Allergist dismissed my concerns... Now what? Update post 15

[cristeen]

Ugh. And they're probably going to charge me $150 for a 5 minute appt that accomplished nothing more than having a close minded over educated child tell me that i should be seeing a dermatologist, not an allergist.

I just want to cry because i know he's wrong, but he was so bloody dismissive that i wasnt about to argue w him. He completely dismissed the possibility of any kind of testing, saying that he doesnt see any allergy that would show up on an IGE, and he doesnt believe in IGG (or is it the other way around?).

So now what? This allergist is part of my ped practice, so getting a referral to another one is going to be difficult at best.

Do i call my ped and complain? What do i do now?

[Starflower]

I don't know what type of allergy you are looking at, but you may consider seeing a naturopath. They can order testing for you.

I see an ND and an allergist. The allergy docs are treating my obvious allergies (cats, dogs, dust, pollens). I asked them to test me for milk and egg allergies at the same time and nothing came up. But if I eat those things, I have very specific (and uncomfortable) reactions so I know something is up. The ND supports me with this type of thing and will do the sensitivity tests. NDs will also suggest elimination diets etc. for diagnostic purposes.

Another friend of mine also has some allergies that don't show up on typical testing. Her allergy doc had worked with a specialized clinic back East (US) that did some sort of skin tests that left the allergens on the skin for 24 hours which resulted in some people reacting later to the tests which had not brought about short term / immediate reactions. My friend did not get it done because she would've had to travel cross country.

Good luck.

[matey]

I had the same problems with my allergist. I posted on another one of your threads about it. For me, I just dealt with the dairy intolerance at home and tried not to say anything about it to him. He only tests if their are actual reactions and is very difficult to deal with. I went to 2 naturopaths but both were unfamiliar with childrens allerg issues. The one told me that it looked like I was doing everything I could and sent me on my way. I have also been referred to dermatologists who want to coat kids in creams. I do use lotions with ds and hydrocourt when things get too itchy, but they wouls have had me using very high percentages constantly. Anyway, I am sorry for the frustrating visit. I almost always cry after allergist appoinments (and sometimes during) but I am getting better.

[deditus]

Well that sucks. I think you are most likely dealing with intolerances and generally doctors are very dismissive of them. We actually had the best luck with a ped gi, later found a holistic ped, and now use a holistic family md. Did you try to get your ped to do a RAST? My good friend went through several months of food eliminations due to her dd's eczema and constipation w/o figuring out the culprit. Poor girl ended up being IgE to peanuts! Her ped did a RAST for the top 8. But in most cases, if you're not dealing with hives, breathing issues, vomiting, etc, then it'sintolerances and testing is difficult and inaccurate. Elimination diet is the best.  Also, in our area you can go to the children's hospital and get quite the laundry list of tests done w/o a referral. May not be covered by insurance, but if you need to...There is also DirectLabs.

http://www.directlabs.com/a
 

Originally Posted by cristeen 

Ugh. And they're probably going to charge me $150 for a 5 minute appt that accomplished nothing more than having a close minded over educated child tell me that i should be seeing a dermatologist, not an allergist.

I just want to cry because i know he's wrong, but he was so bloody dismissive that i wasnt about to argue w him. He completely dismissed the possibility of any kind of testing, saying that he doesnt see any allergy that would show up on an IGE, and he doesnt believe in IGG (or is it the other way around?).

So now what? This allergist is part of my ped practice, so getting a referral to another one is going to be difficult at best.

Do i call my ped and complain? What do i do now?

[kjbrown92]

what were the symptoms again? how old is the child? If the doctor did no testing, then you can't even rule out IgE allergies. They usually test you, get a negative, and then tell you to go home and eat it (not wise, since I did that).

[DevaMajka]

Doesn't he react to dairy with painful open sores on his bum? And the allergist told you there was no reason to get tested? How totally frustrating.

When ds2 was 6ish mos old, his dr. told me that his eczema couldn't be caused by food. At about 16 or 17mos, his new doc finally agreed (after we added more reactions to the list) that it likely was allergies, and referred us to an allergist- with a 12 month waiting list. Only 10 or 11 mos to go now. :/

As for what to do, do you think he has reactions othat than dairy? If dairy is the only one, you're going to keep it out anyway. In practice, don't think it would much matter at this point if it's IgE or IgG, though I agree it would be nice to know.

If he has other reactions, are the constant or occasional? For occasional reactions, I'd start a food journal. For constant ones, I'd look at foods you consume regularly.

[crystleyz42]

I've had much better luck with chiropractic physicians.  They seem to take you seriously when you come to them with concerns about allergies.  I've been dismissed by my ped too.... didn't even bother with an allergist b.c I was advised by a good friend that her visit to one was worthless....

http://icpa4kids.org/Find-a-Chiropractor/

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

what were the symptoms again? how old is the child? If the doctor did no testing, then you can't even rule out IgE allergies. They usually test you, get a negative, and then tell you to go home and eat it (not wise, since I did that).

