taking 15 month old to an allergist, help

Stephanie - posted on 10/30/2010

I know how you feel we was just told last week at our check up to go to an allergist..started off milk/dairy products, so we did soy..then chocolate, so we all the good stuff out..now wheat..it seems like everytime we introduce something new he finds a way to reject it..the allergist we are going to see is luckily in the same clinic as my other sons ENT so we have already gotten to talk to her and she recommend a full panel screening test, the little pricks all over the back to rule out exactly what all seems to be causing the reactions..gl with your little guy

Sarah - posted on 10/28/2010

I used to nanny a little boy who was 18mth old and had severe allergies. He was anaphalactic to dairy, soy, nuts and egg, and allergic to wheat, all fruit except pears, and a lot of other stuff. He used to break out in excema a lot as he had to eat some foods he was allergic to just to survive. He has to see an allergist every 8wks, and is on a special formula for allergic babies, I think it was called elecare or something. Don't be frightened to see the allergist - you are better off seeing something that can work out what the problem is. :-)

Becky - posted on 10/28/2010

If you have Scandinavian heritage the excema might just be a result of hypersensitive skin. We have to slather our daughter in a semi-expensive moisturizing lotion every morning, and we have a prescription cream for if she gets bad breakouts. We've been to a dermatologist and our pediatrician and both said she just has very sensitive skin. So it could be an allergy, but it may just be very sensitive skin, too (even if you don't have a lot of Scandinavian heritage, this could be the case). So ask about that, too. The lotion we use is over-the-counter and is called Cerave I think.

As far as the allergist - don't be scared. Especially if he specializes in children! You're taking him to the best of the best, from what I can tell - rest easy and know you're doing the right thing and there's nothing to be nervous about. It's just like going to the doctor.

Jessie - posted on 10/25/2010

We are still waiting for the blood work on his wheat for a more 'official' diagnosis. in the week since stopping wheat he hasn't had any runny diapers which is a good sign. I don't know if I am being paranoid or what but I have a feeling there is still something else he is reacting to. His face still flares up and gets splotchier sometimes. I have started keeping a food log so hopefully I can come up with a connection to bring back to the allergist.
He is scheduled to go back in 6 months (April) unless something else comes up before then. I have a feeling we will be visiting again soon. My boyfriend thinks I am being to panicky about it. He is right, it could be way worse and we will deal with it together but I still can't help worrying! His daycare provider has been amazing and she has experience with children with food allergies (my cousins child funnily enough) so that's good. I am more worried about my own family (my mother mostly) and strangers giving him stuff he shouldn't have. A challenge is when the eat it and watch for a reaction, right?

Danielle - posted on 10/25/2010

I am in the Philadelphia area and took my 8 month old to a CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) allergist after an anaphylactic reaction to regular formula. Long story made short, she is severely allergic to milk and egg (these seem to be a somewhat common combo). She did wonderfully as they skin tested her (one at a time) for about 20 possible allergens. They figured out a limited set to test for after a detailed history and a knowledgeable doctor. I was nervous and anxious for her, but she didn't cry once. (FYI, when I took my other daughter at 2 years old to another allergist, they tested her for all of them at once and she cried and screamed for a half hour).
The good news is that we live in a much more allergy safe world than we did 10 years ago or so. They tell us that there is also a great chance that she will outgrow the allergies by the age of 5 (if not sooner). Apparently food allergies are often more easily outgrown (with total avoidance) than environmental ones.
I should also mention that both of our daughters have excema. The older one gets an all-day liquid allergy medicine each night and the younger one gets a medicinal compound cream after bath daily (I can look into what it is called if you are interested).
My advice is a lot of deep breaths and remember that knowledge is power. The sooner you figure out what his allergens are, the sooner you can limit or eliminate his pain.

Lori - posted on 10/23/2010

Be very thankful you caught them this early! My oldest son is almost six and was just diagnosed with food allergies this past summer- only after he was hospitalized and his esophagus has scarring from the repeated exposure to food allergens. His allergist said if we don't get his allergies under control, he may lose the ability to swallow. He has eosinophilic esophagitis, which is where food allergies cause damage to the esophagus. Since he was a baby we had been telling his pediatrician about skin reactions after eating and/or certain products (like sunscreen), but we were always brushed off- he just has sensitive skin, it's nothing, etc. My son was hospitalized for a week last fall from pneumonia as a complication of EE. The allergy testing isn't that big of a deal, but you will want to make sure you find a good pediatric allergist/immunologist. We are in between doctors right now because the doctor who diagnosed my son never provided any support, we never got the referral for feeding therapy that we requested, and when I called several days after my son was dx'd he was lethargic from refusal to eat "strange foods" (he is also autistic and has complex sensory issues related to food), I was told not to worry, kids don't starve themselves to death- which is NOT true at all. I was afraid to take him to the ER because he is allergic to stuff they give you to rehydrate you. It was really tough! Fast forward a few months- it isn't easy, but it's gotten a lot easier. My son is allergic to corn- and it is in EVERYTHING. It was in all of his favorite foods- mac n cheese, pizza, quesadillas, grilled cheese. Our govt gives incentives to companies to use corn derivatives rather than import products. My son can't eat out anymore, I always have to pack him a meal if we are going anywhere- and with two autistic children plus a 15 month old, we are on the go quite a bit. We also now carry an Epipen because my son's reaction to corn has increased since cutting it out of his diet- he came into contact with corn at the post office recently and immediately broke out in hives. I home school him because the school said they could not insure that he would not be given something with corn in it- a nurse at the hospital gave him apple juice containing corn derivative after I told her not to give him ANYTHING without letting me go over it first. It's a big hassle, but of course it is worth it to keep my son healthy. His throat has improved and he no longer gets stomachaches. His stools are better, also. If your child has an allergy like dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, or peanuts, you should be able to check the ingredients list and underneath in bold, most products will state whether or not they contain those allergens. Unfortunately, even though corn is one of the most common allergies, manufacturers do not list corn allergies. I am not sure of other allergies, but for corn I was able to find a site of all ingredients that indicate a product contains corn, I imagine you should be able to find a similar one for your child's allergies. I would recommend printing a list and checking everything you feed your child, even things you wouldn't think would ever contain the allergen- ricotta cheese, for example, is something that my son cannot have, that I only checked as an afterthought. HTH. Good luck!

