Any hope allergy

[Mummyonthedge8]

Im quite new to netmums, don't know of this is the right place to post. My son has been diagnosed with an allergy to sesame after having a few hives on hos face when eating hummus. We have been given an epi pen and i feel like life is over. We have no history of anything, no hayfever or asthma, nothing. Is there any hope he may outgrow this, have you're littles outgrown an allergy, how have you found life. I just need some good news to get me through the day. We have an older daughter who has no allergies.

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Why is life over?
Plenty of things don't contains sesame seeds. Be glad it wasn't egg or dairy they can't have!

I get that’s is really scary but life is far from over. He can’t eat hummus and a few others things but honestly life is not over. My youngest has a non IGE allergy so not a scary one and we have been dairy and soya free for nearly 2 years and for 2 years before that my older daughter was also dairy free. You get used to it.

Im just so afraid seeing in the news people who have accidentally eaten sesame and then had anaphalaxis, because its not as recognised as nuts etc but just as dangerous. Im also dissapointed he cant freely eat, its in makeup and cosmetics etc so if he were to be kissed by someone wearing lipstick he can react. We are too afraid to travel or eat out, im just gutted.

But he didn't react until he ate hummus which I imagine has more than a trace of sesame in it. Maybe he will be ok with trace amounts and you just need to avoid it where sesame is listed in the ingredients

All pre-packaged foods in the UK must state if they have sesame in the same way as nuts, milk, egg, barley, fish etc. So that helps with that aspect.
DH has an anaphylactic allergy to nuts and sesame and we eat out (or did when restaurants were open). It definitely does restrict things a bit, particularly in some restaurants/cuisines that use sesame a lot, but it’s manageable. Allergy menus in restaurants list dishes with sesame.
When it comes to cooking at home, not that much stuff lists sesame as an ingredient or a “may contain” really, the nuts are more restrictive.

Your life isn’t over OP. Hummus is absolutely stuffed with sesame and that just gave your son a few hives. That means trace amounts in lipsticks etc are hugely unlikely to cause him any problems.

You will just need to get into the habit of asking in restaurants etc if the food has sesame in it. You will get used to it and it will stop being so worrying. But in the meantime you must continue to live your life!

Thank you so much, since we found it this has completely taken over everything in our lives, i think once the shock has worn off we will be better. Thank you x

And thank you also for the insight regarding eating out etc, he had his reaction 8 months ago and in between that time and now we just gave him everything other than straight sesame, ate out when we were allowed, i ate sesame and continued to feed him. So when we learned of his allergy it was mind blowing, still doesnt make sense to us but i think thats because we don't want to believe it. We are still praying he grows out of it although i know its very unlikely x

I'm amazed they gave an epipen for a few hives tbh! My Dd is allergic to egg and milk and has full on swollen eyes, swollen lips, rashes all over etc on numerous occasions but still no epipen as her breathing wasn't affected!

I do understand how daunting it is though.

You'll learn to double check everything, you'll learn how to manage any allergic reactions. As he grows up he'll learn to be careful too.

But don't let it dominate everything. Take reasonable precautions and then get on with life.

How did they diagnose the allergy?

My 5 yr old DS was allergic to sesame as a baby. He ate some hummus and came out in hives. He also has other allergies (eggs, peas, peanuts, shellfish) so we had him fully tested and he actually outgrew the sesame and the peas. We just did a trial at the doctors few months ago and he ate sesame seeds with no reaction at all and now we have to have hummus weekly to maintain the exposure.

To be honest sesame was the least annoying allergy on the list for us. I’m glad of course he’s outgrown it, as it’s one less thing to worry about, but I wish it was eggs as that is a lot more restrictive

@Mummyonthedge8

And thank you also for the insight regarding eating out etc, he had his reaction 8 months ago and in between that time and now we just gave him everything other than straight sesame, ate out when we were allowed, i ate sesame and continued to feed him. So when we learned of his allergy it was mind blowing, still doesnt make sense to us but i think thats because we don't want to believe it. We are still praying he grows out of it although i know its very unlikely x

Did he have a reaction every time he ate it in those 8 months? If not, I wouldn't worry too much personally. DS occasionally seems to react to sesame but it's not consistent at all and it's just a bit of a rash so doesn't seem to be connected to breathing.

