To not agree that this is a food allergy?

[Jillydix]

A year ago my DD was prescribed Augmentin for an ear infection. At the time, we were asked if she had any allergies, and we said that she had not yet been tested (she was 3 at the time) but as her father and grandmother are both allergic to penicillin, it would be best to stay away from that. We went home with the prescribed Augmentin (didn't check the leaflet inside - more fool us, I know. I'll never do that again. But felt safe as we had mentioned the family allergy) and gave it to her. She had a huge penicillin allergy reaction - swollen face, and raised red rash all over her. Back to the doc, who said that there was no way of telling that it was the penicillin - it could have been the syrup that the medicine was in that she was allergic to. Stopped the Augmentin immediately, and she has been on anti-histamines ever since (Claritine or Zyrtec every day)as she suffers from urticaria now (a red reaised rash, that increases in severity and itchiness until treated with anti-histamines). On a recent visit to the doc he said that the continuing urticaria could not be from the penicillin, and it must be a food allergy. He said that she should not have any more fizzy drinks, as this is often a cause of urticaria in children. I pointed out that she never has coke or other fizzy drinks - we don't have them at home - she drinks water, fruit juice, and strawberry milk. He then suggested her morning porridge, so we cut that out - no difference. He then said that it was mangoes - we went for weeks without her having the fruit or the juice, to no avail. The urticaria is just as bad. He now wants to refer us to a dietician. Of course I want to do what's best for my DD - but I cannot see how this is linked to her diet, when she didn't get it before, and it started as a direct result of the penicillin dose. I would hate to spend months traipsing back and forth to a dietician, taking away all the food she loves, and ending up with the same problem after a miserable few months/years. Does this seem reasonable?Equally, I would hate for her to have to take anti-histamine daily for the rest of her life, which seems to be the case now.
Does anyone have any advice born of knowledge or a similar experience? I'm getting desperate...........

allergy testing is the only way to be sure.

I would say it is unlikely that the current hives are caused by penicillan that she had a year ago, but this might have been the trigger for something else as it caused an allergic reaction and destroyed her gut flora at the same time.

My dd is peanut allergic and gets hives. Its only happened twice and both times the hives have lasted a few days.

I meant to say do you think it could be an environmental allergy? You can get hives from dustmites etc.

JustMyTwoPence Worth - they say that they cannot do the allergy testing now whilst she is still having a reaction, as the results will be skewed.

Try soya milk instead of cows milk for a week and look at E numbers- I was allergic to both as a child but happily grew out of my allergies by the time I reached my teens.

Weloveyoumisshannigan - I might have known that I would get more sense from Mumsnet than the surgery! I didn't even know about gut flora (lovely phrase!) but that does explain how the two occurrences might be linked. Hmmnn......so it seems that the dietician is the only way. I guess I am resistant as I had a friend who went through an allergy finding experience with a dietician - in the end she was down to eating brown rice and grapes (I kid you not!) having given up everything she loves, and they still couldn't determine what the allergy was, after months of making her life hell. Obviously, I want to avoid this for DD. If it is an environmental allergen, surely it would have affected her before? We haven't moved, changed beddng or similar....

apple is the fastest growing allergy in the UK, apparently, if that helps.

Thank you to you and Foxymona - I'll try soya milk and cut out apples and apple juice, and see how we go.........thanks to you all for your help.

what weloveyoumisshannigan says is quite possibly the case - however, good luck with getting the dietitian to work with that concept.

Am at your dim GP who gave you a penicillin-based antibiotic, given her family history. Hope you've changed GP since.

You could try re-populating her gut flora - there are different levels and differing schools of thought on how this should be done but with a little one I'd start with a bio live yoghurt (if you're happy with dairy, or use a soya one if not, but bear in mind that soya is also in the top 10 food allergen/sensitivity list) daily. Actimel has been tested and found to help with gut-based problems but contains a fair whack of sugarm but you could give that a go. The next stage up is actual probiotic supplements - probably not appropriate for your DD though.

I knew a girl once who had anaphylactic reactions to a few foods - and then she started having them to new ones, a new one every week. This was due to her immune system being in a heightened state of sensitivity and over-reacting to almost anything that came its way - but it settled down after a while.

Hope you get your DD sorted out soon - and I'd still be thinking to change GP if it were me.

Actually see here it is possible.

StewieGriffinsMom - I've not kept a food diary - mainly becaus she has the urticaria (hives) EVERY SINGLE DAY unless we give her anti-histamine, and as this started after she took the penicillin, I always blamed the penicillin, and didn't consider a food allergy before. After all, prior to taking the pencillin, she never had hives or any allergy signs at all. However, as Weloveyoumisshannigan has explained about the gut flora, I can now understand how the two are connected.

I'd ask for a referral to a dermatologist or an immunologist.

She needs to have skin prick tets for allergies which will include things in the air, foods and household products etc etc.

Thumbchick - thank you so much. Only saw your post after mine - I think we were posting at the same time. Yes - we have changed GP. But the damage is already done, and honestly, they all stick together in terms of apportioning blame, etc. Current GP, although lovely and sympathetic, is the one who said that we couldn't conclusively say that it was the penicillin - might have been an allergy to the syrup (hmm) I will try her on some Actimel - that might help - thank you. Amazing how none of the medical personnel we have ever seen have explained how the pencillin might be linked to a food allergy, but one post on Mumsnet sets it all straight!
Lou031205 - thank you for the link. Yes, that's exactly what she's got.

No - no-one has recommended steriods. It's only quite recently that they've suggested a dietician. She will be 4 on the 24 of April. Was there something that triggered your DD2's allergy that you're aware of? And how did you work out that it was the washing powder? I feel a bit overwhelmed, as there are so many thousands of things that it could be......

Depending on how you feel about complementary medicine it might be worth finding a local therapist who can do allergy testing using something like the nutri-energetics system.

This thread has been a huge learning curve for me! Had to look up "nutri-energetics" as I had never heard of it. I don't have strong feelings about complementary medicine, so will try and see if there is a therapist here. I'm currently living in Abu Dhabi (DH posted here for work), so it may not be possible, but I will certainly look into it. I had been specifically told by the doctor here that they cannot do allergy testing whilst she is still having a reaction, so an alternative is good - thank you.

Just to say that I give my 2 year old probiotics - he has a dairy intolerance diagnosed after about a year of trying all sorts, however it was all prompted by a string of illnesses and resulting antibiotics that he had almost constantly from 6 mo to 1 year old.
I get Bio - Kult capsules and open them up and sprinkle them on his food, I think it really helped to begin with when I did them every day for a month, I now do it twice a week or so (whenever I remember!) I wasn't keen to give him lots of soya yoghurts which he didn't really like anyway and he can't have normal ones so this was the only option. It was recommended by his dietician though.

I agree with your Doctors, & TBH after my own experience find it refreshing to hear of Doctors recognising the food link to this kind of rash after antibiotics [smile}

My DD ended up with the same sort of rash as a baby, started after she was hospitalised & on antibiotics when she was tiny........our Doctors kept saying it was & treating as Excema, or sometimes thrush, but it wasn't getting better

I was lucky a good friend of mine who works in alternative medicine suggested that I look into MY diet, I was breast feeding, I'd also had antibiotics whilst breast feeding & it goes through breast milk into baby.......long story short...with DD it turned out to food colourants & preservatives that caused her skin flare ups (google azo dyes, & benzoate prervatives, you'll be surprised what foods they can turn up in)

Years later DD was hospitalised with Pneumonia, more strong anti B's, & since then she has also suffered with IBS, & now has to be careful with other foods too.

Food colourings and e numbers caused hives for my ds, especially the blue one that used to be in Smarties.

He grew out of it, but just be aware that e numbers can cause this.

Strawberries are a pretty common allergen - could be the strawberry milk. I've suffered from urticaria for years, and strawberries have always been one of the big triggers for me (still eat them, though!). Also, the strawberry milk might have food colourings in it (try making your own strawberry milk - it goes grey, so they must get it nice and pink with something!).

Washing powder is also a biggie - FWIW, the best washing powder for me is Sainsbury's Basics - its not non-bio, but doesn't have any of the fragrance/softener additives that most other powders do (hence its super cheap price), which again have always been big triggers.

Incidentally, I've also found being indoors in centrally heated environments that are a tad too warm a trigger as well (not sure why - something to do with dust in the air circulating more, maybe) - a good airing of the house every day solves that one. Lambswool also a nightmare....

Good luck.

Thank you all for your posts and advice. I'llo certainly try the probiotics, and then the dietician, and keep you posted (so to speak!) Thank you again.