Allergy testing - *met our fantastic Paed!!!! And we have a plan p7*

[my3girlsjde]

We've had one allergy test done with E. She'd had antihistimines for a good week right up until and didn't know this could affect her results. Even my doctor at the time was a bit surprised she tested negative to milk. There was a slight response, but nothing warranting the classification of allergy. Eggs were negative as well. We *know* she's got serious reactions to milk. Whether it's allergy or intolerance we've got no idea for sure. It's been suggested with her response that she could be both. Either way, it's there. Along with other things.

A lot of them we don't know. There's a 'mystery' ingredient that we just can't figure out. I want more testing but don't know what to ask for. I was told where she's had eczema-ish skin that she'll likely give a lot of false positives. But that's since gone and she's now reacting with a horrific bleeding diaper rash to something and I've had it dealing with this.

We know for sure: Milk (hives, wheezing, eczema, formerly blood in stool but now explosive diarrhea leaving bleeding blisters), Soy (same but a tad worse). Possibilities: eggs, tropical fruit, bananas

What have you all tested for? What kinds of tests did you have done? What can I ask for?

[ZacsMumme]

Sweetie I am not sure if it could be this as we're we got that far with allergies. Luckily Z is more intolerant than allergic but what about wheat or nuts ...you may already have these excluded though!

[Katet]

Have you tried an antifungal on the diaper rash, the reason I say that is it fungal infections can also cause a bleeding rash & fungal infections can be made worse by food issues too.
With Ds1 we had the IgE RAST rather than the skin test. Here they do groupings first (food/dust/pet/grasses & pollens) & then they take it further. We know that Ds1 had a response to the food (dairy/egg/seafood/peanut) but we didn't get more specific as he isn't big on eggs & doesn't eat seafood & peanuts & he only eats processed milk products, so I make sure he doesn't eat too many eggs or much dairy & I'm pretty sure dairy is the main issue (from response when younger) but he seems to be growing out of it. I agree with the PP if you haven't already ruled out wheat/nuts & citrus are worth looking at too (I have issues with citrus, but only the orange ones... I'm ok with lemons, lime & yellow grapefruit)  .  Also I know of someone who reacted to potato, so it is worth looking at some of the "safe" foods.

[~ Vik ~]

We had all Dylan's allergy testing done when he was about 16mo, and we're doing a repeat in the new year. We had a scratch test done first (dairy, egg white, egg yolk, peanuts, tree nuts, dust mites (because they're a common cause of ezcema); we were going to do mustard but they didn't have a sample for the test). Dylan reacted to everything, though only mildly to the egg yolk and dust mites, and THAT'S when the allergist told us that children with eczema can give false positives because of the sensitivity of their skin.

We were going for blood tests anyway because of the mustard, and the allergist suggested testing everything from the skin tests to confirm. It was FAR easier on Dylan than the scratch test. It took a couple weeks to get the results, but I liked that the results were quantified (so results above 0.35 were considered a clinically significant allergy) rather than someone looking at swelling and deciding if it was, kwim? And as it turns out, Dylan did have an allergy to everything he was positive for on the skin test (except the dust mites), plus the mustard.

For both tests we were told no benadryl for at least 48h before both tests. We're redoing the blood tests in the new year to see if anything has decreased in severity and *possibly* do an in-office food challenge if warranted. I'm not getting my hopes up though Incidental exposure to dairy (which was his least significant allergy at 0.8 ) at daycare still results in hives on contact

If you have any questions just let me know! (((hugs)))

[~ Vik ~]

Just remembered too that there is an allergy screening you can ask for that tests for just over 300 different allergens. Because it's a blood test it's still only one needle prick vs. a zillion scratches. We didn't do it for Dylan because cutting the other stuff out seemed to clear his skin and we haven't had any unexplained reactions, but we were going to if needed. The only problem was that it wasn't covered by OHIP so we would have had to pay a few hundred out of pocket - but a small price to pay IMHO if it helped get us answers. I can get the name of the test on Monday if you want.

[Shdef]

The antihistamines say on it that you must not take them for two weeks before the test or you WILL test negative. The fact that there was still a response WITH antihistamines is definitely a sign for an allergy.

[my3girlsjde]

Wow, I wish I had spent more time on this board before

Katet - I do use an antifungal on her bum as well as a hydrocortizone cream and then the regular bum cream. And it works great. I usually see a great response within 2 diaper changes. But she keeps getting this every night from whatever she's reacting to in her poo. So what gains we're getting every day, we're losing when she has her evening poo And the pharmacist told me not to use they hydrocortizone cream for more than 4 or 5 days. Hence my massive frustration with this. At least I can use the antifungal every day and I swap back and forth between the Nystatin and Canestan (yeast infection cream for adults) every time a tube is done, so every few months or so. Thanks for reinforcing what I'm doing though.

