Allergies?
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Allergies?
| Fri, 09-15-2006 - 10:37am |
I am curious how many of you have had allergy issues and had your child tested. We finally had testing (blood) done and just got the results. Come to find out, my ds is allergic to almost everything. The lab woman called me with the results and said "My lord this the little guy is allergic to almost everything". Just curious if anyone else has had this type of test result?

I had my youngest tested for food allergies via blood testing. She showed up allergic to everything as well, mainly proteins. I tried to avoid those foods, but she didn't get any better. I decided to give her eggs back and noticed her language improved (sulfur in eggs). I decided the blood test she had was not an accurate assessment. I mean, I get the feeling that the data may show up on a blood test, but I'm not sure the interpretation is what we believe it to be. An analogy I have for this is that my daughter can read something and if the test asked her to explain what she just read, then she couldn't. However, if she was given multiple choice, then she always picks the right answers and it clearly shows she understood. The first test in no way is an accurate measure of ferreting out what she truly comprehends. Does that make sense? So I think the blood test does show results, but I do not think it is necessarily important to follow it as a doctrine. That's just my opinion and of course in no way does it make it the correct answer either. I just think it's okay to stretch our intepretation of the data dropped on our lap and not always accept it as absolute. There are many tests like this. There are iron tests that do not show an accurate picture of iron status, although they are commonly used by drs. The same with thyroid.
I recently took my oldest to an allergist. THey did skin testing for food and environmental. He said skin testing was more accurate than blood. She showed up allergic to some trees and weeds. Nothing on foods. In the past I noticed how much worse her behavior was at certain times of the year, fall (Oct-Nov specifically) and spring (Mar-April) so this explained a lot because the trees allergies are in spring and the weeds in the fall.
However, again, there is practical experience and there are tests. My oldest dd reacts to chocolate and whole grain breads (white bread is no problem). Even the allergist said that there is a difference between allergy and tolerance, so he didn't dismiss our observations at all. It's similar to a lactose intolerance. It's not an allergy, it's a lack of adequate enzyme to deal with lactose. So there is validity in the notion of what you observe to be true as opposed to what the tests may come up with.
I still think the skin allergy testing for environmentals is good. I wouldn't ever do a blood test again because I think the results are still too widely interpretable.
Another question I have about allergies is histamines. I forgot to ask the allergist that, darn it! We were busy going over other issues and I forgot to ask this. I tend to be a low histamine person. I wonder what happens to pathogens that would normally cause a more significant histamine response than I could give? What happens to them when histamine doesn't rush to respond in a normal way? What does this mean for my immunity? Just because I have these "invaders" (dust mites, pollen, etc) like everyone else and I don't have enough histamines to respond well...doesn't sound normal to me. I certainly may not be allergic in the histamine attack sense, but I don't think that makes me impervious to these allergens. On the outset, I may sound lucky, but I do wonder if under reactive is just as bad as over allergic. Does that make sense? Anyway, maybe someone else here would know or I'll have to wait a year and ask the allergist at the next appt. My dh and oldest are high histamine responders.
I probably didn't give information that is definitive, but I did want to express that it's important to be open when you get these things and check different avenues and reasonings.
yep.
what LR said.
;)
Paula
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
no actual testing on Vaughn (8 yr old with AS) but he most likely has seasonal environmental allergies (ragweed, pollen, etc.).....he has a scratchy throat and runny (clear) nose right now.....same in the spring.
We did the scratch test on our 2 yr old.......they tested 18 environmental allergins and he had slight reactions to all of them but he had huge reactions to the dog, dust and dustmites. He is on Zyrtec right now. We have allergy covers on his mattress, removed all stuffed animals from his bed and wash his sheets at least once a week in hot water. We also have a hepa filter in his room and try to keep the dog out of there.
Christie