How to determine food allergies?

[TonyaW]

My son has allergies. He is for sure allergy to wheat breaking out in hives and eventually difficulty breathing. He is obviously allergic to something else. I had him skin tested, which I heard can be somewhat inaccurate but was unable to get blood drawn from him. However the skin test showed wheat as an allergen and shellfish and possibly milk and eggs. How do I go about testing him for food allergies? Is there some special technique I can use besides a complete elimination diet? He has the allergy shiners and sometimes a red ring around his anus as well as itching.

[DevaMajka]

Is your son 4yo? (from your sig). Have you taken out all traces of milk, eggs, and shellfish?
If you have had those out for a few weeks, and he's still having symptoms, I guess I'd say an ED is the next best step. You could start with the other top 8 allergens. Or you could start a food journal for him, and see if you can find any patterns with symptoms and the foods he eats.

[sbgrace]

I'd pull those that came up positive first and see if it resolves. I can't tell if you've done that?

If it does resolve then you add them in one at a time (slowly) and see if he reacts to the specific thing. This is because 50% of positives on skin prick for foods will be false positives so you want to follow up with food challenges unless (like the wheat) you know they are issues.

To track down those kinds of symptoms without a "clue" about the cause would be tough without an elimination diet I think. Remember environmental allergies may be in play as well.