I have a child with a severe food allergy and I’d like to share my experience with you. I know there are many others who have allergies or have children with them so I hope you find this post helpful and make you realise you’re not alone. X
- Irritability
- Itchy skin
- Abdominal pain
- Diarrhea
- Swelling of the skin/tongue
- Hives
- Inability to breathe
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So began the testing with allergy professionals, which determined Possum’s allergic reaction to egg was severe enough to have her need an EpiPen, which is a shot of adrenalin should we struggle to breathe from any future reactions. The specialist explained that as each time she is exposed to egg then the symptoms are most likely to be worse so it’s better to be on the safe side.
Hopefully in time she will grow out of her egg allergy. Apparently 90% of children have outgrown it by the age of 10. The remaining 10% have it for life and so I’m feeling that the odds are good.
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How to administer an EpiPen
For those of you who are unfamiliar with EpiPens and how to administer them please view this really short video. You might not have a child with an allergy but you could come across one one day.
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Possum will need to have further testing over the next few years just to see if she is growing out of her allergy and beginning to tolerate small traces. Initially her allergy was a huge shock to us but we are now very informed and know how to handle a situation if she was to show signs of her allergy.
If you would like more information there are some great websites.
Food Allergy Awareness
http://www.foodallergyaware.com.au/
ASCIA
www.allergy.org.au
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Hi Kate!
I just read your story and hope everything is great with you and Possum.
My daughter has just had a positive test for nut allergy and now I suspect she also may be allergic to eggs. This is frustrating but we are trying to stay positive that she will get better as she grows.
I wonder how Possum has been evolving after these years since our post. I hope she is doing better in her tests.
Would you mind telling more about it?
Thanks!!
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
So lovely to receive your comment on this post. I’m sorry to hear that your daughter has tested positive for a nut allergy. Boy, I totally know what that’s like when you find out and try to work out how it’s all going to be managed in your family and when you’re out and about with your child. I remember having a bit of a cry over it as we left the allergy specialists office, if I’m completely honest with you.
It’s tough and people are always asking how we manage it and manage it so well. I guess we do because we literally have to. It’s hard to believe but my youngest (Boo) we discovered early on has a severe cows milk allergy too so we are now juggling two severe allergies in our house and suddenly we are almost vegans (lol). It’s tough, but it has also just become a way we live and we have adjusted and adjusted well. You will too.
The great news is that both of my girls get tested every 6 months or so and have both shown signs of growing out of their allergies. In fact Boo now tolerates hard cheese and baked goods with cows milk so that’s huge and a game changer for when we are out and about or at kids parties. Possum still can’t eat anything with egg in it, but considering how severe her allergy was initially, she had come a long way. For example, when she was initially diagnosed as a 1 year old she couldn’t even have a crumb of anything baked (with egg in it) without breaking out into severe hives and me having to put put her action plan into place. Now as a 5 year old she could have a few bites of biscuit (with an egg) and just feel unwell, no real hives. We still avoid egg, including in biscuits, but I feel better knowing that her tolerance is much better and it’s not as life threatening if she accidentally ate something with egg. We’ll get there. The specialist says that Possum’s likely to grow out of it by the age of 10 and Boo will grow out of her cows milk allergy by 5, so we’ll see how they go.
Sorry, it’s very long winded sharing my story, but I hope it helps. I totally understand how overwhelming allergies can be, but you’ll no doubt become a rock star at avoiding nuts and egg and hopefully your daughter grows out of them as my girls are looking to. Can I just suggest you really teach her well to avoid her allergies. Education about allergies has been an added barrier of protection at those times when someone has casually asked if they’d like a sweet treat or something they shouldn’t eat. Possum’s amazing at asking “Does it have egg in it?” and that’s comforting to me too.
Lots of luck to you Jessica. More than happy to talk more about it if you ever need. I’m at laughingkidslearn@gmail.com if you wish to contact me further. 🙂
I have heard successful stories on allergy elimination using NAET.
Shjju, that’s interesting. I’ll have to look more into that. Thank you.
Hi Kate – Glad to hear everything great with your children. I was happy to find your post.
