Should my DD be referred to an allergy clinic?

[emmaj1045]

My 7 month dd had a bad reaction to egg a couple of weeks ago when she was covered in hives and her neck and eyes swelled, although there were thankfully no breathing difficulties. The doctor just gave us a prescription for anti histamine and told us to avoid any product with egg in it and sent us on our way. Since then she has had hives on her legs and under her arms several times (although we have avoided egg).
Should I be pushing to get a referral to an allergy clinic. My DH says that there is no point in worrying about it all, but it was very scary when it happened!

YES, she should be referred and if I were you I would want to be carrying an Epi-pen at all times. Even things which "may contain traces of egg" can cause anaphylactic reactions.

Also, each reaction can be different, often becoming worse each time. She may be reacting to things other than egg.

I would say you need to get her tested asap so you know what to avoid.

keep a detailed food diary and see if you can identify what is causing it. A referral may not help mutch unless they have an idea what to test for and they don't like testing such a young child anyway. Egg allergy is often outgrown so they may not want to give you an epipen for it.

They won't prescribe an epipen until your DD is 15kg+ and even then not until she has a proper anaphlactic reaction.

i would push for a referral to an allergy clinic and carry piriton at all times.

Push for a referral. Unfortuantely allergies to one food often mean a likelihood to allergy to others. An allergy specialist will test for other likely food allergies (hopefully) thus avoiding you having to go through trial and (potentially dangerous) error at home.
Good luck

I would push for a referral as I think the doctors are generally reluctant to refer to allergy clinics. Perhaps it is because so many children have allergies that they are not supposed to refer too readily. In the meantime you could try testing foods on her skin before she eats them as apparently allergic reactions often show just from touching food on the skin. However, if she has sensitive skin this might be misleading if you find she is reacting to everything!