Great advice everyone   My guess is that there's multiple issues going on here. I'll get the chart after and find the numbers from her dairy and egg test she had at 13 months. The needle prick was very hard to see her go through but I'd happily do that rather than the scratch test. I'll mention to the clinic when I go that she still wheezes from time to time and I KNOW it's from a food. She's also not had any antihistimines in over a month so I'll try to hold off from giving her any to keep her system clear.

Definitely something that many people don't understand unless they've gone through it. I just want to feed this child and not have it be a guessing game or stupid trial and error anymore.

Thanks again ladies I really don't know where my family would be with some of the stuff we've dealt with if it weren't for this site.

[my3girlsjde]

K, don't have much time as kids are off the crazy. Looking at the RAST results and all they gave was a generic "less than 0.35 KU/L". So my interpretation is there could have been even a smidgit of a response with a daily dose of antihistamine. So she likely would have tested positive.

Going to get the hours to the walk in clinic here and start pushing for multiple allergy tests and try to get this child sorted out.

Thanks again. Will update as often as I have into. 

[Katet]

If she's getting the rash with the use of antifungals then I'd be thinking wheat may be an issue.

I'm guessing you use a barrier cream (Amolin, Bepanthen worked well here) every time you change, but thought I'd mention it too.

[Mom to M&M]

DS used to have multiple mushy huge diapers a day when he was on dairy. And even with nystatin creams or other prescription creams he'd often get a rash. Once we took the dairy away completely (around 17-18 months) that improved rapidly. But yes, wheat can be an issue with BMs like that too. But his is an IgG intolerance to dairy, not an actual IgE allergy.

[my3girlsjde]

Thanks everyone

The rash is sort of clearing, but we've got to be quick when she has a bm. Still not a consistent firm poo I'll take the wheat out for a trial, but tbh she doesn't eat that much of it and not on a daily basis. She's not had the explosive diarrhea since going off eggs, but still not great. Not sure how long eggs take to get out of her body. I know dairy is 10 days so maybe I'll look back in another 7 days and see where she's at. Also wondering about the mixed fruit applesauce and some of the fruits that are in it. She's always done fine with regular apples so she's now just getting plain applesauce. Might mix in some oatmeal this morning as it tends to firm things up for her.

Keep the tips coming! We'll sort this one way or another.

[Jimbob]

What foods does your dd eat?

I know whe my son was youger he reacted to stoned fruits, citrus fruits, berries, beef, chicken, pork, oats, wheat, sweet potato and white potato asparagus, peas, corn, egg and dairy. James also tested positive to nuts and peanuts so we never gave these to him. James is now 7 and can eat a much more varied diet. Dairy and egg are still out he is highly allergic to these. Fruits are tolerated in small amounts along with chicken. James has now past his peanut challenge and we are now waitinng for a date for his mixed nut challenge. Peas still cause a reaction to.

Kelly x

[my3girlsjde]

TBH, there's NO food that I don't know beyond a reasonable doubt she can eat without this reaction  

We're off to the walk in clinic this morning. Got all the girls up so I could drive dh in to work and have the van.

Fingers crossed I get a decent Dr and that the wait isn't ridiculously long.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

TBH, there's NO food that I don't know beyond a reasonable doubt she can eat without this reaction

Could it be that her system is on overload and she is reacting to things she otherwise wouldn't? That if you knew what were the main triggers and could remove them, then the other foods wouldn't bother her?  I hope that makes sense!

Hope you get a good Doctor!  We did do allergy testing, scratch and blood, but the scratch test showed nothing and the blood test was similar to yours (0.34 I think) which our allergist considered insignificant.  So he is going off the fact that she has reactions and someday we are to schedule an in office food challenge, just haven't bothered! (oh, they also only would test for things she has reacted to, so just milk and eggs so far.)

[Jimbob]

When we went through this with James when he was younger we went right back to basics and basically weaned him again. We were able to do this as the Consultant Paediatrician had prescribed neocate so James was still getting all the nutrients he needed. James did also develop a severe food aversion which his paediatrician said was due to the amount of reactions he'd had and was afraid of food. The food aversion took a long time to overcome.

Hope the visit to the walk in clinic went well.

Kelly x