just needing confirmation

[cdiorns]

Hello all,

I don't know exactly why I am posting, maybe just needing validation and comforting!

My 4.5 year old just tested positive for a milk allergy on the RAST testing. I have suspected something since birth as she had horrible reflux from the moment of birth and has only slept through the night a handful of times in the past 4.5 years. She gets headaches, tummy aches, 'diaper' rash, breaks out in hives after eating strawberries and watermelon (though those two did not show up on RAST as elevated). She also has had major dental issues and had to have 4 teeth removed and every other tooth in her mouth has had crowns placed over them because of decay caused by excess acid production. She has very itchy skin, too. Behaviorally, she has anxiety issues about separation from mommy and daddy and can be moody and emotional at times. She is prone to nightmares (night terrors?) and lately even began to bedwet on occasion after being nighttrained since 2.5 years old.  

In an odd way, I was relieved to receive a positive test. I strongly suspected it but feel I lacked the conviction to force her on a dairy free diet without some confirmation, due to a lot of family pressures. But then I came here and read some posts about IgE testing not being very accurate and now I am just looking for further understanding. Any insight or just shared experiences would be great. 

FWIW, I now have an 8 month old son who also had reflux and significantly improved after eliminating dairy, wheat and eggs. He had his blood drawn today. Is there any difference in accuracy with an infant? I don't know what to expect with him...he had a stop breathing episode after birth, reflux, skin and diaper rashes, runny nose, goopy eyes and he improved 98% after eliminating above foods. One day after reintroducing dairy he had seizure like convulsions (followed by a second episode a week later). We saw a pediatric neurologist and it was determined that it was not likely actual seizure activity.  I later discovered from his pediatrician that this can happen with reflux babies. 

Thanks for "listening" and any support you can provide. :)

[BabySmurf]

Allergies are a tough one, and not very well understood....it's kind of a "see what happens" type of deal.  The testing has a reputation for being inaccurate in the sense that there are a lot of false negatives rather then false positives, from what I have read.

i would say it definitely sounds as though your DD has allergy issues...I am trying to work through some of my own and some of my DS's isues, and it's enough to drive a person mad, lol! I'm thinking that I have a milk issue, and I can totally relate to the "symptoms" you are describing for your DD.  I tried cutting dairy, wheat, and soy to help my DS feel better (it worked, for the most part), and I ended up feeling amazing - the best I have ever felt.  Recently we had an accidental exposure, and all of those weird emotional issues have cropped back up, as well as GI issues.  It's hard because when I have the dairy, I really crave it and I get withdrawals when I cut it out, and while it's phasing out of my body, I am totally miserable.  When it's gone it's kind of like a switch goes off, and I feel lighter, happier, and more energetic. 

If it's at all possible I would cut the dairy out for her, especially if there are others in your family that you are doing it for anyway.  I would expect that she will be really cranky and that she will get a terrible runny nose and headaches...advil really helped me feel better with those symptoms.  If after a couple of weeks (it will take two - three weeks for it to get out  of her system completely) you don't see an improvement you can always reintroduce.  good luck!!

[SweetSilver]

I'm not sure if it's just my experience, or if I can apply this in general:  I find that the tests vary more from person to person than from one test result to the next.  Meaning that you might find your own test results as (roughly) accurate across the board, while another might have less luck.  This is from my very limited experience with myself and a few friends, so take this with a grain of salt.

Fruits are tricky!  They are (technically) an intolerance and many allergists will not test for them.  (Which I still don't really get.)  In my experience, fruits are tricky because each individual fruit is different from the next.  And my tests scores on those (I was tested for fruits+veggies) do vary wildly.  For example, blueberries were sky high, but I don't have much trouble with them.  Green pepper sometimes bugs me horrendously, sometimes doesn't.  Grapes sometimes set my mouth all a-tingle and other grapes don't.  Garlic is extremely unpleasant-- except when it isn't.  I can eat a pint of strawberries no trouble one day, then *one* single strawberry (from the same garden patch) will tingle my mouth and set my throat on fire. Hm!

Testing is really more of a starting point than a definitive answer.  Like a map.  A really bad map, which can sometimes be better than no map at all.

[ASusan]

False negatives are much more likely than false positives. Our son's RAST results and SPT results have been constant from the start (RAST at 10 mos; SPT at 14 mos; RAST at 38 mos.) All showed the same 3 allergens: wheat, peanut, egg. He is also sensitive to dairy. The IgE tests were negative to dairy and he "passed" an in-office challenge of dairy, but he reacts 24+ hours later and has a stuffy nose and swollen tonsils/adenoids for weeks afterward.

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by ASusan 

False negatives are much more likely than false positives

That isn't the case.  A positive result is 50/50 on accuracy while a negative test is in the 90%+ for accuracy.