Reaction to houmous, should I avoid giving ds anything else

[trixymalixy]

DS has had houmous quite a few times, his face was a bit red after having it one time, but last time I gave it to him his lips swelled so we had a trip to a&e.

Obviously I won't be giving him houmous or sesame again, but should I be avoiding anything else like nuts or beans?

I am also worried that the reaction will get worse if he is exposed again. At what point do they prescribe epi-pens?

Hi, DS has had a reaction like this to lentils, which are part of the same family (legumes). Soya and peanuts are also part of the same family, as are peas and beans.

He won't necessarily have a reaction to other legumes but you might want to be a bit careful around them, and maybe speak to your GP about testing. How old is DS?

I mean to say that lentils are part of the same family as chick peas.

He is 1 and has known allergies to milk and eggs. He wasn't tested for allergy to sesame or nuts when he tested positive for milk and eggs.

We have an appointment to see the allergy specialist in September which was made about 6 months ago as they are so busy.

He had peas followed by a soya yoghurt for his dinner tonight and seemed fine with the. Although he seemed fine with houmous to begin with .

DS is fine with peas and seems OK with soya too. He is allergic to milk but OK with egg. It's a minefield, isn't it?

My ds is allergic to dairy and eggs, and then found to be allergic to peanuts (haven't dared to try hummous however much I would love to). Can you call the allergy clinic and tell them his reaction (i.e. possible anaphalactic) and get them to bring forward the appointment. Knowledge is power and all that!

I had the same experience with my son (17 mths), very red face and swollen hands where the houmous had been in contact. He's now been diagnosed with dairy, egg, nut and sesame allergies. I don't know how old your son is but I would say don't give any nuts at all until he's been tested. The advice is not to introduce nuts to any child with allergies until they're about 3 (that's what the hospital told us anyway).

My son doesn't react to any other legumes luckily. The main thing to look out for is cross contamination. I do gamble a bit with the 'may contain' label on some foods, sesame is on a lot (probably shouldn't I know). The only problems we've had so far has been with bagels from the bakery in supermarkets and also some Italian breadsticks so we now avoid these.

My son's reaction has been worse every time but I think we've only had 3 exposures (2 due to contamination rather than sesame being in the ingredients). We've been told that kids have to reach a minimum weight before you can use an epi-pen and our son is too young/small for one at the moment.

Look out for sesame seeds and flour in other products like the Kellogs "straws". They have sesame flour in, so do some breads and other biscuity things. They will say there is sesame in but it is worth checking. My daughter had half a Kellogs straw and her whole face swelled up.

also if you go out to eat be aware that seame iol is very commonly used in chinees and other asian foods

BUMP! My DS (3) has just had a bad reaction to houmous, throat swelled up and got hives around his mouth... Waiting for hospital ap. which seems to be taking forever! Does anyone know what else he should be avoiding?

Hi

Sorry to hear about your DS. My DD 4yo had the same reaction to Houmos - only tasted a very small amount and ended up in A&E. RAST tests showed high allergy to sesame seeds and chick peas and mixed nuts (she has never had nuts). She was given epipens due to high result. She also has severe eczema, and allergies to grass pollen, dogs and cats amongst other things ((big sigh))

She then went on to have a full anaphylictic (sp?) shock to some soup which contained lentils (this was about 6 months later). Allergy clinic didn't do any further tests, just said it was the lentils as they are legumes like chick peas and peanuts. It was scary though and was very glad we had our epipen which worked really quickly.

I know everyone is not the same, but I just thought I would share. I wish I had known about the lentils before I gave her the soup - I checked for all her allergens and thought it was safe :-(

Thanks babybarrister. We've 'met' before, you told me it may have been lentils when I posted how useless I was using the epipen when DD had her episode. How right you were!

The doctor prescribed me an epi pen today, are they quite easy to use? I've rubbish in a crisis

I imagine it is quite straight forward, do you need to get it in a vein??? I'll get the pharmacist to show me when I pick it up tomorrow