Won't test for allergy but ...

[AussieSim]

DS is 12mths and has quite difficult eczema (currently under control) but all doctors have have said it is too early to test for allergies (at what age will they test?). I spoke to a dr today and told her that I thought DS might have a reaction to eggs, and she said that I should avoid them as well as chicken and fish and of course nuts. Of course I had no intention of giving nuts but I am a bit dubious about her other recommendations? Should I even avoid eggs in small quantities as in cake etc?

Actually I am feeling more and more uncomfortable about my cat, who is indoors most of the time, but although all the drs know about her, none of the has said I should think about getting her a new home.

Any advice, experience? TIA

I am atopic....allergic to cats, horses, some dogs , hamsters etc etc....I would be concerned about cat! As for allergy testing...I thought too that you ought to wait, asI understood, you only react to things the 2nd or third exposure. However, I have since been told that you can have 2nd or third exposure at 1 month of age, as they talk about in utero and also during b/f as part of exposure time. (this was a private consultants secretary, who was saying they would test dd who was 6 months old and not even had any solids)
Also, not sure if oyu know this but allergy testing will not tell you if eczema is caused by the allergens....necessarily. ie, ds could test neg and this does not mean that it is not a contributing factor towards eczema.
the advice I have been given is to avoid dairy till 12 months at least. eggs till 2 yrs and peanut till 5 years. I am imagining that the chicken is becoz I read recently that for true egg allergy one needs to be careful about chicken as this is where the egg came from.....and they have found similar proteins in chicken meat.This does mean reading packets for egg....for us at least!
As for fish, it is one of the other foods that can cause serious allergic reactions. I personally am not avoiding fish (did not for dd1 either) but am just careful on first few feeds with it.
Good Luck anyway.

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Have you tried the british allergy foundation. i think they have a helpline as well as a good web page.no good at doing links sorry.
hth

Ds had blood (RAST) tests at 4 months but they all came back negative. However, when we started weaning at 6 months he had allergic reactions to egg and milk proteins.

He has since had skin prick tests at 1 and 2 years, which we found to be much more reliable. The allergy specialist recommended more RAST tests but did say they tend to give a lot of false positives and negatives if the child is under 3 years old, so we have decided to wait until then.

I think it would definately be worth seeing if you can have your ds tested for cats. Whenever we visit friends with cats ds's eczema flares up, and it has also started to trigger asthma attacks - so no more visits.

Have you noticed a reaction if your ds touches your cat? It would bring my ds up in hives.

Chicken is one of the few meats that it is ok to eat in an elimination diet (in the UK anyway), as it is not thought likely to provoke allergic reactions - although as with everything your child could be the exception.

hope that helps

Egg allergy will produce results at very small quantity - for instance my son reacted if I ate egg in small amounts (I am bfing). I have read that the chicken also has the similar proteins, but my ds's eczema seems okay with chicken, his bowels go a bit weird though!

Cakes do not need egg in them, there are heaps of great vegan cake recipes on the web. Obviously you can't eat shop bought, which is annoying - but I have lost another dress size so there is an upside.

My ds was tested at 7 months for food allergies. They are not massively reliable, especially for foods that they have not been exposed to. However it picked up the egg one, which we then tested with a food challenge (by me eating them).

My pead won't test for inhalants (sp?) until 1 year, this would include cat dander.

So it might be worthwhile pressing my Pedeatrician to have DS tested then (esp for cat). And I will stop eating eggs myself (no eggs in chocolate I hope). My DS loves the cat and I can't really link his flareups to anthing but heat and teething, although he has had dairy in the form of yoghurt etc since he was about 8mths. I also might bring forward the replacement of the rugs in our loungeroom - the rest of the place is laminate floors so pretty easy to keep clean. Thanks for your help.

Hi there just a quick note on the moggie front that may make you feel better! My Dd now 17 month has a condition known as keratosis pilaris a varient of atopic excema, and not sure where you live by Dd was born in sydney and my childerns nurse told me that if you introduce your baby to antigens eg cat / dog hair at a very young age they create antibodies of sorts to the allergins with pet hair, mites etc. My daughters dad had a bad pet allergy as a kid and loads of ecxema asthma in both families. Have moved mountains to ensure she lives with fur! from newborn with two dogs and now she comes out and does the horses and now back in the uk to retrain as a nurse, i have cat at home too! So far the odd wheezey episode thats short lived and accomanpied by a cold, but no other problems. I was told that the kind of dodgy time is from 3 years onwards when kids develop pet allergies. This follows as my brother is fur allergic too and started when we got our first pet when he was 4 and i was only 1 I have no pet allergies. So id suggest not presuming that moggie is to blame! try eggs, but eliminate all of them, milk and all dairy foods, some citrus friuts and the obvious washing powders. I always use a singlet under Dd's clothes and mostly cotton sleepsuits, close fitting ones, bonds.
Co incidently Dd was allergy tested last month and showed no allergies to the big groups, cheese, milk, fish, nuts and shell fish.
Try and visit a homeopath or chiropractor, both have excellent results with excema.
Hope that may help!

Thanks Chloe. My Ds still hasn't been tested but I have been very vigilant and I really don't think he is allergic to my cat or dairy but still not sure on eggs. I am reassured from your story and prefer to think that early exposure is good. I am still not sure how much I have to avoid eggs given that I am still Breastfeeding. I haven't been eating them directly (which I really miss), but probably indirectly in pasta mad with eggs and in cakes.

I just think that having pets is also really important to teach kids about respect and responsibility and that people who never had pets as children often have 'issues'.

I am in Germany at the mo. I love the bonds stuff though and have it sent over by my family.

My DD is allergic to eggs even in tiniest quantity, she was skin prick tested at 12 mths of age and sure enough egg allergy, only minor allergy with spots around mouth, but if she kisses me after I've eaten them she comes out in rash... This goes for cakes and lots of weird things that you not think had egg in them.
I was told to eliminate til age 2 then see if she outgrows it...

Thanks kiwi - need to press for the allergy test I think (again).