I gave Connor a hard boiled egg to eat this morning, for the first time, and he didn't eat it. BUT, he did put it on his face and tongue which caused his face to swell in certain spots! It even went down to his feet!
I called the doc and she said give him 3/4 tsp of Benadryl. I hung up without asking her if he is allergic to eggs now? He didn't have the same reaction with scrambled eggs a while ago. (He didn't want those either, but rather spit them out.)

Has anyone been through this? He's ok now...sleeping and swelling has gone down. But, man, I panicked! I was worried that his throat was going to swell! (BTW, he's ok at eating french toast though...I'm so confused!)

By Colette on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 11:35 am:

That's strange because doesn't french toast also have egg in it? I'd call the dr again and see what she thinks.

By Vicki on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 11:52 am:

Have you given him things like cake etc that is made with eggs in it??

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 12:14 pm:

I would be wary of eggs in the future until you know for sure what's going on. DD and I both have egg intolerances. Not a true allergy because we don't experience anaphylaxis but eating eggs makes us feel physically ill. We are fine if eggs are in baked goods.

Both my kids are severely allergic to nuts so I know how serious food allergies can be. Just because a child did fine with a certain type of food in the past doesn't necessarily mean anything because allergies can build up over time.

Good resources:

FoodAllergy.org

KidsWithFoodAllergies.org

By Mrsheidi on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 01:16 pm:

Hhhmmm...it was only the egg white he touched so I'm thinking that he's allergic to the egg white if it's in concentrated form like that.
He's had things with eggs in them and he was fine...cake, cookies, and of course the french toast. That's why I felt so bad for him this morning!!!
Thanks, Trina, for your websites. I will look into them. I haven't heard of an "intolerance" to eggs...definitely worth looking into. And, I didn't know they can build up over time.

By Kim on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 03:28 pm:

My oldest dd is allergic to eggs....I think she isn't supposed to take penicillin because of that....someting to check into.

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 06:13 pm:

Natalie had the same trouble with baby food pears. When I kept her face VERY clean and didn't let the pears touch it, no problem and she loved them. But the first few times we ate them and she got them on her chin and mouth, she got terrible rashes. We used Benadryl, too, which helped. Now she eats regular canned pears, I don't even think about it, and she's fine.
Maybe it IS the part that's touching him. I wouldn't have thought of that if Natalie hadn't had something similar!

By Mrsheidi on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 07:36 pm:

Deanna, that is *very* interesting. I'll ask my pediatrician on our next visit. Until then, I'll just stay away from eggs!

By Vicki on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 08:48 pm:

Dd used to get the same little rash thing when ketchup or spgh sauce would get on her face. Almost looked like a little burn that would last about 3 hours or so. I assumed it was the acid in the tomatoes that bothered her. I had to be very careful to try to keep her face wiped up!!

By Trina~moderator on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 07:59 am:

My kids used to get red marks on their faces from salad dressing or spaghetti sauce, etc.. Their skin was sensitive to the acidity or to the spices in the sauces, however, I wouldn't classify that as "swelling". My mommy hackles went up while reading Heidi's post because of my experience with DS when we first learned of his nut allergy. He didn't get red welts like he had in the past from sauces, but his chin and cheeks swelled. As I mentioned above, I would avoid eggs for now just to be safe. Talk with your doctor about allergy testing. Food allergies can be life threatening so it's wise to be cautious. Eggs are a common allergen.