I was, after some discussion, (I won't go fully into the debate I had with the doctor, who felt she should only see a dietician because she would be lacking in calcium, I'm still breastfeeding!!) I was able to persuade my doctor to refer us to Southampton Hospital to see an allergy specialist. This was after she had had an allergic reaction to milk, this caused her to go very red not only in the face but it spread down her body, her eyes became very puffy and her lips a little and she also suffered with very itchy hives and her brother and sister have both had or still have food allergies. Luckily for us this time piriton worked, she had also had a couple of mild reactions and the only thing different that she had eaten was peas. Anyway the hospital and staff were lovely, we got to see the specialist paediatrician, dietician, allergy nurse and dermatologist. Unfortunately the results of the testing proved my suspicions right and along with the milk allergy, she is also allergic to nuts, eggs, peas, lentils and soya, so all of the legume family except beans, luckily she is fine with green beans etc.
She is also allergic to dust mites and they feel this is a major irritant to eczema, help!!! I'm not the tidiest person in the world and there is always piles of books and baskets of crafts etc. and I now need to try and reduce this! The next time we go she will probably have more test done but bless her, there was only so much room on her back for the tests to be done. I was also very pleased with the dietician, she was lovely and we got on very well and she was very pleased with E's diet, very balanced and no she won't be lacking in calcium at the moment as she is still being breastfed. We are to go back in July and then again in October. My oldest has to go back to see his allergy specialist in July as well, these days he is only allergic to nuts and melon but we have been warned that could develop more allergies to fruit, when he was little he was also allergic to strawberries and eggs but he had grown out of these by the time he was 4. For the egg we had to spend the day in hospital and go through a food challenge, he is also allergic to dust mites and all pollen. He does suffer with asthma, mild eczema and hay fever. G had a milk allergy as a baby ( she didn't react anywhere near as violently as E did) but had grown out of this by the time she was 3, has the odd patch of eczema and suffers with hay fever.
We are also to try and introduce wheat into her diet again, we have done this twice before and both times her eczema has flared up within 24 hours. The pediatrician has suggested we give wheat to her every day for 2 weeks and then take it out of her diet again for 2 weeks, so we can really see how it affects her eczema, as eczema goes in cycles but I will wait until her skin settles down first, as she has had a bad flare up, this was caused by washing powder, it hadn't been used on her clothes but in other loads of washing but the residue has caused her problems, her skin is that sensitive and then we will try her on wheat.
One of the major problems I have is there are lots of people in my house who all like to be helpful, which is great but it does put E at risk, as they all like to wipe her face or clean her highchair. Having stopped hubby a couple of times using the dishcloth that he had just mopped up milk with, I know he had rinsed it out but she is very sensitive, then going to wipe her highchair, that she eats of! I decided that she should have her very obviously different face clothes. I had some thin terry nappies that were to thin to be used as nappies but I had kept them just in case! So one nappy can be cut into 9 face clothes and then I edged them in a floral bias binding, so they stand and are not like any other face clothes we have. They also have the added bonus, that because they are smaller than the average flannel, they don't take up so much room on the clothes line!!
I thought they turned out very well.
My main worry at the moment is E is very much the child who will put everything in her mouth and I mean everything! There is the very protective part of me that wants to wrap her up in cotton wool and not mix with anyone, just in case, I know not practical but... I worry that we go to a group and she starts to chew a toy, what if another child has just handled that toy and they have trace of dairy on their hands? The other problem I have is her skin reacts very badly to even a trace of dairy, if I've had a drink with milk in it and then kiss her, her eczema comes up and that patch is very itchy. So it is hard if we go to a group were food is about and other children are eating and wondering around because there are always those toddlers that like to pat a babies face, while there hand is covered in food and some parents just don't seem to understand what the problem is. The problem is my poor baby is made itchy and uncomfortable, which is not fair on her and that is just going on her having a minor reaction, no one really knows how she might react to some of the allergens.
The other worry, is I know there is good chance she will grow out of some of her allergies but others she probably won't and having a teenager with food allergies, I know how hard it is for him some times. When he is invited out for a meal for a friend's birthday and the restaurant and everything on the menu has a nut warning. Does he go and just sit there with a coke while everyone else eats or does he say he can't make it. So far he has decided not to go, if he can't eat, which is very hard on him and he is missing out on some of the fun times with his friends. It's also that thought that as he gets older and starts dating, a kiss could kill him! Most the time we are fine with the allergies and just work around them but there are times when my chidlren miss out things because of them :-)
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