Allergy testing

[Sarahcook]

The Beloved Child has had a shocker of a cough that keeps going and coming back. It was mentioned that the evil Dust Mite may be to blame, and my mother and partner both believe it may be the cat. (Other Half is allergic to said beast, but as said beast believes it is a dog, there is no problem as far as the cat is concerned!) I digress...... I was wondering.....

Has anyone had a child allergy tested?

Has anyone been allergy tested?

Is it worth doing?

Cheers!

Sarah

[Rainy]

Hi
My son was tested a few years ago at our local hospital. We were referred via our gp. I think the child has to be over 1 year old and they prick the skin on the back and put various stuff on and you wait to see what happens.
Our son was violently allergic to milk, eggs, tomatoes and almonds. At 5 he seems to be growing out of them [fingers crossed] but we had some scary times at A&E.

Just ask your GP - ours was very supportive.
Also check out the website for the Anaphylaxis Campaign - its a charity that raises awareness of allergies. They were very helpful to us.

Hope your little one is ok.

Rainy

[Magpie]

Had our son done at about 4 months old - very placid baby though! They did the pricks on his back, too. Didn't find any allergies.

Friend of mine had her daughter done at about age 3, she was allergic to nothing either - except the lotion they use to wipe the skin clean at the end!

Not sure if it's worth it then, I say get rid of the cat anyway, but then I don't much like cats!

[baldowrie]

I take the GP has seen your youngster Sarah?

Hayfever is another reaction that people just think is sneezing and runny eyes. It can also be a cough that ends up being seasonal astma...as mine is....true asthma has a night time cough in children, not generally a wheeze.

Children have a tendency to grow out of allergies either completely or they become less severe.

I would suggest you take the child to the GP and mention the possibility of an allergy. If the GP agrees they will first start by giving you some antihistamine.

[Thomzo]

true asthma has a night time cough in children, not generally a wheeze.

Sorry baldowrie, I had asthma as a child and I had a definite wheeze.

I'm allergic to lots of things and they usually manifest themselves as a rash or with itchy/runny eyes and nose as well as other symptoms like a cough. Although, hyacinths do give me a headache with no other symptoms.

I find that my allergies come and go. I was highly allergic to dust as a child with severe asthma but that has largely gone now. I went through a period of being allergic to cats in my teens and twenties but that isn't so bad now. I couldn't get rid of my cats so just took antihistamines instead.

I was tested as a child and it did help to identify problems. Just be aware that if your child is prone to allergies he may find that they change or new ones are added as he grows up.

Zoe

[baldowrie]

that's why I said generally...some do wheeze but more often than not it's a cough

[flower]

my daughter was tested last year (then aged three) at the hospital.
They did the skin pricks on her leg so that she could 'help' with the measuring.
She was absolutely fascinated!
They test for ten things because reactions maybe to several different things at once and measure the size of any itchy bumps.
Anything under 5mm is considered an 'intolerance' and should not be eliminated from the child's environment because they'll probably develop immunity.
over 5mm is an allergic reaction which could progress to something serious and should be avoided.

I think that it wasn't too unpleasant for my littlun and we were relieved by the results so I would definately reccommend the test if it's on offer.

[PurpleDragon]

This is very interesting.

My 4 year old has had a problem with milk since she was a baby. She couldn't tolerate my milk and she went onto formula. She can't take a lot of things with milk in them, but some things she can - for example - formula is made with skimmed milk powder.

The last year, even though we do not let her have milk products, she has been getting worse so the GP referred her to the dietician at the hospital. She didn't really seem to give a stuff, and referred her onto the gastroenterologist.

We have just been there and been prescribed a drug that she has to take half an hour before every meal. Apparently, if this works, she will be able to eat anything that was previously excluded. I don't think it is working, but it has only been 2 weeks.

We were given two other alternatives to these meds. One was a blood test for coeliac disease, but they are reluctant to do that because of her age. Apparently at this age the results aren't reliable.

The second option was to exclude everything except 6 plain foods. Once she can tolerate those, another food is added and so on. As soon as a reaction appears, that food is excluded. Unfortunately, it may not be that food she has a problem with, it could be that the 7th food + a previous food are reacting together.

[littlebluefish]

that's why I said generally...some do wheeze but more often than not it's a cough

There is a thing called silent asthma as well, which does not exhibit a wheeze at any stage. It is rare as anything but exists!

[baldowrie]

yep know about that too.

My son developed a cough every night when he was younger and childhood asthma is one of the things the GP discussed with me at length. He actually had a virus that was taking weeks to go but the GP had put asthma on the agenda