Dealing with another child with serious allergies and feeling angry

[christie1]

My oldest is allergic to peanuts/nuts and recently discovered sesame seeds after a serious reaction to huumus (I had to administer the epipen as she started to have trouble breathing). Now, my 8th month old baby broke out in hives after I fed her a piece of cheese and tonight I picked her up after serving the other children ice cream and within minutes the trunk of her body was covered in huge hives. We have adjusted to nuts and now sesame seeds but how the **@@## can I eliminate milk and make my home/kitchen safe for the baby with 4 other children as well. I am feeling sorry for myself but, damn it, it just doesn't seem fair. I already have the peanuts, nuts and seeds to worry about, now milk! milk is everywhere and in everything!

Oh, so sorry to hear this! I don't have any experience but am sure some other MN'ers will be about to give you some advice and encouragement.

Oh christie I'm sorry to hear that and I can understand your anger - I felt it every time I found another thing that Bob was allergic to, especially with latex, that's another thing that's everywhere!

Do you have an allergy support group in your area? I would also talk to whoever your dd is under (GP or specialist). The reaction is so strong I am surprised that she hasn't already reacted to milk coming through your breastmilk (I am presuming you are breastfeeding).

christie I have a similar problems (peanuts, nuts, milk but not sesame) and avoiding milk is, I agree, a real pain. Its worse than avoiding nuts but Sainsburys is a godsend as they have more milk free foods than most. Our problem isn't as bad as its not a contact allergy but a digestive one so I don't do a milk free house, just serve different meals quite often, use different utensils and be very careful. I don't think you could do that with such a response to just traces from ice cream so massive doses of sympathy coming your way. The only comfort I can offer is the hope that maybe she will grow out of it or that maybe it will prove to be only cows milk and not goats milk. Otherwise you're left with the choice of calcium supplements for the other children or perhaps just giving them milk to drink (maybe in special beakers with straws to reduce the spillage risk?), avoiding milk in foods and risking the contact allergy.

I imagine you have problems getting tests done quickly but you ought to be treated as a priority for the sake of the other children. Put the baby onto probiotics as it may help. Obviously they are going to have to be milk free which means health food store or ordering from the net.

If you aren't already memebers of the anaphylaxis campaign their meetings give you opportunites to meet other families who can sympathise and sometimes offer practical tips.

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Ah, sorry to hear it, Christie1, what a mare for you. Some good advice on here. My DD is peanut allergic and i got some excellent advice and support in the early days from podmog and others. Milk is a commonly outgrown allergy, i believe, and dd's early intolerance to it is lessening now (she had excema and asthma-like symptoms). She is nearly 3. Peanuts still going strong, however. I really feel for you, so keep on posting for support.

My DH has plenty of food allergies in his family, so when we had DS I did a lot of research about food allergies. The research out there seems to suggest that once you have a food allergy in the family, then the chances of getting another are fairly high. The websites offer very good advice on what foods to avoid up to 1year, 2years, 3years. (I can't remember them all off-hand, but I looked at as many websites as I could and tried to err on the "safe" side).

The point of this is that there may be other foods out there that you need to be avoiding until your child is 3 years old, in order to minimise the risk of any further allergies. (Also something to remember if you have any more children).

This does not guarantee no allergies, but it reduces the risk. So even if you only have a nut allergy, the advice is to avoid all potentially allergenic foods.

One of the foods that it is advised to avoid in the first year is ice-cream (even if DS had no other signs of milk allergy)! Other foods to avoid in year 1 are anything with flour in it. There are several others.

This food avoidance in the first 3 years is a bit of a pain, but can really pay off if it lessens the risk of allergies.

On the positive side, kids do often grow out of childhood allergies.

Good luck! Hopefully you can find a support group in your area.

Thanks. I am a member of an allergy group for the peanuts and I am sure I will get a handle on this. I hope that milk is one she will outgrow although we had no luck with the peanuts. I will just have to jump on the learning curve again. As to medical, unfortunately I am living in canada now ( miss sainsburys, especially the birthday cakes for my daughter which were nut free) as canada is not as advanced in nut free products and accessing health care specialists is a nightmare but I will get some sleep, stop worrying and start pushing hard to see an allergy specialist although it can take months here, mabye as she is only 8 months and the reaction is so serious I can get some faster action. I do breastfeed and noticed no problem but sometimes I see a rash around her mouth after eating so I am marking what seems to bring that on but no hives, except for the milk/dairy which I avoid now, will keep away from fish, eggs, nuts and seeds too. Keep you posted and wish me luck with the health system here.

good luck christie1. Always wanted to visit Canada but sounds like it may not be the best place to be if you have multiple allergies Have you tried rubbing a bit of goats milk on her to see if she still reacts?