Last year, my son started breaking out into hives all over his body every day. It stopped briefly, for about a week, but then cropped back up again. I took him to an allergist, who told me he wouldn't be able to do an allergy test because the hives needed to be gone before a skin test could be done. The allergist put him on Zyrtec, then six months later added Singulair when breakthrough hives started appearing after being on the max. dose of Zyrtec.
He recommended taking DS off the meds every six months to see if the hives were reappearing. They were- within 36 hours. Last time we tried, no hives immediately, but major coughing fits that went away within a half day of being on Zyrtec again. Did not start up Singulair right away, in fact he was off singulair all summer. A couple weeks ago, I started him on Singulair again because he has been coughing terribly, and this has helped the coughing. I've noticed some behavior changes (aggression, tantrums, severe meltdowns) that were concerning to me, but I can't remember if he was doing that before or after the Singulair, and I know these behaviors aren't uncommon for 3 year olds. I'd like to get him off Singulair, just to see, but his coughing is so bad without it.
At this point, I guess I'm just looking for some advice- is he really going to be on allergy meds forever for some allergy that we're never going to be able to determine due to his hives outbreaks? Are there any alternatives to find out what he's allergic to? We are severely income limited- I have a low paying part-time job, and we are on housing and food assistance right now. So as far as buying a lot of products to try out- not able to do that.
Also, I've done elimination diets- although not very strict ones, because DS is a picky eater, and I just couldn't follow through on those diets with him. I know dairy was a problem, but didn't seem to have any effect on his hives. At this point, I really do think it is environmental, but it would be nice to rule out food allergies- I really don't see how that can be done with a picky 3-year old.
He recommended taking DS off the meds every six months to see if the hives were reappearing. They were- within 36 hours. Last time we tried, no hives immediately, but major coughing fits that went away within a half day of being on Zyrtec again. Did not start up Singulair right away, in fact he was off singulair all summer. A couple weeks ago, I started him on Singulair again because he has been coughing terribly, and this has helped the coughing. I've noticed some behavior changes (aggression, tantrums, severe meltdowns) that were concerning to me, but I can't remember if he was doing that before or after the Singulair, and I know these behaviors aren't uncommon for 3 year olds. I'd like to get him off Singulair, just to see, but his coughing is so bad without it.
At this point, I guess I'm just looking for some advice- is he really going to be on allergy meds forever for some allergy that we're never going to be able to determine due to his hives outbreaks? Are there any alternatives to find out what he's allergic to? We are severely income limited- I have a low paying part-time job, and we are on housing and food assistance right now. So as far as buying a lot of products to try out- not able to do that.
Also, I've done elimination diets- although not very strict ones, because DS is a picky eater, and I just couldn't follow through on those diets with him. I know dairy was a problem, but didn't seem to have any effect on his hives. At this point, I really do think it is environmental, but it would be nice to rule out food allergies- I really don't see how that can be done with a picky 3-year old.
