Good news!! But also a question....

[strawberrycornetto]

We took DS (almost 1) for a follow up yesterday because he'd been unwell and may have asthma. He had more skin prick tests done and.... he did not show up as allergic to either milk or eggs. This is fantastic news and we are really pleased. We were given the go ahead to start him on well cooked egg/dairy very slowly etc.

However, this morning when he woke up, he has broken out in some quite nasty eczema just above where the control and milk skin tests were done. He's been eczema free since we cut dairy out of his and my diet in October. I'm thinking that this may mean he's still a bit sensitive to dairy but no longer properly allergic. What does everyone think? Do you think I should email our paed to tell him in case it changes the advice to try him on dairy?

Thanks

that's fantastic news!

However I would definitely tell the paed about the eczema, and be very cautious about reintroducing. Are you on the LEAP Study? (can't quite remember?) If so I would ask their advice too. Do you know if the skin prick result was actually zero, or just very small? And how were the soya results?

DD (16 months) tested "almost" negative to dairy and eggs in December (2mm for each) and we were told she was ready for a food challenge at the hospital - still waiting for an appointment. However the consultant said that even if she passes the food challenge, dairy and egg could still trigger her eczema again. Her eczema was pretty bad all over before I cut dairy and egg out of my diet and I wouldn't be willing to go back to those days.

You could ask for a food challenge at the hospital, but personally I'm not looking forward to the food challenge much and think it may be less scary (and possibly even safer) to reintroduce milk products very gradually at home - apparently well matured hard cheese like parmesan is the best to start with.

I hope I'm not sounding too negative - it's great news, and even if your DS has't 100% outgrown the allergies just yet, it pretty much guarantees he will in time. I will be very interested to hear how you get on - keep us posted!

I agree with you cuppachar. DH is adamant its a coincidence and that there is no need to raise it, but since I put up this message I have written him an email anyway. It is definitely the worst eczema he's had since I cut out dairy and I think DH is sticking his head in the sand a bit because he wants to believe he's "cured"! I will probably introduce both very slowly as advised but I will do egg first (as his reaction to this was only ever very small) and wait to see if the advice changes on dairy before trying. I think it may be it will always trigger eczema but its still great we don't have to worry about bad allergic reactions.

All the food allergy results were completely negative, although he showed up as allergic to cat and a bit allergic to dust mites now!

That's great news for your DD too, although I agree the idea of a challenge test is very scary...

You're right - if it turns out the worst thing that can happen is a bit of eczema, then at least you won't have to worry about eating a sandwich at a cafe, going to a birthday party, him taking another child's food at nursery, etc. You must be so relieved - I remember how worried you were when you first found out about his allergies - it seems so recent!

I know! We were so amazed yesterday, we had gone to discuss epipens really because he's been so unwell with chest problems on top of the allergies. It feels like a bit of a mini miracle that its happened so quickly. Also a great birthday present for DS - he might even be able to eat an edible cake!

Strawberry - whilst this is wonderful wonderful news I would report it, just to be on the safe side. Hope it is OK, perhaps it will just take a bit of getting used to.

Really pleased for you guys. What a great few days it has been for allergies!!

lots of young children outgrow milk allergies.

however skin prick tests on there own can bring up false postivies and vise versa. esp on skin with lots of ezcema.

i take it that he has had reactions, food allergic reactions in the past?
otherwise why would a doc do skin prick tests? ????
because there would be little point in doing them only for ezcema as a symptom.?

if your child has had allergic reactions that needed full exclusion of milk , rather than intolerance, then adding the food into diet does need more careful thought.

a food challenge in a hospital setting , may be stressful, but is a more safer environment than being at home without any form of medical aid.

I do hope that blood tests, medical history, and skin prick tests were used by the doctor to judge that a home food challenge was safe.

there is nothing wrong with asking more questions of your doc , before going ahead with the food challenge at home.

good luck.

Thanks WM. He has had an allergic reaction to milk in the past - at 6 months. He didn't ever have a really bad reaction though.

I tried milk on his skin this morning. After his first reaction I tried this and he came up in a big red hive. Today, nothing at all. I have flagged up the eczema to the dcotor to be on the safe side but I will try some very well cooked dairy with him at home I think. I will do it myself when we have a quiet day and I can keep a very close eye on him, but I do feel, given that he didn't ever have a very serious reaction and we do have a good doctor whose opinion I trust and did have all the medical history/tests in front of him when we discussed the home challenge.