Egg Allergy??

Updated on April 10, 2010
A.V. asks from Bothell, WA
11 answers

Hi Momma's!

My 1 year old boy is having an interesting reaction to egg. Whenever he eats cooked eggs, he vomits a few hours later. I had slowly introduced egg yolks when he was about 9 months old, he did ok with them at first, then started vomiting them up a week or two after starting him on them. I had thought it was coincidence becuase he would also come down with a cold during the same time frames that I was trying tehm out. I stopped after each episode, and waited until he seemed better then tried again. Same thing. I asked his Ped about it and they just thought it was actually his colds causing the vomiting, and that is was just coincidental that I happened to be trying egg yolks at the time, becuase yolk is usually NOT the allergen in eggs, the whites are. After 3 episodes, I decided to wait until after 1 year of age. At his 1 year old check up, I brought all this up again, and they said try the entire egg again. So I scrambled some up and let him try it again. Low and behold, several hours later, he barfed again...in the car!!!!
Now, he seems just fine with egg IN things, like cake, bread etc. But anything with pure egg, and also french toast with the egg cooked on the outside, elicits the vomiting. Does this sound like an allergy? He does NOT have any other symptoms, no rashes or other "typical" allergic signs. Just wondering if anyone else out there has experienced this, and if they grow out of this. My older son can tolerate eggs just fine, though they are not his first choice in breakfast foods! ;-)
Thanks, Ladies!
~A.

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M.F.

answers from Richland on

sometimes kids just can't handle eggs i would wait another six months then try again or you can just stop trying to give him straight egga or french toast
Paula

1 mom found this helpful

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C.N.

answers from Seattle on

You need to get to an allergist, they are the specialists in this area, the pediatrician has just basic knowledge about allergies and how they work. My daughter has a deadly peanut and tree nut allergy and allergies can manifest themselves in various ways. The blood test can get you started, but the skin scratch test is FAR more accurate. The blood test showed that the pediatrician gave my daughter showed she was mildly allergic to peanuts (tree nuts didn't even show up, both of which are deadly to her), but the skin test showed severe allergies, I asked about this and the allergist explained the difference to me, the pediatrician didn't even know why it would come out differently. So, I went with the allergist.

Your kiddo could have reacted to the egg yolks when you prepared them without the whites because it would be impossible to completely remove all of the whites off the yolk. He seems to be ok with eggs in prepared foods, likely because he is not getting the volume of eggs in each bite, the eggs are dilluted with the rest of the ingredients. What it sounds like is an "intolerance" to eggs, a lot of people call this an allergy, but it is a digestive issue, not a systemic issue (systemic means that the vital systems in the body, breathing for instance, are affected, this is my daughter's issue with nuts and peanuts). An intolerance can still be an allergy, but may be treated differently depending on the severity than a systemic allergy. An intolerance to food items, such as eggs, will cause vomiting, diaharrea, intestinal cramping, but will not cause the rash and swelling of the airway. However, only a doctor can diagnose this and I would DEFINITELY take him before giving him one more egg! Just because he hasn't reacted systemically in the past, does not mean he won't in the future. This is not to scare you, but to let you know that allergies do not always behave the same way every time and can be very unpredictable. Do you have some Benadryl on hand? Until you get him in to see the doctor, carry it with you everywhere you go, just in case.

Here is a reccommendation. http://www.nwasthma.com/index.asp

I have been to both the Redmond and Issaquah offices and they were both very good experiences. I like that they have multiple locations with pediatric allergists as well as adult allergists. Good luck, and let us know what happens.

2 moms found this helpful
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M.P.

answers from Portland on

It sounds like an allergy to me. My granddaughter was allergic to eggs, milk, and several other non-food things. She outgrew the food allergies by the time she was in school. She too seemed to tolerate both of them in something cooked, such as muffins. And she could eat cheese. I don't know why but can guess. There is a lower concentration of the egg in something baked. There could be some sort of change in the egg protein that makes it more digestible. The protein in milk undergoes a change when it's turned into cheese, too.

The way that we found out about her allergies was to have her ped test her blood for them. My grandaughter also had/has eczema and asthma. Those two things made the allergy test more important.

re: allergy symptoms. I have many food and tree,plant allergies. The only symptom I get when I eat a cooked food to which I'm allergic is an upset stomach. If I eat a raw fruit/veggie my throat and ears itch. An upset tummy and vomiting were the only symptoms for my granddaughter too

If your son tolerates other foods and doesn't have any other symptoms I'd stay away from eggs for another 6 months or so; then try again.

