anyone any experience of fish allergy?

[BitTiredNow]

dd (9 months) had a home made fish pie puree today, and a bit later came up in nettle sting like white spots on her face and this was later replaced by a blotchy red rash (like sunburn) on parts of her body - noticably her cheeks, buttocks and back. I rang NHS, and as she has no fever they thought it was possibly an allergic reaction, and as I have changed nothing else, like washing powder, creams etc, I can only think of the fish. Do you think this is possible, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

does sound like urticaria.. (allergic rash) this is what my son gets if he touches or eats eggs... wait till it clears up (dosent normally take more than a few hours or so) - give piriton asap to help reduce rash & make her more comfortable.
give it a couple of days... then you will need to try the fish again .. if she gets the rash again... bingo.. this is what I had to do with my son to confirm his egg allergy..i know its hard... but you will have to give it again to confirm.. even if you know you are going to make her unwell

( i would however say- that when you do try it again.. do it at a time when docs are open, when you have use of a car, when you are not alone & ALWAYS have piriton syrup with you.. as the reaction change change each time... watch for breathing etc.. & if in any doubt- rush to docs)

i hope this helps?? xxxxx

thanks jkb - can I use piriton as she is under one?

well... my son was in hospital when he was 6 weeks & they gave piriton for several days..(due to an unknown itchy rash he had) its not licenced for use under one- but doctors & consultants use it under one all the time .... (does she take any other medication?)
dose - 2.5 mls - (best to use a syringe to be accurate)..

just to point out... when you are trying the fish pie again (to confirm the allergy) you need to actually ONLY give the fish... nothing else (not the potato- milk etc..) just plain fish maybe poached in water.. otherwise, if she reacts again.. its not 100% its the fish as there are many other ingredients.... I know you may have given these other ingredients before.. but my son ate eggs for months before actually becoming allergic to them ... (fish is a common allergy by the way...)

cheers jkb, you've been really helpful.

no probs hun... ive had months of allergy consultants & tests & info... im up to here with it all... good luck.. please let me know how u get on xx

My DS is allergic to fish, eggs, humous. He used to also be allergic to strawberries and kiwi but can now eat them. He sometimes reacts to fresh peas of all things!

I realised that he was allergic to egg when my DD gave him a tiny bit of meringue birthday cake (a speck) age 11mths and he reacted with the stinging nettle spots around his mouth. I believe this is called hives. He gets the same reaction with fish and humous. I just give him 2.5ml of piriton which calms the skin within 20mins. A dermatologist told me that it is effectively possible to test the allergens on the skin by holding the food on the arm for 10 seconds, wiping off and then seeing if the skin goes red. I do it every now and then and the skin reacts with hives on the spot where the food was placed. Also, if I eat any egg I have to make sure I wash my hands thoroughly even though I use a knife and fork to eat say an omelette otherwise he will react!! Potent stuff these eggs!

Agree with jkb's advice. And hope our DC's grow out of this allergy.

Erm... Wasn't fish supposed to be introduced after one year old?

I won't try it again, if you need to "know" try it later, when she is older and less susceptible to develop an allergy (just in case she hasn't yet)

BTW My son is one of those sensitive children able to develop a severe allergic reaction by skin contact. I wouldn't dream of trying egg, peanuts or fish on his arm even with an Epipen at hand.

I wouldn't give it to her to eat again tbh The next reaction could be very severe. My dd had a reaction to one kind of antibiotics at the same age. I was told she must never have it again and her notes have a huge red sticker stuck on the front

My cousin has a severe fish and shell fish allergy, it isn't that rare afaik

Get to the GP, explain what happened and see if they will test in a hospital to be sure

I'd go down the GP route to be honest, or at least wait a few months before trying again (with piriton on hand).

But even if she is allergic it doesn't mean it will be severe, or lifelong. I had a moderate fish allergy as a child and outgrew it - it can happen.

I am sure Annable karmel introduces it earlier than a year, Feel guilty now......

dont feel guilty... its fine before a year.. that info was incorrect xx

thanks love. She is better today, which is good news.

the good thing is that they do get over it quick & the rash dosent stay for long... dont feel bad.. as i said fish is absoulty fine at that age & at least you are doing the homemade stuff...should feel proud xx

I'm only going to correct that because, I don't want people making the same mistake I did, when there's a history of allergies in the family, fish is best avoided until they are at least one year old.

BTW Gina ford also recommend fish before they are one. But then, I doubt that either Annabel or Gina have been dealing with severe allergies in a day to day basis.

Having said that... please don't feel quilty, allergies are such a complex thing that there is more to them than the single action of giving a certain food at the wrong time (ie, my son developed peanut allergy after one exposure at 2.5 years old, but... when the first exposure took place I have no idea -I was very careful with nuts-, and at the time I didn't know DS was at high risk of developing severe allergies.

If you do a search about weaning guidelines for babies with an allergy background, search for Bobbybob/threebob' posts or Chandra's. They were repeated ad nauseaum about 2 years ago.

thanks for the info me - there is no history of any sort of allergy in either side of the family (unless you count me despising parsnips, which I almost wish was an allergy then my mother wouldn't force feed me them). Her rash is back today - just the red blotches all over her - like very angry sunburn, but no fish today, nothing that she doesn't normally eat. I am flummoxed. - actually both days she has been wearing mil's handknits - ooh, better ring her....

Well, the handknits are good news!!! better to be allrgic to wool than to fish! (difficult to eat wool by accident IYWIM )

true, true.

My son had this. His hives took 24 hours to come up though.

I really never thought we would ever eat normally as a family again, but we do . At one/two, he couldn't eat fish, eggs, tomato, pepper, nuts, seeds, strawberries, citrus fruit. Now at four he eats everything.