Egg and peanut allergies help needed

[p123]

Hi our 2year old has had an egg allergy since birth but we are still waiting for a test to 'medically' confirm this. Although we have had to rush her into casualty because of her severe reactions.

We then a few weeks a go went to a restaurant that we have been to before lots and she reacted again this time we don't know to what as all egg free. This has happened before too.

Up until now this has always been controlled by piriton.

However last week we went to a party where there were peanuts on the table and she reacted just via them being there. This was calmed with piriton.

Then on Mothers day we where out for lunch when she reacted again this time too everything was egg and nut free.

This was her worse reaction yet and we ended up spending a day in casualty with her on steroids.

We have now been given epi pens and told to carry on avoiding anything at all containing or that could have been contaminated with eggs or nuts.

Therefore I have spent the last three days going through all of the cupboards and getting rid of anything that does not clearly say that it does not contain these ingredients and being vegetarian too it doesn't seem to leave us with a lot.

Has anyone else had to be this extreme?
I have contacted all of the companies of the unclear-labelled foods and am excluding of adding food using the information they give me.

But companies are saying things like our product says it may contain nuts because we can't guarantee the exact manufacturing methods of our suppliers or that they sometimes use sesame oil to cook two of there products.

What are everyone else?s cut off points?

Even frozen and fresh Veg could be contaminated if you look at it from a certain angle!

I am worried I am going to far an making myself more anxious in the bargain as my IBS and stressed jaw issue is getting worse and I am already on anti depressants so I need to draw a line some where quickly.

Also how do you store use practically all of the info companies send to you. We already have a pile of paperwork to deal with.

HHHHHHEEEEEEELPPPP!

Hi p123. You can not be too careful with allergies, especially one's so severe. There are lots of useful threads on here to give you advice on things like this. You need to take precausions to avoid a reaction & you are obviously doing this, so carry on. If somethings say "may contain nuts" do not chance giving it to your child, incase they do contain nuts, but as i said i have came across threads where they have discussed these issues so its worth having a look. I do not think you are going too far. You need to make sure your child is not at any risk. You will be anxious whatever anyway as this is a life threatening condition but you will cope & things will & do get easier. Dont get me wrong, you will always worry, & i do 24/7 about my ds coming in to contact with peanuts, but with lots of advice & research you will beable to cope. Try not to worry too much, as you & your little one needs to try & live as much of a normal life as possible. There are plenty of ppl on here who have given me advice recently, so you are never on your own. Julia x

HAve you looked on this website? Lots of interesting info.

www.anaphylaxis.org.uk

Hi p123

I have a ds who has egg and other unknown allergies causing anaphylatic reactions and yes we go to extreme measures we have to to ensure his safety.

We have just started giving ds things that say produce in a factory using egg ingredients but not on the same line iyswim

Some days he will be fine but others he seems to have reactions to nothing specific.

Have you been referred to a allergy consultant.

HTA

I was driving myself crazy reading labels until I realised that the products that were egg, nut, soya, dairy, fish, and wheat free were so rare that my time was best invested by cooking everything from scratch. (Apart of having some problems with mislabeled products)

So... now we are under the idea that as long as he has a portion of protein and 2 of vegetables two - three times a day, plus cereals in the morning he will be fine. We also decided to cook the same for all of us as we spent too much time and energy stressing about cross contamination.

Good thing about all this was that by getting all the family in a nut, egg, etc free diet we are all eating more healthy basically because it's a bit more difficult to eat junk food. This approach also forced us to accelerate the adaptation process for all of us.

Now, we just cook an extra portion or two of everything we do which goes into little containers that are frozen. Doing these most days ensures that we have a plenty of options to choose from to sent to school, take with us when we are going out or just serve if we don't feel like cooking.

HTH, and please take it easy, keep pressing for more tests and the mean time keep a diary of the environments she has been in, along with foods eaten and reactions. If you do it for a few weeks you will start notice some patterns that eventually may guide you to identify the offensive foods.

In the mean time, a big hug, we know how stressful it is ((((( )))))

Thank you so much for your support we are pushing for tests and have got an appointment in two weeks time.we will keep going and cooking from scratch until we know more for certain.I will take a look at the sites you mentioned thanks.

I trook her to a friends to look after 2 older kids today and that was really stressful as they have gerbils whose food contains nuts.Then the food i had to cook for them had been in a factory with nuts but she was ok.well so far she hasn't reacted.

I am hoping the tests will show up the severity of the allergies.which companies do you trust to buy your foods from? i mean even bread is tricky.Although she has never reacted to bread bought un packaged before there is always a first time.

Hi P123,

Sorry just seen your thread, my dd1 is exactly the same as yours, she is anaphylactic to egg and nuts. its really difficult but egg is in many forms much harder to spot than nuts as most people recognise a nut allergy than egg and think egg is a less searious one.

Here's what else egg comes written as:

Albumen
Lecithin
E322
Livetin
Ovoglobulin
Globulin
Ovalbumen
Ovomucin
Vitellin

Its the E322 you have to watch as Lecithin is not always stated, if it says Lecithin(soya) you're fine.

Egg free foods are better found in Asda of all places (their own brand too) not that I shop cheap but I have searched high and low for years. My dd had her first reaction at 9 months old to egg then came the rest (I had my dd tested at bupa)

I'd steer clear of restaurants pesonally as the tables are usually contaminated and the fryers in the kitchen are usually used for various foods (some of which contain E322), also the kitchen staff are usally students who don't have a clue about cross contamination.

Good luck and if you need any help or advice please don't hesitate to contact me.