Or ask his ped to do an allergy test. Skin pricks are the most accurate tests (still not 100%) and I think that an allergist has to do them.

scrambled eggs are now my granddaughter's favorite food. Has been since she was 5 or 6. She'll be 9 in July.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.A.

answers from Portland on

My son had many allergies that slowly went away from 18 months to 3 years. We had an experience similar to yours with apple juice. He could eat an apple, applesauce, or combined juice with apple juice as an ingredient. Pure apple juice on the other hand would literally run right though him. The first time he had it was at 2 YO. He's now 10 YO and I assume this reaction has gone away but the response was so bad it's just something he doesn't even want. He's still fine with all other forms of apples.

Don't ignore the reaction. Avoiding pure eggs in all forms and limiting it in other things will probably be the best was to hope he will grow out of it. I'd wait 6 months to a year before trying again.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.M.

answers from Terre Haute on

Hello! I know that this was experienced almost a year ago, but did you ever get an answer on whether or not your son is allergic to eggs? This exact same thing happened to us tonight. I fed my son, who just turned one, a hard boiled egg this afternoon. Hours later, he vomited three times. His older brother is severly allergic to eggs, but when we realized he was, he did not have the vomiting. He had the throat swelling, hives, etc. It has me worried that it is the egg. Thanks! K.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.G.

answers from Portland on

Yes, my son experienced the same thing. The first couple times I fed him cooked egg yolk around 6 months, he did just fine with it. Then a month or so later I fed it to him again, and he vomited soon after. Tried again a couple weeks later and the same thing happened. Waited several months and tried again at a year and now he does just fine with it. Very strange, I asked the same question on Mamasource several months ago and couldn't figure it out. He also never had a problem with eggs in other products. I hope yours will also grow out of it eventually. Keep trying every once in a while.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.F.

answers from Portland on

I don't know if you'd classify that reaction as an allergy, but definitely a sensitivity if nothing else. My daughter did the same thing every time I fed her bananas, so I just stopped trying to give them to her for a long time to see if she'd out-grow it. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm crossing my fingers :). Pediatricians aren't specialized with allergies, so if you're really wanting to find out more, go see an allergist and/or a naturopath who can test for food sensitivities/allergies.

Blessings,
J. (mom of 5)

1 mom found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Corvallis on

yes, I have a son that did this. His first reaction WAS hives, but another time my MIL (who we TOLD that he was allergic to eggs.. she didnt believe us) She gave him eggs, and he threw them up. I was so mad! I have two kids with egg allergies and they can have eggs in cookies and stuff like that, but not like scrambled eggs or anything like that. Just like you said. BTW - I cannot believe your Ped told you to do that!! I would get a new DR for your baby, and get a referral for an allergy appointment right away. I have one who was allergic to eggs peanuts and sesame seeds/oil. If I had insisted on allergy testing when my son was just 1 we would have not gone through a LOT with him and ER visit due to consuming allergy foods! (peanuts when he was 3!) He turned pale and started wheezing (his windpipe was closing off) and his lips started swelling up. It was so scary. I wish that I had taken my son to a differant dr a long time before then now.
My other son is allergic to milk eggs and peanuts. They both have bad outdoor allergies that developed when they were about 3 1/2

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A.B.

answers from Seattle on

it does not sound like an allergy but an intolerance- my daughter is unable to tolerate the whites or the yolks while my other daughter only has an allergy to the whites.

They too seem to be okay with eggs baked or cooked into things but the funny thing with intolerances is that just because you are not seeing a reaction does not mean gut damage is not being done . . . I would avoid eggs completely- there are some options for really good egg replacers out there for baking and cooking (they don't work for everything but we have learned to sacrifice) My daughters favorite is the Ener-G egg replacer- it is fairly inexpensive and easy to use.

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B.P.

answers from Seattle on

My pediatrician told me that more and more research says that eggs (like peanuts) shouldnt be introduced until age 3.

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A.H.

answers from Portland on

I also have an intolerance to eggs. If I eat too many it makes my all my joints hurt, which is not a typical allergic symptom. I certainly think that it's possible that eggs are making him throw up. Probably when he eats eggs that are mixed in with other foods it's digested better (plus it's a smaller amount). I have a few foods that are like that.. If I eat strawberries alone, I feel sick, but if I eat them with a meal I feel fine.

Good luck!

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