How long has your child had hives from a food related allergy?

emjay&wy

My 3 year old had a reaction of hives on her face and trunk on Dec 22 while we were eating dinner at a Hibachi restaurant.  Gave her benadryl for 2 days and it didn't seem to bother her too horribly and they definitely got better, however, she has broken out (usually on her face) every day since then (18 days now!)  She has been to the dr and was on a week of oral steroids and they did absolutely nothing for them.  The hives aren't bad, and it's usually very short lived, but the long reaction has me nervous.  The dr has referred us to an allergist and we go there in 2 weeks, but I was just curious how long anyone else's child had hives from a one time exposure to a food.  

Thanks!

GracefulStar

Usually just a day as well. Are you sure it's hives? My son has eczema and an allergy can make it worse or vice versa. Causes redness on the face and other parts...

sebullows

My son had a reaction to eggs today and the hives lasted 5 hours after consumption (with steroid and antihistamine)

shotzie

When DD2 had the scratch test at the allergist's office, she developed a huge hive where they put egg. The hive took a day or two to go away, and then it turned into a rash that lasted at least a week. It only cleared up with hydrocortisone cream.

Do you have any idea what caused your DD's reaction? Your pedi can order a RAST test (blood test) to test for allergies while you wait to see the allergist. I wonder if maybe she's still being exposed to whatever she's allergic to, and that's why she is having the continuous reaction...?

emjay&wy

I thought and thought about what could have set it off and narrowed it down to shrimp.  No one had ordered the shrimp at dinner, but they give each adult 2 pieces of shrimp with their meal.  Then a week later, we had shrimp cocktail at my parent's house.  She didn't eat any of it then either, but it was next to the pickle tray that she was eating off of.  I thought maybe that was the reason she had such a long reaction to it; because she was exposed to it twice.  We finally had her allergist appt yesterday and I told the dr that, and everything else she ate that day at the Hibachi restaurant, so she did a whole food panel skin prick test.  The only thing she tested positive for was shrimp. Glad I was able to figure it out, but I really wish I was wrong and she hadn't tested positive for anything.  We got our epi pens and I am doing my research about it all.  Thanks for the responses!