Worth doing an allergy test? - UPDATE

[khalloc]

My 15 month old DS has had a bit of a rough time the past 5-6 months. He's suffered from pneumonia, ear infections, constant colds, asthma, and hives.

He MAY be allergic to amoxicillin. Because the hives started when he was on his 7th day of that for an ear infection. But it was his 3rd time on that medication and the first time he had hives. He hasn't take amoxicillin in 3+ weeks but just got hives again yesterday. But doc said it could still be due to the hives.

My other guess is either TIDE does not agree with his skin (though I feel like I have used it off and on his entire life) But I dont really keep track of what detergent i use. I go back and forth between Costco Free&Clear stuff and TIDE when I dont make it to Costco to restock. his daycare teacher thinks it could be a food allergy, but i dont know anyone in my family or my DH's family with a food allergy. So I am not buying that.

Anways, I made an apopintment for Friday for a skin test for him - is it worth doing? Is it going to be awful for him? I had one before and it didnt bother me, but I dont know what it will be like for a toddler. I could try rewashing all his clothes in a different detergent first.

What do you think?

Also was reading that EGG allergies can cause asthma symptoms. DS ate French Toast sticks the other day when he got the hives again out of nowhere. But he eats those almost every day lately.

[lilycat88]

Unless you have a strong suspician of food allergies, I wouldn't. Here's why. At that age, the only thing you can do is treat symptoms or remove the allergen (food). If it's a food, I'd rather do an elimination to see if I can figure it out and keep track of things that could be causing the irritation...detergent, soap, etc.


We did the scratch testing at about age 2 for DD. She was on her 3rd set of tubes and was struggling with illness induced reactive airway disease. The scratch testing showed nothing. But, the #$%# peds allergist didn't test for food allergies despite us asking him to and said she was too young to get reliable scratch test results. We had the ENT who put her tubes in do a blood test for the food allergies and bingo, egg showed up. She was much improved after removing egg from her diet.

Is your DC on any "allergy" medication at this point? At that age, even if it is allergies, they can't do much about it except treat the symptoms. Or, for a food allergy, remove the food. DD has extremely bad environmental allergies. We know it, her doctor knows it... But, we didn't do additional testing because there was no point in subjecting her to it since doing any immunotherapy wasn't an option before age 5-6. We'll probably do testing again within the next 6 months or so to pinpoint exactly what she is allergic to. In the meantime, we treat the symptoms. She outgrew the egg allergy by about 4 1/2. Her next pulmonologist appointment will include lung function tests to determine asthma/no asthma. BAsed on the testing and her lung function tests, we'll move on to shots or keep treating the allergy symptoms.

FYI, we have no history of food allergies in either of our families either.

ETA: What type of doc are you seeing? I'd at least go for a consult with an ENT before doing scratch testing.

[Andi98989]

Food for thought - my mom and I are horribly allergic to Tide and both break out in a rash when we use it (or any store-brand version of Tide)

[MamaMolly]

For me it would be worth it to have some answers. IME if it is a food allergy it can be really tricky to pinpoint with an elimination diet only. Testing first could help you narrow down what you are going to eliminate. Once (or if) you have some suspects you can go forward with an elimination plan.

A SPT can also detect environmental allergens, which you can then work to eliminate from DS's environment.

Just out of curiosity, what prompted you to make the appointment? Did DS's pediatrician recommend it? Or was it more like where you were going on instinct? I trust Mama Instincts. You know something isn't right, why not test if it can help figure out what it is?

[lizajane]

IMHO, you should definitely do it. get the blood test and the skin test. dylan had very serious hives twice. turns out it was an insect bite. but he also had food allergies- milk made him vomit. and his wheat "levels" were not normal, even though minor, but it helped me to have that info when i decided to try gluten free with him (after my diagnosis of celiac, which is hereditary.) schuyler was allergic to eggs- a GI problem.

they both outgrew the allergies (of course, dylan, we suspect, has gluten intolerance or celiac) but it was really nice to know WHAT the problem was when they were having trouble.

i carried dylan around during the skin test and it was NOT a big deal at all.

[lizajane]

ps: dairy is a big "respiratory illness allergy" so it may be worth eliminating dairy no matter what the test says. my good friend just eliminated dairy at age 45 and suddenly ALL his life's trouble with sinuses went away.