I really appreciate all these replies, the epi pen, the GP prescribed it to us. I don't think they are extremely knowledgeable on allergies, they told us to watch a youtube video on how to use it but we have now received training. Yes hives only, ive been thinking about if he reacted before, maybe a bit of redness but i don't know if it was everytime. I just assumed it was the lemon juice on his sensitive baby skin. In the 8 months he didnt have any reactions, but i didnt give him hummus again, but i also checked no labels etc so its likely he hasnt eaten it in this time. He was diagnosed with a skin prick test, he had a 4 for sesame seeds and an 8 for tahini.

So what i mean is i just didnt give him hummus, and while i didnt check labeling i suppose i just avoided things xx

Caterina99, thank you for this bit of good news too! Did he have a positive skin prick for sesame when he was tested previously? I understand that the trend for outgrowing egg is still very positive but is now happening later on x

When i say i ate sesame all the time and fed him i mean i ate big macs and Chinese food and breastfeed.

Yes sesame was positive skin prick test when he was tested at around age 1. Then we repeated around age 3 and it didn’t come up on the skin test but was still positive (but low) on the blood test. Then at 5 again negative on the skin test and they did bloods and said it was basically negative and recommended we tried a food trial.

His egg numbers have dropped so I’m hopeful he will outgrow that. He’s definitely less sensitive than he was

Also I breastfed and ate all the foods my DS is allergic to (except peanuts as I’m allergic to them). He was totally fine. His issues started with weaning. He is not crazy sensitive though thankfully. We don’t really worry too much about cross contamination as his only reaction ever has been hives. My DD has no allergies.

So I know it’s stressful but honestly it will barely impact your DS quality of life. I still forget I can buy buns with sesame seeds as I just got used to choosing other ones.

My now 7 year old was also diagnosed with sesame, egg and dairy allergies at 1 year old(ish). He too had hives, itching and vomiting - however we were never given an epi pen as he never showed signs of anaphylaxis at all. Honestly dairy was the hardest to deal with, eating out was a bit painful and often pasta with red sauce was all he could have. I'd always have a soy chocolate pudding in my handbag as restaurant puddings almost always contain milk.

Sesame was the least of our worries and the easiest allergy to handle because it's not a common ingredient. You can even buy (or make yourself) humus without sesame 😉. Labelling is brilliant these days and restaurants have to have allergen menus which makes everything much easier. Don't stress it OP - you soon get used to checking and asking, it becomes second nature - it will be fine.

Thank you ever so much, its a shocker for us but i know it is for everyone. Im a bit nervous about when the world opens up again, as it stands i don't find sesame restrictive. I just worry about the resturant issues, im not used to having to plan so far ahead. We are going to peppa pig land for a hotel stay and i am worried about how we will feed them a hot meal in the evening when im petrified of others preparing hos food. Im sure this will subsidise. X

Hensintheskirting... Brilliant name, does he still have all the allergies now xx

Its a minefield, he needs to eat chickpeas too but how do you get a baby to eat chickpeas! Xx i cant bare to look at hummus even without sesame in it! Its EVIL! XX

Again, hearing others is such a positive thing for me x

You adapt, they adapt, you put processes in place. I only truly notice it now changing schools and holidays. We also have epipen's - only used it once in 12 years and very effective, took less than a minute to reverse attack. My son had 5 severe allergies and grew out of 2 by the age of 5. Medicine is progressing using challenging programs with good results - so hoping another 2 can be helped this way. The dairy one seems to be the most risk. It will be different - but you will work it out and there's plenty of support out there.

Yes, my feeling is that in time the worls will change, it has to, so possibly we wont have the worries we do now! We are holidaying in the UK for now, but maybe, one day, il be off abroad hehe xx

Suppose you cant really bake a seed long enough that it doesn't turn to dust x