My son has mild to moderate eczema and has allergic reactions from time to time (rashes on his skin), so I'm thinking about taking him to get an allergy test. Has anyone done this? What can I expect?
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It was easier on LO than immunizations, which are usually given in several separate shots. The allergy test is just 'one shot' and in the back so he/she can't really see it coming.
We went in for a milk allergy test but they put a few more mini needles on the same board so it would be a one-stick-poke. So in the end, the same test revealed no allergies to nuts, seafood, eggs and other common allergens. The weird thing is that we were cleared for no allergy to milk but DD usually gets a few dots near her mouth or sometimes diarrhea after a few days of cheese/milk/yogurt so we have been staying away. The allergist told us that it's possible she could be negative for that particular 'fast acting' milk protein that she tested, based on the description of her symptoms, but suggested perhaps she is positive for another one that we didn't test. And then she didn't offer any further testing. So our pediatrician said to keep trying 'every once in awhile'. Hoping she'll grow out of it.
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I think we've had every allergy test known to man run on our son. The reason why we did all this was bad eczema and rashes - just like you are describing. He has an immediate allergy (type1) to wheat and has delayed allergies (types 2-4) to cinnamon & vanilla, among other things. Delayed allergies are almost impossible to find the correlation on your own b.c they don't happen immediately.
We had blood drawn at his pediatrician twice - one for a Type1 allergy panel that the ped did, and once for a mega-allergy panel (Types 2-4) for a test we had done with a doctor in Chicago (the doc was there but the blood draw could be done anywhere - then shipped to Virginia or something). They tested for everything it was awesome (and expensive!) http://essentialhealthsolutions.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33&Itemid=48
The first test diagnosed the wheat, the second diagnosed the other things.
We've done the scratch test too and I thought it was completely pointless. The allergist said if he broke out to something there was only a 50/50 shot he was allergic, and just because he didn't break out didn't mean he wasn't allergic. Say what?! It was a really difficult test and I wouldn't recommend it! It literally did not diagnose anything.
I would start out with a general type1 panel with your ped for sure.
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LO seemed to have eczema at an early age and skin sensitivities, so we had a blood draw done at age 1. The blood draw was very difficult on my LO, where the lab technicians had a hard time finding her vein, and eventually her vein collapsed and we had to go in on another day to try again. They were successful at the 2nd go, but had to do it from the back of her hand.
anyways, the test showed she was allergic to egg whites. the test was done on the most common allergies (nuts, soy, wheat, dairy, eggs, oat, barley) and any other items we wanted to include.
in the next appointment, we had a skin prick test (on her back) which confirmed the egg white allergy. the allergiest told us that we'll do annual tests (blood draw and skin prick test) to determine how her allergies are doing, as most kids do eventually outgrow an egg allergy.
we were given an epi pen prescription to keep for her just in case.
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@AprilK: how old was your LO when you had these tests done? I am interested in getting my LO allergy tested but not sure at what age to do it. Thanks!!
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@yoursilverlining: For the type 1 allergy test at the ped he was right at a year old. The other tests he was about 18 months
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LO had eczema and rashes but she wasn't tested for allergies until she had an allergic reaction of milk powder!!! It was so scary! She was 7 months when this happened and had an allergy test done a few weeks after the incident. They did a scratch test on her arm (6 quick pricks in the arm), LO didn't cry a single tear but the baby ahead of her did. You wait 15 minutes and then the allergist examines the scratches to see if any of them reacted.
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Everyone we spoke with said wait to test them for allergies until they are at least 2 years old because what you get before that will likely change (better or worse, new allergies, etc). We were going along with that but got to a point at 19 months where we went ahead and called our pediatric allergist and asked his advice moving forward to see if we should continue to wait or bring my son in. He said to go ahead and bring him in for testing. The type of testing our allergist did for my son was similar to the type adults get so he had 4 rows of 5 shots each up and down his back (20 total, which is a subset of what you get as an adult) and then they reconfirmed 8 of them with a larger dose in his arm (total of 28 needles). Because my son showed a sensitivity to soy, wheat, and peanuts they then sent him for a blood draw so that made for 29 needles that day. Overall my son did really well and calmed as soon as the needle was removed from his skin.
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@banana: interesting. let me know if they find anything out. DD has eczema, too, and I keep wondering if it is food related but her only known allergies are to tree nuts and peanuts. So of course we don't give her any nuts to eat but she still has eczema flare ups. For nuts, they just did a patch test on her arm and it was very quick/easy.
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we did a prick test and it was a little uncomfortable for lil' CB, but not too bad. the best part was that they did it on his back and he had to stay topless for 20 minutes...he was cracking up all the other adult patients by showing off his muscles.
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My sons' allergist is very thorough. Appointments with her are 2 hours long when you go in for the first time. She first sits down with you to talk to you about your child's eating habits. Like what he frequently eats or what he's exposed to environmentally and she will test for those. She only does the forearm pricking for infants and kids. Then you wait 15 minutes to seeif there is a reaction. Then she'll give you instructions on how to go from there.
My oldest had dairy and soy protein allergies which he outgrew at 15 months. My youngest has peanut and dog allergy.
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@Mrs. Cowgirl: How cute!
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