Hives from Dairy touching skin?

klyann · June 2011

Has anyone experienced this? I gave greek yogurt to DD and she broke out into hives on her face where the yogurt had been. It didn't appear to bother her otherwise. At the advice of the pedi's nurse I did a test about a couple hours later (hives had dissapeared by then) by rubbing the same yogurt on her left cheek only and within 10 minutes the hives appeared on the left cheek. This was about 3 weeks ago and yesterday I tried giving her some shredded cheese and a few minutes in noticed the red hives appearing where cheese was stuck to her chin.

I have EBF DD since birth and consume plenty of dairy on my own. She used to reflux some when she was younger, but otherwise no other issues that I know of. She's a pretty happy baby.

Our pedi has now referred us to an allergist, but I'm just curious if anyone has experienced this issue and can give me some insight on what this might mean for her diet in the future.

the_jackpot · June 2011

My ds had an experience like this but it was with peanut butter, that was the first sign that he showed any allergic signs. He has since been confirmed to have nut allergies. So I would pursue it and have your lo tested.

magdusia · June 2011

After my son had an anaphalectic reaction to TOUCHING a piece of egg (he never put it in his mouth), we were waiting for testing which was about a week ahead. In that time slot we were at a dinner and i let him play with a tube of half and half (stupid me) and when he put it in his mouth and squeezed it -it popped open and squirted on his chin and stomach (thankfully not into his mouth). his chin was completely covered in bumps and when we lifted his shirt, his stomach had red blotches everywhere.

Unfortunately it looks like your daughter is allergic to dairy. it may be a slight allergy but an allergy.

Some children are okay with breast milk and the dairy the mom eats b/c it's broken down a lot. Some are not. I think it depends on how strong the allergy is.

luvmagoldn · June 2011

DS#3 got hives on his hand after touching slices of deli chicken with milk product in in it. I'm glad your pedi has referred you to an allergist.

ckaminskas1 · June 2011

I have to agree with the other posts -- I hope for your sake it isn't a dairy allergy but it sounds pretty likely. My daughter has a severe dairy allergy (along with other foods, too) and will get hives from milk that touches her skin (or dairy products) and also from dairy that has spilled and dried on cloth or carpet or a rug and that she touches. The allergist will definitely be able to clarify this for you. My daughter's allergist was a godsend.

shotzie · June 2011

The same thing happened with my DD. She'd get hives where dairy touched her skin. I told her pedi and she ordered a blood test to check for allergies. Turned out DD is allergic to dairy, soy, and eggs. Then we went to an allergist who did skin testing and that confirmed the results of the blood test. So DD is on a dairy free, soy free, egg free diet and we have to carry an epiPen with us at all times just in case of a severe reaction. We're supposed to have her tested again when she's 2 to see if her numbers have gone down. A lot of kids outgrow these allergies by the time they're 3 or so. Definitely talk to the allergist and then talk to a dietitian to get ideas of what to feed her. Even though they don't have a GI reaction to the allergen, you don't want to expose them to it since they're having an immune response to it.

I also stiff BF and DD has never had a reaction to my milk. So I'm one of the lucky ones who hasn't had to change my diet. (I doubled checked with her pedi and the allergist about that). But we do have to wash our hands after handling diary products, otherwise if we touch DD, she'll get a hive. We also give DD enriched rice milk and add brown rice protein powder to it since we couldn't switch her to cow's milk at all. She loves rice milk! I posted a few posts down asking for dairy alternatives and got a lot of great responses of foods you can stock up on that could replace those foods in your household.

klyann · June 2011

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and letting me know that I'm not alone in this.

The soonest pediatric allergy appt I could get was mid-July, so I guess we'll be trying to figure this out on our own until then. I am worried about other food allergies like eggs.

I'm glad this board is here, it is so nice to have support and advice from other moms going through the similar situations.

kimi_brighteyes · June 2011

Can I offer a different experience. My DD had hives all over her body with eating egg and skin and blood testing confirmed egg allergy. She drank milk without problems, except that anywhere there was skin contact, she got hives only on those areas. Our allergist said that he wouldn't do testing since she was fine when she drank the milk. He said that she likely had some antibodies, but it would do her a disservice to do the testing since there was no problem ingesting milk and the reaction would eventually get better. She continued to drink milk and loves dairy and no longer has this problem. Anyway, see your doctor and see what he/she says, but it is not inevitable that they will be taken off dairy.

klyann · June 2011

kimi_brighteyes:
Can I offer a different experience. My DD had hives all over her body with eating egg and skin and blood testing confirmed egg allergy. She drank milk without problems, except that anywhere there was skin contact, she got hives only on those areas. Our allergist said that he wouldn't do testing since she was fine when she drank the milk. He said that she likely had some antibodies, but it would do her a disservice to do the testing since there was no problem ingesting milk and the reaction would eventually get better. She continued to drink milk and loves dairy and no longer has this problem. Anyway, see your doctor and see what he/she says, but it is not inevitable that they will be taken off dairy.

Thank you!!! This does offer me some hope.

novlove11 · June 2011

I get this!! I cannot use any beauty products with dairy derivatives or wheat because I have the same reaction to both. I cannot kiss hubby for at least a half hour after he eats yogurt or cheese. He is always washing his hands and face after he eats. I have Celiac disease & have both internal and external reactions to both gluten & dairy.

My mom said I was colicky as a baby, and then I didn't experience any other symptoms til 12 years old.

bwralc · June 2011

Unfortunately this is how DD was diagnosed with a dairy protein allergy. We have to avoid all dairy, even when it is cooked in an item and casein as well, which is the dairy protein.

Nancy_Drew · June 2011

DS got this too. A cup of whole cows milk spilled down his shirt dn when I took it off, he was covered in hives. Same with yogurt around his mouth. He'd get red splotches.

We did a blood allergy test and it came back as a cows milk allergy. (soy to though)

I thought it was whey, since mac and cheese would also do it for him and yogurt without whey listed in the ingredients did nothing to his skin. WHey seemed to be teh common ingredient for us. they didn't test specifically for that though...

He didn'[t have any reaction when eating or drinking the cheese, milk, yogurt etc, just skin issues and that one episode of hives. He was BF'd until 13 months and never had a problem with me eating or drinking anything.

Now, we don't do cows milk, but do give him cheese and yogurt w/o whey. His Dr was Ok with just testing things and seeing how he reacts. So far so good with rashes etc, but he was just diagnosed this past weekend with asthma (7 ER visits, 1 in paitient in the past 6 months for breathing) so perhaps the food reaction has manifested itself with his breathing.

We visit the allergist soon and I'm sure things will change with his diet.

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