Multiple food allergies in preschooler

[Samjb]

My son who is nearly 4 years old now has suffered with food allergies since he was born. His reactions were always hives and sickness, and flare ups of excema, impetigo & rhinitis. He has always had an allergy to cows milk & celery/celeriac raw and in cooked food and also now reacts to sesame. Recently we were advised to try re-introducing milk products, but he reacted severely with swelling to the face. as he appears to have asthma we were given an epipen as a precaution. Since then we have been discharged from the paediatrician as they felt he no longer needed to be seen by them. My GP has been very supportive and said they will refer us again when we want him to undergo food challenges but this time under supervision.

When/what age would you recommend that we retry him on the foods that he is reacting to? Does he still have a good chance of outgrowing these allergies even though they are still proving a problem at this age?

Thank you

[Dr Adam Fox]

most children do outgrow milk allergy eventually. In one large american study, half of the 12 year olds with milk allergy outgrew it by 16.Sesame allergy sometimes goes (approx20-30%) but celery allergy is much less common so we have less information regarding what happens. Any reassessment should involve allergy testing first to decide whether it is worth trying to reintroduce. If he also have asthma as well as multiple food allergy you should be getting reviewed every year or 2.