What should I do about confusing allergy testing results?

[Anonymous]

My 16 month old was diagnosed at 9 months with a severe dairy allergy after two episodes of hives and facial swelling. Then, two weeks ago, she had two episodes of hives within 24 hours, one of which was accompanied by foot and leg swelling. We have no idea what triggered the recent reactions (maybe cross contamination or exposure to something in the environment. We were on vacation, so I don't know what it could have been). She has had a constant runny nose for months plus multiple ear infections, which may or may not be related to additional allergies. So yesterday, I took her to the allergist to get scratch testing done. Testing was extensive but results were confusing. Basically, she had no reaction at all to any of the allergens tested (even dairy!) and she reacted positively to both the histamine *and* the saline controls. What the heck??? Doesn't that invalidate the test? she became so fussy during the exam that I became so flustered that I could't even ask follow-up questions. Now I'm totally confused. So I called and got a voicemail back from the doctor today. She wants me to get blood tests for just the milk allergy (I guess to confirm that she no longer has the allergy?) but I guess she won't check for any additional allergies. Then she said we need to do a dairy challenge, but not until the summer because it's almost spring and they will be doing all sorts of seasonal allergy challenges for the next few months. Does this seem acceptable to you? I feel like we've been put on the back burner, they are accepting test results from an invalid test, and doing minimal follow-up. but maybe i'm overreacting. Does this seem like the standard of care, or do you think I should find a new allergist?

[Anonymous]

testing for allergies before age 2 doesn't always work because the body hasn't built up the histamine reaction due to low or no exposure to the allergens. They will want you to retest later. Did you bottle or breast feed? Have you tried changing the formula to something with low allergy reactions? As the baby ages she will become tolerant and resistant and maybe even susceptible to allergens, its just too soon to tell.

[Anonymous]

such tests are know to be not accurate. I'm surprised the doctor didn't tell you that!

[Anonymous]

I agree. Allergy testing at that age is not reliable. And a lot of children will grow out of their allergies. It doesn't sound like your doctor is that great. She should give you more info and answer your questions and not blow you off. You may want to get another opinion, but maybe wait and see if it happens again. Do you have an epipen if your child does have a severe allergy? Then I would just be careful what you feed your child. I would wait longer than normal to introduce any of the common allergy foods and just take things slow. Give her ample time between new foods to see if there is a reaction. If you can be very aware of what she is eating and write it down then that should help you figure things out. IF it's environmental which it certainly could be then it will be much tougher to figure out, but a lot of these things get clearer with time. LIke you said, you were on vacation so that makes the whole thing confusing, but if it happens again and you are home then hopefully you can narrow it down to a few possibilities. I would also be suspicious that the runny nose and ear infections are due to allergies. I know frequent ear infections can often be caused by dairy and soy allergies. I have also heard that often children/people do not have an allergic reaction the first time they come in contact with a new food or trigger, but it can be the second or third time. That makes it confusing when you're trying to figure out what is causing it so that's why i suggest you space out new foods. Wow i have really rambled! Best of luck

[Anonymous]

OP here. I EBF until 9 months, at which point I supplemented with a little bit of formula. That's how I discovered the milk allergy (hives from trying about a teaspoon of formula!). When I did needed to supplement after that, we used soy formula. I suspected that the runny nose might be related to the soy, but when we switched to rice milk at 12 months, the runny nose continued. I am so confused and frankly annoyed. I am sure I need more testing. I just don't know where to start. I think I just need a second opinion.

[Anonymous]

We found the tests to be rather useless. We tackled our food allergies by having all of us (child <1, breastfeeding mom and in-this-together-dad) go on an elimination diet for 8 or so typical allergens for one month. We added one item at a time every two weeks and looked for reactions. Yes, this was a total pain and took forever but it did narrow things down to the actual allergic items.

Google up "elimination diet for allergies". Dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, corn and the rest of the likely suspects.

Good luck! We made it through and (at age 5) our child is eating everything. Mom, interestingly, is off of wheat which we found caused her to be fatigued and she is now feeling much better.