lilycat88
06-08-2006, 12:51 PM
Thanks for all of the replies. We took Susanna to her ENT almost 2 weeks ago and he ordered a complete battery of allergy testing via the blood tests. The poor child had EIGHT tubes of blood taken. When we had her in the peds office today for her 2 year well child visit, she mentioned that she had received a copy of the test results yesterday. She didn't have many comments on them (wanted the interpretation to come from the ENT/allergist) but she did point out a couple of things that jumped out at her...all food.
Milk - her level was 7 and the desired range was <2
Wheat - her level was 14 and the desired range was <2
Egg White - her level was 20 and the desired range was <2
On a scale of 1-5, Milk was a 1 (Low antibody level), Wheat was a 2 (Moderate antibody levels), and Egg White was a 4 (Very High Antibody levels).
When I read through the test results on my own, I noticed her Soy level was 2 and Corn level was 3 and the desired range on those was <2 as well. That put her in the 0/1 level for those. So, don't know what that means, if anything.
All indoor/outdoor molds, animals, pollens, etc. were negative. Her ENT is out of town right now so we won't be able to talk to him about any of the results until after the 4th.
Thanks again. I feel like we're at least getting somewhere.
Jamelin
*******************************
I need some outside perspective. As I’ve talked about on several occasions, Susanna has struggled with ear infections and nasal drainage since she was about 4 months old. She’s had so many rounds of antibiotics that I’ve lost count. She is in daycare but we have always suspected allergies as one of the major contributors but we’ve agreed with her pediatrician about treating the symptoms and waiting on allergy testing. She’s currently on Clarinex, Singulair and Pulmicort (adding albuterol when she is especially junky) breathing treatments. She doesn’t seem to have asthma since her chest only gets congested when she has an ear infection. She has ear infections so much that we’ve not been able to get her off the breathing treatments.
Around Easter, we took her to an Easter egg hunt where there were live rabbits. She never actually touched one but was about 18 inches away. She almost immediately started tearing, sneezing and broke out in a rash. The rash actually wasn’t completely new but it got worse. She has a continual rash on her upper thighs and arms that her doctor has called Keratosis Pyloris. We have an appointment with a peds dermatologist in a couple of weeks. From the research I’ve done, it doesn’t seem that the skin condition is related to any sort of allergic condition.
So, the rabbit reaction combined with her shortly after that developing another ear infection while on the 2nd round of antibiotics for the previous one (she got sick, took a 5 day course of Zithromax and then took 5 days off and then back on for 5 days…she got sick during the 2nd 5 day course), led us to pursue a pediatric allergy consult last week. She had skin testing done for all indoor allergens as well as an assortment of animals (including rabbit). He didn’t do outdoor because her problems are around regardless of season. He also didn’t do food because he didn’t think she exhibited the “classic� food allergy symptoms. This is where I kick myself. I didn’t push for the food testing. The allergy testing didn’t show she was allergic to anything. She had to be off the Clarinex for a week prior to the appointment for testing. She immediately started with the clear runny nose that quickly went to green and by Monday we were in the peds office with another ear infection. Her pede hadn’t received the allergist report yet but was very surprised when we told her nothing showed up in the testing and was even more surprised when I told her he hadn’t tested for food allergies…milk in particular. She suggested we try dairy free for a couple of weeks and see what happens. We are doing this. She’s back on all of the medicines she was on before plus an oral antibiotic. We’re just at a loss. I’m angry that I didn’t push for the food allergy testing even though she doesn’t have the classic symptoms. I’m mad at the allergist who basically said “I don’t know what to tell you� when I asked him why, if she didn’t have allergies, the Clarinex seemed to keep everything somewhat under control. He just sort of blamed it on daycare and said she was just catching all of the bugs.
So, if you’ve made it this far, what would you do? We’ve considered contacting the allergist office again and seeing if they will do a RAST test for the food allergens so we can get a quicker answer than waiting for weeks on the elimination diet. We’re willing to do the dairy free diet but it is really hard to cut a toddler off from milk and cheese when they have been used to having it. She’s in daycare as well and that makes it even harder. They are working with us but it is challenging.
