Milk ladder/egg ladder

[vvviola]

I'm just out of an appointment for DD2 at allergy clinic - she's allergic to dairy and egg.

Her blood tests for egg have come back normal, and her skin pricks for egg and milk were negative

So, we've been put on the milk ladder and the egg ladder. The idea terrifies me. We've spent the past 4 years avoiding all forms of egg and milk (to the extent that eggs are banned from the house) and now I have to intentionally give them to her!

Anyone got any experience/hints/tips/Valium to stop me freaking out?

No tips really, we're on our third attempt at the milk ladder. After two previous fails at step 1 we've actually made it up to step 3 so far and all seems OK. DD's poos went a bit weird the first week this time but other than that she's been fine and they've settled now, I put it down to the (tiny) addition of a new food type and she seems to have adjusted fine.

I'm keeping an eye on this thread though for tips from anyone who has done it because I know when we get to the meals we'll have trouble as she hates mashed potato and won't eat lasagne so will be looking for alternatives for steps 5 and 6.

It is a bit nerve wracking and I have become a proper Poo Monitor since we started. If it does fail, you can always take a break and come back to it later. At least if you can get some way up the ladder, even if not all the way, you know you can relax a bit about looking at the ingredients list on every single thing you're wanting to buy.

I have to say, I don't think it's the end of the world if dd never gets all the way through it. We've managed to work around it so far and now it's 'trendy' to be dairy free there are loads of recipes and things she eats quite happily and never really seems to miss out, except we never eat out anywhere.

Good luck! Hats off to you though, I would have struggled having to avoid egg too. Are you doing both ladders at the same time or do you have to work through one before moving on to the next?

Keep it nice and simple

Little bits at a time upping them until it's a decent portion to check for reaction

Feed on own when possible so you can pin point exactly what set it off

Try to relax and have a bit of fun

Just because her bloods have come back as normal doesn't mean she has grown out of her allergies. There are ige and non ige allergies. One shows up via bloods the other doesn't.

Hoping you aren't doing both ladders together as you won't know what you are reacting to. We have failed the milk ladder three times in the last year so I'm leaving it till after Christmas before we next attempt it. I'm sure his egg allergy is worst than the dairy so not sure when we are attempting that one.
Good luck!

Yes, that's true Bonnie, but both bloods and skin prick have come back clear for egg (and skin prick is clear for milk), - and both originally had quite high values, so we're optimistic

I actually won't mind if we we don't manage the full milk/egg ladder - even getting to the stage where we don't have to interrogate waiters when we eat out would be a bonus

I think the plan is to do the egg one first (as the milk allergy had gastro symptoms as well, so the consultant said to take it a bit more slowly with that). I'm going to wait until I have a bit of time off, without visitors (MIL and BIL are staying at the moment), and give it a (very nervous) try!