[sarahp]

We know Zoe's allergic to egg, but she still gets rashy/hivey reactions to non-eggy foods, which is why we had a blood test a couple of days ago. Just wondering if it's fairly "normal" to get this, or if she is definitely allergic to something else. I'm not convinced the blood test will necessarily find anything, since the rashes seem to be pretty random. These are the last 2 she had:



She was scratching at her neck and saying "itchy itchy" with that one - you can see where her neck is a bit red.

And this is one from a week or two ago. It's not quite as defined as the one above, but spread out more.

[lunarmagic]

Oof. Kate definitely doesn't get that, that doesn't sound normal to me. :/

[-erin-]

no, sometimes she gets a little extra red around her mouth/lips if certain foods stick to her face (like tomatoes seem to do it...), but nothing that serious

[Runzbarrel]

If she's allergic to eggs beware of foods that contain egg whites. You'd be surprised what you'll find them in. We have to watch labels very closely since Colton is GF, soy and egg free as well as myself. He gets bad eczema though when he reacts. What was she eating when you took those pics???

[speechteach42]

E has never had anything like that before. Looks itchy! I hope the doctors can get to the bottom of it!

[icarryyourheart]

I'd definitely avoid anything that is making her break out like that.

Colton is allregic to milk protein, which seems to be in everything. He's also off soy now too. He doesn't react as badly with the soy + eczema flare, just gets a tummy upset, so it is more an intolerance than an allergy. There are things that make his eczema flare, that he didn't skin test positive to.

Rashes can be scary.... but as my doc told me, an anaphylactic reaction can happen even without the rash. I know when Colton is having a serious reaction because his eyes puff up, his nose starts streaming, and he SCREAMS his guts out.

Anyway I'm assuming you are seeing an allergist so hopefully they can shed some light on this for you!

[sarahp]

I give her Benadryl as soon as she gets rashy like that which sorts itself out. I just don't know what's causing it.

The first rash was from a mix of straight tuna, vegetable pasta and cheese. The second one was from a chicken satay packet mix. It was a fairly "natural" ingredient list, and I googled everything and couldn't find anything that is known to cause allergies.

I honestly have no idea what could be causing it. It's good to know that's not "normal" though - I never know if I'm being overly concerned. I think I need to be better about carrying Benadryl and her Epi-pen around with me.

[PurpleStar]

Oh wow!

Not because Vaughn's allergic, but sometimes if he eats something with too much acid...like he loves pineapple and would eat a whole one if we let him, but it has so much acid in it (even I get furry tongue from a couple of pieces) that he'll get little red bumps I think from the juice/fibers covering his face. But then after we clean him up they go away relatively quickly.

So maybe acidic things?

[survey77777]

GG gets a little red contact dermatitis from a few foods, but that's it and I think it's becoming less frequent. Looks like you're doing all the right things taking pics etc. Is it just her face/neck or whole body/back?
Poor girl. She knows some great words though...itchy. I don't think G knows that one yet.

[sodagirl]

Poor kid. My BFFs son gets that. He's allergic to eggs and peanuts - so it's if he's gotten something like that. I'm allergic to wheat and if I touch flour I'll get a contact reaction on my hands.

[icarryyourheart]

Originally Posted by sarahp

I give her Benadryl as soon as she gets rashy like that which sorts itself out. I just don't know what's causing it.

The first rash was from a mix of straight tuna, vegetable pasta and cheese. The second one was from a chicken satay packet mix. It was a fairly "natural" ingredient list, and I googled everything and couldn't find anything that is known to cause allergies.

I honestly have no idea what could be causing it. It's good to know that's not "normal" though - I never know if I'm being overly concerned. I think I need to be better about carrying Benadryl and her Epi-pen around with me.

Hmmm.... the cheese or the fish, maybe.... and can't say in regards to the packet mix.

She doesn't have any trouble with cheese or cow's milk? If not, maybe it was the tuna fish?

And as Nicole said, itchy IS a great word, I'm impressed!!!

[Runzbarrel]

My ODD would get a raised red rash on her face like that after eating ranch dressing. At the time her ped said it was just a mild reaction to the dressing, nothing that warranted any further tx. She grew out of it fairly quickly too. There was another food that did the same thing but I can't remember what it is now. We just limited her exposure to the known foods for awhile.
And just FYI any blood test for food allergies this young is pretty much a waste of time unless the child is having severe reactions to things. Milder allergies/sensitivities won't show up. This is why we went and saw a Naturopath after the ped blew me off about Colton's gluten issue's after they drew blood.
I'm guessing the culprits are tuna and possibly wheat in the pasta, and something in the chicken satay packet. Could be a 'natural flavoring', soy, wheat etc...
I would try tuna again by itself and see what happens, and the same with the pasta, and cheese. Basically offer her things individually and see if she reacts.

[sarahp]

She's had the pasta before with no issues. I gave her tuna on its own, and put some on her skin, no reaction. She has cheese regularly with no problems. It was very strange. The itchiness was what worried me with that one...

She has a range of useful words that impress me Itchy, slippery (when she comes across a wet patch on the tiles in particular), and rough are a few that immediately come to mind. She picks concepts up surprisingly fast.

[momoftwins]

Yikes! I'm itching just looking at that! That is definitely not normal. That first pic you have shows textbook hives. I'm allergic to pretty much everything outside and I used to get hivey like that as a kid too. I had zero food allergies as a kid, but I developed several food allergies as a teenager that are severe. I'm very allergic to cucumbers, for instance. If I eat them, even if it's just the juice from them (like if I pick them out of a salad) my throat swells up. I always carry an epi pen and I'd be sure Zoe ALWAYS has hers too. For me, my throat swells up immediately when I eat something I'm allergic too. There would be no time to run to the hospital. Scary stuff.

That's so weird that you gave her all of those things separately and got nothing. Does she get the hives immediately after eating something, like at the high chair or does it come on later? I'd start keeping a diary of everything you feed her, the times you fed her and note any odd reactions. Maybe that way you can start to see a pattern and figure it out.

[BobbityBoo]

Kate got hives for several weeks. I still don't know what was causing them!! Hers was not around her mouth, it was on her body. DS did used to get rashes and hives around his mouth like that after eating eggs and nuts.

I would do the food diary thing. And for the sake of easy elimination do not feed her overly complicated things, like the mix packet. Try to stick to a whole foods diet for a few weeks and keep a diary. Even if she has had something before and she was fine, she might not be fine the next time. Allergens build up in your system so reactions get more and more severe.

Good luck!!

[MOI's Mommy]

Owen used to get a reaction like that to acidy foods. The reaction eventually subsided for him and he doesn't have any food allergies now just the typical food pickiness of a 5 year old. I hope you can figure it out soon for Zoe. That is great that she is able to tell you. I think I also would be more concerned about the itchiness.