Any thoughts?
ETA: She had her first set of tubes at 10 months and her second at 17 months.
Milk - her level was 7 and the desired range was <2
Wheat - her level was 14 and the desired range was <2
Egg White - her level was 20 and the desired range was <2
On a scale of 1-5, Milk was a 1 (Low antibody level), Wheat was a 2 (Moderate antibody levels), and Egg White was a 4 (Very High Antibody levels).
When I read through the test results on my own, I noticed her Soy level was 2 and Corn level was 3 and the desired range on those was <2 as well. That put her in the 0/1 level for those. So, don't know what that means, if anything.
All indoor/outdoor molds, animals, pollens, etc. were negative. Her ENT is out of town right now so we won't be able to talk to him about any of the results until after the 4th.
Thanks again. I feel like we're at least getting somewhere.
Jamelin
*******************************
I need some outside perspective. As I’ve talked about on several occasions, Susanna has struggled with ear infections and nasal drainage since she was about 4 months old. She’s had so many rounds of antibiotics that I’ve lost count. She is in daycare but we have always suspected allergies as one of the major contributors but we’ve agreed with her pediatrician about treating the symptoms and waiting on allergy testing. She’s currently on Clarinex, Singulair and Pulmicort (adding albuterol when she is especially junky) breathing treatments. She doesn’t seem to have asthma since her chest only gets congested when she has an ear infection. She has ear infections so much that we’ve not been able to get her off the breathing treatments.
Around Easter, we took her to an Easter egg hunt where there were live rabbits. She never actually touched one but was about 18 inches away. She almost immediately started tearing, sneezing and broke out in a rash. The rash actually wasn’t completely new but it got worse. She has a continual rash on her upper thighs and arms that her doctor has called Keratosis Pyloris. We have an appointment with a peds dermatologist in a couple of weeks. From the research I’ve done, it doesn’t seem that the skin condition is related to any sort of allergic condition.
So, the rabbit reaction combined with her shortly after that developing another ear infection while on the 2nd round of antibiotics for the previous one (she got sick, took a 5 day course of Zithromax and then took 5 days off and then back on for 5 days…she got sick during the 2nd 5 day course), led us to pursue a pediatric allergy consult last week. She had skin testing done for all indoor allergens as well as an assortment of animals (including rabbit). He didn’t do outdoor because her problems are around regardless of season. He also didn’t do food because he didn’t think she exhibited the “classic� food allergy symptoms. This is where I kick myself. I didn’t push for the food testing. The allergy testing didn’t show she was allergic to anything. She had to be off the Clarinex for a week prior to the appointment for testing. She immediately started with the clear runny nose that quickly went to green and by Monday we were in the peds office with another ear infection. Her pede hadn’t received the allergist report yet but was very surprised when we told her nothing showed up in the testing and was even more surprised when I told her he hadn’t tested for food allergies…milk in particular. She suggested we try dairy free for a couple of weeks and see what happens. We are doing this. She’s back on all of the medicines she was on before plus an oral antibiotic. We’re just at a loss. I’m angry that I didn’t push for the food allergy testing even though she doesn’t have the classic symptoms. I’m mad at the allergist who basically said “I don’t know what to tell you� when I asked him why, if she didn’t have allergies, the Clarinex seemed to keep everything somewhat under control. He just sort of blamed it on daycare and said she was just catching all of the bugs.
So, if you’ve made it this far, what would you do? We’ve considered contacting the allergist office again and seeing if they will do a RAST test for the food allergens so we can get a quicker answer than waiting for weeks on the elimination diet. We’re willing to do the dairy free diet but it is really hard to cut a toddler off from milk and cheese when they have been used to having it. She’s in daycare as well and that makes it even harder. They are working with us but it is challenging.
Any thoughts?
ETA: She had her first set of tubes at 10 months and her second at 17 months.