chocolate allergy???

[hanreeoak]

Hi, just want to bounce round an idea if thats ok. My son (16 months old) has allergies to Dairy and egg and is intollerant to wheat (going to discuss coeliac test on next hospital appointment).

I'm breast feeding him so am avoiding the food that makes him ill, but every so often and his skin still fares up and he sounds really chesty/rattly and sleeps terribly. I think its when I eat chocolate (always dairy free). But can you be allergic to chocolate???? Or am I just desperate, I've already moved the dog out and do all that I can think of to help, I just want him to feel healthy, Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Hi - I haven't got an answer to this but I do echo your question. I am breastfeeding my 18 month DS, and avoiding dairy and eggs and all the other foods that he is allergic to, and I wondered about chocolate for quite a while. After all, people can be allergic to some very obscure things, so why not chocolate?

For a while, my DS seemed to get dry skin and have a disturbed and snuffly night every time I ate a bar of dairy-free chocolate. It made me feel so guilty! Eventually I put some melted chocolate on his arm to see if anything happened and he was fine so I let him eat half a chunk. I still don't know for sure if he was ever reacting to chocolate or if I just imagined it in my desperation to locate food culprits for every sniffle that he has.

Have you thought about keeping a food diary? It's a bit time-consuming but I found that really useful because it helped me identify some 'triggers' I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. Anyway, good luck finding the culprits and sorry I can't really help - just wanted to let you know that you are not alone...

Is the chocolate also nut free? My dd is allergic to nuts so it could be that (even if it has may contain traces on the label)

Could it be the caffeine in the chocolate which is making him irritable? Caffeine content will be much higher in dark chocolate (with more cocoa) than milk chocolate. Otherwise, a lot of chocolate (esp. dairy free) contains soya. Could it be that?

FWIW, ds2 had eczema in varying degrees from 2 weeks old despite being exclusively breastfed and even when I went dairy free it only reduced a bit (so I reckon there were still allergy triggers in my diet). He is now 23 months and completely dairy free and on Neocate and has not a patch of eczema.

Sorry no answer but again this question is on my mind too. I've been making dairy and soy-free chocolate from coconut oil and have a few squares every day. DD2 is 5 mths and sensitive to a lot of things. We had a soy reaction last week which she still may be recovering from (the facial rash is still there) and she still has a persistently sore windy tummy which wrecks any chances of a nap routine or good overnight sleep. I'm at my wits' end with it and scrabbling for ideas as to what the trigger is this time, so cocoa may be it. sigh.

Thanks, Its good to know others are in the same position as me altho I wish none of us had to see our children in distress.

I dont think that its the caffine in the choc, my husband suggested that at a while ago, so I drank lots of coke it kept me awake but my son slept that night. We have been prescribed Neocate but I can not get him to drink it.

He slept well mon and tues night and I have avoided choc and his other known allergies. I am so longing for comfort food tho I think I will try chocolate again in a few weeks time to see if it does affect him.