[email protected]

Hi what do you do about eating ,holidays etc then .this is what we do for fun and treats.
do you not have any possiblily contaminated products in the house at all.also not eat them at all yourself just incase?
What about when you are out and about ?

Good morning

We only holiday in the UK whilst the babies are little, but plan to go to USA in a couple of years as they also list the ingredients. We usully go to M&S for a cup of tea, my dd has the Cheese sandwitch box as it doestnt contain any allergens, they're allways very good & clean etc, she can even eat their pizza(not that she likes them but she can). We have nothng in the house which contains egg or nut in any form & we don't eat anything which contains egg or nut either as it will be on utensils and environment. You have to watch nut allergies in aircraft as it can contaminate the plane via air conditioning (they have statements about this on the internet booking information). It all sounds rather daunting I know but it becomes a way of life and you do it without realising it. Alot of crisps have egg in too like minni chedders and Twiglets. If you see things with "Suitable for Vegans" on they are usally fine (as long as they are not from a factory with nuts).

There is a product line called "Orgran" which do pizza mix, flour, muffins and all sorts which are guaranteed to be free from egg, soya, dairy, nut, gluten, GMO, and you name it else. Also Sainsburys do a chocolate bar cant remember its name but its a dark wrapper with coloured circles on it, thats fine to eat & the Kinnerton range do easter eggs and advent calenders for children also egg and nut free, can be bought from any supermarket (including Wilkinsons).

H. x

Ok but do you go self catering and clean everything when you get there just incase.
What do you do about unlabelled foods ie frozen veg?

Hillary, I have been avoiding E322 due to soya allergy. Although DS is also allergic to egg I didn't know that E322 could also be made out of egg so wondering if I had got it wrong I googled it and found the following:

E322 Lecithin
E322 (i) partially hydrolysed lecithin

Phosphatidylcholine

Origin:
The term lecithin refers to a group of compounds found in every living organism, as they are part of the cell wall of all cells. Lecithin is commercially isolated (mainly) from soybeans or egg yolk. The chemical composition of these two products (sources) is rather different, which determines the applications.

Function & characteristics:
Emulsifier and stabiliser of water-oil/fat mixtures. Used to soften chocolate.

Products:
Wide range of products.

Acceptable Daily Intake:
No limit

Side effects:
Lecithin is a normal component of body cells and will be degraded and used by the body without side effects.

Dietary restrictions:
E322 can normally be consumed by all religious groups, vegans and vegetarians. It does not elicit allergic reactions in people who are allergic to soybeans or eggs.
(from www.food-info.net/uk/e/e322.htm)

Well, that's news for me, wonder if I had been worrying about E322 innecesarily...

Holidays, and days out...

We carry a box with safe snacks in the car all the time, so we can stop to eat something if we feel like it without worrying about availabity of safe products)

We have been in 10 countries with DS and apart from the incident in the last flight we had never had a problem. The only thing you have to do is to do your homework and try to find out about the food in the country you are visiting to find which are the possible risks. And notify the airline beforehand about the peanut allergy (some are acommodating, some aren't)

DS is allergic to Egg, nuts, fish, wheat, dairy and soya so... it is virtually impossible for DS to have a full meal out of a menu besides, we don't want to spend valuable holiday time looking for a shop that could sell (or not) what we need. So we take as many non perishables as we may need, which we complement with what is available locally like fruit, and meat and vegetable grills.

A card with a translation of your child allergies and what to do in emergencies is something not worth forgetting. We give the card to the waiter at restaurants, who then takes it to the chef and most of the times they are able to come up with a good suggestion even if it is to point us in the direction of another restaurant that could provide a safer option.

So, it's not that difficult once that you get used to it. You can do it

Hi there,

well in my egg free cookery book it has the list of egg names which I listed earlier, E322 was on there listed as can be derived from egg, usually it says E322(soya) or E322 which we have always been advised to advoid as it could be of egg derevatives.

We use organic frozen veg, doesnt matter if its not organic but just a point of checking lables etc. I make all my dd's foods from scractch so I know whats in them and so I know they've not been cross contaminated.

Hi Chandra. Thanks that helps a lot.Where do you stay we are worried about cross contamination and places not being properly cleaned or in resturants not being %1000 sure how do you deal with this.

I always take milton wipes with me everywhere I go and wash down tables & Chairs myself also bring dd her own food and cutlery. A mat is good too for under the plate so if her food drops on the table and she picks it back up its fine for her to eat.

Well... p123...I think that at the end of the day, people can do much but you have to take the ultimate responsability to double check, clean, desinfect, etc for your own child for the good reason that people who do not live, day to day, with severe allergies don't know or understand how certain things could affect your child.

There is so much you can do, and so much that you can't. For the former...keep an epipen/pyriton at hand all the time.

E322 is on the hospitals list of foods to avoid so ds has neve had anything containing this and i'm not sure i would personally risk it.

Good morning all - I now need a birthday cake or a failsafe recipe.Need to leave for shops asap so any ideas?

Yep ... my speciality

What do you want it free from?

egg, nut, soya?

Hi thanks vegetarian egg and nut free please and easy!!!!

ok give me 5 mins and i'l be with you

Hi any luck with that recipe?

Also i know this sounds daft but what do you do about things that aren't labelled ie.cheese no eggs or peanuts and therefore i can assume its safe (as long as its veggie)?

p123 I have a recipe for a boiled chocolate cake that can be made, egg and nut free as well as dairy, wheat etc etc.

I haven't time to post it at the moment but if you search for messages by mymama in last 12 months it should come up. hth

Thanks ill have a look.