[newmomto1]

FWIW DD is allergic to dairy, eggs, and nuts. Even with avoidance of these foods she still gets hives at times and we can't figure out why. NO ONE else in our immediate or extended family has food allergies. So, that is not really a factor.
I would get testing done.
Good luck!

[babybunny]

My DS was skin tested at 3.5 years. The food tests were done on his back with plastic "prongs" on trays that just deposited the drop on his skin. The hardest part was keeping him still for the next minute. They did test him for pollen, etc. with needles on his arms (cream that numbed the area was applied first). Oddly he didn't complain about the needles, just the application of cream.

[s_gosney]

My ds (13 mos) is going in for skin testing on Thursday. He got hives from amoxicillin and from yogurt as well. It is my understanding that for amoxicilling, they don't test anymore just avoid it since there are so many other options for antibiotics. If eliminating dairy had taken care of ds's problems I don't think we would be doing the testing right now, but even on a daily dose of zyrtec, his eczema was out of control.
FWIW, last week at our initial visit with the allergist, she showed me the plastic thing the pp described that they use for the skin test and rubbed it on my arm to show me what it felt like. It's not painful at all. I thought it would be like 8 little needles poking, but it's really nothing. If it's not cost prohibitive and your doc thinks it seems indicated, I'd go for it. Good luck! It's so hard to have a sick little one.
ETA: Just fyi, the reason why we have to go back this week is because ds had been on the daily zyrtec and occasional benadryl and the allergist said they couldn't do testing until he'd been antihistamine free for at least 5 days. Not fun. But I would ask about that up front because we are out money for an additional office visit thanks to that little tidbit of info.

[ohiomom]

My nearly 6 yr old is going for testing tomorrow. I've had it trying to figure out her skin rashes. To poster about Tide. DD can't even tolerate the fragrance free tide. I've read about that problem on other forums, too. Something else is in Tide that can be problematic. The last month has made it clear she reacts strongly to grass. I had to give her claritin/bendaryl -- so will only be 4 days without meds. That is a long time for her, so I'm not going to reschedule and wait. I may kick myself, but that is the plan. Good luck. I'm finding this all to be very, very elusive.

[ett]

I agree with most PP's that I would do the testing. The only one they won't test for is amoxicillin. DS2 is allergic to dust mites and eggs. He's been suffering from horrible asthma issues this past month and a half so we're going back in a couple weeks to test for the environmental allergens and mold.

For the skin testing, our allergist told us you have to be off zyrtec for 2 weeks and benadryl for 3 days.

[MontrealMum]

I would do it, though I would prefer a blood test to a scratch test. Even so, we did a scratch test for DS at less than 18 mos (sorry, don't remember the exact age; that was what was offered to us up here) and although it was a bit surprising to him...
1) if they're really young they (hopefully) won't remember much (that's what I'm telling myself :( ); even so DS did not get too upset for his which was only for 1 thing - they were very quick
2) it's not nearly as bad as a full-on scratch test (which I've had twice) which tests for 40+ things.

I was/am very vigilant about allergies for DS as there are lots of food allergies in DH's family. However, I myself have tons of allergies (including to penicillin/amoxycillin), and there is no history of food allergies in my bio family. History of food allergies does not equal food allergies for subsequent generations (we were told this by the ped. allergist we saw at the Children's). In fact, we have sucessfully tested/introduced nearly all the allergens of DH's family w/DS at this point.

[khalloc]

Well actually my DH suggested bringing him to an allergist and its the worst reason - we are switching insurance starting July 1st and he wants to use up the money in his company funded-HSA account. Bad, I know! But at the same time he is getting hives constantly and I would like to know what i might be able to keep him away from to stop it.

I am going to buy some new detergent today after work and start washing my sons stuff in that. The TIDE is gone now anyways, so I will just be sure not to purchase it again.

His pediatrician, who I love, did not suggest the allergy test, but she said at a future date she might do it to be sure he is allergic to amoxicillin. I'm not sure if she thinks bringing him right now is a good idea or not. I just called and asked where to go and she said to be sure they test for amoxicillin while we are there.

He is not on any meds now (except Pulmicort for asthma control). Doc said that would not cause hives since it is inhaled...plus he started that after the first hive outbreak.

The allergy test I believe will be paid for with either our insurance now (or when we switch next week). The cost really isnt an issue to me, but DH wants to put the screws to his health insurance before we drop it next week leaving $2000 in an account that we never used. And I figure that i would like to know what is causing the hives.

[ohiomom]

Go for it.

Scratch test for DD today was not bad at all. It itched, but she held out the 5 minutes staying still for the ever desirable popsicle they promised. I kept her busy the remaining 10 after she could move around.

They tested 29 items, the positive and 2 negatives. She reacted to the 1st negative (normal saline) and nurse said she clearly has ultra sensitive skin.

My ped was sending us to derm, not allergy and I insisted on allergist and am glad we did. Trees, weeds, grass as expected, but also dust mites and cats (DH does not react to either -- and we have 2 cats), bunnies, hamsters (DD REALLY wants one -- not now...), gerbils, molds, etc came back. He did not test for food since she basically had no more room. We may be back for more later.

Lots of recs given -- HEPA in bedroom and family, encasings for pillows/mattresses, washing linens/stuffed animals every 1-2 weeks, major skin care recs. Daily claritin Apr - Oct rx'd. I'm glad we went. Knowledge is power, IYKWIM. I feel like I was reading my kiddo right and it gives me areas to actually work to reduce her exposures. But... red itchy bottom area again tonight after bath. :( I'm going to drive myself crazy trying to implement this all quickly.

[khalloc]

Well we had the allergy test done.

he's not allergic to anything at all. They did a scratch test for penicillin but Doc feels like the chances of him being alelrgic to that are very low. She wrote a note to our pediatrician that next time she needs to give Amoxicillin to do 1/100 of a dose, then 1/10 of a dose, then the full dose...

The hives CANNOT be caused by Tide according to the doc, more likely caused by a viral infection - most likely his ear infection back in May. I've never heard of that but hey, she is the doc and the allergy/asthma expert!

She wrote us new prescriptions for Flovent x/aerochamber to use instead of Pulmicort w/nebulizer. Flovent will take alot less time to administer. But I havent filled those yet because I will talk to the pediatrician about it first.

Oh, and he hasnt had the raised hives since I switched from Tide to Kirkland free & clear!

[MamaMolly]

snip...The hives CANNOT be caused by Tide according to the doc, more likely caused by a viral infection - most likely his ear infection back in May. I've never heard of that but hey, she is the doc and the allergy/asthma expert!...snip...Oh, and he hasnt had the raised hives since I switched from Tide to Kirkland free & clear!

grumble grumble...Expert-shmeckspert. IMHO just about anything can cause hives. It may be that she personally has never heard of it or seen it, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Saying something CANNOT happen is pretty strong language IMO.

In the world of allergies there is a saying that reaction trumps results. It could very well be that your DC 'only' had a case of viral hives, but the testing is far from perfect. Heck some would say far from accurate. That is one of the (many) reasons allergies can be so frustrating to deal with.

If you don't see hives while using Free and Clear then that is what you should use. Why chance it?

[KpbS]

grumble grumble...Expert-shmeckspert. IMHO just about anything can cause hives. It may be that she personally has never heard of it or seen it, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Saying something CANNOT happen is pretty strong language IMO.

In the world of allergies there is a saying that reaction trumps results. It could very well be that your DC 'only' had a case of viral hives, but the testing is far from perfect. Heck some would say far from accurate. That is one of the (many) reasons allergies can be so frustrating to deal with.

If you don't see hives while using Free and Clear then that is what you should use. Why chance it?

:yeahthat:
Her professional opinion is ridiculous. I'd find a new allergist if you need one in the future.

[khalloc]

Well she said that Tide would cause contact dermatitis, not the raised splotchy hives he was getting. I take it all with a grain of salt personally. I dont need another allergist. I dont plan on going back again. Plus my DS's teacher and her daughter both had severe allergies and she goes to her and said that although she doesnt have a good bedside manner, she really knows her stuff.

I'm relieved that he isnt allergic to our cats or dogs and to learn that its not a food allergy since he is sometimes waking up with hives after not eating for 12+ hours.

[ett]

Just because your DS did not test for anything positive on the scatch test does not mean he has no allergies. Scratch tests are not accurate in young kids and your DS is only 15 months. If he's still suffering from similar issues in the future, you'd probably want to take him back for tests again.

[khalloc]

I realize that the scratch test is just the first step. But IMO if the hives stop (and are a result of a virus or just TIDE) and he doesnt have any other issues, I wouldn't go back. Allergies don't run in my or my husbands families. If he did have a problem that continues, of course I would go back. But for now the issue is over (for me).