I’m a bit lost and losing my marbles trying to help my one year old daughter. She’s been breaking out horrible the last 3 weeks. Looks just like your pictures. EVERY morning for the last 3 weeks. Her body covered. I’ve taken her to ER 2x and she has seen per primary and allergy specialist. No one can help us all they say is she’s allergic to something. Not saying what though. Saying she to small to run test. Of course frustrated I demand them to run blood panel on her. I’m still waiting on results. I have done everything in my power to figure it out. I’ve changed everything in my house, the detergent, sheets daily. Nothing has stop her breaks out. Now I’m about to start with her diet. First thing eggs and diary which she’s been having since she was 12 months and now 14 months, so odd for it to just appear, but I did hear it can happen.
My question to you is how did you change their diets? What do you feed your children that they like?
Hi Raylene,
So lovely that you’ve contacted me. Please know that you’re not alone and you are doing a great job in getting through the challenge of having a child with an allergy. Always feel free to contact me on my email – laughingkidslearn@gmail.com
I hope you get some answers from the blood test results to have coming. It’s so difficult to know what causes allergies sometimes. Allergies can certainly appear and disappear.
I have two children, I had Boo (now aged 3 years) after writing the post you read and she was diagnosed from 9 months with a severe cows milk allergy. She has since grown out of her cows milk allergy, but Possum is still severely anaphylactic. Boo has lots of skin sensitivities. I’m not sure if this is helpful to you at all, but even some of the ‘skin sensitive’ detergents causes her skin to react and become red. There is only one range of ‘sensitive’ detergents that we feel confident enough to use. The other ‘sensitive’ ranges she reacts to. We also only really wash her skin using water and sometimes a specific type of bath soap. Again, lots of the other ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ types caused her skin to react. Unfortunately it’s a case of lots of trial and error and spending lots until you discover what works.
Does your gorgeous girl seem to react at the same time of day? Sometimes it’s worthwhile keeping a little diary and recording everything that she’s eaten and what time she reacts. It’s helpful to find a bit of a pattern and work out what’s going on.
The food was a challenge at the beginning, I won’t lie. My husband and I were very big ‘egg and bacon’ breakfast eaters so we had to total change our own diets for the sake of Possum’s safety. I don’t cook with eggs, but it’s amazing how wonderfully creative you can get when you can’t cook with something. When Boo was anaphylactic to cows milk we used soy milk as an alternative. When Possum has a friends birthday party, I just make her an egg free cupcake recipe, so she doesn’t miss out. There are certainly ways around food allergies, you will be more than capable and surprise yourself.
All the recipes on my blog are egg free.
I’d also suggest joining some great allergy support groups on Facebook. There are a huge help when it comes to allergy cooking and feeling like you’re not alone. Here are some you might want to have a look at –
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Allergyfunsupport/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/779166215428934/
Let me know if I can help you any further. You’re not alone and you’re doing a wonderful job already in managing your child’s allergy. I hope you get the answers that you need soon.
Kate x
Thank you for posting! I found your son’s photo on Google image search for children with egg allergies. Today shortly after breakfast my son started getting puffy and swollen feet and arms and face and was red all over and looked strikingly similar to the picture of your son sitting in the hospital. The doctors don’t know what caused it but think it was the Eggo waffle that he had for breakfast. They gave him Benadryl and prescribed oral steroids. He is 18 months and was first introduced to Eggos at 12 months with no noticeable reaction. Today was the first day eating them in 6 months. I have heard that it is theorized that food allergies can sometimes appear at different times and that reactions tend to get worse each time they are initiated. So maybe in the past he got a little rashy and we didn’t notice or something. Especially with teething and everything else going on in younger months. But thank you for posting as this helps to further confirm our theory. Like they literally look the same. Except I don’t think our son was itchy.
Allergies are really difficult to diagnose and manage. I suggest joining a few allergy Facebook groups, if you’re on Fcebook. They have been great support to me and often share helpful advice.
Oops, sorry I meant your daughter. It was a long day of Drs. 😑
Hi Kate/Jessica,
My boy is 8moths old, his getting red spots on his face. After reading this article I have learned about allergy.thanks for article it is useful for me. My wishes for Jessica & Possum
Thanks
Afzal
Hi Afzal.
Glad you found it helpful! My advice would be to talk to your doctor to find the deep cause of the red spots. Thank you