Extensive list of Allergies

If you are a carer of a child with allergies and have a question for our experts, please post it here.

Moderator: talkhealth

Locked
2 posts
lazlobee4
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:50 pm
Quote

by lazlobee4 on Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:57 pm

Extensive list of Allergies

I have a toddler with an ever expanding list of food allergies, and Health Care Professionals who don't seem to know what they are doing.
We are stuck on a very small list of foods at the moment as whenever introduce a new food there is a big reaction. They at the moment are all non IGe.
My question is could there be an underlying problem, in gut possibly to be making this happen? Will she overcome all of this?
Thanks in advance... a very anxious Mum.

User avatar
Dr Helen Brough
Posts: 52
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 3:36 pm
Quote

by Dr Helen Brough on Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:20 am

Re: Extensive list of Allergies

Dear Lazlobee,

Delayed gastrointestinal food allergies are notoriously difficult to manage as as yet there are no validated (accurate) skin prick/patch or blood tests to predict which foods will cause symptoms. The diagnosis is based on the clinical history and in certain cases children have endoscopies (camera tests of the upper and /or lower gut) to look for high levels of eosinophils (an allergy cell) in the gut.

The four most common foods that cause these delayed gastrointestinal food allergies are cow's milk, egg, wheat and and soy, but other foods like corn, beef, chicken, peanut, potatoe and rice have also been implicated. The only way to know is by taking the food out of the diet for 4-6 week and importantly trialling putting it back in again. It seems to be that you already doing this. Sometimes taking foods out of the diet does not completely absolve all gut symptoms, and simple medications are included alongside food exclusion to calm down the gut. If all this does not work then we usually advise an endoscopy with our gastroenterology colleagues to find out what is going on.

It is very important that you child is under a dietitian as if they are excluding multiple foods then they may have a diet low in iron, calcium or vitamin D. Any alternative milk to cow's milk your toddler drinks should be calcium and where possible Vitamin D fortified. I would recommend that you ask your GP to be referred to an allergist and they will usually have a dietitian who is linked into their service.

Best wishes

Dr Helen Brough
Dr Helen Brough
Consultant in Paediatric Allergy
Guy's & St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... brough.php

Locked
2 posts