living with allergies

[calvemjoe]

my son is 16 months old and is getting more allergies every day. He has asthma, is allergic to dogs, pollen and many other breathable allergens i'm sure I will discover in the near future. He has eczema, is moisturised 5 times a day and can use very few products on his skin that I can just buy from any shop. He has a severe reaction to egg, a mild reaction to cows milk and just the other day started coming up in hives after his formula.
I'd like to hear advice from other mums in similar situations.
Emma

may seem a silly question, but does he drink a lot of orange squash?

Not really, he's not too keen on it, but there is orange allergy in my family

mine are not as allergenic but I've offer three pieces of advice - a probiotic for his diet, joining the anaphylaxis campaign if any of the reactions are anaphylactic and making sure you see a consultant trained in allergy if you aren't already doing so. You may have to wait months or years to see a consultant but its the only way to get really good advice.

What formula is he on? Cows milk allergy is often outgrown before 5 and he may outgrow some of the others too. If he doesn't outgrow it avoiding cows milk when he's older may help the asthma.

the reason i asked is because my dd has a lot of skin reations, and the consultant put it down to a food colouring called tartrazine, which sends her IgE level hatwire and causes reactins to 'safe' things. its a colouring found in some orange squashes, chicken nuggets etc.

my mum gave her one those ornage squash cups (about 10p, full of colourings) and for the next week my dd's skin and reactions went mental.

ds is 26 months. diagnosed with asthma at 6 months. he gets allergy shots once a week and i can't imagine going without them. he is allergic across the board., trees, grasses, pollens...dogs. cats. dust mites...highly allergic to about 1/2 and only 3 out of four on the other half...no food allergies (thank the Lord) well anyway.. he stayed sick twenty four seven and-oh. reflux still quite bad i must say...but, i could get his allergy shots for about 2.5 weeks about 3 weeks ago well he almost went to the hospital. i know that shots don't help all but, in his case it doesn't stop the sickness but it help decrease the intensity.

he takes inhalents two times a day and up to 10 times when he is sick.

ezema..isn't as bad as most, but when he doesn't get his allergy shots it spreads all over his body , with the shots it is just his face(cheeks)

Thanks for all of your advice. It makes it easier to cope knowing that other mums are going through the same.

Misdee - I saw a presentation by an immunologist last night and he explained that sometimes it's a sheer overload - just like your dd and the orange juice.

His example was a person with who is usually fine, but one day has a sore ankle and takes an aspirin and then runs for the bus and winds up in A&E. It wasn't the exercise, or having a sore ankle or the aspirin - but rather doing all three at the same time.

I avoid the "dirty dozen" and that has avoided this weird IgE overload episodes somewhat. I am so glad he can now eat butter, because all marg has 160 in it and that messes with him big time. MIL does not get this at all "but marg is healthy..."

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Bobbybob, i will say that once dd1 is in the middle of a reaction, she will have several smaller ones within the next few days. It is an overload like you say, and its hard work trying to keep the reactions to a minimum as they leave her so tired.

podmog-please can u explain wet wrapping what it is and how u go about getting the stuff u need. DD has eczema and allergies she is on a strict diet managed by a hospital dietician but she is still having outbreaks and wakes up 2/3 times a night which is really hard,thanks

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in the process of applying now for dla,my hv isnt very good at prescribing anything,are gp,s reluctanct to prescribe or are they ok in your opinion, to get aveeno i had to say it had been recommended by the eczema society

forgot to add- dd is also on a strict diet and i am breastdeeding her also but she is still having flare ups we have just got rid of the carpet in front room and put in laminate flooring and i have a humidifier in her bedroom but she still breaks out and she wakes at least 3 times a night scratching and crying dont really know what else to try

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Jenk are you giving probiotics and flax seed oil to your daughter?

second the probiotics and flaxseed oil. Didn't get bad enough to justify wet wraps so have only second hand experience of that.