Talking Allergies

My DD has just been diagnosed with allergies. I am an allergic person - food allergies to tree nuts, peanuts, most lentils, peas, fish, shellfish and then I'm allergic to lots of environmental allergens too... Anyway, we were concerned that DD might inherit some allergies to foods so we've been quite careful with her. We've been giving her new foods slowly and waiting 3 days before trying anything else.

We had decided to wait until she was 12 months adjusted age (she was born eight weeks premature) before trying eggs, dairy and wheat with her. We had a couple of hiccups along the way, DH gave her rice cereal that had milk in it - she reacted with hives almost immediately; then we gave her a teething biscuit and she had hives from that too (didn't realize that wheat was one of those wait until 12 month foods).

Anyway, last month her pediatrician suggested that we do some blood tests on her - I believe they were RAST tests. They've come back: egg white over 100, dairy 77 and wheat 17. Unfortunately, my DH spoke to the pediatrician so I'm not sure what that means. I've sent her emails with questions but she tells me it's best to talk with the pediatric dietician. I'll be meeting with the dietician on Tuesday so hopefully I'll get some answers. But really, the first thing I want to know is - is she anaphylatic to these foods? I think that is a major thing to know! But I have yet to get an answer!

We've always tried to be careful around her and will continue but I would like to be prepared in case she is exposed by accident to something.

Sorry for the rant. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with trying to find recipes and foods to give her that are dairy, egg, and wheat free. We've been giving her oatmeal for breakfast for months and she is pretty sick of it. I've ordered a couple of cookbooks by Cybele Pascal. I'm hoping they will give me some ideas. Now, I'm worried about introducing new foods to her because I'm not sure if she will react...

Anyway, any insight and advice that you can give will be much appreciated!

Thanks for reading my long post!
Tina

Hello Tina, sorry you're going through all of this with your little one. I think you're doing a great job in trying to introduce one food at a time. Much research has been done on when to introduce foods but the fact that one parent has severe food allergies does increase the predisposition.

So the pediatrician has determined allergies through the blood test. Have you been referred to an allergist to follow up? Blood tests have a certain ammount of false positives. You can ask that a skin prick test (SPT) be done to confirm the RAST. (SPT's have their own false negatives ). If the SPT is negative, the allergist can advise if an oral challenge is warrunted.

_________________
Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Wish there were quick and easy answers for you, but as you know, there aren't. Every one is so unique in their experiences - while those numbers tell part of the story, whether or not it's anaphylactic can't be determined from numbers ... only reactions. It's best to go with complete avoidance, and meet with the dietician. SO glad you're getting to speak with one! Something we were never offered.

My son was diagnosed with milk allergy at 11 weeks based on symptoms, confirmed by every-3-month challenges until he was 2 (hives, vomiting), then confirmed officially with blood and skin prick tests at age 2. His 1st anaphylactic episode wasn't until he was almost 5, prior reactions had been self-limiting.

He's now 10 1/2, still has very high RAST.

The one thing I wish we had done differently was really try and broaden his experiences with food between 1 and 2 (foods that he wasn't allergic to of course!). A dietician later told us that up until about 18 months you have a "window" to introduce foods that pretty much all babies will try and probably accept. After that, and the window closes. Our son had reflux as well, so we had to feed alot of "mush" so he wouldn't throw it up. A single pea was enough to trip his gag reflex. By the time he could tolerate new textures, he wouldn't eat anything else! So he's been a picky eater most of his life.

Those are some pretty tough allergies ... hopefully the dietician can give you some great options.

Welcome Tina 428,
I agree, I agree. Seeing the dietitian will help but be sure to push to see an allergist. It might take some time to actually be seen so it is important for your family Dr. to refer you asap.

As Susan and Momtobunches have said you can't just go by rast as there are false positives. Itis important to combine RAST with skin pricks and then hopefully an oral challenge if warranted. The good news with that is once you know more definitely about which allergens to avoid the less food your little one has to avoid unneccessarily.

Good luck and Welcome

_________________
DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish