Allergy testing questions please look

[~*~Louisa~*~]

our Pead offered us allergy testing but i refused because we were doing well on what we were doing

a very stupid mishap and i ran out of neocate on a sunday and had to give soya formula (options were milk or soya formula decided soya less risk) and we had a reaction which we kinda expected

I have been reconsidering the testing my dietion wanted us to trial oats, non-wheat gluten before our apt next month which isnt realistic and after a bit of soya making her very grumpy giving us gut probs and skin problems I have thought maybe its nicer to just go down proper testing route

I am assuming it would be done via scratch tests

I have a few questions though if anyone can help

First question is can it detect intollerences?

Second question when i tried looking into it, it said you cant have scratch testing if on medication for gastric acid, Alyssas on Losac how long would she have to stop taking losac to have the scratch test? 

[lula21]

Hi

My DS recently had a RAST test which is a blood test, they pricked his finger and squeezed the blood into test tubes, obviously DS wasnt very happy but it was very quick and he was soon back to his normal happy self.

My DS is also on losec, it was not mentioned to me that it would be a problem for this test.

We had the results within two weeks, but with that test it doesn't show intolerances, we know DS is intolerant to Soy but haven't had it confirmed.  It did however show high allergies to milk and egg.

DS is 8 months and we suspected allergies from around 2 weeks, we eventually got him on neocate which made him a lot more comfortable, but I personally felt like I needed to know what exactly he was allergic to, so I could confidently get him on solids without worrying whether it was going to harm him.

I haven't had experience with scratch test, same as you just read about, I'm sure someone will come along who has.

Hope this helps a little bit  .

[deb]

Neither the blood test (RAST) nor the scratch test will show intolerances, and  believe that the scratch test is less accurate than the blood test.

The only real way to confirm an intolerance is to remove it from the diet long enough to clear completely (probably looking at a good two weeks to a month) and then do a challenge and see if there's a reaction. Having been down that road, I can confirm that it's a total PITA, but also that we've learned some great ways to cook and prepare food - I've become a foodie in the last 4-5 years!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

The only real way to confirm an intolerance is to remove it from the diet long enough to clear completely (probably looking at a good two weeks to a month) and then do a challenge and see if there's a reaction.

and, technically, the only true way to confirm an allergy is by a reaction, because you can get false positives to scratch & RAST tests or test negative when you are in fact allergic.  Our allergist is very adamant about only testing for things we have had a known reaction to, not just testing for alot of things to see what comes up, as you might end up cutting out foods that don't need to be.  I don't totally agree with him, as I want Spencer to be tested for nut allergies without actually having to feed them to her!

We had both the scratch & RAST done, only for milk & eggs, so the scratch test was very quick.  Turned Spencer off of Dr.'s since though!

Oh, and have you seen this site? http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/  Lots of awesome info on there!

[~*~Louisa~*~]

See our pead is sure milk is an allergy (instant reaction to even small amounts) but the other things had built up reactions so i belive them to be intollerences (for example soya no reaction after first bottle but each one after the skin got worse ect)

If they cant tell intollerences I dont know if theres any point for us then after all

[Buntybear]

Hi,

I would think it is worth getting the testing done - even if it just to rule them out! We thought thoguht Olly has MSPI but it turned out to be a milk allergy and he is fine with soy! The scratch test really is painless and very quick. Olly found it all quite interesting really!

[deb]

The scratch test really is painless and very quick. Olly found it all quite interesting really!

The first control scratch made Josie scream bloody murder. This was maybe a year or a year and a half ago, so she would have been 8YO. We left w/o getting any more done. 

I came home and cried on here, was at least reassured that elimination would be the best and truest course in any event. But might be worth getting done to at least give you a direction.

[Buntybear]

Oh no! I am sorry. Was it because it hurt her?? Olly watched in fascination so I assumed they didn't hurt!

[deb]

She's "a little" hypersensitive to touch. Seriously, I don't think that the two nurses and I could have contained her for the whole battery they wanted to do. But to be fair, it was a "firm" scratch.

[~*~Louisa~*~]

See my worry is it wont rule things out because for example I KNOW she is intollerent to soy our forced trial proved it but if she is intollerent and not allergic it would say she is fine with soy

If it would tell us both then it would work for me iywim

[Buntybear]

Well for me anyway I didn't even think twice about having the tests. It just seemed the natural next course of action.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I didn't think twice about it either, even though I am sure ours are intolerances too.  The Dr. did the scratches so quick she didn't have time to react until he was done, he was really good!  Then came the blood test (had to go to the hospital) and it took me and a nurse to pin her down so a 2nd nurse could get the blood drawn, thank goodness he was a pro at it and had it done in about 5 seconds flat!

[Gypsymom]

FWIW, our scratch tests were really prick tests and not very uncomfortable for baby at all. Unfortunately, they weren't much help either as he didn't even react to the 'control' histamine patch until they repeated it, so it called into question the full battery they did do (about 20 foods). However, it did give me peace of mind that he was far less likely to have a deadly anaphylactic type reaction to the small quantities of solids we wanted to introduce. We continued to avoid all major allergens until past one year and are now slowing starting to try a few things. I was told that many docs don't "believe" in testing children less than two years as the results tend to be so unreliable. We have gone the full elimination route (first, and still me albeit with more now than in the beginning, and then very restricted introductions for him). Has been a very bumpy road, but it's amazing how motivating having a happy, healthy LO is!!!