He's 16 mos, open sores in diaper area showed up on the first dirty dipe after a lg exposure to goats milk. He had the open sores for months before we linked it to (cow) dairy, got it healed and then trialed goat. He went into the doc w active sores on his butt, since we trialed the goat this last weekend.

And this last trial also gave him hives.

Originally Posted by DevaMajka 

Doesn't he react to dairy with painful open sores on his bum? And the allergist told you there was no reason to get tested? How totally frustrating.

As for what to do, do you think he has reactions othat than dairy? If dairy is the only one, you're going to keep it out anyway. In practice, don't think it would much matter at this point if it's IgE or IgG, though I agree it would be nice to know.

If he has other reactions, are the constant or occasional? For occasional reactions, I'd start a food journal. For constant ones, I'd look at foods you consume regularly.

Yup, thats us. But just this week we added hives to the list of reactions.

Basically, this guy looked at the hives on DS' forehead, informed me quite snottily that those are not hives because hives come and go w/in 30 min, never itch and dont scab like that. They definitely wouldnt still be visible 36 hrs later. Which is total bull. DS' hives are following the same pattern and look just like the hives i've always gotten.

And then he looked at his butt and informed me that no allergy would cause that. That i needed to see a dermatoligist about that, not an allergist.

He didnt offer any testing at all. We do have a Childrens here, so I could do that if i need to. And a friend w anaphalactic allergies suggested saliva testing to me, anyine have experience w that?

[ASusan]

Well, I thought maybe we lived close to each other, because that was practically my experience with the allergist. Except that our allergist WAS at our Children's Hospital. And the dermatologist (same office suite) wasn't much better. As someone upthread said, they will just order creams. Yup, steroid creams, and a lecture about how it's not possible to figure out what causes eczema. The lecture from the allergist was how it wasn't possible to figure out a trigger for eczema because it comes and goes and so any food that is associated in time with an uptick with eczema is simply a correlation. It's excruciatingly frustrating to go to those appointments.

Of COURSE hives can be itchy. of COURSE they can last more than 30 minutes. My mom has hives that last for weeks. Urgh.

Our family doc ordered a RAST test, and that was probably the most helpful. YOur ped could order one. It's a starting point, at least, if you haven't had ANY testing yet.

I've learned to keep my mouth shut about IgG and intolerance reactions around allergists. ANd I don't say "allergy" around a dermatologist.

[matey]

Originally Posted by ASusan 

I've learned to keep my mouth shut about IgG and intolerance reactions around allergists. ANd I don't say "allergy" around a dermatologist.

[kjbrown92]

The allergist was confounded by my son's soy intolerance, because he gets a rash on his lip within 15 minutes (which would normally indicate allergy) but it lasts for 10 days, and the allergist said that it was impossible for it to last that long from food - whether it was an allergy or an intolerance. And then gave the allergy test, which was negative, and said "see". I'm glad my son was the one who said "she's crazy" when we left.

At least if he'd done the testing for you, it could have "proved" him right, so I'm surprised he didn't do it. Then at least you would have known if it was an intolerance vs. an allergy. Now you're still at square 1. Though I have never seen hives scab up, it's certainly possible if he itches it a lot. And hives are pretty itchy.

[subtlycrunchy]

Hugs to you, mama! You've gotten some good advice... I would just add this Child Allergy & Sensitivity Assessment from Healthy Futures/Dr. Dorris Rapp. Essentially, it's a homeopathic at-home treatment program for allergies. Worth checking out! I am enjoying her articles...

[cristeen]

So I got up the nerve to call the office mgr today, she apologized for my experience, asked me to put it in writing so that she could pass it up the chain, and confided that the allergist is on his way out the door anyway.

So at the moment we are working on healing his gut and his rash, and we'll revisit the allergist issue at a later date.

[matey]

Wow, how nice to have had your feelings affirmed. That's a start!

[cristeen]

Just a quick update on the situation w the allergist. I finally got the bill, and he charged $350 for those 5 minutes!!

I filed a formal complaint w the office mgr on Monday and they called me back yesterday to say that i was not the only one he had treated that way, and thats why he's gone. They apologized and they wrote off the entire bill.

[kjbrown92]

well thank goodness for small favors. At least they erased the bill. Maybe another one will be better. My dd2 has intolerances and she kept getting "folliculitis". After the second round of abx, I said to the doctor "are you sure these can't be from a food intolerance" and of course he looked at me like I was crazy. Finally found the culprit (corn, as an additive in her probiotic) and took it out. Never had the folliculitis again. Huh. Don't you just love doctors. I hope you have a better experience next time. If he's had hives, then I'd definitely get him tested for milk. And keep Vitamin C and benadryl on hand (I keep it in my car, and my pocketbook and everywhere).