Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffEgg allergy symptoms differ from person to person and occur within a few minutes to a few hours after exposure to eggs. Egg allergy symptoms can include:
- Skin inflammation or hives, the most common egg allergy reaction
- Allergic asthma
- Allergic nasal inflammation (rhinitis)
- Gastrointestinal symptoms, such as cramps, nausea and vomiting
Anaphylaxis
Egg allergy can cause anaphylaxis, a life-threatening reaction that can block the airways and breathing. If you or your child has a reaction to eggs, tell your doctor about it no matter how mild the reaction may have been. Tests can help confirm an egg allergy, so you can take steps to avoid future and potentially worse reactions.
Anaphylaxis is a medical emergency and requires treatment with an epinephrine (adrenaline) shot and a trip to the emergency room. Signs and symptoms start soon after eating eggs and can include:
- Constriction of airways, including a swollen throat or a lump in your throat that makes it difficult to breathe
- Shock, with a severe drop in blood pressure
- Abdominal pain and cramping
- Rapid pulse
- Dizziness, lightheadedness or loss of consciousness
When to see a doctor
See a doctor or an allergist if you or your child has signs or symptoms of a food allergy shortly after eating. If possible, see your doctor when the allergic reaction is occurring because this may help in making a diagnosis. Seek emergency treatment if you or your child develops any signs or symptoms of anaphylaxis.
- Food allergy: An overview. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/PDF/foodallergy.pdf. Accessed July 12, 2009.
- Kurowski K, et al. Food allergies: Detection and management. American Family Physician. 2008;77:1678.
- Lack G. Food allergy. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;359:1252.
- Anaphylaxis. Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. http://www.aafa.org/print.cfm?id=9&sub=23&cont=324. Accessed July 16, 2009.
- Chapman JA, et al. Food allergy: A practice parameter. Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. 2006;96:S1.
- Sicherer SH. Food allergen avoidance. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 22, 2009.
- Egg allergy. Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. http://www.aafa.org/print.cfm?id=9&sub=20&cont=523. Accessed July 16, 2009.
- Flu vaccine and egg allergy. American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. http://www.acaai.org/public/advice/Fluvaccine_eggallergy.htm. Accessed July 16, 2009.
