Very frustrated - potential food allergies - please advise! UPDATE

[ciaobella]

UPDATE - I called the nurse to ask a couple of questions and she was very helpful! She said that the reaction to wheat and oat was very small and could have been related to the milk reaction. So, she agreed that we do not need to eliminate wheat and oats for now. I feel much better about this. She also reassured me that he will likely outgrow the milk allergy with time.

Ok, moms, I need you now more than ever! I generally lurk around here on a daily basis, do searches, and reply to the occasional post. I have gotten such great advice on these boards for the past 1.5 years. My DS turns one next month and I can honestly say that the only reason that we have been able to nurse for so long is because of the support, ideas, etc from these boards - so thank you!

I am posting today seeking advice, guidance from experience and a little sanity!

My DS has had a recurring sinus infection since February. He is seeing an allergist and his course of treatment has been antibiotics thus far. After each round of antibiotics they do an x-ray to see if the sinus passages have cleared - they have not. So, they sent us for a bunch of tests and lab work. All results were reassuring, but his IGE levels in his immune system were high, suggesting an allergy. So, today he had allergy testing done. Most people are surprised that they tested him at such a young age ... Anyhow, the allergy testing showed reactions to dust, milk, wheat, and oats.

He has had these things his whole life and has never had a severe reaction (nor any other reaction - i.e. getting fussy, etc). It IS possible that his congestion and runny nose are related to these allergies, but they do not know for sure. He is having a cat scan of his sinuses and adenoids on Monday which should tell us more. For example, I am having to have sinus surgery next month because the lining of my left sinus is blocked and I am having recurring infections because of it. So, the infections COULD be related to the way his sinus passages are structured, etc.


With all of that said ... what is a mom to do? They want me to take all dairy, wheat and oats out of BOTH of our diets. Wheat is in almost everything. He eats table food now and I just cannot imagine taking wheat out of his diet. I am not as upset about the milk thing. The nurse today said that once the cat scan results were in, they would be able to better assess the situation and provide recommendations.

So, here are my questions. Is it possible to have a reaction to something on the test and not have a major reaction to the thing itself? They are trying to determine if these foods are causing his congestion, etc which are in turn causing infections. For the life of me, I just don't think it could be the wheat! For what it is worth, the PR number was 3/10 --- whatever that means. He is also allergic to dust, but we can't eliminate that. I am just looking for some middle of the road answer, I guess. I am pretty laid back mom and this course of action seems to extreme to me. My son has never been very symptomatic ... the only reason I think it has gotten this far is that I wanted to understand why he was congested. Most of the babies in his class are congested occasionally with runny noses - we live in Houston - it comes with the territory!

So, thank you if you have made it this far. I would love any advice you have to offer. The only advice I have received thus far from another mom was to increase his water intake.

Thank you so much!

[kristine_elen]

Since you've already taken him to an allergist, you should follow their advice. The more a child eats of a food he's allergic to, the longer the allergy will last and the more severe it will become. I know it's a pain (my son has a milk allergy) but you should eliminate all those things from both diets. Good luck!

[ciaobella]

Thanks for the response. After doing a little more reading, I discovered that the skin test has a lot of false positive results, so my guess is that they are having us remove everything for now until the CT results and the blood test results are back. With all of that information they will be able to give us better directions.

[tigalig]

We live with severe food allergies here. My ds is allergic to peanuts and I'm allergic to seafood. I think the possibility of reacting to something on the test and not irl is slim, but surely always a possibility.

Have they drawn blood yet? This was the test that confirmed my son's extreme allergy and he'll likely never outgrow it because the numbers are so high. I would recommend following the doctor's advice (even though you'll have to re-invent the entire wheel for cooking/eating!) and see how it goes. It could be temporary, but I would not risk an allergic reaction. Anaphylaxis is very scary.