Allergies~new to this

[Tav Mom]

A little background. I'm a mom to 4 boys. My ds2 has had eczema for as long as I can remember. His was dairy/soy related. He has pretty much outgrown this. Now, ds4 has the same issues. And never really had a huge outbreak of eczema. We've been controlling it with diet. His and my diet...he's still nursing.

So, just recently he broke out into hives. They started on his eczema areas and now have moved to the rest of his body. He's covered with them. I've given him some benadryl and have completely stopped all type of allergen foods. The benadryl helped a bit with the rash on his cheeks and his slightly swollen eyelids and his itchy red eyes. And that's about all it did.

I don't know what to do next. I'm wondering if since he has food intolerances (never been tested for allergies) that the airborne allergens are just making his body react more severely. And when should I take him in and to whom? We don't go to a ped we go to a NMD. Oh, and he is 20mos old.

I just need advice. I'm getting frustrated because I don't know what to do next.

[tuscany123]

Hi Mom. First of all, so sorry you are going thru all this worry. My DS has had eczma too his whole life. He's 22 months. Frequent hives, and runny nose and goopy eyes. He got that swollen eyelid thing too. We go to a pedi, and frankly they have never done much for it except to allow benadryl when the hives appear. Finally, after his last outbreak, DH and I demanded a referral to a pediatric allergist. The nearest one our insurance would take is a 2 hr drive away.

Long story short, he had the scratch test and turns out he has LOTS of food allergies including peanuts and tree nuts. We had a blood draw to test for other stuff, but the results aren't back yet. I suspect dairy is a problem too.

The thing is, the allergist told us the next reaction could be the fatal one. We carry an EpiJr pen now for him.

I had tried elimination diets and so on, but we were just stabbing in the dark and getting no where. The reactions kept occurring. If you are that concerned, then you should ask for a referral to a pediatric allergist.

I wish you all the best. The worrying about it was so hard because of not knowing really what to be worried about. I have more worries now but at least I know what I have to worry about, and am learning, slowly, how to deal with it.

[sbgrace]

I think you need allergy testing. Hives and eye swelling are concerning. You need to know what he's reacting to. Would you NMD order Immuno-Cap RAST testing? That's one route to start. I'd want dairy, soy, corn, egg, wheat, fish, shellfish, nuts, peanuts, sesame, and anything else you suspect he's reacting to tested. If that's a no go ask for a recommendation for a good pediatric allergist.
Yes, I believe that other allergies do make food reactions more likely. That's been true here and National Jewish (forefront of food allergy treatment) actually has a bucket theory and using that they've had success with getting kids able to eat foods they were previously mildly allergic to. They control and treat environmental allergies, asthma, and eczema to reduce the allergy "bucket" and many kids regain some foods. (Not their severe allergen foods but ones that are less severe in my understanding can go away when you control the rest of it). Now that control is tricky. But I'm trying here and I know it's a factor for my son.

[Tav Mom]

Thanks, you guys. I'm going to give my NMD a call today and hopefully talk with her about it. Find out what we can do next. See if she can order that test or even send me in the right direction.

It is frustrating worrying about what to do and when to do it. Especially right now, we are in the middle of pollen season. We've had lots of rain out here so everything is blooming! I'm tempted to put him in a bubble.

[Tav Mom]

So, I called my NMD today and have a moment tomorrow evening to come by and have her take a look and tell me what she thinks we need to do next.

He woke up this morning still with hives. His legs look a lot better, but they are still all over his body.

I will post after I talk with her and let you know what she thinks is the next step.