Does anyone know anything about a possible allergic reaction to greasy food/butter/marg?

[MyCatIsABiggerBastardThanYours]

Over the past couple of months I have noticed a fe occassions when DS has what appeared to be nettle rash come up on his face around his mouth in particular.

The only link I can see is that he has eaten greasy food (buttered bread mainly) just before it happens- does this sound right to anyone? Would this nettle rash (white bumps, red around) be hives?

Obviously I will keep him off the buttered bread and anything else greasy, but just wondering if this sounds strange? He also has a strange reactions to banana's which bring him out in eczema on his face.

bump

Mycat - is it actually real butter? Does he have it to any other dairy, like milk for example?
Or to other wheat foods, like pasta?

It does sound like a cutaneous allergic reaction but I can't see what to, unless you are using a "fake" butter or he has other reactions. I suppose it could be yeast in the bread...

hi thumbwitch - I think it is real butter, but I also think it has happened with margerine too.

He has no problem with milk, icecream or yoghurts. Not really tried him with wheat foods like pasta although he does have bread and will eat spaghetti hoops no problem.

It seems quite strange and in fact todays reaction was after no known touching of butter/marg but after eating a bit of hashbrown in tesco cafe and half a mouthful of doughnut. Both of which didn't look greasy particularly but obviously are quite fatty.

ok - my thoughts involve something like soya oil (quite common in spreads and sometimes used for frying commercially) or sunflower oil (ditto), possibly even rapeseed (canola) oil.

Any of those three are able and even likely to cause reactions in susceptible people - even if it is real butter, it might have been contaminated with the above; or it might be in your bread.

If you cook with any of those, see if the neat oil causes a problem; and if not, then try heating some to normal frying temps, cooling it down and see if it causes a problem (just dab some around his mouth with cotton wool)

HTH

THanks thumbwitch. I will try that. We only cook with olive oil and use olive oil spread which might explain why he hasn;t had it at home, only when out.

I'm wondering if I should get him tested for other allergies? He has quite a strong reaction to banana (nasty eczema rash on his face appearing about 2hrs after eating it), as well as this. I haven't tried him on nuts yet, although he is fine with fish

no you are not worrying too much - what seems a mild reaction now could herald a worse reaction later.

Get him tested for seeds - sunflower, soya, sesame, rapeseed - all possibles. Sesame is a bugger - can cause quite nasty reactions. And any other seeds the doc can think of.

ok, before anyone else says it, I know that soya is a bean, not strictly a seed. :)

I would get him allergy tested as if he's allergic to banana there's a strong possibility he might be allergic to latex too, which is worth knowing in case he ever needs hospital treatment.

Thanks guys. Didn't know that about banana and latex link.

I've been thinking for a while I should get him tested as it worries me that these little reactions keep coming up. I'll book him in at the doctors next week then.