How long does it take to recover from food allergies

There is no unified standard for the recovery time of food allergies. Mild and immediate allergies may completely subside in a few hours to 2 days. Systemic symptoms caused by severe allergies may take 1 to 2 weeks or even longer to recover. Some special types of food allergies may even last a lifetime and cannot be fully "recovered."

I just received a consultation from a mother last week. Her 3-year-old baby took a bite of braised eggs brought by a relative. A red rash immediately appeared around his mouth. He kept rubbing his eyes with tears. He was given antihistamines for children as prescribed by the doctor. The rash subsided in less than 4 hours, and there was not even a red mark left the next day. This is the most common mild immediate allergy, and it recovers very quickly.

But if the allergy attack is no longer a simple local rash, but urticaria and angioedema that spread to the whole body, or even digestive tract mucosal edema and respiratory tightness, the recovery period will definitely be lengthened. A while ago, a sophomore girl came for a follow-up visit. She didn't know she was allergic to peanuts. She ate ice powder with crushed peanuts brought by her roommate. Not only did her whole body become so itchy that she couldn't sleep all night long, but she also had vomiting and diarrhea and it hurt even to drink water. She went to the emergency room and spent three days with corticosteroids to suppress the acute symptoms. The subsequent rashes continued for almost 10 days before they were completely gone. It was two weeks later when the gastrointestinal tract was completely comfortable.

Many people have heard the saying that "children's allergies will get better as they grow older." This is indeed supported by clinical data. For example, for milk and egg allergies that are highly common in infants and young children, more than 60% of children can gradually establish tolerance around the age of 6 to 7 years old. This is equivalent to not having to deliberately avoid food and will not have an attack. It is considered "self-healing", but if the allergens are nuts, seafood, and shells For these types of food, the probability of long-term allergy can reach more than 70%. There are even a small number of people who were not allergic to certain types of food as children, but suddenly become allergic when their immunity fluctuates as adults. At present, the academic community has not fully understood the specific mechanism of establishing and disappearing this kind of tolerance, and it is impossible to accurately predict whose allergies will naturally improve and whose allergies will last a lifetime.

There is also a type of delayed-type food allergy that is easily ignored by everyone, and the recovery situation is even more different, such as celiac disease caused by gluten allergy, and enterocolitis induced by some food proteins. The allergen does not attack immediately after eating it, but diarrhea, abdominal pain, and weight loss may occur gradually after eating it for several days. There is basically no possibility of self-healing for this type of allergy. As long as a small amount of allergen is touched, it will relapse. It requires lifelong strict taboos to control it, and there is no complete recovery.

Seriously, don’t always worry about “how long it will take to get better.” If you have an allergic reaction, remember the allergen first, and avoid it if you can next time. If it is a common allergy to milk and eggs in children, see an allergist regularly for follow-up, and slowly do tolerance stimulation under the guidance of a doctor. Don’t secretly test your allergy on your own. If it is a mild allergy, it will be a serious case of laryngeal edema, which is too much.