16 month old with repeated episodes of severe vomiting after eating eggs

[cnargast]

This is my first time posting. I hope someone can help me with this.

i have a 16 month old girl. i ate a traditional foods diet when i was pregnant with lots of our own free range eggs and have continued to do so while breastfeeding.

as one of her first foods she ate soft egg yolk at around 7 months. she loved the egg yolk and ate it without problems 2-3x. the fourth time she had the same egg yolk, she vomited 3 hrs after she ate it and continued to dry heave for 2-3 hours. she was pale and lethargic and then went to sleep. she woke up several hours later and nursed and seemed fine. the next day she had a smelly bowel movement but seemed fine otherwise. she had this same reaction a few more times until we figured out it was the egg yolk.

i then stopped the egg yolk and waited until she was 16 months to try again. the first time i tried she had no reaction and loved the egg, same for the following day. She ate raw egg yolk as well as fried.
i thought she had outgrown her egg allergy and then it happened again. same
symptoms as before. she is a healthy little girl without any other allergies. she did not get any vaccinations and she still nurses 3-4x/day.

has anyone had a similar experience? any advice? please help.

we have our own chickens and our whole family eats lots of eggs. i would love for her to be able to enjoy eggs since i know how good they are for her.

[ChristaN]

I'm not a TF eater but the title of your post caught my eye from the main page b/c I have a child with severe tree nut allergies. Vomiting and GI symptoms after eating a food can be a sign of anaphylaxis. In the case of vomiting caused by a severe allergic reaction, blood pressure may drop to a dangerous point as well.

To be on the safe side, I'd get to her an allergist and have skin prick testing done. You can get some false positives on the skin pricks, but you can get false negatives on RAST tests (blood allergy test) and RAST tests involve drawing a pretty significant amount of blood, so I wouldn't start there if possible.

My dd's reactions started with red dots on her hands and face after eating peas, lentils, or tree nuts. Over time, they progressed to eyes swelling shut, lips puffing up, and oral itching. My step-nephew also has an anaphylactic peanut allergy for which the first sign was vomiting following eating peanut butter. His allergy progressed to respiratory symptoms over time.

Good luck and I hope that some of the TF mamas can offer you more advice about that diet as it relates to your dd and her potential allergy.

[Thystle]

My son also has anaphylactic food allergies.


If your dd ever has a reaction like that again I would seriously get her to the emergency room or call 911!!!


I would highly suggest getting to an allergist for skin prick testing (and maybe a food challenge if needed) too and to start carrying epi-pens. This can be utterly life threatening. Please don't wait and do NOT feed her any more eggs until you know!

[crunchy_mama]

Eggs are healthy but that doesn't mean everyone can eat them. I would absolutely not feed them anymore it sounds like your little one for sure has an egg allergy and a serious one. It is my understanding that reactions only get worse. I would be getting her to an allergist ASAP.

[blueridgewoman]

Yep, no way would I ever feed eggs again. They're definitely healthy, but (obviously) not if she's allergic...

Allergies and intolerances can escalate over time. If you continue to feed her eggs, it could escalate to the point of a life threatening reaction.

[cnargast]

Thanks everyone. I will take her to an allergist and have it checked out. I am totally inexperienced with allergies. I have never had allergies myself and my two other children don't either. I did not realize how serious it could be.
Is this the kind of thing that children "outgrow"?

[ChristaN]

Originally Posted by cnargast

Is this the kind of thing that children "outgrow"?

Possibly, but I would do any future food challenges in the allergist's office. Her palor and lethargy could be signs of dropping blood pressure and/or shock, so I wouldn't try it again at home.

With eggs, some kids can eat them cooked into things depending on the severity of the allergy. Two allergists have told us that the protein seems to be less of an issue in cooked eggs, but again I would consult the allergist before even trying that.

My understanding from our allergist is that the allergies that are the least likely to be outgrown and tree nuts followed by peanuts. Eggs may be outgrown. Maybe she'll get lucky.

[julesgo]

My daughter also has the exact same reaction to eggs, ever since she was less than a year old. If she has any egg, egg yolk, egg white or product containing eggs, within an hour or two, she begins vomiting for hours, basically for the rest of the day, until she is weak and falls asleep from exhaustion. Obviously we are very vigilant about avoiding egg-containing foods but once or twice a year, she inadvertantly eats something contaminated with eggs. She is only 3 so I am hoping she outgrows this but we are not about to check anytime soon.  Until I came across this post, I wondered if any other children had this reaction to eggs.

[mawiles]

My 11 month old daughter has had the EXACT same problem with egg YOLKS. She's never had egg whites (which are the usual suspects, because the whites contain the proteins). Doctors encourage egg yolks before one year because they are so healthy and so few people actually have allergies to the yolks. The first couple of times I gave her a yolk she was fine. Then once, several hours after eating yolk she vomited for over an hour every five minutes. She was lethargic and pale. We nearly took her the the ER, but she suddenly recovered and wanted to nurse. I didn't link it to the egg yolk at that time.  Then it happened again several weeks later, the next time I gave her egg yolk. I waited several months before giving her another egg yolk, but when I did, it happened again....totally confirming the link to the egg (yolk only).

I will totally call her pediatrician and obviously won't give her another egg until she's had an allergy test. But I'm wondering, what did you find out?

I'm particularly intrigued because we have our own backyard chickens, too. I ate eggs throughout my pregnancy and she nurses 4x a day. She's never been immunized and she has no other food allergies so far. There is no typical skin rash or eczema associated with any of the three incidences. It's almost like she has horrible food poisoning, and after an hour of horrible vomiting, she's totally fine.