Shanna - posted on 10/22/2010

Interesting to see this about the hep b shot. I didn't know that.

My daughter had an allergic reaction to a Gerber Graduate Lil Crunchie (Zesty Tomato) back in May at 10 months. She had hives, cauliflower ear, eye scratching, etc. The next day she saw her ped and he confirmed with getting her blood drawn that she was highly allergic to peanuts, highly allergic to soy, and mild to egg whites. None of those items were in those Gerber crunchies, so we're still clueless on what caused it. However, we then switched her to Similac Alimentum formula since it had an lower amount of soy protein than the regular Similac with Iron. Her eczema cleared up within 48 hours! We got an appt with St. Louis Childrens Hospital Allergy Specialist (had to wait 5 months to get in!!), and had a skin test taken. I'm so glad we went because it confirmed all of the allergies we already knew about, but added in dog which we had an inkling after a few episodes with our dog. We also felt so relieved to know what she wasn't allergic to (tree nuts, fruits, cats, environmental allergens such as ragweed, mold,etc). Now I feel like I can serve her meals with much more confidence and not be scared to death that she'll have a reaction to some unknown allergen. We're keeping her away from soy and peanuts, as well as egg whites for now. The allergy specialist scheduled a "food challenge" for the egg whites. Let me know if you have any questions on the skin test or food challenge, and I'll be more than happy to answer however much I can.

Good luck! It's so scary and frustrating, but can be dealt with. He can very likely outgrow his allergies as well!

Jessie - posted on 10/22/2010

He did recently have a heb b shot too. maybe that made it worse, who knows.

Molly - posted on 10/21/2010

Awww that's a bummer about the wheat because it really is in almost everything. A good friend of mine put her daughter on a gluten-free diet and I was really surprised at how many cool snacks she was able to make that were included in the diet. Try a local health food store for gluten-free cookbook and they even have recipes for cupcakes that you would never even know didn't contain wheat! Good luck, my son has seasonal allergies and I thought that was hard to deal with. I can't imagine what you are dealing with. Good news about the peanuts though :)

Jennifer - posted on 10/20/2010

You know, I had the same problem with one of my twins, he was on Nutramigen for a year, very costly because he couldn't even have breast milk, he absolutely could not to dairy, so we tried goat's milk, and no problems. However, I noticed two days after his last Hep. B virus shot he had developed eczema again, and it seems it is from the shot. Many doc's will not admit to this, but others will, and many mothers have noticed the same thing. So, just a thought for you to consider.

Jessica - posted on 10/18/2010

Try Rice and potatoes - my son loves plain rice with hot dogs & Baked beans mixed in. Just be careful that the rice does not have any wheat or milk products mixed in. Check your local grocery stores for a gluten free section. That's where I have found lots of goodies to give him.

Jessie - posted on 10/18/2010

thanks everyone. turns out he also has a wheat intolerance in addition to the dairy. The soy, eggs, and peanuts, cam out fine thank goodness! I am open to advice on what to feed my son now. the wheat eliminates all his favorite snacks and foods :( thanks

Jessica - posted on 10/18/2010

Hi! My 15 month old was taken to the Pediatric ICU back in April and the allergist met with him there. He did testing and found him to be allergic to milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts and soy. It was very difficult at first, but my son is doing awesome now. We still have the flare ups of the eczema, but now that we know what the problem is, he is so much happier - he had a lot of intestinal problems so he was crying all the time and we couldn't console him. Once we figured out what the allergies were, it was so much easier to manage. We take him every 3 months to the allergist for check ups and they test him every 6 months. So far he has grown out of the soy allergy and the milk & wheat are slowly getting smaller. Once he turned 1, we tried the soy milk, but he ended up throwing it up every time he drank it. He is now on hemp milk and it's awesome! We had had no problems since he started on it. It was literally the best thing we could have done. Good Luck to you!

Allie - posted on 10/18/2010

We had a lot of problems with my son when it came to his formula! we had him on regular milk based formula switched him to soy and he still had problems the idiot dr that he went to put him on Nutramigen which made my son not be able to eat any foods at all including rice cereal. His currant Dr put him on Alimentum which helped big time.. when it came time to switch him to regular milk we had him on it for about 2 months and he became really really gassy and seemed constipated even though he was pooping.. his poo didnt really seem to have any form at all.. His Dr said to try lactaid and that now has helped he still is able to handle things with dairy in it just not all the bottles..

Janet - posted on 10/17/2010

Your son sounds exactly like my bestfriends baby boy. He too was diagnosed as having a milk intolerance, not necessarily an allergy, but it gives him extremely bad excema. They put him on soy formula and it "helped" sort of. Now that he has been weaned off of the soy formula and on goat's milk, his excema has almost gone away. Apparently they were told that Soy is also a big one for allergies and that goat's milk is a better way to go. It took him a bit to get used to the goat's milk, but now he loves it and his skin only flares up if he's given something with dairy in it ie, yogurt, cheese etc. The dr. said that he will likely outgrow his intolerance and to keep trying cow's milk products every month or so. Try googling intolerance vs. allergy to dairy to see if that is what your son has, and good luck!

Allie - posted on 10/17/2010

my son cant handle regular milk so we put him on lactaid