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I haven’t written on here in two weeks. Blogging is hard, you guys. Last Monday Chris and I caught some sort of stomach bug and were down for the count. And taking care of a baby in all that… not fun. Not fun at all.
I wanted to talk about what was going on with Olivia’s suspected egg allergy. Basically she reacted once from scrambled eggs, about a tablespoon amount, and after a visit to a family practice doc, we were told no eggs or egg products until we could talk with the pediatrician.
Well I met with her doctor three weeks ago and I brought up my concerns again with this possibly being some weird fluke. I mean, I know I have my gut instincts and it’s usually right and my gut was telling me this was not a traditional egg allergy. So he told me they could do an egg white blood test that day along with her hemoglobin and lead that they normally test at her one year check and that I could schedule with a pediatric allergist.
We did the blood draw after her visit, which Olivia handled remarkably well considering she screams at her immunizations like you are methodically ripping her toe nails off. After that, we scheduled her allergist visit (unfortunately not until November 1st).
Her pediatrician called me himself a few days later and told me the egg white test came back at 0 which he was surprised at. So he told me to try to give her a small bite of egg here and there and see how she reacts. I was so relieved. I know it can be so much worse than having an egg allergy. But.. I mean, no one wants this for their child.
So I’ve been giving her things with eggs in them. Pancakes, egg noodles. With the pancakes, she got a spotty red rash on one of her cheeks that went away within an hour. Subsequent pancakes never got a reaction. Then last week she tried egg noodles for the first time and I saw a red dotted rash over her chest, like a silver-dollar sized area during her bath… and then went away.
When I gave her the smallest bite of egg she didn’t have a reaction at all. It’s weird. And I mean, she has no other symptoms other than these small rashes. I’m going to keep doing this and then maybe call the allergist in a few weeks and ask them if we should still keep the appointment with them.
In the meantime, we have Benadryl on hand just in case and I try to not do these egg products on the weekends or in evenings. We’ll see what comes of this.
But.. kind of weird huh?
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I'm glad the blood test had a result of 0, but what the heck? So weird that she gets those little rashes inconsistently. I would definitely keep the appointment with the allergist, just to see if it shows something else. Can't hurt right? And then you would know for SURE. Good luck!
Oy, that is confusing and mysterious! It does make you wonder. Although not a baby, my dad had two severe reactions to shrimp after eating them – as in, full body hives. He had to wait over a year to see the allergist (Canadian public health wait), only to find out he's not allergic to shrimp. Hopefully in Olivia's case, the allergist can determine what might be giving her the reaction. Sorry, mama!
-Sabrina
Not necessarily. The immune system is weird (fairly poorly designed, but it's what we get) and it adjusts over time. She-Beat had a full body rash after a little bit of peanut butter when she was a year old. We were told she would likely have a nut-allergy for the rest of her life. So image everyone's surprise when her blood draw came back at 0 a year later. And no reactions since. I also know many kids who either outgrow their allergies or become more tolerant. The flip (which is so scare) is for those that develop allergies as they grow. There's some data on a link with pesticides and the microbiom in our guts, but no clear answers.
I guess my point is to watch her and carry the benedryl. I still do, even though we've been in the clear for 6 months (and the allergist is still amazed).
So odd. As someone who grew up allergic to eggs, and who outgrew the allergy as a young adult, I can see why you'd want to go with the 0 hemoglobin test. I hope her immune system is able to stand down on this one.
You're right. It can't hurt to keep the appointment. And then I can ask my questions. Thank you!
See, isn't that crazy?? One of our friends has a boy who was deemed "severely allergic" to eggs and he ate eggs all the time. So weird.
So crazy! Her doctor did say that even if she did have an allergy, it could be re-tested in a year and could be 0. I think he was kind of surprised at the results.
I hope I don't have to use the Benadryl. So far, I haven't felt it was warranted. Besides, I guess we have to actually call the nurse line for dosing instructions, so hopefully if needed, it happens during business hours!
Do you think it helps she is on a probiotic?
I hope so too!
That is weird. Is it possible the reactions are to external things? Like she's eating, but she's also touching something at the same time? The twins had an allergy to wool. They would break out in hives whenever they touched it, but also if someone else was wearing wool and rubbed against them, they would get the same reaction. I don't imagine anyone is wearing wool around her right now, but I'm just throwing that out there as a possibility.
I would definitely keep your appt with the allergist. My son has multiple food allergies and the important thing to know is that if the reaction becomes severe (anaphylactic)Benadryl won't help. Really hoping that Olivia is just sensitive to egg and not allergic!
So weird! Food allergies are so hard. And so prevalent — we have 50 epipens in our building, mostly for food (a few for bees), and so many more food allergies not severe enough for a pen. I hope they figure out what's going on with Olivia and you get some answers so that she feels better and it's less scary.
Wow! 50 epipens! Thank you dear. I hope so too.
Me too! I hope it's just a sensitivity and not a true allergy. I'm still going to keep it because.. it can't hurt. Do you know, will they test her again in a year or so?
That's a really good point. I mean, at first part of me thought it was her reacting to the eggs on her skin, not because she ingested them. She has no weird booty rashes or weird poop that they warned me could happen. I don't know. It's a huge mystery. Who knows if it's something external like you said?
That is how it's gone for us. We test every year to see how the IgE numbers change. His soy number was low enough that it should be safe, but unfortunately, he still reacts. So numbers don't always tell the whole story. Wishing you lots of luck!!
I winder about the skin allergy – I am allergic to mango and a few other fruits on my skin only. As long as I wash my skin immediately I can still eat them – the doc told me eating them was fine unless I ever felt itchy in my throat then I should never eat them again. This developed for me in 1997 and has never gotten worse.
That's an excellent question to bring up to the allergist when I see him. Because ironically, others have brought this up too.