - we lived in different places so have not seen him but he has been amazingly generous and responded to email queries for both the children which pointed me in the right direction.
Hope you get the answers and support you need.
All the best x

Thank you ladies that's really helpful. Dr Fox sounds like a nice man as well as a good Dr - ime these 2 do not always go hand in hand!!! It all seems such a minefield - I was worried about introducing wheat due to my middle boy being coeliac - now having to possibly cater to food allergies as well is an unwelcome surprise! But Casa, getting middle son diagnosed was a horrendously stressful experience, so hearing about your appointment is music to my ears! time for a and [gluten/dairy free] i think...

missdeelite, I have read of some dreadful experiences with gp's on here, but actually with ds it was relatively straightforward. I went to our local doc after he had a reaction to some raw egg white touching his face, and he referred us straight away for rast testing at the local clinic. Once the results came back positive, we were then referred to the hospital of our choice.

I think it helps if you know what standard of care you are entitled to - why not google the nice guidelines on the procedure that should be followed? - or, in my case, I just said 'I've spent enough time on Mumsnet to know that what happened was an allergic reaction' and that seemed to do the trick! So you never know, it may not be as difficult as you think...

We saw dr Adam Fox today, got a cancellation and he was great! Answered all my questions clearly quoted lots of evidence, put my mind at rest! We had skin prick test which showed allergies to egg and milk and possibly nuts, but on the plus side seems quite mild so he thinks ds will grow out of milk allergy by perhaps 4 years . Now we are awaiting blood test results for more specific details eg about whether milk or egg safe in some forms. Thanks for the recommendations i felt in very good hands, and looks like my ds is lucky to only have mind reactions.

I mean

Wow that was quick! Glad you got to the bottom of things