confused about food allergies - a couple of questions

[JaneyT1974]

my little boy developed eczema at about 3 months and was subsequently tested for allergies. We were at the hospital yesterday with the allergist and dietician who confirmed he is allergic to dairy, egg, fish, tree and ground nuts. They then told us we would not need to see either of them until he is four and he must avoid these foods until then. Firstly I expected more support from the dietician, my boy is only 8.5 months and early days of solids and would have thought they would of liked to have seen him before the age of 4 to ensure we are giving him a balanced diet if we are excluding all these foods. I would have liked more support.

then secondly the only symptoms linked to him eating these foods is eczema to date, do we really need to wait until he is 4 to try introducing any of them, what have others done?

I feel that the care plan your son has is resource led. Our consultant told us that her bosses would like her to discharge allergy patients unless there are active issues, however, she refuses to do this and see's my dd every year - more if necessary. My dd was first tested at 6 months old and she was seen again at 12 months in order to make sure that everything was going ok.

I wouldn't accept this and would ask for a follow up appointment sooner - especially as you are weaning at the moment.

We did only see the dietician once but I felt that this was ok for us.

Sorry this probably isn't helpful

What tests did they do? Did they do skin prick tests?

Seems odd to say he is allergic if his only response is eczema.

My dd is allergic to peanuts and on eating traces had facial swelling, rash and hives. (She has an epipen for this.)

My dd also carries piriton and epipens - did they give u anything? Or is it intolerances?

thanks for the responses, he has had both blood tests and skin prick tests which showed up the allergies. His eczema first flared up at around 12 weeks as i said and the dermatology nurse we saw expected allergies through my breast-milk, which is why they tested.

He has never directly himself had any of the allegans only through me, but i gave up dairy and egg which helped a lot. He did once come up in hives about 24 hours after i ate quite a lot of peanuts, so gave those up too.

I don't know how he would react to the things he is allergic to if he was given them directly, which is why i say the only real symptom we have had is eczema. We do have piriton in case he does have any bad reactions and they said when we come back at 4 they will probably give us an epipen.

I saw our dermatologist a few days after the allergist appointment, different hospital and said what the allergist and dietician said and she advised that they would give me the same response. So perhaps is a resource thing.

I may look into visiting an allergist/dietican privately when he is about 18 months so if anyone has any reconmendations that would be great.

Ah right that makes more sense - my did was the same when exposed to milk through my breastmilk - she had bad eczema on her chin and around her mouth. When she had yogurt at 6 months she had an anaphylactic reaction. She has never directly had any of the other allergens either.

I'm afraid that I can't recommend anyone privately but maybe starting a new thread may help - depending on what area you are in I am sure others will be able to recommend someone to you.

Sorry couldn't be any more help. I disagree completely with children not being seen for so long when they have allergies - for one thing, I have so many questions every time we go even though we have now lived with it for almost 3 years.

Hope you get some more info from others. Keep posting on here if you have any questions or need advice - the advice I have been give over the years has been fantastic and I would not know half of what I know had it not been for some of the amazing mums on here.

Whereabouts are you in the country? I can recommend consultants we've seen in a couple of places London, Herts and Kent. Sure others will have ideas elsewhere. Very sad that you have to consider private apt :(

we are in london.

feel free to join CAN children's allergy network on facebook if u wish.

lots of help and support there. help finding foods without your childs allergens in.

Some of the team at St Thomas' do some private work. I have offered lots of good things about Dr Fox for example. I've had contact with him via email and he has been very helpful and knowledgeable. We also rated Dr Blythe highly and I think he's associated with that service too.

Hope you get the support you need.