My little one may have an egg allergy!

**Daisygirl** · 02-23-2008, 11:18 PM

When DD7 was little, she had an egg allergy. She would get a red rash around her mouth anytime she ate anything containing eggs. Fast forward to the age of 3 and the scratch test told us her egg allergy was gone - like many kids, she had outgrown it.

She has always despised eggs on their own, so I never made her eat them. I don't often cook with eggs, because I grew up with an egg allergy in the house. (My dad and DD7 have no hereditary relationship - I am adopted). Lately I have been doing a lot of baking in order to cut down my grocery bill. Every day the girls have had banana bread, cookies, and muffins. I have been on a bake-fest for about a month now.

For the past three weeks DD& has been itching like crazy all over her body. Her hands were extremely dry, so I have been treating her for dry skin with oil baths, lotions and vaseline. None of that has seemed to help and yesterday her bottom was bright red, like she had gotten a spanking (she hadn't - I even asked her if someone else had smacked her on the bum, and she said no). I was telling my dad about this and he asked me what foods she had recently that were unusual. I could think of nothing until I started listing off what she had in her lunch box all week and realized every single day she has had egg as an ingredient in something! She has also complained every morning that her throat was sore and wanted a hot tea to make it feel better. What a numbskull! I never put 2+2 together! Porr little girl!

I have an appointment with the pediatrician on Wednesday, but I think that avoiding eggs will solve her problem. Somehow, I think the scratch test was wrong and she has had this allergy all along. I am going to get her some Benadryl first thing tomorrow and no more egg products for a couple of weeks to see if the skin condition goes away.

**quiltergirl** · 02-24-2008, 07:05 AM

Poor baby! We certainly know about food allergies at my house. Unfortunately finding allergies is often a process of elimination and trial and error -- like you are experiencing. If it does turn out to be eggs you can still do your baking. I use a commercial product called EnerG Egg replacer that works very well for me -- it is a powder (comes in a box) basically a combination of different levening agents. It is a little pricey -- but not in the long run because such a small amount is used (1 1/2 t. per egg) it seems to last forever. I get mine at the health food store. I know there are other substitutions people use that might be cheaper, but this has always worked for me.

I think the hard part will probably be label reading commercially processed foods -- eggs are probably one of those things that shows up where you least expect them. Good luck and I hope your little girl finds relief.

**Daisygirl** · 02-24-2008, 07:21 AM

I will look for that substitute at te health food store if this turns out to be the case.

Luckily for me, I grew up in a household with a severe egg allergy. I know a lot of the things that eggs are hidden in, so that is going to make it easier.

My plan, if approved by the doctor is to completely take eggs out of hher diet for 2-3 weeks. If the itch and sore throat subside, then I am wondering, do I try her on a bit of it again to verify that is what caused the problem? Could you let me know how you determined the allergy, Quiltergirl?

**ravenmaniac** · 02-24-2008, 01:03 PM

Substitute a heaping tablespoon of soy flour and 1 teaspoon of water for each egg in the recipe. I use it all the time. It works great! However, it won't work if you substitute an ingredient to cut down on the fat. For example: applesauce. You must use all the oil or whatever.

**quiltergirl** · 02-24-2008, 01:04 PM

We aren't allergic to eggs specifically but I do substitute them out when I can as part of a low fat diet for another health issue. But we are allergic to lots of other things -- discovered by trial and error. My experience has been that when you discover that certain foods have been making you sick you really don't want to go back. We went gluten free just over a year ago and even though we are occasionally tempted we always stop short before actually giving in because we remember the havoc that gluten caused in our lives. We really didn't feel that we needed to verify it because we both felt so much better very quickly after stopping the wheat. But I would check with your doc on that.

You are way ahead on this one since you have already lived with egg allergies before. You already know where they are most likely lurking.

I would have the doctor rule out the obvious other stuff too. Where I live just about everyone is sick right now. Haven't heard of anything that sounds like that but you never know.

Here is the website for the Ener-G Company.
http://www.ener-g.com/

Please let me know how things turn out with the doctor. If you want to talk more about this feel free to post or send me a pm.